asthmatic, that they could hardly move, and yet were eternally straining and attempting to run races; as were several dwarfs in enormous jack-boots, to overtake two horsemen (who rode very swift at a distance, and were said to be Milton and Shakspeare), but tumbled at every four or five steps, to the great diversion of the spectators.

A troop of modern Latin poets had halted: and having lost their way, were inquiring it of a man, who carried a phrase-book, and a Gradus ad Parnassum in his hand; and seemed always to be in a terrible uncertainty, when the authority of their guide either failed or deceived them.

They were followed by some very genteel shepherds, who wore red stockings and large shoulderknots, fluttering to the breath of the zephyrs. Crooks, glittering with tinsel, were in their hands, and embroidered pouches dangling at their sides. They talked much about their flocks and Amaryllis; but I saw neither the one nor the other; and was surprised, as some of them pretended to music, to hear an air of the Italian opera played upon the bagpipe. The gentleness of their aspects served to render more formidable, by the contrast, the countenances of a company that now overtook me. It was a legion of critics. They were very liberal of their censures upon every one that passed, especially if he made a tolerable figure. Diction, Harmony, and Taste, were the general terms, which they threw out with great vehemence. They frowned on me as I passed: my looks discovering my fear, the alarm was given; and at the very first sound of their catcalls, terrified to the last degree, I pulled my guide by the coat, and took to my heels.

'We at last arrived at the foot of the mountain. There was an inconceivable crowd, who, not being admitted at the entrance, were endeavouring to crawl

up the sides but as the precipice was very steep, they continually tumbled back again. There was but one way of access, which was so extremely narrow, that it was almost impossible for two persons to go abreast, without one jostling against the other. The gates were opened and shut by three amiable virgins, Genius, Good Sense, and Good Education. They examined all that passed. Some few, however, pushed forward by a vast crowd of friends, forced their way in; but had generally the mortification of being brought back again, and turned out by the sentinels.

By the interest of my guide we were permitted to visit what part of Parnassus we pleased; and having mounted the hill, we entered a large garden, and were soon lost in the paths of a very intricate grove. It was in some places so exceedingly dark, that we had great difficulty to find our way out. This Labyrinth of Allegory, as it was called, was held by the ancients in a kind of superstitious reverence. The gloom of it was often so great, that we were ready to tumble at every step; but wherever the shade was softened by a twilight sufficient for us just to discover our way, there was something very delightful, as well as venerable, in the scene.

In other parts of the garden we saw beds of the most beautiful flowers, and a great number of baytrees; but not a single fruit-tree. Among the shrubs, in many rivulets of different breadth, and depth, ran the Heliconian stream. The lesser rills, on account of the vast multitude of people continually dabbling in them, were very muddy; but the fountain-head, though extremely deep, was as clear as crystal. The water had sometimes this peculiar quality, thất whoever looked into it, saw his own face reflected with great beauty, though never so deformed; insomuch, that several were known to pine away there,

in a violent affection for their own persons. At the end of the garden were several courts of judicature, where causes were then hearing. The lesser court, which was that of criticism, was prodigiously crowded: for (as we observed afterward) all those who had lost their causes as poets defendant in the principal court, turned in hither, and became plain. tiffs in their turn, on pretence of little trespasses. In the principal court many actions were brought on the statute of maiming, chiefly by the ancients, and some celebrated moderns, against their editors and amenders, and for torts and wrongs against their interpreters and commentators. Not a few indictments were brought for petty larceny, and those chiefly by the Roman poets against the modern Latin

ones.

Not far from these was the stable, or ecurie of his poetic majesty. I was greatly surprised to see more than one Pegasus. The grooms were just then going to water them, which gave me an opportunity of taking more particular notice.

It was a very

The first was the Epic Pegasus. fine large horse, had been taught the manege, and moved with great stateliness. The Pindaric was the only one who had wings: his motions were irregular, sudden, and unequal. The Elegiac was a gelding, exceedingly delicate in its shape, and much gentler than any of the rest, particularly than another steed, which foamed and pulled with such violence, that it was with great difficulty the rider held him in. I attempted to stroke him, he clapped his ears back, and struck out his heels with great vehemence, and made me cautious of putting myself in the way of the Satiric Pegasus for the future. The Epigrammatic was a little pert poney, which every six or seven paces kicked up, and very much resembled the for.

As

several others, which did not properly belong to Apollo's stud, and which were employed in many useful, but laborious offices, as subservient to the rest.

'It was impossible to pass by the stables without making some inquiry after the original Pegasus, so much celebrated, and the sire from whom all the last-mentioned drew their pedigree. A sour-looking fellow of a critic, whose province it was to curry him, informed me with great expressions of sorrow, "That the old horse was really quite worn out; having been rode through all sorts of sorts, on all sorts of errands: for that there was scarce a pedant living or dead, or even a boy who had been five years at school, but had been upon him, either with leave or without; that he had long ago lost his shoes, broke his knees, and slipped his shoulder; and that therefore Apollo, in pity to the poor beast, and to prevent such barbarity for the future, had ordered an edict to be fixed on the door of the stable, that no person or persons within his realms should for the future ride or drive him, without first producing his proper licence and qualification."

At length we arrived at the highest part of the mountain, where the temple was situated. It was a large building of marble, of one colour, and built all in the same order. The statues and bas-reliefs which adorned it, represented some well-known part of poetic History. The whole appeared at once solid and elegant, without that profusion of decorations, which fixes the eye to parts. The inside of the hall was painted with several subjects taken out of the Iliad, the Æneid, and Paradise Lost. Those of the Iliad had the passions and manners strongly characterized, with great simplicity of colouring, by the hand of Raphael. The beautiful tints and softness of the Venetian school corresponded with the genius The Paradise Lost, as partaking of the

of

fine colouring of the one, and of the force of the other, with something more expressive in the language and images, greatly resembled the style of Rubens; while some of its more horrid scenes of embattled or tortured demons recalled to my mind the wild imagination and fierce spirit of a Michael Angelo.

At the upper end of the hall Apollo was seated on a most magnificent throne of folios richly gilt, and was surrounded by a great number of poets both ancient and modern. Before him flamed an altar, which a priestess of a very sleepy countenance continually supplied with the fuel of such productions, as are the daily sacrifice which Dulness is constantly offering to the president of literature.

Being now at leisure to consider the place more attentively, I saw inscribed on several pillars, names of great repute in both the past and present age. Some indeed of the latter, though but lately engraven, were nearly worn out; while others of an elder date, increased in clearness the longer they stood; and by being more attentively viewed, augmented their force, as the former became fainter. A particular part of the temple was assigned for the inscriptions of those persons, who adding to their exalted rank in life, a merit which might have distinguished them without the advantages of birth, claim a double right to have their names preserved to futurity, among the monuments of so august an edifice.

At the view of so many objects, capable of inspiring the most insensible with emulation, I found myself touched with an ambition which little became me, and could not help inquiring what method I should pursue to attain such an honour. But while I was deeply meditating upon the project, and vain