Of Ferdoosee. 19 
the intervention of super-human agency. To 
some this may appear a defect. Perhaps the 
extraordinary qualities with which the Poet 
invests some of his heroes, as it places us in 
some sort among another race of beings, may 
render the use of machinery an object of less 
importance. 
The minute and perfect delineation of Cha- 
racter is rarely the distinguishing excellence 
of very early poets. Ina nation emerging 
out of barbarism, the characters of men are 
in general sufficiently original and poetical, 
but they must be viewed in classes rather than 
as individuals. Those slighter traits which 
distinguish one individual from another of the 
same class, can be called into existence only 
with the progress of refinement, or are too 
evanescent to be observed till men begin to be 
brought into closer contact by the influence of 
society. Homer, great as he is in this res- 
pect, is inferior to Tasso in the fine discri- 
mination of characters marked by the same 
general qualities. Ferdoosee is still inferior 
to Homer. Yet the characters of the Shah- 
nameh are, on the whole, well supported, 
and varied and contrasted with considerable 
skill; and there are a few, which are touch- 
ed with a delicacy and beauty hardly to have 
