Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/23

Rh mon to my fellow-creatures, it was necessary for every reader to know the colour of the glass through which I looked. Of this at least I am certain, that a gloomy livid tinge hath never clouded my sight. Accustomed to look on all the various tribes of men, as entitled to an equal share of my good will, and conscious, at the same time, of the rights which I possess in common with every individual among them, I have endeavoured to make my remarks with a retrospect to our general improvement and welfare; and neither attachment nor aversion to particular nations have influenced my praise or censure.

The degree of pleasure which may result from the perusal of a work, depends not only upon the variety of the subject, but likewise upon the purity and the graces of style. We must resign all pretensions to taste and sentiment, if we did not prefer a well-told tale to a lame and tedious narration. Of late, however, the just esteem in which an elegant diction is held, has been so far abused, that authors, relying on the fluency of their language, have paid no attention to the matter which they proposed, but deceived the public with a dry and uninstructive performance. Such writers may possibly acquire the approbation of some individuals,

But I am convinced the generality of readers are always just enough to overlook, in some measure, the defects of style, in