rid 
Gray has been very feverely cenfured 
by fohnfon, forthe expreffion, 
Give an:ple room, and verge enough, 
The charaéters of hell to trace. The Bard. 
-On the authority of a critic (whofe mind 
was too contraéted to admit either of 
poetical or political toleration) we are, 
and fhall ftill be told, that Gray, in his 
works, has no line fo bad.—Ample room is 
feeble, but would have paffed unobferved 
in any other poem, but inthe poetry of 
Gray, who has taught us to admit no- 
thing but what was exquifite. Verge 
enough is very poetical, fince it conveys 
a material image to the mind, and points 
to, the imagination. No one has yet 
pointed out the fource from whence, pro- 
bably, the avhole line was derived. Iam 
inclined to think, it was from the fel- 
lowing paffage in Dryden: 
Let forcune empty her whole quiver.on me, 
I have atoul, that like an ample fhield, 
Cantakein all, and verge enough for more. 
| Dryden's Don Sebaftian. 
Having in our laft paper on this fub- 
ject, pointed-out that the meteor beard of 
the ‘‘ Bard” of Gray, might have been 
cerived irom the meteor beard of “* Hudi- 
bras; 1 have been afked, if I was ferious 
in my conjecture. Ireply, Iam. The 
Surle/que and the fublime are extremes, and 
extremes meet. How often does it merely 
depend on our own ftate of mind, and 
cn our own tafte, to confider the fublime 
as burlefqgue.-—And how many are there, 
to whom the fublime muf ever be the 
burlefque! A very vulgar, but acute 
genius, THOMAS PaINE, whom] jma- 
gine to be deftitute of all delicacy and 
refinement, has conveyed to us a notion 
of the fublime, as it is probably experi- 
enced by ordinary and uncultured under- 
ftandings, and even by acute and judi- 
cious minds, who are without imagina- 
tion. He tells us, that ¢* the fublime and 
the ridiculous are often fo nearly related, 
that it is dificult to clafs them feparately. 
One ftep abové the fublime makes the 
ridiculous, and one ftep above the ridi- 
culous makes the fublimie again.”’ 
~ It has never, I think, been remarked, 
that Gray, when he conceived the idea 
ot the beard of his 6¢ Bard,’ had in his 
mind the language of Milton, who de-- 
feribes Azazel unfurling 
The imperial enfign; which full high ad- 
vanced 
Sbene like a meteor Breaming to the wind. 
Par. Lot, b. i. v. 535. 
Imitations and Similarities, continued. 
[Aug. 
very fimilar to Gray, 
Stream’d like a meteor to the troubled air. 
Would it not appear the ridiculous, or - 
burlefque, to defcribe the fublime revo- 
lution of the earth, on her axle, round 
the fuz, by comparing it with the a¢tion 
of a top flogged by a boy? and yet fome 
of the moft exquifite lines in Milton, and 
the fublimeft, do this; the poet alluding 
only in his mind, to the #op. The earth 
he defcribes, whether 
——-—She from weft her filent courfe advance 
With imoffenfive pace that Spinning fleeps 
On her joft axle, while the paces even.— 

With great reafon, has the man of 
tafte complained of thofe.colleStions of 
ancient poetry, or editions of obfolete au- 
thors, made by certain antiquaries, who 
conceive, that when they become mere 
printers, they exhibit proofs of erudition. 
Ido not with to revive fo bad a tafte, as 
that, which has been fo frequently of 
late hewn, in republifhing fuch authors. 
Sometimes, indeed, a fortunate little po- 
em will occur, and deferve to be perpe- 
tuated. The following is a fong of Sir 
Charles Sedley, which may not only be 
read with pleafure, but the ciole, the fe- 
cret charm of a iong, is to be admired for 
the delicacy of its thought, and the eafy 
grace of its diction. . 
SONG. 
Phyllis, men fay that all my vows 
Are*to thy fortune paid ; 
Alas, my heart he little knows, 
Who thinks my love a trade. 
Were I of all thefe woods the lord, 
One berry from thy hand . if 
More real pleafure would afford, 
Than all my large command. 
My humble love has learnt to live 
On what the niceft maid, 
Without a confcious blufh, may give 
Beneath the myrtle thade. 
ee ee 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
B* inferting the following queries in 
your valuable Mifcellany, you will 
eblige A CONsTaNnT READER, 
By what law is the court of aldermen 
empowered to regulate the price of falt ? 
To what other commodities does this 
power extend? How is it exercifed? Have 
country juftices of the peace the fame 
power? 
Aug. 13, 1798. 
WAL 
