because circumstances are sometimes added, to adorn or complete the picture, without being intended to infer any application. Allegory differs from metaphor and simile in another point. Almost all the subjects of allegory are personified; and these consist sometimes of things inanimate, sometimes of abstract ideas. Few metaphors or similes admit personification. 302. Allegories may be divided into three kinds : first, those calculated for ornament: secondly, those designed for instruction: and, thirdly those intended both to adorn and instruct. Example. Akenside employs a beautiful allegory, of the ornamental kind, to communicate a very familiar sentiment, that industry is necessary to acquire reputation in every line of life, though some men are more susceptible of culture than others. "In vain, Without fair Culture's kind parental aid, His will obsequious, whether to produce Analysis. The chief merit of this example appears to be situated entirely in the expression. 303. The principal purpose of the second sort of allegories, is to communicate instruction. com Example. Quinctilian informs us, (lib. 8.) that the following reply of the Lacedæmonians, to Philip, king of Macedon, demanding co plance with some unreasonable requisition, and threatening hostilities in case of reluctance, was famous over all Greece. To the requisition of Philip, the Lacedæmonians returned this laconic answer, that "Dionysius was at Corinth." Analysis. Philip knew well the history of Dionysius, and they left him to make the application. You will understand the import of this answer, when you are informed, that Dionysius was king of Syracuse, in Sicily; that he was banished from his country and crown, on account of his tyranny; and that to procure subsistence, he had been obliged to submit to the humiliating employment of teaching a school in Corinth. 304. Besides these specimens of allegory, the ancients frequently employ a moral species, in order to recommend the principles and practice of virtue to the imagination, as well as to the understanding. The moderns sometimes follow them in this. Illus. The address and knowledge of human nature displayed by this contrivance merit much commendation. The authors of ancient Greece, in all popular writings, both political and moral, discover much attachment to allegorical composition. The Socratic morals, of which Plato and Xenophon have left us so many specimens, abound with figurative allusions to the arts and occupations of life; and the greater part of the arguments they contain are deduced from analogy. All these specimens have much merit; but the writings which we have particularly in view, are the beautiful Allegory of Prodicus, preserved by Xenophon, in his Memorabilia Socratis, and the pleasant picture of human life exhibited in the Tabulature of Cebes. 305. THE ALLEGORY OF PRODICUS proceeds upon the supposition that Hercules, before he undertook the career of life, retired to deliberate, whether he should take the route which conducted him to the mansions of Pleasure, or the path which led to the temple of Virtue. Illus. In this critical situation, he is accosted by the goddesses of these temples, under the allegorical names of Minerva and Venus, who by turns persuade him to accompany them to their respective abodes. The person, the dress, the manners of the goddesses, are picturesque and characteristic. Pleasure addresses him first, and hastens her pace to anticipate her rival. She invites him to partake all those enjoyments, which the most luxuriant imagination can figure; and her rival listens with patience till she enumerates the gratifications she had to bestow. Virtue then accosts him in a modest, but decisive tone. She acquaints him, that no true fame, happiness, or gratification, is to be procured without great designs and good deeds; and that merit alone can secure the respect and rewards both of gods and men. Having explained her views, it was necessary she should expatiate on the vanity and futility of the enjoyments promised by Pleasure; and the author has admirably preserved the delicacy of the piece, and the modesty of Virtue, by making Pleasure interrupt the speech of her rival, and begin the attack. Pleasure attempts to infer, from the confession of Virtue herself, the labour and fatigue which awaited her votaries. Virtue retorts with severity and justice. She triumphs over her rival, and prompts Hercules to undertake these great and meritorious achievements, which have rendered him the object and admiration of all ages. 306. THE TABULATURE OF CEBES is constructed on a larger scale, and leads to allusions much more R particular. It proceeds from the supposition, that some uncommon painting, alluding to the rarity of the knowledge and practice of virtue, of which few people understood the meaning, had been suspended in the temple of Saturn. Illus. 1. The painting consisted of three compartments; one very large, comprehending the other two. The first compartment represented human life, into which all men enter; the other two compartments denote the division of men into good and bad, the larger containing the bad, and the lesser the good. Error and ignorance appear at the gate of the first compartment, and of their cup all men drink some portion. Prejudices, predilections, and pleasures, next succeed in the garb of harlots, to seduce; and by them also all mankind are, more or less, misled. If they are followed too far, they conduct their votaries into the larger compartment, and consign them to Extravagance, Luxury, Avarice, or Flattery, who Soon commit them to Sorrow, Remorse, Punishment, and Despair. After wandering for some time in the regions of Folly, their ruin is completed, unless, by accident, they encounter the great physician Repentance, who, if they are willing to submit to his directions, undertakes their cure, and finally conducts them to the small compartment, and the happy abodes of Wisdom. 2. But though some men reach the regions of Wisdom by this route, it is not the most potent path; that path, much less frequented than it ought to be, stretches up an eminence so steep, that many travellers approach and survey it, but never attempt to surmount it. On this, Temperance and Moderation have occupied statious, and are ready to succour every candidate who needs their assistance. Fortitude and Activity soon join them, after ascending the eminence, and lead them to the abodes of Wisdom and Happiness. Here they meet with Prosperity, Tranquility, Satisfaction, and Health, in the first place; and afterwards, with a great group of the most pleasant and happy companions, Integrity, Contentment, Friendship, Knowledge, Wealth, Dignity, Fame. They are, in a word, rendered superior to the greater part of those misfortunes, which so much disturb the happiness of mankind; and experience as much of the enjoyments of gods as is competent to mortal men. Corol. Such views of human life are extremely captivating, particularly to young minds. They array virtue in the most charming colours. They engage the imagination, and even the passions, on her side, and form the most powerful bulwark against the encroachment of Iniquity and Folly. 307. The third sort of allegories are calculated both for ornament and instruction; and of this species may be accounted the allegorical personifications which are often introduced into epic poetry, and sometimes into tragedy. Example. 1. No picture can more forcibly impress the imagination, no reasoning can so effectually excite the aversion of the heart, as the allegories of Sin and Death, in Paradise Lost. The poet paints, fret Sin, and then Death, guarding the gates of hell at the fall of Adam and Eve. Before the gates there sat, On either side, a formidable shape. The one seem'd woman to the waist, and fair, "The other shape, If shape it might be call'd that shape had nene, And shook a dreadful dart; what seem'd his head Analysis. These allegorical figures are strongly marked, and the resemblance of their characters to their effects produced in life is too obvious to need any comment. The picture which Virgil exhibits of Fame, in the fourh Æneid, possesses similar merit, and is deduced from the same principles*. Example. 2 The subsequent picture of Slander resembles that of But Virgil's Fame is a mixed allegorical composition, which will stand the test of criticism in poetry; because, in writing, the allegory can easily be distinguished from the historical part. No person mistakes Virgil's Fame for a real being. Nor is the Tabulature of Cebes considered otherwise than a supposed picture. But in the History of Mary de Medicis, painted in some pictures, which (in 1817) I have seen, decorating the gallery of the Louvre, a perpetual jumble of real and allegorical personages, that produce a discordance of parts, and an obscurity upon the whole, is before the spectator's eyes. Real personages, Nereids and Tritons, fiction and reality, are mixed in the same group; a monstrous composition, only outdone by Louis XIV.'s enormous chariot, intended to represent that of the sun, surrounded with men and women, representing the four ages of the world, the celestial signs, the seasons, the hours, &c.! Fame in Virgil, and is drawn with great vigour of imagination, and much allegorical merit. It is found in Shakspeare's Cym beline. "No, 'tis Slander, Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue All corners of the world, kings, queens, and states, 308. All the great poets have indulged in this species of figure. Homer personifies prayers, and converts them into amiable beings, under the feigned appellation of "Jove's daughters," who are concerned for the happiness of mankind; and recommend attachment to the worship and service of the gods, as the best means of recovering or preserving that happiness. Scholia 1. Allegory is not very common, either for purposes of ornament or instruction. An extraordinary share both of ingenuity and imagination is requisite to ensure success; and the rising genius, of generous heart, and promising parts, who feels an inclination for allegorical writing, must guard against quaint ornaments, and the extending of allusions to too great minuteness. Let him always study brevity, and remember, that resemblances which have cost him much time to devise, are likely to cost the reader as much time to perceive; the consequences of which need no illustration. 2. As allegories are in a great measure the work of imagination, they cannot be admitted into any species of writing much calculated to interest the passions. All the arguments against long metaphors, apply with double force against allegories of the second and third kinds, which seldom can be formed with sufficient brevity for their admission. But the first species of allegorics, which elevate and adorn a common sentiment, are of general use; and in employing them, care should be taken that the phraseology be all figurative, that the attributes of the primary and the secondary subject be not confounded and interchanged. Example 1. The most correct writers are sometimes faulty in this particular; even Horace and Boileau are not exceptionable. Horace, in the following example, applies two epithets to the subject of the allegory, which can be applicable only to the primary subject, |