to , Poetry, [CiiAF. XX, 



of epic productions^ ^vas incorporated with En- 

 glish poetry, in the course of the century, by 

 the genius of Mr. Pope; and Fingal and Temo- 

 ra were recalled from a long oblivion by the 

 labours of Mr. Macpherson. In the former, this 

 age may boast of having produced the noblest 

 translation ever presented to the republic of let- 

 ters; and in the latter, of having recovered a 

 work of true and uncommon genius, which, on 

 several accounts, will probably be read with plea- 

 sure for many centuries to come, whatever opinion 

 may be formed with respect to its origin*. 



The history of German literature, during the 

 eighteenth centurj^, presents us Avith an epic poem 

 which some have brought into competition with 

 the Paradise Lost. This is the Messiah of Klop- 

 stockf, a work v/hich has been, perhaps, more 

 read throughout the literary world, and honoured 

 with more general approbation, than any other 

 poetic production of the same country. The 

 Messiah certainly may be, in some respects, ad- 

 vantageously compared with the Paradise Lost. 

 Though the former does not possess the " gigantic 

 sublimity" of the latter, yet it elevates the mind 

 by the grandeur and novelty of its fiction, and 

 displays more tenderness and pathos f. The 



* The poems of Oss'ian, a little before the close of the century, 

 were translated into Italian, by Caesarotti, with great elegance. 



f This illustrious poet of Gennany, whose works do honour 

 "to his country and his agfe, was born in 1724-. The first part of 

 h\s Messiah was published in H^S, and the remainder in 1773. 

 He died toward the close of the j^ear 1 802, 



"X Herder, an eloquent German -wTiter, thus compares the Poa. 

 fudise Lost and The Messiah : " The edifice of Milton i? * Sted^ 



