noble a matter to work upon; or those great Men, to those Writers that
have convey'd their names and Atchievements down to the _Admiration of
after-Ages._

There are many of our _Wits_ that feed for a while upon the _Ancients_,
and the best of our Modern Authors: and when they have _squeez'd_ out
and _extracted_ matter enough to appear in Print and set up for
themselves, most ungratefully abuse them, like children grown strong and
lusty by the good milk they have sucked, who generally beat their
Nurses.

A _Modern_ Author proves both by Reasons and Examples that the
_Ancients_ are inferior to us; and fetches his Arguments from his own
particular Tast, and his Examples from his own _Writings_. He owns, That
the _Ancients_ tho' generally uneven and uncorrect, have yet here and
there some fine Touches, and indeed these are so fine, that the quoting
of them is the only thing that makes his _Criticisms_ worth a Mans
reading 'em.

Some great Men pronounce for the _Ancients_ against the _Moderns_: But
their own Composures are so agreeable to the Taste of Antiquity, and
bear so great a resemblance with the Patterns they have left us, that
they seem to be judges in their own Case and being suspected of
Partiality, are therefore _ceptionable_.

It is the Character of a _Pedant_ to be unwilling either to ask a
Friend's advice about his Work or to alter what he has been made
sensible to be a fault.

We ought to read our Writings to those only, who have Judgment enough to