or inexperienced minds improperly, than what is addressed to them in secret, and comes recommended by prohibition.
CHAP. II.
On the Supposed Atheism of Queen Mab.
I shall now trouble you with a few comments, on what is called the Atheism of Mr. Shelley.—When reduced to its real nature, and stripped of the mystic veil, in which he endeavours to shroud it, it will be found as harmless, as it appears monstrous. His muse has the effect of a magic lanthorn. It is only the light, situation, and medium, through which we view his parodoxes, that render them so alarming. The very terrible creations of the lanthorn are deceptions produced from the most ordinary, and least formidable materials; and attract our attention from what they seem to be, not what they are:—so the illusions of Mr. Shelley startle us, because their real nature is disguised in the exaggeration of description. To dispel these shadows, however, is of comparatively little importance. What concerns our practice, comes home to the bosoms and business of us all; but our opinions may be indulged in more
