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ALL
them to do k. Others grounded the king's right to their Al- legiance ^ on the title of conqueft. Others, as Dr. Sherlock, on his being in poffeflion, and having the power to keep it. Laftly, others rejected all temperaments and mitigations, and condemned the oath as utterly unlawful. Some of the ring- leaders of thefe were Or. Hicks and Mr. Kettle well ; and fince, the feet of what we call non-jurors. Vid. K. Will, and Qi Mary Conquerors, Lond. 1693. 4to. and Bibl. Angl. T. 7. p. 105. feq. ALLEGORY {Cycl.)— The word Allegory, A^ na?ia , \ s Greek, for which the Latins have no proper name. Hence Scaliger gives it that of prestextus, as expreflmg the general defign and ufe of it. V. Scalig. Poet. I. 3. c. 53. Allegory includes parable, apologue, (wfi®-, or fable, and pa- reeminj or proverbs ; at leaft, under Allegories are compre- hended fuch proverbs as are applicable to fubjects of diffe- rent kinds. V. Scalig. Poet. 1, 1. c. 57. & 1. 3. c. 83. &
£■ 5. 2 ' 53-
acaliger a confiders Allegory as one part, or fide of a compa- rifon. It differs from irony, in that Allegory imports a fimi- litude between the thing fpoken and intended ; irony a con- trariety between them b . — [ a Scalig. lib. cit. c. 52. b Scalig, lib. cit. c. 84.]
Some have allegorized, or reduced to Allegory, whole fciences, as heathen theology, mythology j antient hiftory, poetry, cofmogony, theogony, and molt of the wifdom of the an- tients, as well as of the moderns. By the help of Allegory, we find natural philofophy in Mofes, chemiftry in the antient poets, fubJime and fpiritual things in low, vulgar, or grofs ones, wonderful difcoveries in Rabbinical fables, admirable fenfe and harmony, inftead of contradiction, blunder, and folly.
Allegories have been in ufe in all ages and countries ; we find them particularly among the orientals, and the Egyptians, who are fuppofed to have been the fathers of them. They were adopted by the antient jews, but more by the Rabbins, and cabbalifts of latter days. The Chriftians borrowed the ufage very early; the primitive fathers abound with them. The Mahometans alfo give into Allegory, where the literal fenfe of the Alcoran is liable to objections, particularly in the carnal account of paradife.
The Gnuftics, ValenLinians, and Bafilidians, appear to have been great dealers in Allegory ; at lead if the conjectures of moderns be not herein miftaken, who refolve the doctrine of the ./Eons, of Abraxa's, &c. into the allegorical fyftem. The great fource of Allegory, or allegorical interpretations, is fome difficulty, or ablurdity, in the literal and obvious fenfe. — For a refuge, either to fave the reputation of the Writer, or conceal the ignorance of the commentator, re- courfe is had to the expedient of Allegory* The mifchief is, as there are no certain laws, or rules, whereby to conduct, moderate, and reftrain the fpirit of allegorizing, we find ilrange confufion, and endlefs difcord the fruit of it. Allegories are diftinguifhed into divers kinds : as, verbal, real, fimple, allufive, phyfical, moral, political, theologi- cal, &c.
Simple Allegory, according to fome writers, is that which is taken from any kind of natural things.
Allufive Allegory is that which relates to other words, or things. Gale, Philof. Gener. 1. 1. c. 2. fee. 6. §. 6.
Verbal Allegory is a thread, or feries of metaphors ; or a continuation of the fame trope, chiefly metaphor, through many words. — Such is that in Virgil 1
Claudite jam vivos pueri, fat prata biberunt.
Where the metaphor of watering the ground is carried on to the (hutting of the fluices, &c a . Or, that in Horace :
Parturiunt monies, nafceiur ridiculus mus.
"Where the metaphor of the mountains (ufed for great under- takings) is purfued to their being in labour, and bringing forth nothing b .— [« Thomaf. Erot. Rhet. c. 22 p. 44. b FofElem. Rhet. c. 9 . §. 4 . j F **"
Perpetual, or continued Allegory, is that where the allego- rical thread is purfued through all the parts of a confidera°ble difcourfe. — Such are the books of Jonah % of Canticles b , not to fay the whole Old Teftament, as it is by many held
K°w e V [ r BibL Germ ' T - r ' P" 2 5»- k T; 5. p. 134. b V. Bibl. Angl. T. 11. p. 471. Mem. de Trev. 1710 p. 601.] ' 7
Phyfical Allegories, thofe wherein fome point of natural philofophy is reprefented : fuch in Homer, are Juno, who xeprefents the air ; Jupiter, the aether, &c. fuppofed by many to be. Allied ■ pretended to find the principles of all arts and fciences in the Bible alone. Dr. Dickinfon has a treatife to prove, that the books of Mofes, allegorically taken, ex- hibit a perfect fyftem of phyfics ; from which it was, that Thales, Anaxagoras, Empedocles, Leucippus, &c. borrowed
the principles of the corpufcular philofophy b [a Vid. Alfi.
Triumph. Bibliae. b Phyf. Vet. & Nov. Lond. 1702. Gundlmg. Hift. PhUof. Mor. c. 7.]
Medical Allegories, thofe wherein fome fecret of phyfic is revealed : fuch is Solomon's defcription of old age a ; wherein, 4
according to certain authors, the circulation of the' blood is indicated b : fuch alfo, according to a modern writer is the ftory of the labours of Hercules.— [ a Ecelef. c.xa. v! 1 feq. h Warlitz, Valetud. Senum Salom. ap. Jour, des Scav T. 43. p. 232.J Chemical Allegories, thofe relating to chemiftry : fuch, ac- cording to Suidas % and many moderns, is the ftory of the Argonautic expedition fuppofed to be ; wherein the procefs of making gold is exaftly defcribed : fuch alfo, according to Toliius b , is the name and title of Bafil, Valentine, Bene- dictine, Monk; under which are concealed the fecret of the philofophical mercury— [» Suid. in voc. 4sg*?. b V. Bibl. Univ. T. 13. p. 206.] Moral Allegories, thofe whereby fonle ufeful moral uv ftruction is held forth : fuch, in Homer, is the victory of Dio- mede over Venus, or flethy luft : fuch alfo are the Pythago- rean Metempfychofis a , and the ftory of the judgment°of Hercules, given by Prodicus b , fuppofed to have been. To which may be added, the fables of avarice and luxury e ; of the grotto of grief, and others in the Spectators d .— [ a Bibl. Choif. T. 10. p. 186. ■> Tatl. N°. 97. T. 2. p. 282. c Spectat. N°. 55. T. 1. p. 215. <■ Jour. Liter. T, 7. p. 298-305.]
A grammarian of the laft century maintained, that the name of mice and frogs in Homer's Batrachomyomachia, were alle- gorical, and might be underftood of the vitious manners of mankind e . Some think Homer intended to expofe the va- nity of man, by the noble and elevated fentiments which he puts in the mouths of thofe miferable animals, and by the terrible diforders which the death of a pitiful moufe produced. Spencer's general plan is the representation of fix virtues, holinefs, temperance, chaftity, friendfhip, juftice, and cour- tefy, in fix legends, by fix perfons. The fix perfonages are fuppofed under proper Allegories fuitable to their refpective characters, to do all that is neceffary for the full manifefta- tion of the refpective virtues, which they are to exert. The red crofs knight runs through the whole fteps of the Chriftian life; Guyon does all that temperance can poflibly require; Britomartis (a woman) obferves the true rules of unaffected chaftity ; Artbegal is, in every refpect of life, ftrictly and wifely juft ; Calidore is rightly courteous f .^-[ c V. Mem. de Trev. 1718. p. 162. f Spect. N°. 540. Vol. 7. p. 256.] Political Allegories, thofe wherein fome maxim of good government is artfully wrapped up : fuch is that celebrated one of Mcnenius Agrippa, whereby he prevailed on the Ro- man people, who had withdrawn in difcontent at the ma- giftrates, to return into the city ; to which purpofe, he re- lated to them the parable of a war raifed by the feveral parts of the human body againft the ftomach. Vid. Lamy, Art de Parler, c. 12. Mem. de Trev. Jan. 1702. p. 46. As to the ode of Horace, lib. 1. od. 14. mentioned in the Cyclopaedia, it is difputcd whether the republic be therein fignified, or only the fliip which brought the poet back to Italy, after the battle of Philipph V. Jour, des Scav. T* 4. p. 315. feq. & T. 86. p. 171. Theological Allegories, thofe wherein fome truth relating to the nature or attributes of God is couched. The method of defending Homer's gods, by having recourfe to Allegory, has been zeaToufly fupported of late by madame Dacier, and others, but in vain. The advocates for that poet are by no means agreed on the allegorical meanings they afcribe to him ; and whatever Allegory they chufe, whether it be theological, moral, or phyfical, the difficulty is Co great to make it quadrate to the whole of what the poet fays of each god, that 'tis plain the Allegories only come in ex poji facia, and are foreign to the author's intention. It is almoffc certain, Homer never thought of any fuch thing ; and that Metrodorus of Lampfacus, and Anaxagoras are the firft who thought of this expedient, to pacify thofe, who were offended at the poet, But fuppofing Homer to have been as errant an allegorift, as fome would have him ; he will not yet efcape cenfure, for having chofen his figures, and compofed his fic- tions fo ill, that at firft fight feveral of them exhibit moft pernicious ideas : as the invention of Allegories, was in his own power, ought he not better to have obferved decorums a * For an inftance, the defenders of this fcheme affert, that by Minerva, Homer means the divine wifdom, or under- ftanding. Notwithftanding which, it has been obferved, that Minerva makes one of the moft fenfelefs perfons in the whole iliad. Being enraged at Jupiter, file repents her having com* plied with his requeft, in affifting Hercules to efcape from hell. This, according to madame Dacier, only (hews how much power paflion has over wifdom itfelf. But may it not be anfwered, what power can paflion have over the divine wifdom? — [ a Mem. de Trev. 1716. p. 771. b Jour. Liter. T. 7. p. 298.]
There is nothing but may be defended, by the ufe of Allegory* The impieties of Homer's gods are by that means turned into the contrary virtues. By the like means, a man who would be at the trouble, might find excellent moral fenfes in the moft obfeene poems of Martial, or Ovid. Have we not heard of a learned writer, who, by help of Allegory, pretended to find the hiftory of the Jews in Homer's Odyffee \ Nouv. Rep. Lett. T. 52. p. 383.
Lud.
