386 Romances and Novels. [Chap. XIX^ 



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 com- 

 mitted to his tuition. The style of this celebrated 

 poem * 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 f. About twenty years afterwards 

 the same celebrated writer published his Gulliver's 

 Travels, a performance which was, 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. 



* Telemachus, though not written in verse, is so poetical in its 

 character, that it may with propriety be denominated apoem. 



t This praise must be received with qualification. The Tale of 

 a Tub contains some images and illusions highly indelicate, and 

 even grossly offensive. The author is also chargeable with treating 

 serious things, in this performance, with too much levity. 



