in composition, is a serious endeavour, by strained description, to elevate a low or familiar subject; which, instead of being sublime, never fails to be ridiculous. The mind, in some animating passions, is indeed apt to magnify its objects beyond natural bounds; but such hyperbolical description has its limits, and when carried beyond these it degenerates into burlesque. An ambitious writer who has not natural elevation of genius is extremely apt to glide unconsciously into bombast. He strains above his pitch, and the violence of the effort generally carries him beyond the limits of propriety.