638 
mon life, his emotions will give dignity 
to his utterance, and his language will 
be the genuine, the measured language 
of poetry. In our critique on Mr. 
Lewis’s Alfonso, (see vol. I. p. 688) we 
have already given our sentiments as to 
the use of blank verse in the. seriotis 
drama ; we there stated it to be our opi- 
nion, and we state it to be our opinion 
now, that the diction of the tragic muse 
shfnld ever be as lofty as her sentiments ; 
to give them appropriate utterance they 
require the pomp and harmony of verse ; 
poetry should bestow upon them all her 
grace and all her grandeur. ‘There is a 
familiarity in the unmeasured dialogue, 
which although not unsuitable to the col- 
Yoquial ease and carelessness of comeily, 
always derogates from the loftiness and 
dignity of tragedy. 
One word more and we have done. 
Mr. Greene, as he is describing to us 
what tragedy and comedy otight to be, 
and what they ought not to bey says, 
(p- 57), that “ the-tragic muse should 
confine itself to the quiet haunts and to the 
natural scenes and circumstances cf do« 
mestic life, in a forcible and affecting 
pourtray of individual suffering ; at- 
taching cn 8 solely to those instances which life 
és continually furnishing of virtue struggling 
with, and rising superior to distress ; and 
above all, in faithfully repeating the 
voice of nature herself.” 
If Shakespeare were to be tried by the 
canons of criticism, enacted by Mr. 
Greene, he would be found miserably 
wanting ! Weremember some veterinary 
anatomist who published a book, in which 
all the proportions which a horse ought to 
have were very peremptorily laid down : 
the standard distance from the head to 
the shoulder, from the shoulder to the 
PHILOLOGY AND CRITICISM: 
first rib, from the rib'to the hip, &c. &¢. 
was firmly established ; but when our 
anatomist came to measure the prc por- 
iions of the celebrated Childers’ (d+ 
Eclipse ; it was one of the two) he found 
that not one of them accorded with his 
standard of perfection! The inference 
was very obvious: the horse was ill- 
made, and had not a good point abont 
him; to be sure he was the swiftest 
horse upon the turf, but put together in 
the clumsy manner he was, he’ had no 
right to be so, and there’ niust be some 
trick in it. Shakespeare is something 
in ‘the like predicament; although he 
excels all other dramatists more than 
Childers or Eclipse excelled any other 
horse at Newmarket, the fact, according 
to Mr. Grecne, ought to be very unac- 
countable. For, in the first place, Shake: 
speare was a fellow of infinite jest and 
“ most excellent fancy ;” and often soared 
into those regions which dramatists are 
forbidden to see. In the next place, his 
tragedies are all in blank verse: ‘this is 
not the language of nature. In the third 
place, the magic of his wand was con- 
tinually:employed in raising ghosts, 
witches, fairies, and “ beings out of na- 
ture,” and only fit for old women and 
childrén. In the last place, far froni 
“confining” his tragic muse * to the 
quiet haunts, and to the natural scenes 
of domestic life ;* far from “ attaching 
her solely to those instances which life 
is continually furnishing,” almost all 
Shakespeare’s reiiptea tale some mo- 
narch for their hero, the incidents of 
whose reign have very little reference to 
«“ domestic life,’ bear very little resem+ 
blance to its “ natural scenes,” and very 
rarely occur within its * quiet haunts.” 
Art. IV. Critical and Philosophical Essays. By the Author of the Adviser. Vol. I. 
| 12mo. pp: 836. é. 1 yited 
IN the preface to a work we generally 
find an author giving some explanation 
of his plan, and his reasons for pursuing 
jt; he frequently tells us the motives 
which influenced him to publication, and 
usually endeavours to conciliate the 
good-will of his readers, by offering 
some claims on their indulgence, and 
expressing a becoming consciousness of. 
his imperfections. ‘Ihe pert and flip- 
pant preface to these Critical and Phi- 
losophical Essays, as they are arrogantly 
called, is of a singular nature, for it 
doubly aggravates the disgrace and ig- 
‘aominy which it affects to Wipe away. 
One half of this volume is devoted to 
considerations on Dr. Blair’s Lectures 
on Rhetoric: without one atom of ‘taste 
or genius, without one spark of learning 
or of science, this essayist has dared to 
ridicule the writings and insult the me- 
mory of a man, whose works have stood 
the test of liberal criticism, and are 
every day contributing to improve the 
morals, refine the manners, _and chastes ‘ 
the taste of mankind. 
~The preface to this volume is as -dis- 
gusting---and that. is saying a great deal. 
---as any part of ‘its. contents % the a1 
Secu 
thor tells ws that’ lie sent his essays down 
