TO TUE READ.ER; iii . I know that natural temper makes }JOetry savour to several wise and learned men, as differently as meat~ do to various appetites. I know such learned discreet men, that know not what a tune is, nor can difference one from another. · I wonder at them, and oft doubt whether it be an accident, or an integral of humanity which they want. ' Annatus, the Jesuit, iw his answer to Dr. Twisse, De Scienlia Media, commends his poetry (for a ~oem added in the end) in scorn, as if it were a disgrace to a School-Divine. I take one sign of an acumen of wit to make ·it likely thaLthe man bath tlu? same wit for other work. ' For myself, I confess .that harmony and melody are the pleasure and elevation of my soul, and have made a Psalm of Praise in the Holy Assembly the chief delightful exer- · cise of my religion and my life; and bath helped to bear down all the objections which I haveheard ~gainst Church~ music, and against the 14!lth and 150th Psalms. It was not the least comfort that I had in the converse of my late dear wife, that our first in the morning, and last in bed at night, was a Psalm of Praise· (till the hearing of others interrupted it.) Let those that savour not melody, leave others to their different appetites, and be content. to be so far strangers to their delights~ These times have produced many excellent Poets; among whom, for strength of wit, Dr. Abraham Cowley justly bears th~ bell. I much value Mr. Woorlford's paraphrase on the Psalms, though his genius (or somewhat else) expound some Psalms, so as the next age will confute. A woman's l*oems, the Lady Katherine Philips•s~ are far above contempt• . But that is best to me which is the most holy. I have known good men that were skilled in music, and much delighted in it, and yet had a conceit that it was unlawf'ul in a Psalm or holy exercise. I so much differed from them, that I scarce cared for it any where else; and if it might not be holily used, it should never have been used for me. Honest George Withers, though a rustic Poet, bath been very acceptable, as to some for his Pl,'opbeciefl, so to others
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