lost in the late wreck, on which the fishes were still feeding; while thou sands of whitening bones and skeletons lay scattered about, some resting on the out-stretched arms of the Giant Polypus which had fed on them, and others in the dreadful opening made by the shell of the enormous Clamp fish. The packages, jewels, gold, anchors, and fragments of wrecks, which appeared strewed about, were innumerable; but my respiration now be coming difficult, from the agitation produced by so terrible yet sublime a spectacle, I turned from it to search for the body of my friend. After a long, dangerous, and almost hopeless examination, I discovered it in a cave, some distance from the Diving Bell, still dressed as when I last saw him, but blue, swoln, and livid. I raised the body in my arms, and taking one haud, drew from it a seal-ring with an aqua-marine stone, which well preserves the memory of my friend's death, and my own hazards in obtaining of it; and since I first put it on, neither force nor any other methods will draw it off. When I had done this, I looked the corse steadily in the face, and, still holding it by the right hand, said, "George Harvey, the pledge of Raymond Mortlake is redeemed:" when to my surprise, yet not to my terror, the eyes opened and gazed fervently upon me, while a smile played around the mouth, and the hand returned my pressure. At this moment I discovered that a Sea Monster, consisting of a huge mis-shapen mass of scaly flesh, somewhat resembling a man, had fastened his long teeth on the body of my friend. I caught up a large piece of wreck that lay near me, and with one blow laid the mon

ster level and howling; whilst I hastened to secure a burial for the corse, by dropping it into one of the many springs which gush from the bottom of the sca; whose strength is such, as to terrify all the inhabitants of the deep. This was scarcely effected, with a very brief farewell, when the monster having recovered, returned and fixed his tusks on my right arm. With a rapidity of motion that I have often since wondered and shuddered at, I regained the Bell, and with my terrible companion entered it, and gave the signal to be drawn up. Whether it were loss of blood from the deep wound given me by this Water-Fiend, or the effect of rising, I know not, but my senses seemed to be leaving me, and my head to be going upwards away from my body. I soon became senseless, and recovered not, until I found myself in a hammock on board the Sea-gull. It was then that I learned, that my extraordinary stay had greatly alarmed them; and that their terror was wonderfully encreased upon drawing up the Bell, and finding my aquatic comrade, who leaped again into the sea over the vessel's side, the moment he escaped from the Bell; so that they could scarcely discern his form. A long and dangerous illness, the effect of my wound and voyage, followed; and when I recovered, my first care was to visit the Church of Lerwick, at once to offer up thanks for my own preservation, and to erect a stone to the memory of Harvey. The marks of the Sea-Monster's teeth yet remain upon my arm, though the wound is healed: and, like the impression which this adventure has made upon my memory,-they will never be effaced!

The

peculiar merits of each are sketched with such brevity, and yet with so

much justice and accuracy, that we might naturally imagine them to be the result of more learning and experience than the author could possibly have possessed at so early a period of his life.

"The mighty Stagyrite first left the shore, Spread all his sails, and durst the deeps explore;

He steer'd securely, and discover'd far, Led by the light of the Mæonian star."

In these lines, the character of the illustrious "Father of Criticism” is

most nobly and faithfully drawn, and a just eulogium is passed on a writer distinguished above all others for the immensity and versatility of his genius, the depth of his philosophy, the force of his arguments, the chasteness and correctness of his language, the lucidness of his arrangement, the acuteness of his observations, the purity and perspicuity of his style, but, more especially, for his perfect knowledge of the human heart.

His Poetics," says a late excellent writer, to which Pope appears chiefly to refer in these commendatory lines, are remarkable for the scholastic precision and philosophical closeness with which the subject is handled, without any address to the passions or the imagination. His "Physics" contain many original remarks, and much useful information on natural history. His "Morals" form, perhaps, the purest system of antiquity; and his "Politics" transmit the most valuable records of the civil wisdom of the ancients, as they preserve to us the description of many governments, particularly those of Crete and Carthage, that would otherwise have remained unknown. But of all the works of Aristotle, his Rhetoric and Poetics are unquestionably the best. No writer has more deeply penetrated into the recesses of the human heart, than this philosopher in the second book of his Rhetoric; in which he treats of the various passions that characterize the different ages and conditions of men. In this he has far surpassed La Bruyere, Pascal, Charron, Rochefoucault, and even Montaigne himself, who are generally esteemed unrivalled in depicting life and manners in their natural state; and best acquainted with those secret motives which exert so powerful an influence over the lives and actions of men.

"Horace still charms with graceful negli

The next celebrated classic, whose writings are connected with criticism, is the refined and graceful Horace, This poet is one of the six personages whom the author of the Essay on Criticism thought worthy of a niche in his "Temple of Fame;" and for whom he indeed appears to have had a constant and decided partiality; as he studiously praised his works on all occasions, and, above all, took them as models of imitation. The peculiar characteristics of Horace are ease and elegance. His "Satires" formed the groundwork of Pope's celebrated" Imitations;" which, in their general outline, are very little inferior to the original; and, in fact, rise higher in those particular passages which relate to modern times and manners, fashions and follies, The "Epistle to the Pisos," which has principally contributed to Horace's reputation as a critic, displays much taste and judgment; and contains many useful rules and judicious precepts for the guidance of the critic, as well as the poet. In this work, be has written in Latin verse, what Aristotle, three hundred years before, delivered to his pupils in Greek prose.

"See Dionysius Homer's thoughts refine, And call new beauties forth from every

line!"

Halicarnassus, the birth-place also of This illustrious critic was born at Herodotus, and about 30 B.C. came to Rome, where he resided for two and Latin language, and providing matetwenty years, improving himself in the view. He lived in high favour with rials for the great design he had in Pompey, who employed him to write his opinion on the works of the earliest Greek historians; especially on those of Herodotus and Xenophon. The lines above quoted, however, refer merely to his successful efforts as a commentator upon Homer, and not to his merits as an original and useful writer. In his excellent treatise, Περι Συνθέσεως Ονομάτων, he has given many valuable directions for the formation of a proper style, and minutely unfolded all those secret arts which render language harmonious. That part of it which extends from the beginning of the twenty-first to

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the end of the twenty-fourth section, has been considered by a judicious critic one of the most valuable pieces of criticism extant. He has there shewn great skill in describing the various kinds of composition, and in enumerating and classing the different writers whose works afford examples of each species. “These he divides into three; viz. the nervous and austere; the smooth and florid; and the middle, which partakes of the nature of the other two. As amples of the first, he mentions Antimachus and Empedocles in heroics; Pindar in lyric; Eschylus in tragedy; and Thucydides in history. As instances of the second, he produces Hesiod as a writer in heroics; Sappho, Anacreon, and Simonides, in lyric; Euripides among tragic poets; Ephorus and Theopompus among historians; and Isocrates among the rhetoricians. The authors whom he mentions as examples of the third species, who have happily blended the two former kinds of composition, and who are the most complete models of style, are Homer in epic poetry; Stersichorus and Alcæus in lyric; Sophocles in tragedy; Herodotus in history; Demosthenes in eloquence; and in philosophy, Democritus, Plato

and Aristotle."

Besides this treatise, Dionysius wrote two others, entitled, "de Priseis Scriptoribus," and "de Antiquis Oratoribus," or remarks on the principal orators, poets, and historians of antiquity; which are remarkable for felicity of subject, clegance of composition, and fidelity of representation. But he is principally distinguished by his “Roman Antiquities," originally comprised in twenty books, of which the first eleven only now remain. This work, which embraces a period of more than three hundred years, has been greatly valued by the ancients, as well as the moderns, for the ease of it's style, the accuracy of it's chronology, and the judiciousness of it's remarks and criticism. It has justly raised his reputation as an historian to a very high degree of eminence; and indeed has placed him in the same rank with Livy, their respective merits being often placed in competition. In addition to the works already mentioned,

Petronius is the next critic of cele→ brity mentioned by Pope, though his merits in that department of literature appear rather doubtful. Very few critical remarks are contained in his work, the chief merit of which, according to Warton, is that of telling a story with ease and elegance. "His style," continues that author, "is more affected than even that of his contemporaries, when the Augustan simplicity was laid aside. Many of his metaphors are farfetched and mixed." His "Satyricon," and some other pieces, are written in elegant Latin; but are so disgraced by obscenity, that he has been justly styled, auctor purissime impuritatis. A fragment of his works

was discovered in the seventeenth century at Trau, a city of Dalmatia, containing the "Feast of Trimalcion;" in which he paints in the most licentious colours the pleasures and debaucheries of a corrupted court and an extravagant monarch. Many disputes have arisen respecting it's authenticity, which now, however, seems to be admitted; but some other fragments taken from a manuscript found at Belgrade in 1688, and published at Paris in 1694, bear all the marks of having been forged. by a Frenchman. There is still a great deal of uncertainty about the works and personal history of this author; and in Maittaire's "Corpus Poetarum" are verses by five different poets named Petronius.* But whatever celebrity may be attached to his name in point of literary attainments, he has acquired a far less honourable distinction in being known as the favourite of Nero,-the minister of his pleasures, and the companion of his voluptuous enjoyments.-The character of

Petronius has been applied, with some justice, to a distinguished individual of modern times.

"In bold Quintilian's copious work we find

The justest rules and clearest method join'd."

To commend Quintilian, says Warton, merely for his method, and to insist on this excellence only, is below the merit of one of the most rational and elegant of Roman writers; than whom none ever adorned a scientific treatise with more striking and beautiful metaphors. Considering the lofty nature of his subject, and his great merits as a critic, he certainly deserved a higher and more explicit encomium. His Institutiones Oratoria" form the most complete system of oratory extant, and will ever remain a monument of the genius, taste, and observation, of it's author. This valuable treatise is distinguished as well for it's precision and perspicuity of style, as for it's finished thoughts and highly figurative language; abounding in precepts of every description, relating to manners as well as to criticism. It is unquestionably the best work of it's kind which antiquity has left us; and the design of it is to form a perfect orator, whose attention is accordingly directed to those pursuits and studies which are necessary to attain eminence in that art. Few books abound with more good sense, or discover a greater degree of just and accurate taste. Almost all the principles of good criticism are to be found in it. He has digested into excellent order all the ancient ideas concerning rhetoric, and is at the same time himself an eloquent writer. Seldom has any person of more sound and distinct judgment than Quintilian applied himself to the study of the art of oratory.*

This elegant work was lost to the world till the year 1415, when it was accidentally discovered by Poggio Bracciolini, at the bottom of an old tower in the monastery of St. Gal, near Constance. The poem of Silius Italicus on the second Punic war, and part of the Argonautics of Valerius Flaccus, were found at the same time and place; which leads to the conclusion that they were deposited there for

safe custody during the later and more turbulent periods of the Roman empire. To the indefatigable exertions and research of Poggio, posterity is also indebted for the recovery of the works of Lucretius; Ammianus Marcellinus; Tertullian; Nonnius Marcellus and Columella; for the Comment of Asconius Pedianus on eight of Cicero's Orations; for Lactantius "de Irâ Dei ;" Vegetius "de Re Militari;" twelve of the Comedies of Plautus; several of Cicero's Orations; and many other works which are mentioned by Poggio's biogra pher. Amongst other literary discoveries, the Pandects of Justinian were accidentally brought to light about the year 1130, at Amalfi, in Italy. The first five books of the fifth Decade of Livy were found by Simon Grynoeus, at Worms. in 1431. In 1592, Francis Pithou, a Frenchman, also discovered, in the library at St. Reni, at Rheims, the MSS. of the Fables of Phaedrus, and the Novella of Justinian; in 1688, some MSS. of Petronius, as we have before mentioned, were found at Belgrade; and about the year 1795, Mr. Tyrwhitt, in preparing an edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, discovered, in the Cottonian Library at Cambridge, the works of Lawrence Minot, an old English poet of the fourteenth century. To persons of literary taste, a history of the manner in which the manuscripts of ancient authors have been recovered, would prove a most entertaining and acceptable work.For further information on this subject, see Shepherd's Life of Poggio, and Roscoe's Life of Lorenzo de Medici.

"Thee, bold Longinus! all the Nine inspire,

And bless their critic with a poet's fire: An ardent judge, who, zealous in his trust, With warmth gives sentence, yet is always

It is justly applicable to one who was himself distinguished for abruptness of style; and who to the penetration of the critic, added all the fire and enthusiasm of poetry. This illustrious Classic has rendered his name immortal, as well by his excellent canons of criticism as by his various works, which have raised his reputation to a height hardly before or since attained by any writer in this particular branch of literature. His "Treatise on the Sublime" is justly considered one of the very first works of antiquity; and gives the world reason to lament the loss of his other valuable compositions. Dr. Warton, however, does not seem inclined to give him that unqualified praise which other critics have so willingly bestowed upon him. “The taste and sensibility of Longinus," he says,

were exquisite; but his observations are too general, and his method too loose. The precision of the true philosophical critic is lost in the declamation of the florid rhetorician. Instead of shewing for what reason a Sentiment or image is sublime, and discovering the secret power by which they affect the reader with pleasure, he is ever intent on producing something sublime himself, and strokes of his own eloquence."* With what justice these remarks are made, it is left to more competent judges to deeide. They, indeed, afford us an instance of that difference of sentiment which will exist on subjects of this nature. But Longinus is not distinguished merely as a critic;-his fame as a patriot has justly reached posterity. He was minister to Zenobia, the famous Queen of Palmyra; and for advising her to oppose the victorious arms of Aurelian, was cruelly put to death by order of that Emperor on the taking of the city in the year 273.

bours, perhaps, more than to those of any other writer, learning and science in general were indebted for their restoration, was Erasmus. The comprehensive powers of his mind were employed not only in giving to the world, in a new and corrected shape, the works of ancient classical writers; but in exciting the attention and improving the taste of mankind, by his own valuable compositions, after a gloomy period of ignorance, superstition, bigotry, and persecution. As a literary character, he is distinguished as well by the number and variety, as by the excellence and classical purity of his productions; but especially for that strong sense and deep penetration which enabled him to pierce through the absurdities of the times, and to expose them with such poignant ridicule and attic elegance. The principal works of Erasmus are his "Dialogues," in which the superstitions and errors of the Romish Church are exposed with exquisite taste and pleasantry;-his "Ciceronianus," a work intended to repress the affectation and pedantry of certain Italian literati, who scrupled to admit into their writings any word or expression that had not the authority of Cicero; the “Adagia ;” the treatise "de Copiâ Verborum;" and the "Enchiridion Militis Christi," or Manual of the Christian Warrior, which was written to correct the vulgar error of those, who made religion to consist in mere rites and ceremonies, to the neglect of virtue and true piety. He is likewise distinguished by his "Ecclesiastes," or Rules for pulpit eloquence; but, above all, by his "Encomium Moriæ," or Praise of Folly, the irony of which has never been excelled. This truly happy and original production was written with the same view as the Dialogues; namely, to expose the errors of the Church of Rome, not sparing even the Pope himself. It's appearance, therefore, as might naturally be expected, was highly offensive to those dissolute monks whose conduct it censured. Such a work of humour in that age was indeed a prodigy. His translations of Plutarch, of the Hecuba and Iphigenia of Euripides, and Lucian's

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Dialogues of the Dead," are rendered with great spirit and fidelity.

Eur. Mag. Vol. 81. Febr. 1822.

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