Fourth. For the leji ei'glnal ejjay, in vjerfe ; odt,tale, epiJl!e,fonnd,or 

 Jhert faetic effufion of any kind ; A SILVER MEDAL, — or TWO GUINEAS. 



Fifth. For the mojl ffiritcd tranllation, cr elegant imitation of any feleS} 

 poem in foreign languages , lubetber ancient tr medern ; A SILVER MEDAL, 

 or TWO GUINEAS. 



The editor, ivhen he offers ihcfe two laji premiums, does it not 'without fear 

 and hefttation . All ihefne arts are pleafmg and attraStive ; hut none of them, 

 he believes, is fi generally feduiVive to youthful mind;, as the allurements if 

 poetry. While imagination is -warm, and before a faculty of obferving things 

 accurately, has formed a juji tajle for imitative beauties, a facility in making 

 vetfes is often mijiaken for a poetic talent ; and the fduBions of f elf love keep up 

 the itluffion. To thefe caufes. he is fenfMe, rue o-we thofe numerous unintcrcfl- 

 ing verfes that are perpetually iffuing from the prefs, ivhich ferve to difgiiji the 

 man of tajle, and make him turn from the fight of verfe, though he -would be 

 enraptured ivith genuine ^oeXry , Jhould it fall in his -way. Should thefe fmall 

 allurements call forth a number of irif.es of this fort, the editor tvould feel he 

 had placed himfclf in very difagreeablc circumfances ; for if it U utipleafing 

 even to read fuch things, it would become in this cfs extremely difrrjjing, front 

 the unavoidable recolleSion, that pain miijl be given by rejeiling them. The 

 pleafure, however, he would feel at calling forth, -were it but a Jingle line of 

 genuine poetry, that mndejl merit might have otberwife fuppreffed, induced him 

 to propofe thefe fmall premiums. The effeSl the\ produce •will determine "whe- 

 ther in future they fhall he continued or ivithdrawn. 



It may not be improper alfo to hint, that it will be reqiiifite that tranjlations 

 cr.d imitations from the poets in foreign or dead languages, he made chiefly from 

 fuch poffages as have not already appeared in ' Euglijb. A repetition of what 

 has already been done cannot be admitted, unlefs it pojfcfs very fuperior excellence. 

 There is afpirit, and fire, and heroic ardour, confpicvous in " The Songs of a 

 fruMan Grenadier," by Gleim ; and a yet higher degree of artlefs energy in 

 " The Songs of an Amazon ," by Wciffe, that would be highly captivating tq 

 ■ir^n readers, were they known ; and among the Lyric pieces of M/Ietajiafto, there 

 is a brevity, afimplicity, an elegance and ^lathos, that has been feUam imitated in 

 the Enirlifh language. It has perhaps been thought thf genius of the language 

 did nut admit of it. Neither was it thought that a vonnet could he written in 

 Enalijh, that could poffefs thofe fcduSiive charms that had been admired for twg 

 hundred years in the writings of Petrarch, till a lady, well inown in the an- 

 nals of polite literature, very lately fbewed, that for this fpccies of poetry, no 

 lanouage was more happy than eur own. Under the plajlic power of genius, 

 language becomes an injlrument capable of every thing: IVhere genius is want- 

 ing, it is a tool of very cireumfcribed powers. 



* EUfys intended for this competition, written in the Englijh languagf^ 

 KiuiUbe received any time before the if of May* 1 79 1, addrejfed, pof paid, to 

 the Editor, it the printing houfe of Mundcll and Son, Edinburgh. To each effay 

 mull be prefixed a few words as a motto ; the fame motto, intbe fame band writ- 



# The eriitor cotilidcring that many perlons have not haU an opportunity o^ f«ing the ?xo- 

 fucftus wBo tna wifli !o betomc competitgra, has enlarged tlit ti:ne to; ictciviue taper* oeyonj 



