O VOI CH' AVETE GL' INTELLETTI SANI DANTE, Inferno, Canto 9. VOL. V. B PRE FА С Е. IT feems to be a kind of duty incumbent on those who devote themselves to Poetry, to raise, if poffible, the dignity of a declining Art, by making it as beneficial to Life and Manners as the limits of Compofition, and the character of modern Times will allow: The ages, indeed, are paft, in which the fong of the Poet was idolized for its miraculous effects; yet a Poem, intended to promote the cultivation of good-humour, may ftill perhaps be fortunate enough to prove of fome little fervice to fociety in general; or, if this idea may be thought too chimerical and romantic by fober Reafon, it is at least one of thofe pleafing and innocent delufions, in which a poetical Enthusiast may be fafely indulged. - The following production owes its existence to an incident in real life, very fimilar to the principal action of |