These Lines (pretty as they are) would be unsufferable in a large and serious Work, nay, there are some People who tax them with being too extravagant even for the Poem where they stand; and in truth, their warmest Admirer can say no more than this:

    Nequeo Monstrare, & Sentio tantum.

   So far am I from reproaching

    Waller

   with putting too much Wit in his Poems; that on the contrary, I have found too little, though he continually aims at it. They say that Dancing Masters never make a handsome Bow, because they take too much Pains. I think

    Waller

   is often in this Case; his best Verses are studied; one finds he quite tires himself to find that which presents itself so naturally to

    Rochester

   ,

    Congreve

   , and to so many more, who with all the Ease in the World, write these Bagatelles better than

    Waller

   did with Labour.

   I know it signifies very little to the Affairs of the World, whether

    Waller

   was or was not a great Genius; whether he only made a few pretty Things, or that all his Verses may stand for Models. But we who love the Arts, carry an attentive Eye on that which to the rest of the World is a Matter of mere Indifference. Good Taste is for us in Literature, what it is for Women in Dress; and provided we don't make our Opinions an Affair of Party, I think we may boldly say, that there are few excellent Things in

    Waller

   , and that

    Cowley

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