On the other side, where the heart is very bad, the genius and taste,
if there happen to be any pretensions to them, will be found shocking
and unnatural. NERO would be nothing less than a poet; but his
verses were what one may call most _villainously_ bad. His taste
of magnificence and luxury was horribly glaring, extravagant and
unnatural to the last degree.

CALIGULA's taste was so outragiously wrong, that he detested the works
of the sweet MANTUAN poet more passionately than ever MOECENAS admired
them; and if VIRGIL had unfortunately lived down to those times in
which that monster appeared, he would probably have been tortured
to death for no other crime but that he wrote naturally, and like an
honest man.

True genius may be said to consist of a perfect polish of soul, which
receives and reflects the images that fall upon it, without warping
or distortion. And this fine polish of soul is, I believe, constantly
attended with what philosophers call the moral truth.

There are minds which receive objects truly, and feel the impressions
they ought naturally to make, in a very lively manner, but want the
faculty of reflecting them; as there are people who, I suppose, feel
all the charms of poetry without being poets themselves.




OF TASTE.