The Rules laid down by those great Criticks are not to be valu'd, because they are given by _Aristotle_, _Horace_, &c. but because they are in Nature and in Truth. _Homer_, _Sophocles_, and _Euripides_, wrote before _Aristotle_, and the Observations he made upon their Poems, were to shew us how they succeeded by a happy Imitation of Nature, and without such Imitation there can be no Poetry; but according to Sir _Robert Howard_'s Assertion, that only which a Man likes is good; and if you are pleas'd with seeing or hearing any Thing unnatural or even monstruous, _A Woman's Head joyn'd to a Fishes Tail;_ it is preferable to what is just and true, to the _Venus_ of _Medicis_, or the most perfect _Madonna_ in _Italy_. Thus a wrong Taste is as good as a right one, and the Smell of a Pole-cat to be preferr'd to that of a _Civet_, if a Man's Nose is so irregular. After this Rate, there never was a Poet who could write up to the _Frenchman_'s Ladder-dance, or _Rich_'s Harlequin; and whereas Sir _Robert_ says, we may as well believe, because others do, as judge, because _Aristotle_, _Horace_, &c. do, there is no Agreement in the Proposition, or it is not rightly stated; for we do not judge so because _Aristotle_ and _Horace_ did so judge; but because it is in Nature and in Truth, and they first shew'd us the Way to find it out. Criticism is so far from being well understood by us _Englishmen_, that it is generally mistaken to be an Effect of Envy, Jealousy, and Spleen; an invidious Desire to find Faults only to discredit the Author, and build a Reputation on the Ruin of his. One has great Reason to think so, when the Critick looks only on one Side; when he hunts after little Slips and Negligences, and will not, or cannot see, what is beautiful and praise-worthy. If an historical or poetical Performance can no sooner acquire Applause, than he falls upon it without Mercy, neglects every Thing commendable in it, and skims off the Filth that rises on the Top of it; one may be sure his Jealousy is piqu'd, and he is alarm'd for fear every Encrease of Honour to another should be a Diminution of his own Glory; such Sort of Criticism is easily learnt. A Wen or Mole in the Face is sooner perceiv'd than the Harmony of Features, and the fine Proportion of Beauty; or, as _Dryden_ says, _Errours like Straws upon the Surface flow, He who would search for Pearls must dive below._ This Thought is borrow'd from the Lord _Bacon_; who, speaking of Notions and Inferences what may be applied to Families, says, _Time is like a River in which Metals and solid Substances sink, while Chaff and Straw swim on the Surface_. Such borrowing as _Dryden_'s is highly commendable; he has paid back what he borrowed with Interest, and it can by no Means deserve the Scandal of _Plagiarism_. I cannot doubt, but Mr. _Addison_ in the sublime Thought, where he represents the Duke of _Marlborough_ in the Heat of the War: _Rides in the Whirlwind, and directs the Storm;_