Page:A Dissertation on Reading the Classics and Forming a Just Style.djvu/154

110 and Froth, a little Varnish, and Gilding, without any Solidity, or Substance.

My Lord, the deepest Rivers have the plainest Surface, and the purest Waters are always clearest. Crystal is not the less solid for being transparent; the Value of a Style riseth like the Value of precious Stones. If it be dark and cloudy, it is in vain to polish it: It beareth its Worth in its Native Looks, and the same Art which enhanceth its Price, when it is clear, only debaseth it, if it be dull.

Your Lordship seeth I have borrowed some Metaphors to explain my Thoughts, and it is, I believe, impossible to describe Rh