132 On the' Machinery of the 



troduced, and, if i\%Q\x povyer sometimes raises 

 them above humankind, th^lr caprices, par- 

 t;ialitiesj and vices sink them much below the 

 human level. But it is to the reproach of the 

 a.ncient epic poems, that the gods are gene- 

 rally introduced, where, their agency is super- 

 fluous, and where human agency is fully 

 sufficient. It is almost laughable to contem-r 

 plate the queen of heaven and the queen of 

 smiles, uniting their superior agency to do — 

 What ! to bring iEneas and Dido to bed tOr 

 gather; which, if necessary to the plan of the 

 poeni, might well enough have been left to 

 pj'ain human nature, If the reconciliation of 

 tl>ese two contending deities, so as to be con- 

 sistent with the separate views of each, rcr 

 quired the event ; yet it must be confessed, 

 that their divine wisdom adopted a rather 

 vulgar method of accomplishing it. It might 

 have been managed as an affair of ingenuous 

 love ; and, if deities must be summoned, Juno 

 might have bestowed all her majesty on the 

 b<jro, and Venus all her seductive graces on 

 the Carthaginian queen. Thus the event 

 would have been accomplished with more 

 grace and dignity, th€ frailty of the fair one 

 would have been more extenuated, and the 

 gallantry of the Trojan better supported ; while 

 jt would have afforded a rich field of elegant 



