Olfl MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 



amiable but sometimes despairing Cowper, drawn as lie lived. We 

 have gone over Mr. Grimsha\\e's portion of the work, and no praise can 

 be too high for its execution ; the philosophy of Christianity is finely 

 exhibited in it. We are somewhat at a loss for an extract, as there is 

 scarcely one of Cowper's letters but would grace our pages, so full are 

 they of simplicity, gentleness, and purity. There are also scattered 

 through them many sound remarks of men and things, and many ex- 

 cellent criticisms. How naturally, and how pleasantly, and with what 

 quiet humour, he speaks of his popularity ! ** I have not the good fortune 

 to meet with any of the fine things that you say are printed in my praise ; 

 but I learn from certain advertisements, that I make a conspicuous 

 figure in the entertainments of Freemasons' Hall. But if I am not 

 gratified with the sight of the odes composed to my honour and glory, I 

 have at least been tickled with douceurs of a very flattering nature by post. 

 A lady unknown addresses the best of men ; an unknown gentleman has 

 read my inimitable poems, and invites me to his seat in Hampshire ; 

 another incognito gives me hopes of a memorial in his garden ; and a 

 Welsh attorney sends me his verses to revise, and obligingly asks, 



' Say shall my little bark, attendant, sail, 

 Pursue the triumph, and partake Ihe gale/ 



If you find me a little vain hereafter, my dear friend, you must excuse it, 

 in consideration of these powerful incentives, especially the latter, for 

 surely the poet, who can charm an attorney, particularly a Welsh one, 

 must be at least an Orpheus, if not something greater." 



The success of the ** Task" was indeed great and immediate, and has 

 been equally enduring. And for why ? Because it amply merited it. " He 

 was," says the Editor, " particularly indebted for his distinction to his 

 inimitable production of the ' Task/ a work which every succeeding year 

 has increasingly stamped with the seal of public approbation. If we 

 inquire into the causes of this celebrity, they are to be found, not merely 

 in the multitude of poetical beauties scattered throughout the poem it is 

 the faithful delineation of nature, and of the scenes of real life it is the 

 vein of pure and elevated morality the exquisite sensibility of feeling, 

 and the powerful appeals to the heart and conscience, which constitute its 

 great charm and interest/' 



This edition of Cowper cannot fail to be highly appreciated : to the 

 serious and devout reader, it will have especial charms, from the 

 Author's peculiar morbid religious sensibilities, and from the touching- 

 way in which they are developed. 



The illustrations from drawings by Harding, engraved by Finden, are 

 exquisite. 



On the Geography and Classification of Animals. By W. 

 SWAINSON, Esq. Being the <>(Hh vol. of Lardner's Cabinet 

 Cyclopaedia. Longman and Co., London. 



There is no man living better qualified for the task which he has 

 undertaken, than Mr. Swainson. We have one objection, which we 

 state in limine, which is, the work is too scientific, or rather, that the 

 technicalities of science are too closely adhered to. We regret this, as it 

 will hinder numbers of readers from profiting by an excellent book ; and 

 there certainly is no need that it should be so. 



The work is divided into four parts ; first, on the Geography of Ani- 

 mals ; second, on the Growth, &c. of Systematic Zoology ; third, on the 

 first principles of Natural Classification ; and fourth, a familiar explana- 

 tion of the first principles of Practical and Scientific Zoology, &c. Those 

 separate portions are ably treated ; the first has pleased us greatly. With 



