126 On the Machinerx) of the 



sovereign majesty of heaven, their lord and 

 her lord. Such are the personages, whose 

 favour and protection are io throw a lustre on 

 the mortal heroes of the poem, and whose 

 characters are to facilitate, and confer a dignity 

 on the moral instruction of the poem. 



It would, indeed, be tiresome and disgust- 

 ing to bring forward into your presence any 

 other of the celestial actors in the Epic, in the 

 view of moral ; nor is it my intention to pro- 

 - secute the disgusting detail. Such as Jupiter 

 and Juno are, such are they all, with little if 

 any variation of character. The amour of 

 Venus with Mars in the very court of heaven, 

 and the exposure of the adulterous pair to the 

 assembled gods, are a charmingly moral picture, 

 and such gods are wonderfully calculated to 

 aid the sublime views of the Epic Poem. In 

 whatever light we view them, this is the ge- 

 neral picture of them, that they are capricious 

 equally in their favour and their anger, profli- 

 gate in their manners, wicked from principle 

 as well as passion, interposing w^ith their aid 

 from no regard to justice or virtue, and where 

 their vengeance falls, oppressing their human 

 victims as their pleasure leads them ; and often 

 for no reason, but that of tyrants and cowards, 

 because their hand is uppermost. No instruc- 

 tion of worth and dignity can come from them. 



