462 
permanently influenced his character and 
fortune, would have been cleared up by 
his friend. It would, however, be an 
injustice to Mr. Hayley to deny that his 
narrative is in many respects highly in- 
teresting, and that he has succeeded in 
impressing; upon the reader’s mind a 
very lively as well as captivating image. 
of the excellent person whom he com- 
memorates.. As a painter hehas, indeed, 
one defect. Not only his_ principal 
figure, but all the accessory ones, are 
set‘off with such a glare of showy co- 
louring, that distinction of feature is 
almost lost inthe general lustre. To 
speak without ametaphor—wemightima- 
gine that when he sat down to compose, 
hehad provided himself with a list of all 
the laudatory and ornamental epithets in 
the English language, on which he rang 
the changes in conjunction with every 
name that occurred. It would not be 
easy to find a single person mentioned 
without some panegyrical addition ; and 
this®-perpetual. strain of compliment 
throws a finical-and artificial air over his 
language, totally repugnant to the tone 
of2manly sincerity. 
We have already said that the great 
~ has . 
BIGGRAPHY. 
value of this publication consists in the 
letters of Cowper, which are, indeed, some 
of the most exquisite specimens of the 
true epistolary style that our language 
affords ; and it is truly wonderful, that a 
man ofa shy and retired disposition, long 
buried in an obscure retreat, and ab- 
sorbed in deep melancholy, should have 
been capable of a graceful and polished 
familiarity of address, scarcely equalled 
by any of those who have been most con~ 
versant with the world. The humour, 
vivacity, elegance and ease of these art~ 
less effusions have scarcely ever been 
surpassed; and the honest affectionate 
heart that animates them is a perpetual 
charm. Were this the sole present. 
which the editor had madeto the publicy” 
he would merit its gratitude. - But he 
has likewise collected many other fugi- 
tive compositions of his friend which 
will give pleasure to the admirers of. 
Cowper, light and careless as many of 
them are. Upon the whole, it cannot 
be doubted but that: these volumes will 
not only engage the present curiosity of « 
the public, but make’a’ permanent addi- 
tionto English literature. Stefi: 
Aat. IL. Life of Geoffrey Chaucer, the early English Poet, including Memoirs of his 
near Friend and Kinsman, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, Se. By W.Govnwin. 
4to. 2 vols. 
BEFORE we proceed to examine 
these volumes, it is necessary to state 
the design with which they were written. 
This should always, if possible, be related 
in the author’s own words. 
«« The first and direct object of this work, 
is to erect a monument to his name, and, as 
far‘as the writer was capable of doing it, to 
produce an interesting and amusing book, in 
modern English, enabling the reader, who 
might shrink from the labour of mastering 
the phraseology of Chaucer, to do justice to 
his illustrious countryman. It seemed pro- 
bable also that, if the author were successful 
in making a popular work, many might by 
its means be induced to study the language 
of ‘our ancestors, and the elements and his- 
tory of our vernacular speech ; a study at 
least as improving as that of the language of 
Greece and Rome. 
«© Acfurther idea, which was continually 
resent to the mind of the author while writ- 
ing, obviously contributed to give animation 
to his labours, and importance to his under- 
taking. The full and complete life of a poet 
want include an extensive survey of the 
manners, the opinions, the arts, and the lite- 
rature of the age in whiclr the poet lived.— 
This is the only way in which we can become 
truly acquainted with the history: of his 
mind, and the causes which made him what 
he was. We must observe what Chaucer! 
felt and saw, how he was educated, what: 
species of learning he pursued, and: what 
were the objects,/the events, and the persons 
successively presented -to his view, before we: 
can strictly and philosophically understand 
his biography. . To delinend the ‘state of 
England, such as Chaucer saw it, in every 
point of view in which it can_ be delineated, 
is the subject of this book. ° 
‘© But while engaged in this study, the 
reader may expect to gain an additional ad- 
vantage, beside that of understanding the 
poet. If the knowledge of contemporary» « 
objects is the biography of Chaucer, the con=~" — 
verse of the proposition will also be true, and + - 
the biography of Chaucer will be the picture ~- 
of a certain portion of the literary, political, 
and domestic history of our country. | The 
person of Chaucer may in this view be consi- 
dered as the central figure in 2 miscellaneous 
painting, giving unity and individual applica-* 
tion to the otherwise disjointed particulars 
with which the canvas is diversified. No- 
man of moral sentiment or of taste will af-- + _ 
firm, that a more becoming central figure to- 
