Page:A Dissertation on Reading the Classics and Forming a Just Style.djvu/219

Rh the Writer is becalmed, and goes on a dull, smooth, sleepy Pace, unless he hath Spirit of his own to breathe into his Subject, and make it move with Life, as well as Truth; which never be forsaken: The richest Fields of History are Scenes of Action and Commotion, where Nations are agitated by Wars abroad, or Factions at Home; The most delicate Part of an Historian, which requireth the deepest Penetration, and soundest Judgment are the Councils of States and Princes; the Springs of Action, the Principal Wheels, and Cardinal Hinges: The Characters of Men, the Rh