From this account of the riches of his mind, who would not imagine that they had been displayed in large volumes, and numerous performances?  Who would not, after the perusal of this character, be surprized to find, that all the proofs of this genius, and knowledge and judgment, are not sufficient to form a small volume?  But thus it is, that characters are generally written:  We know somewhat, and we imagine the rest.  The observation that his imagination would have probably been more fruitful and sprightly, if his judgment had been less severe; might, if we were inclined to cavil, be answer’d by a contrary supposition, that his judgment would have been less severe, if his imagination had been more fruitful.  It is ridiculous to oppose judgment and imagination to each other; for it does not appear, that men have necessarily less of the one, as they have more of the other.

We must allow, in favour of lord Roscommon, what Fenton has not mentioned so distinctly as he ought, and what is yet very much to his honour, That he is perhaps the only correct writer in verse before Addison; and that if there are not so many beauties in his composition, as in those of some of his contemporaries, there are at least fewer faults.  Nor is this his highest praise; for Mr. Pope has celebrated him as the only moral writer in Charles the IId’s reign.

  Unhappy Dryden—­in all Charles’s days,
  Roscommon only boasts unspotted lays.

Mr. Dryden speaking of Roscommon’s essay on translated verse, has the following observation:  ’It was that, says he, that made me uneasy, till I tried whether or no I was capable of following his rules, and of reducing the speculation into practice.  For many a fair precept in poetry, is like a seeming demonstration in mathematics:  very specious in the diagram, but failing in mechanic operation.  I think I have generally observed his instructions.  I am sure my reason is sufficiently convinced both of their truth and usefulness; which in other words is to confess no less a vanity, than to pretend that I have at least in some places made examples to his rules.’

This declaration of Dryden will be found no more than one of those cursory civilities, which one author pays to another; and that kind of compliment for which Dryden was remarkable.  For when the sum of lord Roscommon’s precepts is collected, it will not be easy to discover how they can qualify their reader for a better performance of translation, than might might have been attained by his own reflexions.

They are however here laid down: 

  ’Tis true composing is the nobler part,
  But good translation is no easy art: 
  For tho’ materials have long since been found,
  Yet both your fancy and your hands are bound;
  And by improving what was writ before,
  Invention labours less, but judgment more. 
    Each poet with a different talent writes,
  One praises, one instructs, another bites.