But it is not to the modulation only of his numbers that Homer owes his praise, but to his energy and vigour of thought: to the artful conduct of his fable to the exquisite difcrimination of his characters: to the moving pictures of life that he exhibits. What can be more touching than the fcene between Hector and Andromache? How are we infpired with veneration for the one, and pity for the other! How characteristical of a warrior is the prayer of Hector for his child! And is not the image of Andromache brought admirably before us, fhedding tears amidft her fmiles, by the words δάκρυσεν γέλασασα ἡ

Longinus, to fhew what a hero Homer himfelt is when he defcribes an heroic action, produces the fupplication of Ajax, who in defpair of fignalizing himfelt amid the darkness that has fuddenly overfpread the Grecian army, calls out for light, that he may die in a manner fuitable to the greatnels of his foul. Ζευ πάτερ, αλλά ου ουσαι υπ' ηερο μιας Axxiwr.

Ποίησον δ' αίθρην, δος δ' οφθαλμοισία ιδεσθαι.

Εν δε φαει και ολισσον, επεί νυ τοι ευαδιν

στως.

Lord of earth and air Oh King, oh Father! hear my humble pray'r: Dipel this cloud, the light of Heav'n restore, Give me to fee, and Ajax asks no more: If Greece muft perish, we thy will obey; But let us perish in the face of day!

POPE.

It is here obfervable, I think, that Pope has given a folemn turn to his

tranflation that is not to be found in the

original Greek; and which fuits not the haughty impatience of Ajax, who is fearle's even of the Gods..

In the ftudy of Greek, the Lexicon of Schrevelius, which is particularly adapted to the Teftament and to Homer, will do as well as any. In due time the Odyffey fhould be read, which after the Iliad will be an easy task. I again repeat, no Poet is understood with more facility than the Father of Poetry.

The ftudent will, without requiring admonition, afcend of himfelf to every poet and profe-writer that the liberal fcholar fhould be acquainted with. He will study Plato, Aristotle, Theophrastus, Plutarch, Epictetus, &c. among the Philofophers; Thucydides, Zenophon, Polibius, Herodotus, &c. among the Hiftorians; Demofthenes, for Oratory; and Hefiod, Pindar, Anacreon, Theocritus, ichylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes, in the clafs of Poets. The dialects will in due time become known to him. Cebes, Ælian, and Lucian will familiarize him with the Attic; Homer the Ionic; Theocritus the Doric; and Euripides the Attic and Doric.

Let not the ftudent, whilft he is learning the Latin language, neglect his own; but initiate himlelt in the elegances of it by the perufal of the Spectator, Guardían, Rambler, Adventurer, &c. Thefe are our English Clafficks, and it is bv Bbb 2

the

the diligent perufal of them that he will form his ftyle, and give cadence to his profe. Let him produce fometimes an original compofition, in which he thould at first aim rather at peripicuity than elegance. When he has once acquired the habit of exprelling his thoughts with readiness, he will not be long wanting in external decoration. Additon fhould be his prototype, whofe language is perfectly conformable with the genius and idiom of the English tongue, and theretore delerving of imitation. Neither is he found to negket natural beauty for artificial ornament. Lowth's Grammar fhould never be suffered to gather duit upon the hell, but by a continual reference to it the Ludent fhould atpire at critical exictuels. I would advite the student to keep a regular journal of his actions and iudies, in which let him be punctual with his dates. Chronology is the eye of hittery. By the meris of his diary he will be enabled to live over again his part hours, know the value of tre by his exact account of it, and though every eccurrence may not be pleating in the retrospect, yet the remembrance of that will be useful which is not agrecible.

Of the English Poets I fhall not recommend any in particular. Spencer, Shakespeare, Covky, Milton, Dryden, Pope, &c. will never fail to recommend themielves by the irreftible charms of their compofition to every perfon of

tare.

I thall now pafs to the French language, by the attainment of which he will open to himself a new fource of elegance and delight. It is cultivated universally. Ou parle François partout. Let the ftudent get Palairet's Grammar, which, though perhaps not the bett, has the verbs better arranged than any other. Let him make himielf acquainted with the elementary parts of it, and proceed to any caly and familiar work. Gil Blas I would itgenuouily recommend to his notice, as a book calculated to initiate him in the graces, the elegances, and idioms of the French language. Let him give his days and his nights to it. When he has acquired a facility in reading, he should avail himself of every occation to converte with fome of the numerous Frenchmen that have emigrated hither from their country. Let him not defpar, if he be paft even the fpring of life, of getting in time the true accent. Nalium numen abejt fi fit prudentia.

There is a pretty dictionary of a very reduced fize which he fhould carry always in his pocket. Writing, fays Bacon in his Ellays, makes a correct man. To obtain an accuracy, he must be able to exprefs on paper what he communicates orally, and to effect this, let him go through with care the excellent exemplification which Perrin has made of every grammar rule.

Le

He may now augment his library with fome of the works of Voltaire. Sccle de Louis XIV. will be an agreeable recreation to him. The reign of that Monarch was the Auguttan age of France, and produced, among a great number of other writers, Corneille, Racine, Moliere, Boileau, and La Fontaine, whofe works will perish only with their language. Moliere, if the student has tafte, will become one of his favourite authors. His profe comedies will supply him with much elegant phraseology, and afford him at the fame time a great ocal of amuftinent. Le Bourgeats Gentilhomme, Le Malade Imaginaire, L`luare, and Le Medicin Malgré lui, are exquifitely comic. 7. Jacques Routeau, a much later writer, will fafcinate the lover of fine compofition by the magic of his eloquence. His breaft glowed with an entholiaftick love of nature, and his genius was fublime. In his Confeffions the noft fecret recetles of his heart are expoted to the fight, and we behold him without difguife. Some parts are perhaps exceptionable; but the genial current of that man's foul muft be frozen who can read with indifference the animated fcenes of his youth. Can any thing too equal the enchanting fweetnels of his ftyle. How well does he defcribe Maman at his firif interview with her : "Je vois un vijage petri de graces, de beaux yeux bleus pleins de douceur, un tint éblouifant, le contour d'une gorge enchantereffe." For fimplicity, and elegance of narration, what can exceed his excurfion into the country avec deux jeunes perfonnes de fa connoiffance, whom he encountered in a morning's walk. It begins L' Aurore, un matin, me parut fi belle, &c.

Marmontel is a pleafing writer. Many of his Contes Moraux have great merit. Buffon will inftruct and delight. He is an aftonishing interpreter of nature, and his ftyle sparkles with grandeur. The Abbé Raynal is a popular author. He is, however, more ipecious than folid.-To return to a remoter date, the Letters

of Madame Sevigné are models of familiar correfpondence. She feems rather converfing than writing, and yet her language is always graceful. On every fubject the is animated, and gives to trifles a grace.

I cannot fay fo much of Balfac and Voiture. Their epiftles are extended conceits. The poetry, however, of Vo. ere is elegant and tuneful.

It has been obferved that French verfe, when the thought does not fupport it, difiers little from profe. In the lighter kinds of poely, however, they eminently excel. The following flowret, which I have read fomewhere in Bourfaut, pofielles much sweetness and légeraié.

Elle a bien quatorze ou quinze ans,
Fière, mais fans etre farouche;
Les cheveux blonds, les yeux percans,
Une gorge naiffante, & furtout une
bouche!

In a word, the French is a language which none would voluntarily be without. By the merit of the French writers its influence has been very widely extended, and it is fo admirably adapted to converfation, that many nations, to cultivate it, neglect their own!

The student may now proceed to the Italian language, which his acquaintance with the Latin and French will facilitate the knowledge of. I would recommend him to learn it through the medium of the French tongue, as he did Greek through that of the Latin. Let him therefore provide himself with Veneron's Grammar and Dictionary, and begin with fome eaty and perfpicuous author. The hiftories of Guicciardini, and the Cardinal Bentivoglio, are written in a clear and claffical ftyle; furnish an ample store of words, and are yet easy to understand, from the order and continuity of their narration. Davila, though inferior to them in purity of language, comes home to us by the fubjects that he treats. But no profe-writer will recreate him fo much as Boccace. The merry tales of his Decameron will diflipate grief, and fouth him to complacency. Though he wrote fume hundred years ago, his style is a model of purity. The

fame cannot be faid always of his thoughts.

Of the Poets, Petrarque, Dante, but above all Taff and Arifto, will demand his ftudy. Boileau in one of his poems talks lightly of the Clinquante au Taffe; but those who are not to be impofed on by a mere ipfe dixit, will difcover that Tallo is a Poet of very fuperior merit, and that his verfe is not lefs excellent than his fubject is exalted.

The Orlando Furiofo, though compofed with lefs regard to the rules of the Epopée than the Gierufalemme Liberata, will fill delight more. Ariofo is certainly a charming Poet. The Paftor Fido of Guarini, though not without concetti, will please by the graces and beauty of its poefy. The foliloquy of Amarillis, O Mirtillo, Mirtillo, anima mea, is elegant and pathetic. It concludes with appropriate grace :

Quelle lagrime tue fono il mio fangue,
Quel fofpiri il mio fpirito, e quelle pene,
E quel dolor, che fenti,

Son miei, non tuoi tormenti!

Upon the whole, the Tufcan language is a delightful one, and wins upon the learner of it.

The ftudent may now be faid to blend elegance with his learning, and to know both ancient and modern literature. In the peaceful retreat of his books he will ever find occupation and contentment. No day will be fo long but ftudy will make him with it longer. His love of reading will fupply him with a perpetual fource of independent and rational pleafure, and derive new vigour from enjoyment. In the profecution of his ftudies fresh profpects will every day arife.

lefs.

The world of literature is bound

He will not have caule, like the Macedonian hero, to weep because there are no more countries left to conquer. Happy in the acquifition of knowledge, let him make a proper ufe of it by abftaining from evil, and increafing in piety and reverence to that God who endowed him with capacity to receive it.

Salisbury, O&. 26, 1797.

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