not have faid Quoi instead of Gui; quoijum for cujum、 volt for vult, &c. as well as our Modern hath Welladay for Alas, whilome for of old, make mock for deride, and witlefs Tounglings for fimple Lambs, &c. by which means he had attained as much of the Air of Theocritus, as Pkilips hath of Spencer?

4. Mr. Pope hath fallen into the fame error with Virgil. His Clowns do not converfe in all the Simplicity proper to the Country: His names are borrow'd from Theocritus and Virgil, which are improper to the Scene of his Pastorals. He introduces Daphnis, Alexis and Thyrfis on British Plains, as Virgil had done before him on the Mantuan: Whereas Philips, who hath the ftri&teft regard to Propriety, makes choice of names peculiar to the Country, and more agreeable to a Reader of Delicacy; fuch as Hobbinol, Lobbin, Cuddy, and Colin Clout.

5. So eafie as paftoral Writing may seem, (in the Simplicity we have defcribed it) yet it requires great Reading, both of the Ancients and Moderns, to be a mafter of it. Philips hath given us manifeft proofs of his Knowledge of Books: It must be confeffed his competitor hath imitated fome fingle thoughts of the Ancients well enough, (if we confider he had not the happiness of an Univerfity Education) but he hath difperfed them, here and there without that order and method which Mr. Philips obferves, whofe whole third Paftoral is an inftance how well he hath ftudied the fifth of virgil, and how judiciously reduced Virgil's thoughts to the ftandard of Paftoral; as his contention of Colin Clout and the Nightingale fhows with what exactness he hath imitated every line in Strada.

6. When I remarked it as a principal fault, to introduce Fruits and Flowers of a Foreign growth, in defcriptions where the Scene lies in our own Country, I did not defign that obfervation fhould extend alfo to Animals, or the fenfitive Life; for Philips hath with great judgment defcribed Wolves in England in his first Paftoral. Nor would I have a Poet flavifhly confine himself (as Mr. Pope hath done) to one particular feafon of the Year, one certain time of the day, and one unbroken Scene in each Eclogue, Tis plain Spencer neglected this Pedantry, who in his Paftoral

Paftoral of November mentions the mournful fong of the Nightingale:

Sad Philomel ber fong in Tears doth freep.

And Mr. Philips, by a poetical Creation, hath raised up finer beds of Flowers than the most industrious Gardiner; his Rofes, Endives, Lillies, Kingcups and Daffadils blow all in the fame feafon.

7. But the better to discover the merits of our two contemporary Paftoral Writers, I fhall endeavour to draw a Parallel of them, by fetting feveral of their particular thoughts in the fame light, whereby it will be obvious how much Philips hath the advantage. With what Simplicity he introduces two Shepherds finging alternatly?

Hobb. Come, Rofalind, O come, for without thee

What Pleasure can the Country have for me:
Come, Rofalind, O come; my brinded Kine,
My fnowy Sheep, my Farm, and all, is thine.

Lanq. Come, Rofalind, O come; bere bady Bowers
Here are cool Fountains, and here springing Flow'rs.
Come, Rofalind; Here ever let us stay,

And fweetly waft, our live long time away.

Our Paftoral Writer, in expreffing the fame thought, deviates into downright Poetry.

Streph. In Spring the Fields, in Autumn Hills 1 love,
At Morn the Plains, at Noon the shady Grove,
But Delia always; forc'd from Delia's fight,
Nor Plains at Morn, nor Groves at Noon delight.

Daph. Sylvia's like Autumn ripe, yet mild as May,
More bright than Noon, yet fresh as early Day;
Ev'n Spring difpleafes, when he fines not here,
But bleft with her, 'tis Spring throughout the Tear.

In the firft of thefe Authors, two Shepherds thus innecently defcribe the Behaviour of their Miftreffes.

Hobb. As Marian bath'd, by chance I passed by,
She bluß'd, and at me caft a fide-long Eye
Then swift beneath the cryftal Wave she trÿ'd
Her beauteous Form, but all in vain, to bide.

Lang. As I to cool me bath'd one fultry day,
Fond Lydia lurking in the Sedges lay.

The wanton laugh'd, and feem'd in hafte to fly;
Tet often stopp'd, and often turn'd her Eye.

The other Modern (who it must be confeffed hath s knack of verfifying) hath it as follows.

Streph. Me gentle Delia beckons from the Plain,

Then, bid in Shades, eludes her eager Swain;
But feigns a Laugh, to see me search around,
And by that Laugh the willing Fair is found.

Daph. The Sprightly Sylvia trips along the Green,

She runs, but hopes she does not run unseen ;
While a kind glance at her Purfuer flyes,
How much at variance are her Feet and Eyes!

There is nothing the Writers of this kind of Poetry are fonder of, than defcriptions of Paftoral Prefents. Philips fays thus of a Sheep-hook.

of feafon'd Elm; where ftuds of Brass appear,
To speak the Giver's name, the month and year.
The book of polish'd Steel, the handle turn'd,
And richly by the Graver's skill adorn'd.

The

The other of a Bowl embossed with Figures.

where wanton Ivy twines,

And fwelling Clufters bend the curling Vines &
Four Figures rifing from the work appear,
The various Seasons of the rolling year;
And What is that which binds the radiant Sky,
Where twelve bright Signs in beauteous order lie.

The fimplicity of the Swain in this place, who forgets the name of the Zodiack, is no ill imitation of Virgil; but how much more plainly and unaffectedly would Philips have dressed this Thought in his Doric ?

And what that bight, which girds the Welkin feen
Where twelve gay Signs in meet array are feen.

If the Reader would indulge his curiofity any farther in the comparifon of Particulars, he may read the firft Paftoral of Philips with the fecond of his Contemporary, and the fourth and fixth of the former with the fourth and firft of the latter; where feveral parallel places will Occur to every one.

Having now fhown fome parts, in which thefe two Writers may be compared, it is a juftice I owe to Mr. Philips, to difcover thofe in which no man can compare with him. Firft, That beautiful Rufticity, of which I fhall only produce two Inftances, out of a hundred not yer quoted.

○ woful day! O day of Woe; quoth bes

And woful I, who live the day to fee!

The fimplicity of Diction, the melancholly flowing of the Numbers, the folemnity of the Sound, and the easie turn of the Words, in this Dirge, (to make ufe of our Author's Expreffion) are extreamly elegant.

In another of his Paftorals, a Shepherd utters a Dirge. not much inferior to the former, in the following lines..

Ah me the while! að me! the luckless day,
Ab luckless Lad! the rather might I fay;
Ab filly I! more filly than my Sheep,

Which on the flowry Plains I once did keep.

How he ftill charms the ear with thefe artful Repetitions of the Epithets; and how fignificant is the laft verfe! I defy the moft common Reader to repeat them, without feeling fome motions of compassion.

In the next place I fhall rank his Proverbs, in which I formerly obferved he excells: For example,

A rolling Stone is ever bare of Mofs;
And to their coft, green years old Proverbs cross
He that late lies down, as late will rife,

And Sluggard-like, till noon-day fnoaring lyes.
Against Ill-Luck all cunning Fore-fight fails ;
Whether we fleep or wake, it nought avails.

Nor fear, from upright Sentence, wrong.

Laftly, his elegant Dialect, which alone might prove him the eldest born of Spencer, and our only true Arcadian. I fhould think it proper for the feveral writers of Paftoral, to confine themselves to their feveral Counties.. Spencer feems to have been of this opinion: for he hath. laid the fcene of one of his Paftorals in Wales, where with all the Simplicity natural to that part of our Ifland, one Shepherd bids the other good morrow in an unusual. and elegant manner.

Diggon Davy, I bid bur God-days
Or Diggon hur is, or I miffay,

Diggon