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THE GUARDIAN .
N ° 25.
lent writings were arraigned , and as many very indifferent ones applauded, more (as it ſeemed to me) upon the account of their date, than upon any intrinſic value or demerit. The converſa tion ended with great encomiums upon my lord
Verulam's Hiſtory of Henry the VIlth . The company were unanimous in their approbation of it. I was too well acquainted with the tra of that book throughout the whole nation, to venture my thoughts, upon it. ditional vogue
Neither would I now offer my judgment upon that work to the public ( ſo great a veneration have I for the memory of a man whoſe writings
are the glory of our nation), but that the au thority of fo leading a name may perpetuate a vicious taſte amongſt us, and betray future hiſtorians to copy after a model, whichI cannot help thinking far from complete.
As to the fidelity of the hiſtory, I have
nothing to ſay; to examine it impartially in that view would require much pains and leiſure. But as to the compoſition of it, and ſometimes the
choice of matter, I am apt to believe it will ap pear a little faulty to an unprejudiced reader. A compleat hiſtorian ſhould be endowed with the eſſential qualifications of a great poet. His ſtyle muſt be majeſtic and grave, as well as ſimple and unaffected ; his narration ſhould be animated, ſhort, and clear, and ſo as even to outrun the
impatience of the reader, if poſſible. This can
only be done by being very ſparing and choice in words, by retrenching all cold and fuperfluous circumſtances in an action, and by dwelling upon fuch alone as are material, and fit to delight
