ADDRESS. 
V 
themselves in the intricate and luxuriant fo- 
rests of poetic illusion ; but modern philosophy 
has taught modern readers to use reason as 
a clue by which they may safely pass the 
mysterious enclosures of deceitful theory, and 
traverse the broad fields of inquiry. It may 
not be denied that the ancients were capable 
of elevating the human intellect by the sub- 
lime imagery of their poetry, and of exciting 
it to action by the fire of their eloquence, 
but the advance of knowledge has placed in 
the hands of the present generation the touch- 
stone of truth, and the nice test of critical 
perception, by which every writer must expect 
to be tried, and which he finds almost as for- 
midable as the grim janitors above described. 
The young author, however, may find some 
encouragement in the words of an eminent 
writer,* who has said, that “ he who is pene- 
trating and ardent in the conduct of life will 
probably exert a proportional force and inge- 
nuity in the exercise of literary talents.” And 
thus, whoever has already gained the credit 
of the former, may, by perseverance, hope to 
* Adams Ferguson, in his Essay on Civil Society. 
