2 3 i Literati) J on rnati . 



ractcr deserve higher eulogium than tor the pro- 

 duction and the general popularity of such writers 

 as Pope, Ychtng, Klopstock, Gesner, Thomson, 

 and Cow per. 



Finally j the discoveries in science which distin- 

 guish the eighteenth century have also conferred 

 Some peculiarity on the poetic character of the age, 

 by furnishing the poet with new images, and more 

 just and comprehensive views of nature. It would 

 not be difficult to show that the improvements in 

 every branch of the phvsical sciences, and particu- 

 larlv in Natutal Philosophy > Chemistry, and Natural. 

 History, have all produced new materials for the 

 labours of poetic genius, enriched the stores both 

 of imagery and diction, and thus contributed to 

 render this kind of composition at once more in- 

 structive and more pleasing. 



CHAPTER XXL 



LITERARY journals. 



IN the former part of the seventeenth century, 

 " it was a consolation, at least for the unsuccess- 

 ful writer, that he fell insensibly into oblivion. If 

 he committed the private folly of printing what 

 no one would purchase, he had only to settle the 

 matter with his publisher: he was not arraigned 

 at the public tribunal as if he had committed a 

 crime of magnitude/" But in the latter part of 

 that century, periodical Criticism began to brandish 

 its formidable weapon, and those who undertook 



y Curttsit'ies of Literature, vol. i. p. I, 



