650 
wholesome liquors which fill the stomach 
with flatulence instead.of food. Nonoé 
pessior ladro d’un caitivo libro, say the Ita- 
ians, We havea vulgar proverb, which 
says “all that does not poison fattens ;”” 
but it is false, physically and metaphori- 
cally ; the stomach may be filled, and 
yet defrauded of its nutriment; and, in 
ike manner, will the mind be debilitated, 
if words, and only words, be presented to 
it. What there is good in these volumes, 
would have been better, if brought toge- 
ther in an essay, and that essay a very 
few pages in length. As it is, we can- 
not but feel that it is wearying and 
unprofitable work to sift a bushell of 
PHILOLOGY AND. CRITICISM, 
‘a 
chaff for the sake of half a dozen 
of wheat. 
Madame Stael is a clever woman and 
an accomplished woman; but something 
more than cleverness and accomplish- 
ments are required for the composition 
of a Treatise on Ancient and Modern 
Literature. She possesses more talents 
than either.of her parents, who were both 
extraordinary persons. Some such pro-~ 
gressive amelioration as our feeders aim 
at in wool and mutton, is carried on by 
nature with the human mind. If the 
Neckar family be continued for a few 
generations, it will probably produce gex 
nius. 
grains 
Art. VI. Letters to a Young Lady, on a Course of English Poetry. By J. Arxiny 
M. D. 
WHOEVER casts his eye on the pon- 
derous size and formidable numbers of 
the volumes which form a complete col- 
lection of English poetry, will be imme- 
diately sensible of the great utility of a 
work like that before us. 
The neglect with which the classics 
of the last age are treated by the young 
persons of the present, a frequent topic 
of complaint with more experienced rea- 
ders, is surely matter for regret rather 
than surprise. Should a novice in lite- 
rature, particularly if a youthful female, 
summon up resolution to attempt a tho- 
roughmethadical perusal of thesemouldy 
archives of the muses, what will be the 
probable consequence? Puzzled by the 
obsolete phraseology of some parts, be- 
wildered by the pompous rant of others, 
disgusted by the grossness of this writer, 
insulted by the puerilities of that, and 
wearied by the prolixity of the whole, 
she will hastily turn aside from the fa- 
tiguing task of winnowing the unsorted 
heap, tamely to receive from the hand 
of fashion the grotesque fancies of the 
day for the venerable costume of our an- 
cestors, works unmeritedly extolled for 
those undeservedly forgotten, the feeble 
imitation for the nervous original, the 
flowery for the pithy, the new tor the ex- 
cellent. A kinder task could not therefore 
have been undertaken for the benefit of 
the rising generation, than that of point- 
ing out those portions of English poetry 
most deserving the attention of a-young 
lady, the characteristic excellencies and 
d-fects of each writer, and the order of 
reading best adapted to form a correct 
and unbiassed taste. The reputation of 
Dr. Aikin, as a judicieus and impartial 
12mo. pp. 297. 
critic, is such as will inspire his fair pu- 
pils with respect and confidence, and the 
public voice will probably echo our as- 
surance, that they could not have found 
a safer or more pleasing guide through 
the flowery paths of poesy,. 
Our author has not thought it requi- 
site to open his series of letters with 
“‘ any preliminary discussions of the the- 
oretical kind, concerning the abstract 
nature of poetry in general, and its seve- 
ral species,” considering the practical 
mode of acquiring a taste by the perusal 
of the best models as the most eligible. 
«To assist his pupil in forming an ear 
for the melody of verse” was his first 
object, and with this a chronological or- 
der was evidently incompatible, as it was 
desirable immediately to bring forward 
“those perfect examples of the art, 
which necessarily imply many previous 
attempts.” Accordingly, Pope’s Pas- 
torals come first under inspection; Wind- 
sor Forest, and several more of that au- 
thor’s smaller pieces, are then pointed 
out; after which Dryden, Waller, Prior, 
and some others, are introduced to the 
notice of the scholar, before her preceptor 
permits her return to the works of Pope; 
fearful, he says, ‘ lest fascinated by his 
beauties, she should fix her taste so ex- 
clusively upon him, as to regard: every 
deviation from his manner as a defect.” 
Its comprehensiveness is in factthe grand 
characteristic of Dr. Aikin’s poetical 
system; to every branch of the art, to 
every species of merit; he labours to give 
a fair and equal chance of obtaiming the 
applause of his young reader, and to this ' 
principle of impartiality is to be ascribed 
the seeming neglect of order in which his* 
