us corporation, and
uniformly square their conduct accordingly. It was therefore
unjust, as well as imprudent, in you, Sir, who are a popular
writer, and whose works are read by every body, to endeavour
to render sceptical free-thinkers, from their own principles
the fastest and sincerest friends to religion in general,
the objects of odium and detestation to the believers in
that particular religion, which happens to be at present
established by law. This, Sir, and I shall say no more,
I hope may be said, from general principles, without offence
to any party, without determining or declaring my own
sentiments, which are in the right, and which in the wrong,
with respect to the truth of their opinions.

I now proceed to the last thing proposed in these remarks,
to examine how far your compositions have a natural tendency
to advance virtue. They are all strictly dramatical, and
therefore, whether they have a good or a bad tendency, they
must exert themselves with a stronger influence on the minds
of those who are affected by them. In all works of this
kind, in order to make them truly valuable and useful, all,
at least one of these three things ought to be done. First,
by the constitution of the plot or the fable, some great and
useful moral ought to be enforced and recommended. In the
second place, the characters which are introduced ought to
be so contrived, that the readers should be induced to
imitate their virtues, or avoid their vices. Or, lastly,
some one great moral virtue ought to be inculcated, by
making it the characteristic of the Hero, or the chief
person in the dramatic work. In these, as in every other
species of poetry and composition, the divine Homer has
excelled all other writers, he reigns unrivalled in them
all, and will for ever be without a competitor; insomuch,
that one certain way of judging the merit or demerit of all
other authors, is, to enquire how near they have approached,
or how far they have fallen short of this standard of
perfection in writing. I shall now examine how far you, in
your several performances, have succeeded, with respect to
these articles, in the same order wherein they are set down.
I have perused your late work, Grandison, carefully, and I
hope impartially, with this view, and for my Heart I cannot
so much as perceive the least shadow of either plot, fable,
or action. If there are any, they certainly lie far out of
the reach of my gross observation. Obvious they ar