168 Romances and Novels. 



One of the earliest productions of this kind was 

 the Adventures of Telemachus, by Archbishop Fe- 

 nelon, which appeared at the beginning of the 

 century. This work was intended to assert and 

 exemplify those moral and political maxims which 

 the pious and benevolent author had before taught 

 to the Dukes of Burgundy and Anjou, when 

 committed to his tuition. The style of this cele- 

 brated poem 3 ' is generally admired, the fiction is 

 ably conducted, and the moral is pure and sublime. 

 Its extensive circulation and great popularity are 

 well known. About the same time appeared the 

 Tale of a Tub, one of the first publications of Dean 

 Swift. The design of this allegorical fable was 

 to expose certain abuses and corruptions in learn- 

 ing and religion, especially the latter; and it has 

 been pronounced in felicity of wit, in force of sa- 

 tire, in copiousness of imagery, and in vivacity of 

 diction, to exceed all the subsequent productions 

 of the author. 2 About twenty years afterwards 

 the same celebrated writer published his Gidliver's 

 Travels, a performance which w r as, perhaps, more 

 read than any other of the age. This satirical 

 work is levelled at human pride and folly, at the 

 abuses of learning, at the absurdity of theorists 

 and projectors, and, especially, at the expedients 

 and blunders of politicians. In this, as in the 

 former, the fable is, in general, well conducted, 

 the satire is keen, the description admirable, and 

 the style at once easy, graceful, and vigorous. 

 But the work is by no means free from gross faults. 

 It discovers a prevailing fondness in the author for 

 filthy allusions, and indecent nauseating descrip- 



y TekaacBus, though not written in verse, is so poetical in its character, 

 that it may With propriety be denominated a poem. 



ss This praise must be received with qualification. The Tale of a Tub 

 contains some images and allusions highly indelicate, and even grossly of- 

 fensive. The author is also chargeable with treating serious things, in this 

 performance, with too much levitv. 



