The poem will be written in rhyme, like the translation of the Iliad by Pope, and of the Eneid by Dryden; since it has been found by experience, that the verses of those poets not only make a deeper impression on the mind, but are more easily retained in the memory, than blank verse, which must necessarily be too diffuse, and in general can only be distinguished from prose by the affectation of obsolete or foreign idioms, inversions, and swelling epithets, all tending to destroy the beauty of our language, which consists in a natural sweetness and unaffected perspicuity: not to insist that a writer who finds himself obliged to confine his sentiments in a narrow circle, will be less liable to run into luxuriance, and more likely to attain that roundness of diction so justly admired by, the ancients. As to the monotony which many people complain of in our English rhymes, that defect, which is certainly no small one, if we admit only those endings which are exactly similar, must be compensated by a judicious variation of the pauses, an artful diversity of modulation, and chiefly by avoiding too near a return of the same endings.

The machinery is taken partly from the Socraticdoctrine of attendant spirits, or benevolent angels, like Thyrsis in the Masque of Comus; and partly from the Scriptural account of evil spirits worshipped in Asia, under the names of Baal, Astartè, Nisroc, Dagon, Mammon, Moloch, and in ancient Europe, where Cadmus introduced them under those of Jupiter, Venus, Mars, Neptune,

Vulcan,

Vulcan, Pluto.-If any objection be made to these machines, they may be considered as allegorical, like Spenser's knights and paynims; the good spirits may be said to represent the virtues, and the evil ones the vices.

The action, or story of the piece, is raised upon the tradition before mentioned, that the Phonicians first discovered the island of Britain; but the rest must be wholly supplied by invention.

A prince of Tyre, therefore, whom we may name Britanus or Britan, shocked at the cruelty of his countrymen in sacrificing their prisoners to idols, and at their impiety in paying divine honours to evil spirits, had meditated a voyage to some distant coast; with which intent, pretending to prepare for an expedition against some rival nation, he had built a number of barques, and secured to his interests a company of enterprizing youths, but was doubtful whither he should direct his course, till his attendant spirit, Ramiel, appeared to him in a vision, commending his pious resolution, and advising him to seek a beautiful isle in the west, where, after a variety of dangers on earth and sea, he would reign in peace, and be the progenitor of a noble race, who would profess a true and benevolent religion, and excel all other nations in learning, arts, and valour. At the same` time, the spirit shewed him the picture of a lovely nymph who then ruled the island, attended by damsels of her own nature. The prince, animated by this vision, and deeply enamoured with the

idea of the nymph, who, in the allegorical sense, represents Liberty, left the coast of Phoenicia, and sailed towards Egypt.

These circumstances, being previous to the action, are not related till the second book: for, at the opening of the poem, after the usual introduction, the prince is brought with his companions to the mouth of the Nile; he lands, and advances towards the city of Memphis, but is met in a forest by Ramiel, in the shape of a venerable sage, who conducts him to the palace of the Egyptian king, where he sees the temple of science, the pyramids (then just begun), and other amazing edifices. After a splendid repast, he is desired to relate the motives of his voyage.-The subject of the next book has been already explained; but it will be diversified, like all the rest, with several speeches, descriptions, and episodes.-The third book begins with a consultation of the evil deities worshipped in Phoenicia; whose various characters are delineated. The debate is opened by Baal, who, in a furious speech, complains of the insult offered to their temples, by the expedition of the Tyrians, and discourses with malignity on the future happiness of their descendants. Various stratagems are proposed, to obstruct their progress. At last, Astartè offers to allure the chief, with the love of pleasure; Mammon, to tempt him with riches; Dagon promises to attack his fleet, Nisroc to engage him in a desperate war, Moloch to assist his enemies by his enchantment, and Baal

himself

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himself to subvert his government, by instilling into his mind a fondness of arbitrary power. the mean while, the Tyrians are at sea, accompanied by Ramiel, who, in the character of a sage, had offered to conduct them; they are driven by a tempest back to Cyprus, where Astartè, in the shape of a beautiful princess, like the nymph before described, attempts to seduce the hero by all the allurements of voluptuousness, which he resists at length by the assistance of the guardian spirit, and leaves the island, where he had almost been induced to settle, mistaking it for the western isle described to him in his vision.-In the fourth book, after an invocation to the nymphs of Thames, the virgin Albina is represented conversing with her damsels in Albion ;-her dream, and love of the Tyrian prince, whose image had been shewn to her in a rivulet by the Genius of the isle. The Phoenicians, landing in Crete, are received by Baal, who had taken the form of the Cretan king, and discourses to the prince in praise of tyranny, but is confuted by the sage.-The fifth book represents a nation in peace; a meeting, raised by the instigation of Baal, is appeased; arts, manufactures, and sciences begin to flourish. As the Tyrians sail along the coast of the Mediterranean, the sage, at the request of Britan, describes to him the state of Greece, Italy, and the Gauls, and relates rather obscurely, by way of prophecy, the future glory and decline of Athens and Rome. -The Phoenicians reach the streights, at the open

ing of the sixth book. The evil spirits assemble, and determine, since most of their stratagems had failed, to attack them by violence. Dagon raises a tempest and a great commotion in the elements, so that the whole fleet is covered with darkness: Ramiel encourages the prince, and, pretending to retire from danger on account of his age, summons a legion of genii, or benevolent angels, and engages the evil spirits in the air. Nisroc, in hopes of intimidating Britan, appears to him in all his horrors; the prince expostulates with him, and darts a javelin at the spirit, but is seized by Mammon, and carried in a cloud to a distant part of the globe; upon which, Ramiel, whose power may be supposed to be limited, and who might think that the virtue of the prince should be put to a severe trial, leaves him for a time, and flies, in his own shape, to the mansion of the beneficent genii.-The seventh book is wholly taken up with a description of the opposite hemisphere, to which the prince is conveyed by Mammon, whose palace and treasure are described: the Tyrian chief is almost tempted to desist from his enterprise, and to reside in America with the adorers of Mammon:-the inconveniences of an oligarchy displayed. The evil spirits being dispersed, light returns to the Tyrians, who find themselves in the ocean, but, missing their leader and the sage, dispute about the regency, and are on the point of separating;-the danger of anarchy: At length, having an admiral and a commander, they land on

the