viet 
the other in his Mémoires fur la Vie des 
Hommes illufires, have prepared the ma- 
terials of a good hiftory of Literature. 
Thefe are the mafons, without which the 
Biftorical architect could not raife his 
edifice. } 
Critighe on Mr. Wakefield: 
The beft memoirs of this She in my - 
@pinion, is the hiftory of our three acade- - 
mies, and, above all, the eulogies pro- 
rrounced at the Laure; by the Frerets, the 
PD Alemberts, the Condercets, and the Fon- 
tenelles. 
Such is the analyfis of the conftitienie 
‘parts of my literary mine.. All the ores 
zrenot equally rich ; but one has brought 
eladition; and an nother tafte, to their re- 
fpective crucibles ;. and the beft improve- 
‘ment of thefe materials 1s now the bufi- 
nef{s of philofophy. 
ae 
To the Editor of the oD M 
SIR, 
NY of your readers would much 
oblige me by informing me where I 
can have the infpection of Mr. Hame’s 
hand-writing; as I with to afcertain, be- 
ARLE » 
yond the pofhibility of doubs, the authen- 
ticity of fome unpublifhed MSS reputed to 
be written by him, and now in my poffef- 
ion. 
I fbould alfo be obliged by any informa- 
tion concerning Sir Henry Cary, who was 
fent by James "L. on an em bafly to France. 
Yours, &c. 
Sept. 5, 1799 Ww. 
{ a 
To the Editor of the Mouthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
N your Magazine for Augue laftt, I 
find a communication from Mr. Wake- 
field, in which that acute ‘critic has been 
led into a miftake evidently from his ig- 
norance of a common mechanic art. “The 
paffase quoted from the Argonautics of 
Valerius Flaccus, 
anna Lenteque fequaces 
Molliri videt igne trabes— 
cannot, without unwarrantable latitude of 
conjecture, be confidered as furnifhing 
even a 
feat; it, indeed, exactly coincides with 
a modern practice, which we have no rea- 
fon to think has ever been Yof fince its dif- 
covery, well underftood by every cooper, 
who always employs the action of a gentle 
and flow beat in foftening and bencing the 
fiaves till they aflume the {pheroidal form 
of the cafk. In the infancy of fhip-build- 
ines» when veflels were of a {mail lize, and 
preps even in the days oi Seas apc 
a diftanit ailufion to the application of 
« 
{ Oétober} 
cus, it is not improbable that this art may 
have been fuccefsfully employed to render 
the rude and ftubborn timbers fomewhat 
pliable; but as the magnitude and ftrength 
of the parts increafed, it would become 
lefs eafily applicable and efficacious, and 
confequently fall into difufe. 
Mr. Wakefield will readily pardon this 
correétion of a trifling inaccuracy, as it 
does not in the leaft affeét the merit of the’ 
Latin quotation ; for I cannot but remem- 
ber how contemptuoufly he fpeaks of an 
ples: with “* manual {cience,”” if 
employed in the criticifm of poetry, when 
reviewing Dr. Johnfon’s ftriétures on a 
line of Gray’ s Bard, in his valuable edi- 
tion of that unrivalled lyric poet. And 
he will alfo excufe the addition of another 
remark, which fuggefts itfelf on the pre- 
fent occaiion, and is not altogether un- 
conneéted with the preceding fubjec. 
Mr. Wakefield’s extenfive erudition, and 
xquifite relifh for the beauties of poetry; 
enable him to bring together, and com-* 
pare in all their Jess and difcriminations, 
the vaft variety of coincidences of thought’ 
and expreffion that occur in the great 
poets of ancient and modern times: art 
occupation in which he-apparently finds 
confiderable enjoyment himlelf, and-cer- 
tainly communicates a great deal to his 
readers. But he is too fond of ex xhibiting 
thefe pafiages as imitgiions, and with this 
View, is over curious in tracing the progrefs 
of an idea, an image, or a plirafe. With 
him a fingle words or a fimilar turn of ex- 
- preffion, often affords fuficient ground for 
affirming that the author bad fuch another 
in his eye when he compofed the varfe or 
paflage in quelticn. But furely this is 
lowering the nature, and contraéting the 
extent, of our mental powers. Would it 
not be more animating and invigorating to 
confider thefe fcattered poetic blofioms, 
thus Se ee into clufters, not-as the pro- 
duce of feeds wafted from’ a few parent- 
plants, but as all fpringing up independ- 
ently in the rich foil ef gemus, and under 
the foflering influence of education? A 
feleion from ancient and modern poets, 
formed on this principle, and confifting of 
paffages where the refemblance is not too 
fanciful and evane {cent, would afford a- 
high literary gratification to youthful {cho- 
lars; nor would it be unworthy of Mr.” 
Wakefield’s leifure hours, fince only eru- 
dition the moft varied, and memory the 
moft retentive, fuch as he is acknowledged 
to poffels, arg adequate to the tafk. 
Lan) tee, N, K, 
; Sept. 10; 1799-° 
