Cincinnati of Connecticut, at the dissolution of their Society.

All the above-mentioned works, except The Widow of Malabar and the Oration, were collected and published in an octavo volume, by T. & J. Swords, New-York, 1804.

FOR THE POLYANTHOS.

ANALECTA....No. IV.

"Undique collatis membris."

SATIRISTS,

THE author of the Pursuits of Literature, speaking of the chief Satirists of ancient and modern fame, says, I may be singular perhaps; but if I except Lucilius, (who is known to us only by detached lines and short passages) in my opinion, the fulness of that glory never shone BUT ON SIX POETS. "Quos orbe sub omni Jam vix septenâ numerat sapientia famâ.”

HORACE,

In the politest age, under the despotism of Augustus, insinuated himself into the graces of the emperour: yet he was peculiarly studious to mark the obnoxious, foolish, or wicked characters of his age. He was careful not to be misunderstood. He noted the name, the profession and the rank of those whom he devoted

to undying ridicule, or consigned to the eterni, ty of fame. Augustus and Mecenas well knew the value of such a poet. They looked to the stability of government and the empire of good sense, and found them intimately connected with literature and poetry.

JUVENAL AND PERSIUS.

In the time of Nero and Trajan, Juvenal and Persius exerted a severity without playfulness, and veiled themselves in obscurity, yet without being misunderstood. They applied directly and irresistibly to the inmost feelings of the heart, callous and depraved as it was. The writers were either spared or neglected, but their works were admired and circulated.

BOILEAU.

An interval of ages passed, dark and bar, barous. The power of Satire in its full and le gitimate strength, was never again felt till the reign of Louis the Fourteenth of France. Then appeared a poet second to none of his predecessors. A philosopher without being wordy, the friend of sense and of virtue, a gentleman in principle, independent in spirit, and fearless of enemies, however powerful from their malignity, or formidable from their rank. This extraordinary man was BOILEAU. If I am not deceived, there is something in all his compositions so finished, so removed from conceit and forced thought; such an ardent zeal

for propriety in sentiment and in expression; such a sense of the dignity of the human char acter, when undebased; such a hatred of hypocrisy; such a love of purity; such an abhorrence of all profaneness and indecency, and even of indelicacy; that I am not able to name a man whose works as a poet and a critick, may be read and studied with equal advantage. Even his compliments, though ra ther lofty, to Louis the Fourteenth are all con ceived in the language of a gentleman and a man of genius, who feels that he is conferring honour, not receiving it. As a writer, I think him original. What he has borrowed, he al most seems to have restored to its proper place. He alternately assumes the characters of the three great Romans ; and maintains an honourable contest for the mastery. Equal to either of them taken singly, and in the merit of composition, sometimes their superiour, he is their true and lawful brother. There is a fraternal league between them, which no friend to good literature, good poetry, and good manners will ever suffer to be broken.

DRYDEN.

Nearly at the same period, after some mo mentary gleams and strong flashes in the horizon, Satire arose in England. When I name Dryden, I comprehend every varied excellence of OUR poetry. In harmony, strength, modu lation, rhythm, energy, he first displayed the

full power of the English language. My business with him at present is only as a Satirist. I will be brief: I speak to the intelligent. He was the first poet who brought to perfection, what I would term, the Allegory of Satire." Fables indeed, and apologues, and romances, have always been the most ancient modes of reproof and censure.. It was the peculiar hap, piness of Dryden to give an eternal sense and interest to subjects which are transitory. He placed his scene on the ground of actual history. The reader of every age has an interest in the delineation of characters and names, which have been familiar to him from his earliest years. He is already prepared, and feels a predilection for the subject. This accommo dation of ancient characters to existing persons has a peculiar force in the age to which it is addressed; and posterity reads with delight a poem founded on pristine story, and illustrated by the records of modern times. Dryden's

power of Satire has been generally acknowledged in his Mac-Flecknoe; but his master, piece is that wonderful and unequalled per formance Absalom and Achitophel. He presents to us an heroick subject in heroick numbers, a well constructed allegory, and a forcible appeal to our best feelings and passions. He paints the horrours of anarchy, sedition, rebellion and democracy, with the pencil of Dante, or of Michael Angelo; and he gives the speeches of his heroes with the strength, pro

priety and correctness of Virgil. It is Satire in its highest form but it is Satire addressed to the few. It is not adapted to the general effect of this species of poetry. In my opinion, Dryden has not the style and manner of Horace, or Juvenal, or Persius, or Boileau. Pope called him "unhappy," from the looseness of the age in which he lived. He has enthusiasm, majesty, seriousness, gravity, strength of cons ception, and boldness of imagery. But sprightliness, gaiety, and easy badinage, an occasional playfulness, so necessary to the general effect of satirical poetry, were all wanting to him. Perhaps his genius was too sublime. He could not, or he would not, descend to the minutiæ which are often required, the anecdotes, and the passing traits of the time. It was the strain of Archilochus sounding from the lyre of Alcæus.

POPE:

The Sixth and last of this immortal brotherhood, in the fulness of time, and in the maturity of poetical power, came Pope. All that was wanting to his illustrious predecessor found its consummation in the genius, knowledge,' correct sense, and condensation of thought and expression, which distinguished this poet. The tenour of his life was peculiarly favourable to this office. He had first cultivated all the flowery grounds of poetry. He had excelled in description, in pastoral, in the pathetick, and