does it appear that he saw beyond his own performances, or had ever
elevated his was to that ideal perfection which every genius born to
excel is condemned always to pursue, and never overtake. In the
first suggestions of his imagination he acquiesced; he thought them
good, and did not seek for better. His works may be read a long
time without the occurrence of a single line that stands prominent
from the rest. The poem on "Creation" has, however, the appearance
of more circumspection; it wants neither harmony of numbers,
accuracy of thought, nor elegance of diction. It has either been
written with great care, or, what cannot be imagined of so long a
work, with such felicity as made care less necessary. Its two
constituent parts are ratiocination and description. To reason in
verse is allowed to be difficult; but Blackmore not only reasons in
verse, but very often reasons poetically; and finds the art of
uniting ornament with strength and ease with closeness. This is a
skill which Pope might have condescended to learn from him, when he
needed it so much in his "Moral Essays."

In his descriptions both of life and nature, the poet and the
philosopher happily co-operate; truth is recommended by elegance,
and elegance sustained by truth. In the structure and order of the
poem, not only the greater parts are properly consecutive, but the
didactic and illustrative paragraphs are so happily mingled, that
labour is relieved by pleasure, and the attention is led on through
a long succession of varied excellence to the original position, the
fundamental principle of wisdom and of virtue.

As the heroic poems of Blackmore are now little read, it is thought
proper to insert, as a specimen from "Prince Arthur," the song of
Mopas mentioned by Molyneux:-