— 
STEWART’S LIFE AND WRITINGS OF DR. REID. 
him ‘reject, with a sort of disdainful pride, 
those emoluments which he might honour- 
ably have derived from his literary exertions. 
The character of an author by profession was 
what he peculiarly shunned ; yet (so difficult 
is consisiency) it could have been only upon 
the strength of his public reputation as a 
writer, that he became a petitioner for a lu- 
erative sinecure. His friend, Mr. Mason, 
_ attests his secret bounty, even when his cir- 
cumstances were the most narrow., Hé was 
_ yery careful of himself, and so timorous, that 
it is said, some of the finest views in a tour to 
‘the lakes escaped him, because he did not 
elioose to venture to those spots where they 
were to beseen. This want of personal cou- 
‘Tage singularly contrasts with the manly and 
tiartial strains of his poetry. In morals he 
_ Was temperate, upright, and a constant friend 
tevirtue. His religious opinions were not 
known, but he always reprobated the disse- 
 Mination of scepticisin and infidelity. Few 
men of his reputation have had less vanity, and 
he bore with good humour and easy negligence 
all the critical attacks upon his compositions. 
As the learning of Gray was entirely for his 
_ own use, and produced no fruits for the pub- 
lic, it has no claims to particular notice. 
From the testimony of his friends, it seems 
to have comprised almost every topic of hu- 
_ man enquiry, excepting those belonging to 
theexact sciences. We are almost tantalised 
Raith accounts of the valuable remarks he 
made upon authors and subjects in the course 
Of his reading, which, if so deep and original 
W 
. 
Wie! 
os they are represented, ought in some manner 
ae 
to have been brought to public view. If he 
"Was, as one of his admirers has asserted, ¢ per- 
y haps the most learned man in Europe,’ never 
re learning more thrown away. Itis exclu- 
' Sively asia poed that his name deserves to be 
‘twansmitted to posterity. In this capacity, 
~ the small number of his compositions, com- 
red with the high rank he has attained, 
must be considered as indicative of an un- 
Common degree of excellence in his art. 
inc in reality, no one appears to have pos- 
~ sessed more of that faculty of poetical percep- 
- tion which distinguishes amongall the objects 
_ fart and nature what are fittest for the poet’s 
$é, together with the power of displaying 
them in their richest colours. That many 
‘these objects were derived to him from the 
works of other writers will not be denied by 
ta 
Society of Edinburgh. 8vo. pp. 222. 
Nag calm and unambitious life of 
¢ philosopher recorded in these pages 
Bee fea’ ealeatared to attract Ballic 
tice. In the exemplary discharge of 
duties, first, as a Christian minister, 
and afterwards as a teacher of moral 
sophy, in the universities of Aber- 
509 
a judicious admirer ; and if a distinction is to 
be made between the poet of nature and the 
poet of study, he is certainly to be ranged in 
the latter class. It has already been remark- 
ed, that his two principal odes are expressly 
addressed to prepared readers ; and to enter 
into his beauties, both of diction and versifi- 
cation, a course of poetical study is mart 
Eyen with such a preparation, the delight 
they afford will not be the same to all, as is 
manifest from Dr. Johnson's derogatory stric- 
tures; in which, however, candid readers 
have discovered more ill-nature than tasté. 
In pure invention Gray cannot be said to ex- 
cel, neither is he highly pathetic or sublime; 
but he is splendid, lofty, and energetic 5 ge- 
nerally correct, and richly harmonious.— 
Though lyric poetry is that in which he has 
chiefly exercised himself, he was capable of 
varying his manner to suit any species of 
composition. Perhaps he was best ofall qua- 
lified for the moral and didactic, if we may 
judge from his noble fragment of * An Essay 
on the Alliance of Education and Govern- 
ment.” , But the number of his fragments 
indicates a want of power to support a long- 
continued flight ; and it would be too indul- 
gent to suppose that he cou/d have performed 
all that he planned. As a writer of Latin 
verse he is perhaps oie by few in classic 
propriety, and certainly excels the ordinary 
tribe of Latin versifiers in novelty and dignity. 
The familiar letters of Gray are entertaining 
and instructive. They are free from all pa- 
rade, and possess a fund of pleasantry, some- 
times bordering upon quaintness.” 
There are several new articles of fo- 
reign naturalists, chiefly with the signa- 
ture of Mr. Johnston, in which, how- 
ever, although we meet with satisfactory 
accouuts of the leading events of their 
lives, and accurate lists of their publi- 
cations, we miss those concise but highly 
useful and interesting estimates of the 
value and object of their writings, which 
we meet with in the other departments. 
Such a sammary would have been pecu- 
liarly desirable in the lives of Ferber the 
mineralogist, Reinheld Torster, and 
Gmelin; and Gleditsch the acute inves- 
tigator of the cryptogamous vegetables. 
Ant. XIV. An Account of the Life and Writings of Thomas Reid, D. D. F. R. S. 
| Edinburgh ; late Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow. By 
¢ | Ducat Srewart, F. R.S. Edinburgh. 
Read at diffzrent Meetings of the Royal 
deen and Glasgow, he “ held the noise- 
less tenor of his way” for forty-four 
years. At this period, in 1781, being 
then upwards of seventy, with faculties 
matured, but unimpaired, he resigned 
the professorial dignity, and devoted 
the whole vigour of his mind to those 
