S32 
ware pans, and left to dry in them, the 
lead does not undergo nearly so much 
handling as before, and: the fine parti- 
cles of it, which used to float in great 
abundance abcut the room, are not per- 
ceived in such dense clouds as they used 
to be; this dust entering the mouth was 
one principal cause of the diseases to 
which the workmen were liable. By means 
of your miscellany, I wish to give publi- 
city to the above circumstance; and 
should any of your readers be able and 
willing to give ine any further particulars 
respecting this manufacture, which may 
be conducive to the health of those em- 
ployed in it, they will much oblige 
A CONSTANT READER. 
se 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
ON PASTORAL POETRY. 
“¢ Hail, gentle Shenstone ! Prince of Namby- 
amby ! 
Blest be thy lark, thy linnet, andthy lamby !” 
_ Potwaet. 
of Mathes sort of fairy ground, over which. 
Pastoral Poetry leads its readers, has 
procured this species of composition 
numberless admirers; and it has enjoyed 
the additional eclat of employing the 
classic pens of Theocritus, Virgil, Pope, 
Gesner, and Guarini, besides various of 
the inspired bards of the Old Testament. 
Yet its eternal monotony renders it dis- 
gusting to persons of judgment and cor- 
rect taste. However well executed, it 
is only fit to be admired by children, 
Who can with patience bear the unmean- 
ing and endless repetition of faithless 
nymphs; dying swains; sighing breezes; 
purling rills; murmuring fountains; cool- 
ing grots; listening echoes; enamelled 
meads; tender lambkins; cooing doves; 
tuneful reeds; curling vines; perjured 
shepherds; and the sickening train of, 
Corydons and Daphnes—Strephons and 
Cloes—Damons and Phillises? There 
may be occasionally a prettiness, which 
a man of understanding will be pleased 
with, as we would with a pretty child; 
or, to come nearer to the point, a pretty 
inanimate doll of a woman, It has, how- 
ever, a fascination for young minds. I 
remember, when I thought Shenstone’s 
Pastoral Ballad one of the most charm- 
ing compositions in the English language; 
but at that period of life I also admired 
the Death of Abel, and Hervey’s Medi- 
tations ! 
So absurd is the common fiction in the 
sentiments and situation of the: charac- 
ters, that Gay’s Shepherds Week, where 
On Pastoral Poetry. 
[May 1, 
the nymphs and the swaims are mere men 
and women, employed in common oc- 
cupations of rustic life, and which was 
written purposely to exhibit pastorals in 
a ludicrous view, is, from its adherence 
to nature more admired by the judicious, 
than the fine lady and gentlemen shep- 
herds of the great competitors Alexander 
Pope, and Ambrose Philips. 
In making these observations, I am 
far from condemning all pastoral poetry : 
Shakespeare’s As you like it, his Winter’s 
Tale, and other of his comedies, likewise 
Ramsay’s Gentle Shepherd, cannot fail to 
give the most exquisite pleasure to every 
person of taste. In these we have natu- 
ral pictures of country hfe, interwoven 
with interesting story, instead of the in- 
sipid sing-song, and milk-and-water ver- 
sification, by which we are surfeited even 
in the first pastoral writers. Bloom- 
field’s Furmer’s Boy, and the pastoral 
parts of Thompson’s Seasons, are also en- 
titled, and for ‘similar reasons, to the 
highest praise. } 
To illustrate the preceding observa- 
tions, I shall present to the reader a 
view of Shenstone’s celebrated ballad, 
which I select as being considered one 
of our best pastorals,. one which in many 
passages has sterling merit, and which 
has even received some praise from Dr. 
Johnson, than whom no man ever more 
despised this species of writing. That I 
may avoid prolixity, I shall pass unno- 
ticed such stanzas as deserve little either 
of praise or censure. 4 
Part I. Absence.x—The poet come- 
mences with a very modest request: 
*€ Ye shepherds so cheerful and gay, 
Whose flocks never carelessly roam 3 
Should Corydon’s happen to stray, 
O call the poor. wanderers home!’* 
Those Shepherds, whose flocks never 
carelessly roam must enjoy a snug sine- 
cure, and might certainly have plenty of 
time on their hands; but they would 
hardly like to have their quiet disturbed, 
to run after the erratic charge of their 
love-sick neighbour. 
Vulgar sheep are obliged to be driven 
home; but this poetical flock, it ap- 
pears, will come at a call, like so many 
dogs! 
*¢ Allow me to muse and to sigh, 
Nor talk of the change that ye find, 
None once was so watchful as J. 
f have left my dear Phillis behind.” 
The swain appears here rather sulky: 
the two first of the above Jines seems to 
imply==“ None of your palaver ! leave 
Tae agai ye 
