Secondly, I prefix the capital in those rare instances in which an adjective is used as a noun; as the Unknown, the Obscure,[D] &c. The capital here but answers the use of all printed inventions, in simplifying to the reader the author's meaning. If it be printed "he passed through the obscure," the reader naturally looks for the noun that is to follow the adjective; if the capital initial be used, as "He passed through the Obscure," the eye conveys to the mind without an effort the author's intention to use the adjective as a substantive. [D] So Pope, "Spencer himself affects the Obsolete." Thirdly, I prefix the capital initial where it serves to give an individual application to words that might otherwise convey only a general meaning; for instance-- "Or his who loves the madding Nymphs to lead O'er the Fork'd Hill. that is, the Forked Hill, _par emphasis_,--Parnassus. The use of the capital in these instances seems to me warranted by common sense, and the best authorities in the minor niceties of our language. With regard to the other point referred to in the omitted note, I would observe, that I have deliberately used the freest licence in the rapid change of tense from past to present, or _vice versa_; as a privilege essential to all ease, spirit, force, and variety, in narrative poetry; and warranted by the uniform practice of Pope, Dryden, and Milton. I subjoin a few examples:-- "So _prayed_ they, innocent, and to their thoughts Firm peace recover'd soon and wonted calm; On to their morning's rural work they _haste_, Among sweet dews and flowers, where any row Of fruit-trees over-woody reach'd too far Their pamper'd boughs, and needed hands to check Fruitless embraces; or they _led_ the vine To wed the elm." MILTON'S _Paradise Lost_, Book v., from line 209 to 216. Here the tense changes three times. Again:-- "Straight _knew_ him all the bands Of angels under watch, and to his state And to his message high in honour _rise_, For on some message high they _guess'd_ him bound." _Ibid._, Book v., from line 288 to 291. "Thus while he spoke, the virgin from the ground _Upstarted_ fresh; already closed the wound; And unconcern'd for all she felt before, _Precipitates_ her flight along the shore: The hell-hounds as ungorged with flesh and blood _Pursue_ their prey and seek their wonted food; The fiend remounts his courser, mends his pace, And all the vision _vanish'd_ from the place." DRYDEN'S _Theod. and Honor_. Pope--not without reason esteemed for verbal correctness and precision--far exceeds all in his lavish use of this privilege, as one or two quotations will amply suffice to show.