Page:A Dissertation on Reading the Classics and Forming a Just Style.djvu/230

186 reconciled, any Attempt to enlarge the Expressions, if doth not darken, does certainly make the Light much feebler. Salust is all Life and Spirit, yet grave and majestic in his diction: His Use of old Words is perfectly Right; there is no Affectation, but more Weight and Significancy in them; the Boldness of his Metaphors are among his greatest Beauties, they are chosen with great judgment, and show the Force of his Genius: The Colouring is strong, and the Strokes are bold, and in my Opinion he chose them for the sake of that Brevity he loved, to express more clearly and more Rh