Thou stand’st unmov’d; Calm temper sits upon thy beauteous brow; Thy eyes that flow’d so fast for Edward’s loss, Gaze unconcern’d upon the ruin round thee, As if thou hadst resolv’d to brave thy fate, And triumph in the midst of desolation. Ha! see, it swells, the liquid crystal rises, It starts in spight of thee---- but I will catch it, Nor let the earth be wet with dew so rich. _Lady Jane Gray, act 4. near the end._ The concluding sentiment is altogether sinical, unsuitable to the importance of the occasion, and even to the dignity of the passion of love. * * * * * Corneille, in his _Examen of the Cid_[55], answering an objection, that his sentiments are sometimes too much refined for persons in deep distress, observes, that if poets did not indulge sentiments more ingenious or refined than are prompted by passion, their performances would often be low; and extreme grief would never suggest but exclamations merely. This is in plain language to assert, That forced thoughts are more relished than such as are natural, and therefore ought to be preferred. * * * * * The second class is of sentiments that may belong to an ordinary passion, but are not perfectly concordant with it, as tinctured by a singular character. In the last act of that excellent comedy, _The Careless Husband_, Lady Easy, upon Sir Charles’s reformation, is made to express more violent and turbulent sentiments of joy, than are consistent with the mildness of her character. _Lady Easy._ O the soft treasure! O the dear reward of long-desiring love---- Thus! thus to have you mine, is something more than happiness, ’tis double life, and madness of abounding joy. If the sentiments of a passion ought to be suited to a peculiar character, it is still more necessary that sentiments devoid of passion be suited to the character. In the 5th act of the _Drummer_, Addison makes his gardener act even below the character of an ignorant credulous rustic: he gives him the behaviour of a gaping idiot. * * * * * The following instances are descriptions rather than sentiments, which compose a third class. Of this descriptive manner of painting the passions, there is in the _Hippolytus_ of Euripides, act 5. an illustrious instance, _viz._ the speech of Theseus, upon hearing of his son’s dismal exit. In Racine’s tragedy of _Esther_, the Queen hearing of the decree issued against her people, instead of expressing sentiments suitable to the occasion, turns her attention upon herself, and describes with accuracy her own situation. Juste Ciel? Tout mon sang dans mes veines se glace. _Act 1. sc. 3._ Again, _Aman._ C’en est fait. Mon orgueil est forcé de plier, L’inexorable Aman est reduit a prier. _Esther, act 3. sc. 5._