POETRY. 



OP THE OBJECT AND EFFECT OF POETRY. 



POETRY and Eloquence are universally acknowledged 

 to hold the highest rank among the fine arts : they, of all 

 others, possess the most attractive influence, and charm 

 the soul with an inestimable sweetness and force. 



The study of Poetry, while it produces the most elegant, 

 instructive, and amusing entertainment, is calculated to 

 elevate the mind and to rouse into action its most noble 

 and amiable qualities. Persons of every rank in life feel 

 its charms and acknowledge its sway. As it was the 

 earliest kind of literature, so it is at once the most de- 

 lightful and the most powerful. The opinions, the con- 

 duct, and the passions of mankind, are, to a considerable 

 degree, influenced by the poet; which influence, as has 

 been well observed, may be greater and more permanent 

 than that of Sages and Legislators. 



Poetry was, most probably, originally invented for the 

 purpose of adoration and praise to God. On occasions of 

 miraculous deliverance by the interposition of the Al- 

 mighty, the Hebrews gave expression to their feelings of 

 gratitude by those sublime effusions which we find in the 

 Scriptures. 



The Song of Moses, the earliest regular ode with which 

 we are acquainted, is a masterpiece of composition; and 

 the human mind can scarcely conceive any language 

 more grand, and at the same time more sweet and ex- 

 pressive, than the songs of the Hebrew Bards. In the 

 book of Job, the Psalms, and the Prophets, poetry shines 



