Literary and Philotophical Inielligenee. 



550 



lish an additional half sheet, which 

 they call a supplement, and consists of 

 thiitv columns. The Irish papers 

 pay only half the duty of the Eng- 

 lisli. 



GENERAL BEMARKS. 

 We have, in the foregoing account, 

 frequently made use of the phrase 

 " write himself down," which will not 

 be understood in this country without 

 explanation. There is not in Ireland, 

 as here, two parties as to numbers. In 

 When 



^""^.J' 



that respect, there is but one. 



a newspaper in this country enters 



into a strain of servile political w rit- 



ing, patronage to the paper is thought a 



sufficient object, and compensation, or, 



at most, a place or appointment is in 



view. 



The public press in Ireland, partakes 

 of the character of the country-poverty. 

 We do not mean poverty of talent, 

 although poverty in one thing, can 

 hardly subsist witliout poverty in ano- 

 ther. But as to the mechanical part, 

 the paper, type, and press work, are, 

 in general, wretched in the extreme. 

 From this censure, we are inclined to 

 except the Evening Post, Correspondent, 

 Patriot, Dublin Jmrnal, and some 

 others ; although tlicsc are still far 

 inferior to English and Scotch papers. 

 The country papers in Ireland are still 

 more miserable ; and, with few excep- 

 tions, are in the style of mere ballad 

 printing. They also, by the paucity 

 of their advertisements, are a melan- 

 choly proof of the little business doing 

 in tlie country. The Belfast papers, 

 however, afford a greater indication of 

 commerce and industry ; and The 

 Irishman is a well conducted and 

 strongly Patriotic paper. 



Mr. O'Connor's long expected 

 translation of the ancient Clironicles of 

 Ullad, prefaced by an ample disserta- 

 tion on the Phoenician language, in 

 which the chronicles are written, is 

 about to be put to press. The earliest 

 of these chronicles, are anterior to the 

 age of Moses, and give the history of 

 the tribe of Iber, its migrations from 

 Asia to Spain and Ireland, and the 

 political events of the monarchy, from 

 the year 2000 to 1.5 before Christ. A 

 work of greater originality, curiosity, 

 and we will add, of more unequivocal 

 authenticity, was perhaps never sub- 

 mitted to fhe world. The MSS. from 

 which Mr. O'Connor makes his trans- 

 lation, are about 700 years old, and 

 Avill be exhibited in London, at the 

 time the work is published, for the sa- 

 tisfacticn fi the curious. 



The threatenetl Royal Society of Lite- 

 rature has been organized. Ten asso- 

 ciates are to receive an annual salary of 

 one hundred guineas, from the privy 

 purse, and there is also to be an annual 

 royal prize of one hundred guineas. 

 The objects of the Society are said io 

 be to unite and extend the general in- 

 terests of literature, (we hope not mere 

 courtly and ministerial literature) to 

 reward literai-y merit by patronage, 

 (we hope not mere tory and party wri- 

 ters) to excite literary talent by pre- 

 miums, (we hope not merely tlie supple 

 and servile) and to promote literary 

 education by bestowing exhibitions at 

 tlve Universities, (we hope without 

 reference to the increase of ministerial 

 patronage.) On the whole, as friends 

 of civil liberty, we confess that we are 

 extremely jealous of any such rOyal 

 incoi-poration, or of such meddling in 

 matters of literature. It is not like a 

 society for philosophical experiment, 

 but one which is to influence the moral 

 and political feelings of the country, 

 and is calculated to bear down all inde- 

 pendent and public spirited talent. 

 Literature is a republic, and as a re- 

 public only can it flourish. A mo- 

 narchy in literature is a monster, 

 incompatible with its genuine success, 

 and with that noble independence of 

 intellect which produces great and 

 glorious exertions. A false analogy or 

 mistake of the question, amiable no 

 doubt, has led to the project of this 

 institution, which would be well enough 

 atlapted for the region of St. Peters- 

 burgh, or Paris, but is alien to the 

 interests and feelings of freemen. We 

 need only quote wnat Britain has ef- 

 fected in literature without such an 

 institution, compared with other coun- 

 tries, who have been deterioratetl by 

 them; and we will consent to postpone 

 our apprehensions till we see whether 

 among the first associates we discover 

 the names of Bentham or Jeft'rey, Haz- 

 litt or Cobbett, Ensor or Godwin. 



Proposals have been circulated by 

 Mr. Valpy for publishing by subscrip- 

 tion, a collection from the works of the 

 most celebrated Poets of Italy, from 

 the end of the twelth to the beginning 

 of the nineteenth century; arranged 

 in chronological order, and accompa- 

 nied by Biographical and Critical ac- 

 counts of their Lives and Writings, 

 extracted from the most distinguished 

 m-iters on the Literary Histoiy of 

 Italy ; under the direction of William 

 RoscoE, esq. author of fhe Life of 

 Lorenzo 



