His rhymes are sometimes weak words: "so" is found to make the
rhyme twice in ten lines, and occurs often as a rhyme through his
book.

His double rhymes, in heroic verse, have been censured by Mrs.
Phillips, who was his rival in the translation of Corneille's
"Pompey;" and more faults might be found were not the inquiry below
attention.

He sometimes uses the obsolete termination of verbs, as "waxeth,"
"affecteth;" and sometimes retains the final syllable of the
preterite, as "amazed," "supposed," of which I know not whether it
is not to the detriment of our language that we have totally
rejected them.

Of triplets he is sparing; but he did not wholly forbear them: of
an Alexandrine he has given no example.

The general character of his poetry is elegance and gaiety. He is
never pathetic, and very rarely sublime. He seems neither to have
had a mind much elevated by nature nor amplified by learning. His
thoughts are such as a liberal conversation and large acquaintance
with life would easily supply. They had however then, perhaps, that
grace of novelty which they are now often supposed to want by those
who, having already found them in later books, do not know or
inquire who produced them first. This treatment is unjust. Let not
the original author lose by his imitators.

Praise, however, should be due before it is given. The author of