642 
instances, is an incorrect statement of the 
fact. The chain of learning, though 
much attenuated, was never broken. We 
know that a very few centuries previous 
“to the invention of printing, works of 
the greatest value were in being, of 
“which scarcely a vestige can now be 
found. an AS 
The subject of the second section 1s 
the epic poetry of Greece, the writings 
of Homer, Hesiod, and Apollonius Rho- 
dius. There certainly isa sense in which 
Hesiod may be styled an epic poet, as 
the readers of Dr. Bentley’s remarks on 
Phalaris well know ; in the modern use 
of the terms, he would, however, be 
classed with didactic writers. From 
this section, we select part of tlie criti- 
cism on the Iliad, as a specimen of the 
work. 
« No subject could have been found to 
operate so forcibly on the feclings of the 
Grecians, as that of the siege and destruction 
of Troy. The recital of the interesting 
story must at once have gratified their vanity, 
excited their military ardour, and warmed 
their patriotism. ‘That the choice of his sub- 
ject was not more happy than the execution 
of his plan, is a commendation bestowed on 
Homer by the best critics of every age. 
“Horace ‘places him above the chiefs of the 
‘academy and the Portico; and though Plato 
‘would hanifely him, together with all other 
‘poets, from his republic, yet he confesses 
that his early respect and love for his writ- 
ings, ought to chain his tongue; that he is 
the creator of all the poets who have followed 
him. : ; 
_ « The fable’ of the Iliad, divested of its 
“episodes, is remarkably simple and concise. 
«One of the Grecian generals, discontented 
with ‘the commander in chief, retires from 
‘the cainp, deaf to the call of duty, of reason, 
und of his friends ; he scruples not to aban- 
don the public -weal to his private resent- 
ment; and his enemies, profiting by his muis- 
conduct, obtain great advantages over his 
party, and kill his bosom-friend, “Vengeance 
and friendship induce him to re-assunte his 
arms, and he overcomes the chief of the 
enemy.’ 
«Whoever carefully peruses the Iliad, will 
find the execution of the work’to be not less 
judicious than the ‘plan, which was to de- 
monstrate the evils arising from discord 
amongst tulers.. ' 
« The description that Homer gives of 
characters is throughout consistent, and his 
manner, though simple, is sublime. His 
images are fitiished pictures, ‘his réflections 
are moral axioms. His imagination is rich 
in a’superlative degree ; and his knowledge 
is universal. He is of all profyssions; poet, 
orator, mathematiciansephtlosophi'rs geogra- 
pher, and artisan. In the order of his story 
PHILOLOGY AND CRITICISM. 
there is a variety, and in the relation of it ait 
energy, which are produced by elevation of 
genius ; and his verses, which delight the 
car by their rythm and their cadence, deno- 
minate him the true poet of nature. 
«* Tn reading the twelve first books of Ho- 
mer, we are struck with the simple yet noble 
progress of the work. We admire the arti- 
fice of the poet, who suffers the intervention 
of the gods to terminate a battle between 
Menelaus and Paris, which must otherwise 
have terminated the war. Our attention is 
summoned to that part where Helen passes 
before the old Trojans, who regard her with 
admiration, and are no longer astonished at 
seeing Europe and Asia bleeding on her ac- 
count. Her conversation with the aged 
Priam, when she makes known to him the 
principal chiefs of Greece, is particularly in- 
teresting. ‘The scene between Hector and 
Andromache when the hero returns to order 
a sacrifice, ayd then departs from ‘Troy never 
to re-enter it, has not been celebrated too 
often or too much. 
«« These are delightful episodes, which agree- 
ably vary the uniformity of the principal 
action.” 
From the epic poets, Mr. Urquhart 
proceeds to the lyric, tragic, comic, and 
pastoral poets of Greece; and to its 
orators and historians. Plutarch claims a 
separate section, and a concluding sec- 
tion is allotted to the Grecian satire, that 
is, to the works of Lucian. A similar 
plan, with some variations of order and 
circumstances, is pursued in the enume- 
ration of the Roman writers. But why, 
among the Greeks, is Callimachus for- 
gotten? Why are the didactic poets 
omitted, Aratus, Nicander, and Oppian ? 
How is the glory of Plato and Aristotle 
so obscured that their names are not 
mentioned ? Did the work of Athenzus 
, deserve to be unnoticed? Could no pro-— 
per place among the Roman writings 
be discovered for the great work of the 
elder Pliny ? By a strange anachronism, 
Bacchylides, the contemporary of Pin- 
dar, is made to flourish thirteen cen- 
turies before the christian xra. What is 
meant by the episode of Cacus, appa- 
rently ascribed (p. 363) to Lucretius ? 
The style is often imaccurate. We 
are told that it was the plan of the Iliad 
to demonstrate the evils arising from 
discord among rulers; rather the object ; 
the plan is the disposition which is used 
for the accomplishment of the object. _ 
Speaking of Herodian, it is remarked 
that the imitation of his style is more de- 
sirable than difficult: we suppose, more 
desirable than easy. In comparisons of 
this kind,-a little care is requisite to 
