A biographical sketch of Dr. Lettsom / [John Coakley Lettsom].

  • John Coakley Lettsom
Date:
[1804]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A biographical sketch of Dr. Lettsom / [John Coakley Lettsom]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    writers of tafte and eminence. But wherein its beauties contiti, yet re¬ mains to be decided. I cannot, however, think, with Johnfon, that the reafon why fo few volumes ofepiflolaiycorrefpondence, except thofe of bufinefs and in the clifcbarge of public truft, have ap¬ peared in this country, is to be at¬ tributed “ to our contempt of trifles, and our due fenfe of the dignity of the public.’^ Surely the import¬ ance of epiftolary writing is fuffici- ently great to place it upon a level with the innumerable tales,romances, and idle poetical effufions which daily iffue from the prefs; and it ma}' be allowed to advance as fair a claim to the public attention or eftcem as the other defultory lu¬ cubrations of eminent writers ; even the Rambler, of Dr. Johnfon ! It is not here fuppofed, that every idle letter which fondnefs may didate, or idlenefs propofe, to relieve the ennuioi a rainy morning, is to be fubjeded to the public ordeal; but the epiftolary correfpondence of men of genius, in which enquiries are purfued, hints flruck out on important topics, and moral fentimenls conveyed (not to mention the fatisfadion which the mind receives in reading, as it were, the man diftind from the author,) would, I conceive, anfwer every purpofe for which books are writ¬ ten. In confirmation of this opi¬ nion may be advanced the letters of Walfli, Pope, Voiture, Shenflone, &c. &c., though perhaps thofe of Pope contain too much of felf in them ; yet in many of his letters there are niimberlefs paflages which deferve to be admired for the har¬ mony of the language, the depth of the obfervation, and the foundnefs of the criticifm *. * Yet perhaps, without too much harfh- refs, it may he afferted, that the letters of Pope were fo many facrifices to his vanity. He appears in them to be under an uniform firuggle to conceal what he manifeftly adored—His letters to Wycherly betray all the faftidioufnefs of a young “ Letters written from the heart, and on real occafions (obferves an elegant writer), though not always decorated with the flowers of elo¬ quence, mu ft be far more ufefui and interefting than the ftudied paragraphs of Pliny, or the pom¬ pous declamations of Baifac ; as they contain juft pi61ures of life and manners, and are the genuine emanations of nature.” It is ver)^ certain that the advan¬ tages arifing from epiftolary w'nting are manifold, for many valuable hints, many disjointed ideas, and unconnected opinions, which are too trivial to form a diftintt pub¬ lication, are thus preferved, and tranfmitted to pofterity. Nothing, in fhort, which comes from the pen of a man of genius and learning can be totally ufelefs ; fome enter¬ tainment or feme inftrudion it muft infallibly prefent. Of the precife ftyle which ought to be adopted in this fpecies of compofition, nothing can with any certainty be faid. It embraces fuch a variety of objedls, and is written under fuch peculiar circum- ftances, that the ftyle muft inevita¬ bly be diverfified. The only gene¬ ral rule which can be given, is, to ftudy the propriety of the language you adopt; a rule which, indeed, is equally applicable to every kind of writing. It is not however re- qnifite, as fome imagine, that a negligent, loofe manner of compo¬ fition fhould be obferved, for this can never afford any genuine fatis¬ fadion to a reader of taftc ; it v/ere, indeed, better to err on the fide of elegance and ftudied phrafeology, for that would at leaft iraprefs more ftrongly the objed of your letter, and intereft more the pafiions of author, who, delig-hted with flattery, en¬ deavours to allure it ftill ftronger by artful and reiterated reprehenflons. It may in¬ deed be afferted, with fome degree of con¬ fidence, that no man ever fought praife with greater avidity, and yet feemed to repel it with more apparent difguft, than did Pope.
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