pe, before he was talked of as a Poet in Town.

There is not, perhaps, any harder task than to tame the natural wildness
of Wit, and to civilize the Fancy. The generality of our old English
Poets abound in forced conceits and affected phrases; and even those who
are said to come the nearest to exactness, are but too often fond of
unnatural beauties, and aim at something better than perfection. If Mr.
ADDISON's example and precepts be the occasion that there now begins to
be a great demand for Correctness, we may justly attribute it to his
being first fashioned by the ancient Models, and familiarized to
Propriety of Thought and Chastity of Style.

Our country owes it to him, that the famous Monsieur BOILEAU first
conceived an opinion of the English Genius for Poetry, by perusing the
present he made him of the _Musae Anglicanae_. It has been currently
reported, that this famous French poet, among the civilities he shewed
Mr. ADDISON on that occasion, affirmed that he would not have written
against PERRAULT, had he before seen such excellent Pieces by a modern
hand. Such a saying would have been impertinent, and unworthy [of]
BOILEAU! whose dispute with PERRAULT turned chiefly upon some passages in
the Ancients, which he rescued from the misinterpretations of his
adversary. The true and natural compliment made by him, was that those
books had given him a very new Idea of the English Politeness, and that
he did not question but there were excellent compositions in the native
language of a country, that professed the Roman Genius in so eminent a
degree.

The first English performance made public by him, is a short copy of
verses _To Mr. DRYDEN_, with a view particularly to his Translations.

This was soon followed by a Version of the fourth _Georgic_ of VIRGIL; of
which Mr. DRYDEN makes very honourable mention in the _Postscript_ to his
own Translation of VIRGIL's _Works_: wherein, I have often wondered that
he did not, at the same time, acknowledge his obligation to Mr. ADDISON,
for giving the _Essay upon the Georgics_, prefixed to Mr. DRYDEN's
Translation. Lest the honour of so exquisite a piece of criticism should
hereafter be transferred to a wrong Author, I have taken care to insert
it in this Collection of his _Works_.

Of some other copies of Verses, printed in the _Miscellanies_ while he
was young, the largest is _An Account of the greatest English Poets_; in
the close of which, he insinuates a design he then had