Page:The Poetical Works of Thomas Parnell (1833).djvu/83

Rh general alteration of Horner's style to be a much greater fault, than the mistakes which he made in the meaning" of particular passages. If I may so express myself, he was attempting to follow and imitate the flight of the Grecian poet, without possessing the same variety of movement, or equal flexibility of wing. 'Perhaps the greatest charm, (says a critic of much taste and knowledge) of the most sublime of all the ancient poets, is a variety and discrimination of manner and character in which Shakespeare is his only rival.' The friends of Pope were men of wit and humour, of admirable genius, and extensive information; but with the exception of Parnell and of Arbuthnot, he had no one to whom he could apply for information on subjects of Greek literature: and they were all so dazzled with the splendour of his