t Knowledge of Mankind,
'tis impossible to attain to this Point. 'Tis difficult to
distinguish the different Forms, and, as one may say, the internal
Motives of different Characters. A mean Writer does only take a
Sketch of 'em; but a good Author paints them, sets them plainly in
Sight, and exposes them as they really are.

A Romance is consider'd in no other Light than as a Work composed
only for Amusement; but something else ought to be the Scope of it:
For every Book that has not the Useful as well as the Agreeable,
does not deserve the Esteem of good Judges. The Heart ought to be
instructed at the same time as the Mind is amused; and this is the
Quality with which the greatest Men have render'd their Writings
famous.

A Writer who, abounding with bold Fictions and Imaginations, amuses
the Readers for a matter of a dozen Volumes with Incidents, work'd
up artfully and importantly, and who nevertheless in the Close of
his Book entertains his Reader's Imagination with nothing but Rapes,
Duels, Sighs, Despair, and Tears[14]; has not the Talent of
instructing, nor can he attain to Perfection; for he possesses but
the least part of his Art. An Author who pleases without
instructing, does not please long; for he sees his Book grow mouldy
in the Bookseller's Shop, and his Works have the Fate of sorry
Sermons and cold Panegyric.

Heretofore Romances were nothing more than a Rhapsody of tragical
Adventures, which captivated the the Imagination and distracted the
Heart[15]. 'Twas pleasant enough to read them, but nothing more was
got by it than feeding the Mind with Chimaeras, which were often
hurtful. The Youth greedily swallow'd all the wild and gigantic
Ideas of those fabulous Heroes, and when their Genius's were
accustomed to enormous Imaginations, they had no longer a Relish for
the Probable. For some time past this manner of Thinking has been
chang'd: Good Taste is again return'd; the Reasonable has succeeded
in the place of the Supernatural; and instead of a Number of
Incidents with which the least Facts were overcharg'd, a plain
lively Narration is required, such as is supported by Characters
that give us the _Utile Dulci_.

Some Authors have wrote in this Taste, and have advanced more or
less towards Perfection, in proportion as they have copy'd
Nature[16].

There are others who carry Things to Extremity; for, by affecting to
appear natural, they become low and creeping, and have neither the
Talent of pleasing