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beauties of the original, his imitators have endeavoured to diftinguilh themfelves, bycopying his extravagancies. As in Gots of Berlichingen the fcenery is frequentlychanged, it is now neceffary for the poet to carry the fpectator through every part ofthe town. Goethe was rather lavilh of executions in his pieces ; and now there areinnumerable hangmen on the ftage. Shakefpear, whom Goethe , probably from whim,or with the view to draw the attention of his countrymen to that great poet, propofedas his example in his Gots, became inftantly the idol of the German dramatic writers;but not that Shakefpear, who, like Raphael, paints man as he is, under every cir-cumftance, and expreffes every movement of the mufcles and nerves, and every emo-tion of the paflions; but he, who, for want of fufficient acquaintance with originals,and due education, gives himfelf up to his own wild whims, flies over ages and coun-tries, and worlds, and in the purfuit of his fluctuating objects, does not trouble himfelfabout either unity or order. An hiftorical painter may fail in what is called la compofi-tion du groupe, or harmony of the piece, and feveral other things, and yet merit greatpraife for his excellence in the delineation of Angle flgures ; but the fcholar who copiesthefe faults, is truly to be pitied.
Rules, it is true, do not fetter a genius; he either wears them like wreaths offlowers, unconftrained, eafily and gracefully; or, when he does not know the valueof this ornament, and will come forth in his own wildnefs, makes up for the omiflion,by the vigour with which he lays hold of his objed. But fuch untradable geniufesare very lcarce, and not the proper objeds of his imitation. England, or rather wemay fay all Europe , has produced but one Shakefpear during many centuries. Thegreateft number of artifts are doomed to acquire reputation by ftudy, and rules havebeen made to regulate that ftudy.
This ridiculous tafte of deflring to excel by the negled of order and rules, by theaffedation of extravagance, unnatural events, abominable grimaces, and pitiful dif-•figurations, has fmee this time infeded every department of literature and the arts.We fee crouds of young pretenders to genius, who, in their different walks, in mufle,painting, and other parts of poetry, think to acquire fame by departing from theeftablilhed rules, and giving up ftudy. But the ancients thought otherwife on thisfubjed, and the works which they have left behind, will never be eclipfed by thefeweak and pretended originals. Virgil , it is well known, compared his produdions tothe unformed cub of a bear, which could only receive its proper fhape by frequentlicking; and it is eafy to fee, by the writings of Terence and Plautus that they werenot flnifhed over a pipe of tobacco. You know that Shakefpear has now, for fometime part, had his partizans amongft us; but his extravagance will not fo eaflly beadopted for a rule; and though Arnaud has opened the way for monfters on our ftage,as yet they appear too felilom for there to be any danger of our feeing our old friendsand acquaintance in common life banilhed by them.
This corrupt tafte has produced a wonderful revolution in the German language.When we read the writings of Gefner, Wieland, and Lefling, we perceive that it wasimproving under their culture, and would gradually have received the polifh and per-fection which are indifpenfably neceffary to make it claflical. But thefe new geniufeshave not been fatisfied with the mutilation of Angle words, but have contracted wholeperiods in the fame manner. They have abolilhed all conjunctions and connectives ofevery kind. In many of the more modem works, the fentences are all l’eparate, likethe l'eparate effata of an oracle; nor are any flops or diviAons admitted, except fullflops, and ! ! ! and ? ? ? and-. Beftdes, every writer made a point of in-
venting