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ALLEGINI, GuiSEPPE, in Biography, an Italia/i en- 

 graver, who rtoiirifhod in I74f>, and piibliihed t!ic fullowing 

 plates, I'/z. a Virgin Mary, the Circiimcilion, the iloning of 

 Kt. Stephen, a finall print of Rinaldo and Armida, and a 

 large architcthiral Opera fcene. Strutt. 



ALLEGORICAL, fonuthing containing an allegory. 



The divines find divers fcnl'es in fcripture ; as a littnil, a 

 ntyfi':cal, and an alle^oricalienic. Sec Prophecy, and TyTR. 



ALLEGORY, Alltcoria, a figure in Rhtlork, where- 

 by wc make ufe of terms which, in tiieir proper tlgnification, 

 mean fomething elfe than what they are brought lo denote; 

 or it is a figure whereby we fay one thing, cxpeclitig it Ihall 

 be underftood of another, to wliicl\ it alUides ; or which, 

 under the literal fcnfe of the words, conceals a foieigu or 

 diilant meaning. 



An allegory is, properly, a continued metaphor, or a feries 

 of fcveral metaphors in one or more fenlenccs. ijuch is that 

 beautiful allegoiy, in Horace, lib. i. Od. 14. 



" O navis, referunt in mare te novi 

 Fludus, &c." 



Where the fhip is ufually held to ftand for the republic ; 

 waves, for civil war ; port, for peace and concord ; oars, for 

 foldiers ; and mariners for magiftrates. Thus alfo, in Prior's 

 Her.ry and Emma, Emma delcribes her conftancy to Henry 

 in the following allegorical manner: 



" Did I but purpofe to embark with thee 

 On the fmooth furface of a fummcr's lea. 

 While gentle zephyrs play with profperous gales, 

 And fortune's favour fills the fwelling fails ; 

 But would forfake the fhip, and make the Ihore, 

 When the winds whillle, and the tempefts roar J" 



Cicero likewife fpeaking of himfeif (in Pifon. c. 9. torn. vi. 

 p. 187.) ufes this allegorical language: " Nor was I fo ti- 

 morous, that after I had fteered die Ihip of the ftate througli 

 the grenteft ftorms and waves, and brought her fafe into 

 {X)rt, I (liould fear the cloud of your forehead, or your col- 

 league's pellilent breath. I faw other winds, I perceived 

 other ftorms, I did not withdraw from other impending tem- 

 pefts ; but I expofed myfelf fmgly to them for the common 

 iafety." Here the ilate is compared to a ibip, and all the 

 things that are faid of it under that image, are exprefted in 

 metaphors made ufe of to denote the dangers with which it 

 had been threatened. We have alfo a very fine example of 

 an allegory in the 80th Pfalm ; in which the people of Ifrael 

 are reprefented under the image of a vine, and the figure is 

 fupported throughout with great correftnefs and beauty. 

 Whereas, if inftead of defcribing the vine as wailed by the 

 boar from the wood, and devoured by the wild beafts of 

 the field, the Pfalmiil had fnid, it was afflifted by heathens 

 or overcome by enemies, which is the real meaning, the figu- 

 rative and the literal meaning would have been blended, and 

 the allegory ruined. The learned Bifhop Lowth (De Sacra 

 Poefi Hebraeorum, Pra;l. 10. 11. p. 120 — 140.) has fpecified 

 three forms of allegory that occur in facred poetry. The 

 lit is that which rhetoricians call a continued metaphor. 

 When fevcral metaphors fucceed each other, fays Cicero 

 (Orator, c. 27. torn. i. p. 520.) they alter the form of the 

 compofition; and this fucceftion has vciy properly, in reference 

 to the etymology of the word, been denominated by the 

 Greeks a?.Xr,yopi2, an allegory ; although Ariftolle, inftead 

 of coiifidering it as a newfpecies of figure, has referred it to 

 the clals of metaphors. The principle of allegory in this 

 fcnfe of the term, and of the fimple metaphor, is the fame ; 

 nor IB it an eafy matter to reftrift each to its proper Hmit, 

 and to mark the precife termination of the one, and the 

 coramencemeni of the other. For examples of this kind, 



ALL 



we refer to Metaphor. This eminently judicious critic 

 obl'erves, that when the Hebrew poets ufe the congtnial 

 figures of metaphor, allegoiy, and comparifon, particularly 

 in the proplietic poetry, tliey adopt a peculiar mode of do- 

 ing it, and feldom regulate the imagery which they introduce 

 by any fixed principle or Itandard. Not fatisfied with a 

 fimple metaphor, they often run it into an allegory, or blend 

 with it a direft comparifon. The allegory fometinies f(;l- 

 lows, and fometimes precedes the fiinile : to this is added a 

 frequent change of imageiy, as well as of pcrlonsand tenfes ; 

 and thus are difpkyed an energy and boldncfs, both of cx- 

 predion and meaning, which are uiiconfined by any ilated 

 rules, and which mark the dlfcriminating genius of tlie He- 

 brew poetry. Thus, in Gen. xlix. 9. " Judah is a lion's 

 whelp ;" this metaphor is immediately drawn out Into aa 

 allegory, with a change of perfon : " From the prey, my 

 fon, thou art gone up," that is, to the mountains, which is 

 underftood ; and in the fucceeding ientences the perfun is 

 again changed, the image is gradually advanced, and the me- 

 taphor is ioined with a comparifon that is repeated. 

 " He ftoopeth down, he cnucheth as a lion : 

 And as a lionef^ ; who ihall roufe him ?" 



A fimilar inllance occurs in the prophecy, recorded in Pfalni 

 ex. 3. which explicitly foretells the abundant increal'e of the 

 gofpel on its firft promulgation. This kind of allegory, 

 however, fometimes affumcs a inore regular and perfeft 

 form, and then occupies the whole fubjedl and compafs of 

 the difcourfe. An example of this kind occurs in Solomon's 

 well-known allegory, Eccles. xii. 2 — 6. in which old age is 

 fo admirably depifted. There is alio in liaiah, xxviii. 24 — 29, 

 an allegory, which, with no lefs elegance of imagery, is more 

 fimple and regular, as well as more juft and complete, both 

 in the form and the method of treating it. Another kind 

 of allegory is that, which in the proper and more reilricted 

 fenfe, may be called a parable ; and confiils of a continued 

 narration of fome fiftitious event, accommodated by way o£ 

 fimilitudc to the illuftration of fome important truth. The 

 Greeks call thefe allegories aivoi or apologues, and the 

 Latins fabulie, or fables. See Parable. The third 

 fpecies of allegor)', which often occurs in the prophetic 

 poetry, is that in which a double meaning is couched under 

 the fame words, or when the fame difcourfe, differently 

 interpreted, defignates different events, difiimilar in their 

 nature and remote as to time. Thefe different relations are 

 denominated the literal and myilical fcnfes. This kind of 

 allegory, which the learned prelate calls myftical. feems to 

 derive its origin from the principles of the Jevviili religion ; 

 and it differs from the two former fpecies in a variety of re- 

 fpects. In thefe allegories the writer may adopt any ima- 

 geiy that is nioft fuitable to his fancy or inclination ; but 

 the only proper materials for this allegory muft be fupplied 

 from the facred rites of the Hebrews themfelves, and it can 

 only be introduced in relation to fuch things as are imme- 

 diately conneftcd with the Jewidi religion, or tlieir imme- 

 diate oppofites. 



The former kinds partake of the common privileges of 

 poetry ; but the myftical allegory has its foundation in the 

 nature of the Jewilli economy, and is adapted iolely to the 

 poetiy of the Hebrews. Befides, in the other forms of alle- 

 gory, the exterior or ottenfible imagery is mere fiftion, and 

 the truth lies altogether in the interior or remote fenfe ; but 

 in this allegory each idea is equally agreeable to truth. The 

 exterior or oftenfibie image is itfelf a reality ; and although 

 it fuftains another character, it does not wholly lay afide its 

 own. There is alfo a great variety in the ufe and conduft 

 of the myftical allegory ; in the modes in which the corre- 

 Iponding images are arranged, and in which they are ob- 

 6- fcured 



