Excerpt from Characteristicks, Vol. 3: Miscellaneous Reflections on the Proceeding Treatises, and Other Critical Subjects; A Notion of the Tablature, or Judgement of Hercules, With a Letter Concerning Design Mifc. 1.writing' - It mufi be.own'd that fince wvthis happy Method was ef'tablifh'd, the Harvefi of Wit has been more plentiful, and the Labourers more in number than heretofore. 'tis well known to the able in tbe Writing Art; That it is to conceive l/vit, 'tis the ing imaginable to be deliver'd certain Terms. Nothing cou'd fevere or rigid than the Conditions formerly prefcrib'd to Writers; When CR 1 T 1 CI SM took place, and Regu-a larity and Order were thought eftential in atreatife. The Notion of a genuine Work, a legitimate and jnfi 'pieee, has certainly been the Occafion of great Timidity and Backward'nefs among the Adventurers in Wit: And the Impofition of fuoh firift Laws and Rules of Compofition, has fet heavy on the free Spirits and forward Genius's of Mankind. 't was a fake, it feems, which our Forefathers bo which, for our parts, we have ge thrown off. In efi'eet, 'the invidiom Di fiine'tions 'of Baffin/y and Legitirnney being at length remov'd the natural and lawful Iiiue of the Brain comes 'with like advan tage into the World: And Wit (mere wit) is well receiv'd; without examination of ibe Kindfior cenfure of' the Form. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.