A TRIP TO HOLLAND.

Now then, in like manner with my deceased, but never-to-be-forgotten parent, Mr. Tristram Shandy,* I shall begin this portion

-"Have a care, Sir-keep clear of imitation-remember Horace O imitatores, servum pecus!'"

"A little patience, good Mr. Critic."

"And this, Madam, is your son? Bless me! how extremely like his father! Every look, every action, every feature, I protest! What a wonderful imitation!"

"Imitation?" My dear Sir, what are you thinking about? Imitation is the work of art; and the likeness of my son to his father is merely the effect of nature: you surely".

True, Madam, true-you are certainly right-and pray, Mr. Aristarchus, do you not imagine that there may be the same homogeneity, the same spontaneity— (will your honours allow me talk thus ?)-in a word, do you not imagine that there may be a resemblance of soul, as well as of body? And that Nature may sometimes operate with the one, in exactly the same manner that she so frequently operates with the other? Consider this attentively; and when you meet with a writer

* The Reviewers have acknowledged the relationspip, so no one, I hope, will dispute it.

who has caught the style and manner of an excellent original, do not be so ready to cry out, a 'servile imitator!' No, no; if you really perceive a likeness, honestly acknowledge it; and, in the spirit of a trueborn Englishman, boldly pronounce him a chip of the old block.'"*

"A chip of the old block,”—what a vulgar expression! exclaims the critic-but 'tis done, 'faith; and I never blot-what shall I do?—Why I must e'en shelter myself, with Terence, behind a scrap of Latin-Ex homine hunc natum dicas.

"Well but, my dear Sir, if you, who are so very bad a swimmer, will thus foolishly venture out of your depth, and run the hazard of drowning, is it my fault? Or if you will pursue an ignis fatuus, a will-o'th'wisp, and by that means tumble into a pit, can I possibly help it? -Do look at yonder cloud, now-there, that in the shape of a camelt-you see it, do you not?"

"See it? impossible! why, Sir, had I the eye of an eagle"

"Prithee, Aristarchus, walk this way-step with me into yonder classical-'psha! what a blunder !—into yonder chirurgical school-observe that anatomist there -see how very awkwardly he holds his pen!-his scalpel, I mean. Do, young gentleman, prithee take care you will certainly cut yourself instead of the

"It is, perhaps, juster to say, that a previous correspondency of character impelled to imitate, than that imitation itself produced that correspondency of character: at least, it will be allowed to incline a writer strongly to imitation; and, where a congenial spirit appears to provoke him to it, a candid critic will not be forward to turn this circumstance to the dishonour of his invention."

Again

"The most original writer as certainly takes a tincture from the authors in which he has been most conversant, as water, from the beds of earth or minerals, it hath happened to run over."-BISHOP HURD on Imitation. But you had better read the whole Essay.

This is not an imitation, but a quotation.—But if any critic would rather choose to consider it as plagiarism, I have not the smallest objection.

subject you are preparing to dissect-you will indeed. Slash! there, 'tis done-did I not tell you so? My dear Sir, how can you be SO ...

“Here now I hold up half a dozen lights, as my father would have said-you understand me?—You perceive the ἀναλογία ?”

"Um ?-Eh ?-What the deuce are you talking about?"

66

My good Sir, how can you be so stupid.-Well, but you see the"

"See-why, good heavens, Mr. Shandy, I am placed directly against the sun."

"Cry you mercy, Sir-I really never thought of that." "My dear Sir, how can you be so

I had at first a violent inclination to have made up the above line entirely of stars and dashes. It would have puzzled "those rogues, the critics," as Bayes expresses it. But then I might have been told, that my book was either dull or obscure, or-though, by the way, I think it no little compliment to the reader, to leave him something to discover.—Aye, and it will hold good in other cases too; and yonder matronly lady is entirely of my opinion; for if nothing be concealed

-Do, my dearest Lydia, think of this in your dress; and when next you appear in public, leave a little for the imagination.

THE TRAVELLER.

ROAD TO BODEGRAVE.

WHAT should we think of a traveller, who, in all his journeyings, had never wandered from the beaten road? Who had never even looked either to the right hand or to the left, however beautiful the prospect, however

diversified the scene? Should we not think him the most foolish, and the most insensible of men? And might we not, with infinite reason, condemn him for his want of taste?

In such a manner, however, does the ordinary reader travel through a book. Any passage which is not immediately understood-any thing, in short, which requires a particular investigation, is hastily and inconsiderately passed over: in a word, nothing is sought after, and nothing is esteemed, but what is lying absolutely on the surface.

I am now arrived at Bodegrave: at which place, with your leave, Messieurs, we will make some little stay; for the road I have lately travelled through has been so very thick bestrewed with thorns, that

"Your last stage, Sir, was, I think, from Leyden to Bodegrave.-It must have been a terrible journey, indeed!"

"The most delightful one in nature, Sir. The beauty, the fertility of the country surpasses"

"Well, but if the road is so entirely covered with thorns"

"Thorns!-the road to Bode-Hey-day! what a time has an author of this!--Why, Sir, you had better throw aside the book. I was speaking of the thorny road of criticism, through which I have so lately travelled. Ha! ha! your observation reminds me-Why, thou art certainly descended in a right line from Captain Tobias Shandy. My dear Sir, I am heartily glad to see you.

"Well, but if you were going to Amsterdam, what the plague are you doing at Bodegrave?-Why, Sir, the direct line from Leyden to Amsterdam❞—

"But, Sir, I seldom move in a direct line 'tis so

*"'Tis a pity, said my father, considering the ingenuity these learned men have shown in their solutions of noses-Can noses be dissolved? said my uncle Toby."-Tristram Shandy, vol. iii. p. 45.

dull, so mechanical.* What! dost imagine that I am under the necessity of travelling in as direct a line as a curate to his church; or as Doctor Slop to Shandy-Hall, when his obstetric aid was wanted by my grandmother? No, Sir, no-I generally proceed in a curve-and a curve being the true line of beauty (as either Mr. Hogarth, or yonder crooked gentleman will inform you‡), it is my intention to pursue it invariably throughout my travels-Aye, and if you employ the whole of your sagacity, you may possibly discover that I keep it regularly (or irregularly, if you like it better) in my account of them too."

"A word in your ear.

If the public be pleased with

this little book, I will publish an account of my journey into Switzerland, in spite of all the

universe."§

critics in the

"But this is nothing to my travels, so I twicetwice beg pardon for it." Allons!

DISAPPOINTMENT.

LEYDEN.

MONSIEUR DE MONTFAUCON and I were so heartily tired of the ordinary conveyance by the treckschute, that we determined on changing our mode of travelling; and

For once, however, I should have proceeded immediately from Leyden to Amsterdam, merely to oblige my companion, Monsieur De M. But as that gentleman received information at Bodegrave, that his presence at Amsterdam was not so immediately requisite as had been at first intimated to him, he consented to our proceeding to that place by the more agreeable route of Bodegrave, Utrecht, &c.

See Hogarth's Analysis of Beauty. See Hay's Essay on Deformity. § This must not be understood as alluding to the periodical publications called Reviews, &c., the writers of which have spoken of my former works with candour and impartiality.