Agamemnon's Prayer, in the third Book, is yet more humorous than any thing we have quoted.

O Jupiter! who, every Friday,

Art worshipt on a mount call'd Ida;
O Phoebus! and thou Mother Earth!
That gives to Thieves and Lawyers birth;
O Demons! and infernal Furies!
Whofe counfels aid Weftminster Juries;
Thou difcord-making Fiend that trudges
The fix month's circuit with the Judges;
And thou, the hellish Imp that brings
Sulphur to punish perjur'd Kings;
Be witneffes to what we fay,

Jf Paris Menelaus flay,

May he keep Nell, much good may't do him,
And make her true and faithful to him;
Whilft we, poor Devils, will depart,

And trudge it home with all our heart.

The Reader will perceive from these quotations, that this work is by no means deftitute of humour; and with those who are fond of this kind of verfification, it might have. paffed off very well, had not the bounds of decency been, in many places, fo infufferably tranfgreffed.

We remember to have feen a burlefque tranflation of part of the Iliad, printed about 130 years ago; before Cotton's Virgil travestie appeared. It was done with as much humour and drollery as Mr. Cotton's, or the prefent performance; and, if we remember rightly, with more decency than either of them. La

The House of Superftition, a Poem. By the Rev. Mr. Denton. 4to. 6d. Hinxman.

TH

HE Mufes are the handmaids of Truth, and are never more happily employed than when they are adding new ornaments to her perfon, or bringing new votaries to her temple It was in confideration of this their high office that they were faid to defcend from heaven, and to derive their origin from Jove. To difcover and expofe the mazes of fraud and error, to exhibit the clear images of things in their ideal mirror, and to direct mankind in the paths of truth and nature, were effential parts of their fublime commiffion. It is therefore with great propriety that Mr. Denton, one of their Priefts, but neither of the highest nor of the lowest order,

2

has

has invoked their affiftance to defcribe the House of Superstition; a monster that has spread destruction over the face of the earth. His Picture, however, is but a miniature; it is only a small sketch of the habitation of that infernal fiend, in which but a few of her diabolical attendants are introduced. As the Houfe of Superftition is evidently written in the style and manner of Mr. Thomfon's Caftle of Indolence, we wonder the Author did not fo far avail himself of his precedent, as to de-. fcribe the unhappy confequences in which the votaries of Superftition were involved, when they had been once deluded into her house. Here would have been a fine field for invention, for as Superftition has various forms, and produces different effects on different minds, a great variety of characters and circumstances might have been introduced; and in such a complicated fcene of human mifery, the pathetic powers of Poetry might have found abundant matter for affecting defcription and elegant complaint. Thus too the caufe of Truth would have been more effectually fupported; and as the Poet has at laft reprefented her difperfing the gloom of Superftition, and fnatching the facred volume from her hand, fhe would have appeared with much greater luftre, had the been described as refcuing from mifery and darkness those wretched beings, whofe unhappy circumftances had before been reprefented and deplored. Of these hints the Author may, if he pleases, avail himself in fome future Edition. We fhall now enquire into the merits of his Poem.

Thus the Houfe of Superftition makes its appearance to the Poet, in a vifion :

As when fair Morning dries her pearly tears,
The Mountain lifts o'er mifts its lofty head;
Thus new to fight a gothic Dome appears.
With the grey ruft of rolling years o'erfpread.
Here SUPERSTITION holds her dreary reign,
And her lip-labour'd orifons fhe plies

In tongue unknown, when Morn bedews the plain,
Or evening fkirts with gold the wettern skies;

To the dumb ftock fhe bends, or sculptur'd wall,

And many a Crofs fhe makes, and many a Bead lets fall.

In Poetry, as well as in Painting, every circumstance should be peculiarly characteristic. The House of Superftition is here defcribed without any other attributes than antiquity and the gothic order; now as there are ten thoufand buildings with the fame properties, that can by no means be called Houses of Superftition: the Painting is here imperfect, and

the

the Houfe of Superftition is here described with no more propriety than the city of London would be, were a number of houfes and fpires thrown together in perspective, without either the Monument or St. Paul's.

Near to the Dome a magic Pair refide,

Prompt to deceive, and practis'd to confound;

These two beings are Ignorance and Error. Ignorance is reprefented as a ftupid, liftlefs wretch, that lies in a dark cave without exerting any of his faculties. The picture of Error is as follows:

Where boughs entwining form an artful shade,

And in faint glimmerings juft admit the light,
There ERROR fits, in borrow'd white array'd,
And in TRUTH's form deceives the tranfient fight.
A thousand Glories wait her opening day,

Her beaming luftre when fair TRUTH imparts;
Thus ERROR would pour forth a spurious ray,

And cheat th' unpractis'd mind with mimic arts.
She cleaves with magic wand the liquid fkies,
Bids airy forms appear, and scenes fantastic rife.

Error is properly enough defcribed as affecting the appearance and qualities of Truth; and this is certainly a more agreeable image of her than that in the Fairy-Queen, which is enough to make a delicate Reader do a very indelicate thing.

The Porter that is here provided for the Houfe of Superftition is Prejudice, a very proper perfon indeed; but though the Author has rightly enough reprefented him as blind, we do not fee any propriety in calling him decrepid: perhaps it might not be amifs to change that epithet for one that fhould defcribe his obftinate and untractable temper. The bowl of infatuating liquor which he offers to every traveller, and by that means makes them fee objects in false lights, is a proper fymbol.

The fovereign Pontiff is honoured with a place in this Houfe, and is thus defcribed:

The first appear'd in pomp of purple pride,
With triple crown erect, and throned high;
Two golden keys hang dangling at his fide
To lock or ope the portals of the fky:
Couching and proftrate there (ah! fight unmeet!)
The crowned head would bow, and lick his dufty feet.

With bended arm he on a book reclin'd,

Faft lock'd with iron clafps from vulgar eyes;

3

Heav'n's

Heaven's gracious gift to light the wandering mind,

To lift fall'n man, and light him to the skies!
A man no more, a God he would be thought,
And 'mazed mortals blindly must obey;
With flight of hand he lying wonders wrought,

And near him loathfome heaps of reliques lay.
Strange legends would he read, and figmen s dire,
Of Limbus prifon'd fhades, and purgatory fire.

Penance and Indulgence are the perfonages next defcribed as inhabitants of the Houfe of Superftition, and then follows this juft description of a Monk.

With fhaven crown, in a fequefter'd cell,

A lazy Lubbard there was feen to lay;
No work had he fave fome few beads to tell,
And indolently fnore the hours away.
The nameless joys that blefs the nuptial bed,
The mystic rites of Hymen's hallow'd tie
Impure he deems, and from them ftarts with dread,
As crimes of fouleft ftain, and deepest dye.

No focial hopes hath he, no focial fears,

But fpends in lethargy devout the ling'ring years.

If we mistake not, devout lethargy is an expreffion that has been made ufe of by fome of our Divines, but it seems to want propriety; for Lethargy and Devotion must be totally incompatible.

The most detefable perfon that we find in the family of Superftition, is PERSECUTION. This monfter is her eldeftborn, and the most diabolical of all her offspring. No colours can be too horrible to paint him. With what deteftation must every liberal mind reflect on thofe dreadful scenes of maffacre and ruin which he produced among mankind, when affecting the authority of the benevolent author of Christianity, he trampled on his humane precepts; and, like the Thief in the Gofpel, came only to fteal, to kill, and to deStroy. Happy, could we boaft that this enlightened age were free from all marks of his impious violence! but while Superftition retains the leaft influence among mankind, PERSECUTION can never die. It must however seem strange, if, in a free country, from which the errors of Popery are banished, Religion fhould at any time think it neceflary to call in the aid of the Civil Power, when only her truth is called in queftion, or fhe is attacked by the Telum imbelle of Ridicule! Such proceedings would certainly be inconfiftent with the true fpirit of CHRISTIANITY, which profeffes only to pray for its Perfecutors.

Mr.

Mr. Denton's defcription of Perfecution is as follows:

Gnashing his teeth in mood of furious ire

Fierce PERSECUTION fate, and with ftrong breath
Wakes into living flame large heaps of fire,

And feasts on Murders, Maflacres, and Death.
Near him was plac'd PROCRUSTES' iron bed,
To ftretch or mangle to a certain fize;

To fee their writhing pains each heart must bleed,
To hear their doleful fhrieks and piercing cries:

Yet he beholds them with unmoisten'd eye,

Their writhing pains his fport, their moans his melody!

After these quotations, it will fcarce be neceffary to inform the Reader that this is a tolerable Poem. But there is nothing ftriking or uncommon in the thoughts; the verfification is not always elegant, nor the language correct. The Author's principles however are noble, free, and manly; and cannot be too much applauded.

La.

Refignation. In two Parts, and a Poffeript to Mrs. B——. 4to. 2s. Owen.

E L Ambition de la emprenta es una Colpa que no bafta arre pentirfe*, fays an antient Spanish Writer; and the truth of his remark we have frequently occafion to obferve and lament. It is not, however, to be wondered at; for Fame is a mistress whose favours we never ceafe to court, from the vigour of youth to the impotence of age. The candidates for literary reputation in particular are rarely fatisfied with the portion of fame they have acquired; while they behold others ftraining for thofe laurels with which they have been already crowned, they are ready to conclude that it could only happen through their own inactivity, that new competitors have ventured into the field. Forgetting that the Aonian tree affords an eternal fupply of branches, they feem apprehenfive left every new garland that is provided for the brow of merit, fhould take fomething from their own +-forgetting too that the

The ambition of appearing in print is a fault paft repentance. Thefe reflections were partly occafioned by the following Stanza in this Poem.

And fince of Genius in our Sex,

O ADDISON! with thee

The Sun is fet, how I rejoice

A Sifter-lamp to fee!

This