534 
‘that man was born to mourn and be 
wretched.” te 
She “is relieved, however, by the fight 
of the moft lovely obje&t ever before be- 
held, who addrefles her in the following 
terms: ** My name is Religion. I am 
the offspring of Truth, and the parent of 
Benevolence, Hope, and Joy. The mon- 
fter from whofe power I have freed you 
is called Superftition. She is the child of 
Difeontent, and her followers are Fear, 
and Sorrow. Thus different as we are, 
fhe has often the infolence to aflume my 
name and. charatter, and feduces unhappy 
mortals to think us the fame, till the at 
length drives them to the borders of de- 
fpair—that dreadful abyfs into which you 
were juft going to fink.” 
frer obferving that ‘*a world fo ex- 
quifitely framed could never be meant for 
the abode of mifery and pain,”’ and ftat- 
ing that ‘*the proper tendency of every 
rational being, from the higheft order. 
of raptured feraphs to the meaneft rank 
of men, is, to rife inceflantly from lower 
degrees of happinefs to higher,”’ fhe urged 
with great force that ‘*the enjoyments of 
a reafonakle being cannot confit in un- 
bounded indulgence, or luxurious eafe ; 
in the tumult of licentious paffion, the 
Jangvor of indolent repofe, or the flutter 
of light amufements."’ This beneficent 
phantom then concludes as follows : 
*¢ Return with me from continual mi- 
fery, to moderate enjoyments and grateful 
alacrity. _ Return from the contracted 
views of folitude to the proper duties of 
a relative and dependent being. Religion 
is not confined to cells and clofets, nor re- 
ftrained to fuilen retirement: thele are 
the gloomy doétrines of Superftition, by 
which fhe endeavours to break the chains 
of benevolence and focial affection, that 
link the welfare of every particular with 
that of the whole. Remember that the 
greateft honour you can pay to the Author 
of your being, is by fuch a cheerful be- 
haviour as difcovers a mind fatisfied with 
his difpenfations.”” / 
The fecond article contributed by Mifs 
Carter, is Number C. In this, fhe turns 
‘* the numberleis benefits of a mocith 
life’’ into ridicule ; attacks ‘‘ French. 
novels,’’ ‘« Sunday card parties,’’ ‘ little 
caths,’’ ** polite diffimulation,’’ ‘ tea- 
table fcandal,”” * the triumph of prece-. 
dence,” and ‘the exftatic delights of.un- 
friendly intimacies.” ; 
About the year 1762, Mifs Carter firft 
coileéted her fugitive pieces into a hittle 
Account of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter. 
befet with briars and thorns, and tells her, 
[July 1, 
volume; and it adds no little luftre to 
her name, when it is told that they were 
publithed at the exprefs requeft of the 
eloquent Earl of Bath, to whom the book 
-is dedicated, and preceded by fome re- 
commendatory lines in blank verfe from 
the good Lord Lyttleton. After the lapfe 
of along period, they have reached only 
a fourth edition ; and that the fuece(s of 
thefe verfes has not been greater-appears to 
have puzzled many to account for ;. but all 
due allowance for fafhion, and verfatility 
of opinions, being made, it may be fairly 
queftioned whether they have not attained 
their full meafure of reputation, as they 
are unqueftionably far inferior to many 
of the profe writings of the fame author. 
In addition to original compofitions, they 
contain two tranflations from the Italian 
of Metaftafio. ~— - i 
It now only remains to notice fuch 
other works cf this lady as have not been 
already mentioned. In 1739, when only 
twenty-two years of age, fhe tranflated 
‘Sir Tfaac Newton’s Philofophy, ex- 
plained for the ufe of the ladies, in fix 
dialogues of Light and Colours: from 
the Itajian of Sig. Allagrotti. During. 
the preceding year, fhe had given an Eng- .. 
lith verfion of Croufaz’s Examen of 
Pope’s Effay on Man,” which has at- 
traded a high degree of praife from 
Dr. Birch,* whofe talents rendered bim - 
no contemptible judge both of the fub- 
ju& and execution. ae 
But the publication. that conferred cre~-_ 
dit to her talents, and gave. currency to 
her reputation as a learned woman, made 
its firft appearance in 1758. “It was en--- 
titled, ** All the Works of Epictetus now 
extant. Tranflaied from the Greek, by ~ 
Eliz. Carter, with Notes by the Tranf-- 
lator.’ The Gentleman’s Magazine, ever 
faithful to her fame, appears to have re-~ 
gularly ufhered in her works to the notice 
ot the public, with fome commendatory 
poetry ; and upon the prefent occafron the 
following tributary lines, which we can nei- 
ther commend for their elegance of dic- 
tion, nor praife for their depth of refearch, 
made their appearance : 
‘¢ An Ejaculation made upon reading over 
the learned Mifs Carter’s Tranilation. of 
Epictetus, founded on Stoical principles. * 
ee 
* 6¢ Elif Cartere, $.P.D. Thomas Birch. . 
‘¢ Verfionem tuam Examinis Croufaziani jam 
perlegi. Summam ftyli et elegantiam, et in 
re difficillima proprietatem admiratus, = 
6+ Dabam, Nov. 27°43 1798.” 
See Bojwell's Life of Dr. Foknfon. 
; S* Almighty 
