himself; for which Reason it is very hazardous for a Person in a
middle Station (tho' he have never so great a Reputation in Writing)
to engage in the Recommendation of the Writings of others.

The severe Treatment which the brightest Men of the Age have met with
from the Criticks, is sufficient to deter all young Gentlemen from
entring the Lists of Writing; and was not the World in general more
good-natur'd and favourable to youthful Performances than the
Criticks, there would be no such thing as a Succession of Writings;
whereas, by that Means, and his present Majesty's Encouragement,
Literature is in a flourishing Condition, and Poetry seems to improve
more at this Time than it has done in any preceding Reign, except that
of King _Charles_ II. when there was a _Rochester_, a _Sidley_, a
_Buckingham_, &c. And (setting aside Party) what the World may hope
from a generous Encouragement of polite Writing, I take to be very
conspicuous from Mr. _Pope's_ Translation of _Homer_, notwithstanding
the malicious and violent Criticisms of a certain Gentleman in its
Disfavour.

In the religious Controversy of late depending, Criticisms have been
carried to that height, that some Persons have pretended to fix false
Grammer on one of the most celebrated Writers perhaps at this Time in
_Europe_, but how justly, I leave to the Determination of those who
have perused the Bishop's incomparable Answer; but admitting his
Lordship had permitted an irregularity of Grammer to pass unobser'd
[typo for "unobserv'd"?], he is not the first of his Sacred Character
that has done it, and small Errors of this kind are easily looked
over, where the Nominative Case is at a distance from the Verb, or a
Performance is done in haste, the Case of the Bishop against so many
powerful Adversaries. Besides, it is apparent and well known, that a