But I do not wonder that this Critick is so extreamly civil to the Author of the _History of the Rebellion_. He censures _Milton_ for drawing the Pictures of _Death_ and the _Devil_ with so much Deformity. _Satan_, _Sin_, and _Death_, must needs _shock the Readers of a delicate Taste_. As if it was possible for the Imagination to paint any Thing so ugly as the Devil is in every One's Conception, and that the more shocking such Painting is, it was not the more natural, as being the more conformable to the Idea which every one has conceiv'd of the Original. 'Tis true, the _Devil_ and _Death_ are not Subjects to touch the _Delicacy_ of Readers, but are extreamly proper to move Horrour and Detestation, which are there the Moral of that Divine Poem. If the Scene of _Paradise_ was opening, the Reader might have expected something to have touch'd his _Delicacy_; but when he came, as in _Milton_, to the Gates of Hell _wide open_, he certainly should have left his Delicacy behind him. _Hans Holben_'s Death's Dance is a merry Piece, but was no more proper to admit of Delicacy than the Droll Pieces of _Heemskirk_; and it would not be more extravagant to put Perfumes among the Ingredients of a _Stink-Pot_, than to put Delicacy in a Picture of the Devil. One of the most masterly Pieces of the greatest Matter of the _Lombard_ School, a Carcass on a Butcher's Stall with the Gutts and Garbage about it, was much admir'd by the _Italians_, whose Delicacy is exemplary to other Nations; whence one may conclude, that whatever Subject has Truth and Likeness in it according to Nature, or our Conception of it, will always please, as an exact: and lively Imitation. I shall take no more Notice of the Criticisms on _Milton_ in this Place, nor perhaps in any other; but I can never read the Remarks of the Criticks on the _Paradise Lost_, without calling to Mind the Boast of King _Alphonso_, who criticising on the Form of the _Creation_, said, _If he had been consulted in it, it should have been more perfect._ _FINIS._ [Illustration] TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES The following printer's errors have been corrected: Page ii. "What" changed to "Want" (not for Want of Will) "Maniere" changed to "Manière" (La Manière De Bien Penser) Page 2. "they they" changed to "they" ("for that they are put into Rhime") Page 3. "Aristtotle" changed to "Aristotle" (given by _Aristotle_, _Horace_, &c.) Page 7. "Spectator" empasized (The _Spectator_, with all his Modesty) "parricularly" changed to "particularly" (and particularly how beautiful his Imagination was) "Spectator" emphasized (read in the _Spectator_, Nº 291) Page 8. "_Catherines_" changed to "_Catherine_'s" (her Husband at _St. Catherine_'s) Page 12. "Aristtotle" changed to "Aristotle" (We all know _Aristotle_) "Aristottle" changed to "Aristotle" (what will become of _Aristotle_)