180 ! 
She takes her ftaff, with thorny wreaths be- 
girt, 
And, veiP'd in murky clouds, where’er fhe 
goes, . 
Beats down the ripening corn, the verdant 
fields, 
Withers, and every flowery fummit crops 5 
And mid fubjacent people, houfes, towns, 
Breathes foul contagion. - 
Her mode of infecting the unhappy 
Aglauros is by froking her breaft with 
her envenomed hands, and infixing her 
nooked thorns. 
There are two defcriptions of Envy in 
the Fairy Queen; both of them loath- 
fome and difeufting, and, though mail- 
feltly imitated from that of Ovid, lefs 
diftin& and confiftent as allegories. The 
only additional circumftance that I think 
worth remarking is, that the garment of 
Envy is painted full of eyes ; an emblem, 
T conceive, of the fharp-fightednefs of 
envious perfons in difcerning the faults 
of their neighbours. Pt SRS al atl 
Cowley, in his DavIDEIs, gives a por- 
trait of Hxvy, drawn with much ftrength, 
and with fome novelty. streets a 28) 
Envy at laft crawls forth from that dire 
throng, — a Ne 
OF all the direfull’t; her black locks hung 
long, “3 . ca 
Attir’d with curling ferpents; her pale fkin 
Was almoft dropt from the fharp bones within 5 
And at her breaft hung vipers, which did prey 
Upon her panting heaxt, both night and day 
Sucking bieck blood trom thence, which, to 
repair, . 
Both day and night they left frefh poifons 
there. sc ae 
Fier garments were deep ftain’din human gore, 
And torn by her own hands, in which the bore 
A knotted whip, and bowi, that to the brim. 
Did with green gall and juice of warmwood 
~ {wim. : 
Garth has beftowed 2 good deal of 
abour upon a fimilar defcription, in his 
Difpenfary ; but with little or no im-- 
provement on the eftablifhed imagery. 
. PRIDE is by Spencer reprefented asea 
queen, fitting on a gorgeous throne, and 
adorned with every circumitance of pomp 
and {plendour. 
u 
ft 
Looking to heaven, for earth the did difdai 
And fitting high, for lowly the did hate. © 
Lo! underneath her fcornfal feet was lain 
A dreadful dragon, with a hideous train 5 
And in her hand fhe held a mirror bright, 
Wherein her face fhe often viewed fain, 
And in her felf-lov’d femblance took delight 5 
For fhe was wond’reus falr, as any living 
wight. 
Oi gricfly Pluto fhe the daughter was, 
And fad Proferpina, the queen of hell; 
Yet did fhe think her peerlefs worth to pa‘s 
So proud the fhined in her princely Mate 5 
an 
Progrefs of Italian Literature. 
‘ of Darknefs. 
[Sept 
That parentage, with pride fo did fhe {well 5 
And thund’ring Jove, that high in héaven 
doth dwell, et: ; 
And wield the world, fhe claimed for her firey 
Or if that any elfe did Jove excel 5 ; 
For to the higheft the did ftill afpire- 
bn, 0 F..07t. & 
The royal condition of Pride is an ef. 
fential circumfance in the moral allegory 
to which this portraiture belongs. “Thé 
defcription of her manners and difpofition 
is the natural one of a proud chara¢ter. 
Her mirror, indeed, and the delight fhe 
takes in viewing herfelf in it, may bé 
thought more comférmable to the charac- 
ter of Vanity, according to the ufual dif- 
tinction between thofe’ two kindred affec- 
tions; but it muft be acknowledged that 
an abfolute difference between them cag 
{carcely be eftablifhed, and that felf-ad- . 
miration equally belongs to both. Spen- 
cer, afterwards, reprefents Vanity as the 
ufher or maftér of the ceremonies to Pride, — 
which feems to contain’a very apt mean- 
ing. The dragon on which this lofty 
ame fets her foot, is emblematical of the 
high fpirit of pride, which imvites it to 
trample upon and’ fubjugate the fierceft 
atures. It is the “ debellare fuperbos™ 
of the haughty Roman. Her tranfcendent 
beauty and fplendour_may denote the 
{pecious and dazzling appearance of ac- 
tions infpired by a fenfe of fuperiority. 
Her parentage from the chiefs of the in- 
fernal powers, is conformable to the ele- 
vated, but dark and malignant character 
of this paffion; which, in another my- 
thology, derives its origin irom the Prince 
8 BE eae 
* (To be continued.) .: 
EE 
To the Editor of ibe Montily Magazine. 
SIR, 
AVING feen in your lait Supple- 
2 ment an account of the prefent ftate 
of French and German literature, — 
fhould be glad to communicate to you an 
equally important notice reipecting the 
ftate of the arts and {ciences in Italy, iimee 
the invafion of the French. Uhave however 
obferved, with regret, that no periodical 
work or any other literary pamphlet has 
been fent from that‘unfortunate country 
during the courfe of the year 1 79%. The 
very few records which I have been able 
to fee concerning the new books publiih- 
ed in Italy, during the year 1797) inftead 
of exhibiting a fatisfattory* profpest of 
the exertions of the Italian literati, evince 
the rapid decay even of Belles Lettres for 
which the Italians have always been {fo 
remarkable. The following publications 
: #4 only 
