in an epic poem. In his ode upon the taking of Namur he demands with a most serious countenance, whether the walls were built by Apollo or Neptune ? and in relating the passage of the Rhine, anno 1672, he describes the god of that river as fighting with all his might to oppose the French monarch; which is confounding fiction with reality at a strange rate. The French writers in general run into this error: wonderful the effect of custom, to hide from them how ridiculous such fictions are !

That this is a capital error in the Gierusalemme liberta, Tasso's greatest admirers must acknowledge: a situation can never be intricate, nor the reader ever in pain about the catastrophe, as long as there is an angel, devil, or musician, to lend a helping hand. Voltaire, in his essay upon epic poetry, talking of the Pharsalia, observes judiciously, "That the proximity of time, the noto"riety of events, the character of the age, en"lightened and political, joined with the solidity "of Lucan's subjects, deprived him of poetical "fiction." Is it not amazing, that a critic who reasons so justly with respect to others, can be so blind with respect to himself? Voltaire, not satisfied to enrich his language with images drawn from invisible and superior beings, introduces them into the action: in the sixth canto of the Henriade, St. Louis appears in person, and terrifies the soldiers; in the seventh canto, St. Louis sends the god of Sleep to Henry; and, in the tenth, the demons of Discord, Fanaticism, War, &c. assist Aumale in a single combat with Turenne, and are driven away by a good angel brandishing the sword of God. To blend such fictitious personages in the same action with mortals, makes a bad figure at any rate; and is intolerable in a history

so recent as that of Henry IV. But perfection is not the lot of man.*

I have tried serious reasonings upon this subject; but ridicule, I suppose, will be found a more successful weapon, which Addison has applied in an elegant manner: "Whereas the time of a ge "neral peace is, in all appearance, drawing near; "being informed that there are several ingenious "persons who intend to show their talents on so "happy an occasion, and being willing, as much "as in me lies, to prevent that effusion of non"sense, which we have good cause to apprehend; "I do hereby strictly require every person who "shall write on this subject, to remember that he "is a Christian, and not to sacrifice his catechism

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to his poetry, In order to it, I do expect of him, "in the first place, to make his own poem, without "depending upon Phoebus for any part of it, or "calling out for aid upon any of the muses by "name. I do likewise possitively forbid the send"ing of Mercury with any particular message or "despatch relating to the peace; and shall by no

means suffer Minerva to take upon her the shape "of any plenipotentiary concerned in this great "work. I do further declare, that I shall not al"low the destines to have had an hand in the

* When I commenced author, my aim was to amuse, and perhaps to instruct, but never to give pain. I accordingly avoided every living author, till the Henriade occurred to me as the best instance, I could find for illus trating the doctrine in the text and I yielded to the temptation, judging that my slight criticisms would never reach M. de Voltaire. They have however reached him; and have, as I am informed, stirred up some resentment. I am afflicted at this information; for what title have I to wound the mind more than the body? It would beside show ingratitude to a celebrated writer, who is highly entertaining, and who has bestowed on me many a delicious morsel. My only excuse for giving offence is, that it was undesigned; for to plead the censure is just, is no excuse. As the offence was public, I take this opportunity to make the apology equally so. I hope it will be sa tisfactory perhaps not.-I owe it however to my own character.

"deaths of the several thousands who have been "slain in the late war; being of opinion that all "such deaths may be well accounted for by the Christian system of powder and ball. I do "therefore strictly forbid the fates to cut the thread "of man's life upon any pretence whatsoever, un"less it be for the sake of the rhyme. And whereas "I have good reason to fear that Neptune will have "a great deal of business on his hands in several poems which we may now suppose are upon the "anvil, I do also prohibit his appearance, unless it "be done in metaphor, simile, or any very short ❝allusion; and that even here he may not be per"mitted to enter, but with great caution and circumspection. I desire that the same rule may be "extended to his whole fraternity of Heathen gods; "it being my design to condemn every poem to the flames in which Jupiter thunders, or exercises "any other act of authority which does not belong to him. In short, I expect that no Pagan agent “shall be introduced, or any fact related which a

man cannot give credit to with a good conscience. "Provided always, that nothing herein contained "shall extend, or be construed to extend, to several of the female poets in this nation, who shall still be left in full possession of their gods and goddesses, in the same manner as if this paper had "never been written.”*

The marvellous is indeed so much promoted by machinery, that it is not wonderful to find it embraced by the plurality of writers, and perhaps of readers. If indulged at all, it is generally indulged to excess. Homer introduceth his deities with no greater ceremony than as mortals; and Virgil has still less moderation: a pilot spent with watching cannot fall asleep and drop into the sea by natural

*Spectator, No. 523.

means: one bed cannot receive the two lovers, Eneas and Dido, without the immediate interposition of superior powers. The ridiculous in such fictions, must appear even through the thickest veil of gravity and solemnity.

Angels and devils serve equally with Heathen deities as materials for figurative language; perhaps better among Christians, because we believe in them, and not in Heathen deities. But every one is sensible,as well as Boileau, that the invisible powers in our creed make a much worse figure as actors in a modern poem, than the invisible powers in the Heathen creed did in ancient poems; the cause of which is not far to seek. The Heathen

deities, in the opinion of their votaries, were beings elevated one step only above mankind subject to the same passions and directed by the same motives; therefore not altogether improper to mix with men in an important action. In our creed, superior beings are placed at such a mighty distance from us, and are of a nature so different, that with no propriety can we appear with them upon the same stage; man, a creature much inferior, loses all dignity in the comparison.

There can be no doubt, that an historical poem admits the embellishment of allegory, as well as of metaphor, simile, or other figure. Moral truth, in particular, is finely illustrated in the allegorical manner; it amuses the fancy to find abstract terms, by a sort of magic, metamorphosed into active beings; and it is highly pleasing to discover a general proposition in a pictured event. But allegorical beings should be confined within their own sphere, and never be admitted to mix in the principal action, nor to co-operate in retarding or advancing the catastrophe. This would have a still worse effect than invisible powers; and I am ready to assign the reason. The impression of real ex

istence, essential to an epic poem, is inconsistent with that figurative existence which is essential to an allegory:* and therefore no means can more effectually prevent the impression of reality, than to introduce allegorical beings co-operating with those whom we conceive to be really existing. The love-episode, in the Henriade,t insufferable by the discordant mixture of allegory with real life, is copied from that of Rinaldo and Armida, in the Gierusalemme liberata, which hath no merit to entitle it to be copied. An allegorical object, such as Fame in the Eneid, and the temple of Love in the Henriade, may find place in a description: But to introduce Discord as a real personage, imploring the assistance of Love, as another real personage, to enervate the courage of the hero, is making these figurative beings aet beyond their sphere, and creating a strange jumble of truth and fiction. The allegory of Sin and Death in the Paradise Lost, is, I presume, not generally refished, though it is not entirely of the same nature with what I have been condemning: in a work comprehending the achievements of superior beings, there is more room for fancy than where it is confined to human actions.

What is the true notion of an episode? or how is it to be distinguished from the principal action ? Every incident that promotes or retards the catastrophe, must be part of the principal action. This clears the nature of an episode; which may be defined, "An incident connected with the principal ac"tion, but contributing neither to advance nor to "retard it." The descent of Eneas into hell doth not advance nor retard the catastrophe, and therefore is an episode. The story of Nisus and Euryalus,