the youth in that university, and serve for as proper an illustration of the absurdity of the poet's image, as that ancient picture which Ælian mentions, where Homer was figured with a stream running from his mouth, and a group of poets lapping it up at a distance. But, besides a certain decorum which is requisite to constitute a perfect metaphor, a writer of true taste and genius will always single out the most obvious images, and place them in the most unobserved points of resemblance. Accordingly, all allusions which point to the more abstruse branches of the arts or sciences, and with which none can be supposed to be acquainted but those who have gone far into the deeper studies, should be carefully avoided, not only as pedantic, but impertinent; as they pervert the single use of this figure, and add neither grace nor force to the idea they would elucidate. The most pleasing metaphors, therefore, are those which are derived from the more frequent occurrences of art or nature, or the civil transactions and customs of mankind. Thus, how expressive, yet, at the same time, how familiar, is that image which Otway has put into the mouth of Metellus, in his play of Caius Marius, where he calls Sulpicius That mad wild bull whom Marius lets loose On each occasion, when he'd make Rome feel him, But I never met with a more agreeable, or a more significant allusion, than one in Quintus Curtius, which is borrowed from the most ordinary object in common life. That author represents Craterus as dissuading Alexander from continuing his Indian expedition, against enemies too contemptible, he tells him, for the glory of his arms; and concludes his speech with the following beautiful thought: Cito gloria obsolescit in sordidis hostibus; nec quidquam indignius est quam consumi eam ubi non potest ostendi. Now I am got into Latin quotations, I cannot forbear mentioning a most beautiful passage, which I lately had the pleasure of reading, and which I will venture to produce as equal to any thing of the same kind, either in ancient or modern composition. I met with it in the speech of a young orator, to whom I have the happiness to be related, and who will one day, I persuade myself, prove as great an honour to his country, as he is at present to that learned society of which he is a member. He is speaking of the writings of a celebrated prelate, who received his education in that famous seminary to which he belongs, and illustrates the peculiar elegance which distinguishes all that author's performances, by the following just and pleasing assemblage of diction and imagery: In quodcumque opus se parabat (et per omnia sane versatile illius se duxit ingenium) nescio quá luce sibi soli propriá, id illuminavit ; haud dissimili ei aureo Titiani radio, qui per totam tabulam gliscens, eum vere suam denuntiat. As there is nothing more entertaining to the imagination, than the productions of the fine arts; there is no kind of similitudes or metaphors which are, in general, more striking than those which allude to their properties and effects. It is with great judgment, therefore, that the ingenious author of the dialogue concerning the decline of eloquence among the Romans, recommends to his orator a general acquaintance with the whole circle of the polite arts. A knowledge of this sort furnishes an author with illustrations of the most agreeable kind, and sets a gloss upon his compositions which enlivens them with singular grace and spirit. Were I to point out the beauty and efficacy of metaphorical language, by particular instances, I should rather draw my examples from the moderns than the ancients; the latter being scarcely, I think, so exact and delicate in this article of composition, as the former. The great improvements, indeed, in natural knowledge, which have been made in these later ages, have opened a vein of metaphor entirely unknown to the ancients, and enriched the fancy of modern wits with a new stock of the most pleasing ideas: a circumstance, which must give them a very considerable advantage over the Greeks and Romans. I am sure, at least, of all the writings with which I have been conversant, the works of Mr. Addison will afford the most abundant supply of this kind, in all its variety and perfection. Truth and beauty of imagery is, indeed, his characteristical distinction, and the principal point of eminence which raises his style above that of every author in any language that has fallen within my notice. He is every where highly figurative; yet, at the same time, he is the most easy and perspicuous writer I have ever perused. The reason is, his images are always taken from the most natural and familiar appearances; as they are chosen with the utmost delicacy and judgment. Suffer me only to mention one out of a thousand I could name, as it appears to me the finest and most expressive that ever language conveyed. It is in one of his inimitable papers upon Paradise Lost, where he is taking notice of those changes in nature, which the author of that truly divine poem describes as immediately succeeding the fall. Among other prodigies, Milton represents the sun in an eclipse; and at the same time, a bright cloud in the western region of the heavens descending with a band of angels. Mr. Addison, in order to show his author's art and judgment in the conduct and disposition of this sublime scenery, observes, "the whole theatre of nature is darkened, that this glorious machine may appear in all its lustre and magnificence." I know not, Orontes, whether you will agree in sentiment with me; but, I must confess, I am at a loss which to admire most upon this occasion, the poet or the critic. There is a double beauty in images of this kind, when they are not only metaphors, but allusions. I was much pleased with an instance of this uncommon species, in a little poem, entitled The Spleen. The author of that piece, (who has thrown together more original thoughts than I ever read in the same compass of lines) speaking of the advantages of exercise in dissipating those gloomy vapours, which are so apt to hang upon some minds, employs the following image : Throw but a stone, the giant dies. You will observe, Orontes, that the metaphor here is conceived with great propriety of thought, if we consider it only in its primary view; but when we see it pointing still farther, and hinting at the story of David and Goliath, it receives a very considerable improvement from this double application. It must be owned, some of the greatest authors, both ancient and modern, have made many remarkable slips in the management of this figure, and have sometimes expressed themselves with as much impropriety as an honest sailor of my acquaintance, a captain of a privateer, who wrote an account to his owners of an engagement, "in which he had the good fortune," he told them, "of having only one of his hands shot through the nose." The great caution, therefore, should be, never to join any idea to a figurative expression, which would not be applicable to it in a literal sense. Thus Cicero, in his treatise De Claris Oratoribus, speaking of the family of the Scipios, is guilty of an impropriety of this kind: O generosam stirpem (says he) et tamquam in unam arborem plura genera, sic in istam domum multorum insitam atque illuminatam sapientiam. Mr. Addison, likewise, has fallen into an error of the same sort, where he observes, "There is not a single view of human nature, which is not sufficient to extinguish the seeds of pride." In this passage he evidently unites images together which have no connexion with each other. When a seed has lost its power of vegetation, I might, in a metaphorical sense, say it is extinguished: but when, in the same sense, I call that disposition of the heart which produces pride, the seed of that passion, I cannot, without introducing a confusion of ideas, apply any word to seed but what corresponds with its real properties or circumstances. Another mistake in the use of this figure, is, when different images are crowded too close upon each other; or, (to express myself after Quintilian) when a sentence sets out with storms and tempests, |