Page:Poems on Several Occasions - Broome (1739, 2nd edition).djvu/15

 was particularly necessary; Authors had been long buried in obscurity, and consequently had contracted some rust through the Ignorance and Barbarism of preceding Ages: it was therefore very requisite that they should be polish'd by a Critical Hand, and restor'd to their original Purity: In this consists the Office of Critics; but instead of making Copies agreeable to the Manuscripts, they have long inserted their own conjectures; and from this licence arise most of the various readings, the burthens of modern Editions: whereas Books are like Pictures, they may be new varnish'd, but not a feature is to be alter'd, and every Stroke that is thus added, destroys in some degree the resemblance; and the Original is no longer an Homer or a Virgil, but a mere ideal Person, the Creature of the Editor's Fancy. Whoever deviates from this Rule, does not correct, but corrupt his Author: And therefore since most Books worth reading have now good Impressions, it is a folly to devote too much time to this branch of Criticism; it is ridiculous to make it the su-