enriched by idioms borrowed from another tongue. I
said this was a very dangerous practice; and added, that I thought
Milton had often injured both his prose and verse by taking this liberty
too frequently. I recommended to him the prose works of Dryden as models
of pure and native English. I was treading upon tender ground, as I have
reason to suppose that he has himself liberally indulged in the
practice.

The same day I dined at Mr. Klopstock's, where I had the pleasure of a
third interview with the poet. We talked principally about indifferent
things. I asked him what he thought of Kant. He said that his reputation
was much on the decline in Germany. That for his own part he was not
surprised to find it so, as the works of Kant were to him utterly
incomprehensible--that he had often been pestered by the Kanteans; but
was rarely in the practice of arguing with them. His custom was to
produce the book, open it and point to a passage, and beg they would
explain it. This they ordinarily attempted to do by substituting their
own ideas. I do not want, I say, an explanation of your own ideas, but
of the passage which is before us. In this way I generally bring the
dispute to an immediate conclusion. He spoke of Wolfe as the first
Metaphysician they had in Germany. Wolfe had followers; but they could
hardly be called a sect, and luckily till the appearance of Kant, about
fifteen years ago, Germany had not been pestered by any sect of
philosophers whatsoever; but that each man had separately pursued his
inquiries uncontrolled by the dogmas of a master. Kant had appeared
ambitious to be the founder of a sect; that he had succeeded: but that
the Germans were now coming to their senses again. That Nicolai and
Engel had in different ways contributed to disenchant the nation;[235]
but above all the incomprehensibility of the philosopher and his
philosophy. He seemed pleased to hear, that as yet Kant's doctrines had
not met with many admirers in England--did not doubt but that we had too
much wisdom to be duped by a writer who set at defiance the common sense
and common understandings of men. We talked of tragedy. He seemed to
rate highly the power of exciting tears--I said that nothing was more
easy than to deluge an audience, that it was done every day by the
meanest writers.'

I must remind you, my friend, first, that these notes are not intended
as specimens of Klopstock's intellectual power, or even '_colloquial
prowess_,'