Lord Chesterfield, as the incarnation of the world and the most brilliant servant of the arch-enemy, comes in for a lashing under the name of Petronius.
Petronius! all the muses weep for thee, But every tear shall scald thy memory.
The graces too, while virtue at their shrine Lay bleeding under that soft hand of thine, Felt each a mortal stab in her own breast, Abhorr'd the sacrifice, and cursed the priest.
Thou polish'd and high-finish'd foe to truth, Gray-beard corruptor of our listening youth, To purge and skim away the filth of vice, That so refined it might the more entice, Then pour it on the morals of thy son To taint _his_ heart, was worthy of _thine own_.
This is about the nearest approach to Juvenal that the Evangelical satirist ever makes.

In _Hope_ there is a vehement vindication of the memory of Whitefield.

It is rather remarkable that there is no mention of Wesley.

But Cowper belonged to the Evangelical rather than to the Methodist section.

It may be doubted whether the living Whitefield would have been much to his taste.
In the versification of the moral satires there are frequent faults, especially in the earlier poems of the series, though Cowper's power of writing musical verse is attested both by the occasional poems and by _The Task_.
With the Moral Satires may be coupled, though written later, _Tirocinium, or a Review of Schools_.