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afterwards settled in England, where, at the erection of the British Museum in 1753, his acquirements procured him the appointment of Under Librarian to that great institution; and afterwards, in 1772, the office of Principal Librarian. It was published in French, and set the example of paying a greater degree of attention to the productions of the Continental Press.

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In 1755 appeared the first number of The Edinburgh Review, a quarterly journal to which, if we may judge from the distinguished talents of its original contributors, a long and brilliant reputation might have been predicted. Adam Smith, the father of political science, the historian Robertson, and the elegant Blair exhibited in this publication the earliest indications of their genius. That daring wing that soared into the lofty and till then unvisited regions of Social Philosophy, and that easy pinion which afterwards followed Columbus in his course over the wide waters of the mysterious Atlantic main, in search of a World, and « new Hesperian shores, »—that accompanied the wild career of Cortez and his valiant companions, essayed in this Review their earliest flights.

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But political controversy, exacerbated by religious intolerance, caused the discontinuance of the Edinburgh,» after the appearance of two numbers: it lay dormant till 1818. when a new edition appeared, preceded by an explanatory and exculpatory preface.

In 1756 appeared the Critical Journal, or Annals of Literature, which was principally supported by the efforts of one of the greatest writers of whom England can boast, Smollett, the author of Peregrine Pickle and Humphrey Clinker. His critical contributions are marked with the same acuteness and vigour, not untinged with sarcasm, which made him so masterly a delineator of the vices and follies of individual character; but they are at the same time deformed by petulance and partiality.

To this work Samuel Johnson contributed several articles, exhibiting the same universal erudition, reach and grasp of

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thought, and ornate sonorous style which render his name so justly celebrated.

Of its other supporters one of the principal was Dr Joseph Robertson; as may be judged from the fact of his having supplied upwards of 2,600 different essays.

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The wit and wisdom of Johnson, that intellectual giant, whose very defects were those of a majestic mind, were far more abundantly exhibited in the pages of the Literary Magazine or Critical Review," a journal which appeared in the same year with the last-mentioned publication. Its career was commenced more immediately under the auspices of the great Moralist; who composed a preface, one passage of which, as it at once describes and exemplifies this kind of writing, we shall quote here: The literary history necessarily contains an account of the labours of the learned; in which, whether we shall show much judgment or sagacity, must be left to our readers to determine we can promise only justness and candour. It is not to be expected that we can insert extensive extracts or critical examinations of all the works which this age of authors may offer to our notice. A few only will deserve the distinction of criticism, and a few only will obtain it. We shall try to select the best and most important pieces; and are not without hope that we may sometimes influence the public voice, and hasten the popularity of a valuable . work."

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To this publication De Johnson contributed twenty-five Reviews, the greater number of which are stamped with his characteristic excellencies. To this great writer and thinker may be truly applied the words of the Roman satirist whom he so ably imitated,

« Vatem egregium, cui non sit publica vena,
Qui nihil expositum soleat deducere, nec qui

« Communi feriat carmen triviale monetà;

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Hunc, qualem nequeo monstrare, et sentio tantum. »

Juv. SAT. vii. 53.

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It will be proper in this place to mention two periodicals of very considerable eminence; the Gentleman's Magazine, ▪ long the principal repertory of curious and obscure information; and the Annual Register, an epitome of the political and historical events for the year;- they are, in their several departments, references of value and authority, and have been uniformly conducted, with vigour, with candour and with ability.

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Passing over the « Edinburgh Magazine and Review, which owed a temporary and valueless popularity to scurrilous and local diatribes, the New Review, edited by the son of the Dr Maty of whom mention has been made, and a great number of trivial and ephemeral productions, whose existence, whether grave or gay, neither acquired nor deserved any influence upon the literature of their time, and whose contents, innocent or the reverse, have long since sunk into the oblivion they merited, we come to the English Review,» begun in 1783, and supporting its existence for fifteen years, the « Analytical Review, extending to twenty-two volumes, and the . British Critic, » conducted by Archdeacon Nares, assisted by the able Beloe, the translator of Herodotus.

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The character of these journals will be best appreciated by the following passages from an Essay which appeared in the Edinburgh Annual Register for 1809, attributed to the pen of Sir Walter Scott: The calm, even, and indifferent style of criticism was distinguished by a lenient aspect towards its object. A certain deference was visibly paid to an author of celebrity, whether founded on his literary qualities, or on the adventitious distinctions of rank and title; and generally there was a marked and guarded retenue both in the . strictures hazarded and in the mode of expressing them. If raillery was ever attempted, there was no horse-play in it; and the only fault that could be objected to by the - reader, was that the critic was, « content to dwell in decencies - for ever".

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This rule however, was not without exceptions. A libe• ral-minded and public-spirited critic sometimes reversed the - sentence of his employer; and, unlike the prophet of Midian,

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anathematised the work on which he was summoned to bestow benedictions. Neither was it proper that the critical rod should be hung up in mere show, lest in time, as it is learnedly argued by the Duke of Vienna, it should become "more mocked than feared. The terrors of the office were << therefore in some measure maintained by the severity "exercised upon the trumpery novels and still-born poetry that issued from the press; whose unknown and perhaps starving authors fared like the parish boys at a charity school, who are flogged not only for their own errors, but to vin<dicate the authority of the master, who cares not to use "the same freedom with the children of the Squire. Sometimes also, «fate demanded a nobler head; the work of a rival « bookseller was to be crushed even in its birth; a powerful literary patron, or perhaps the reviewer himself, had some private pique to indulge; and added a handful of slugs to «<the powder and paper which formed the usual contents of his blunderbuss. Something of the habitual civility, and " professional deference of the tradesman seemed to qualify the labours of those who wrote under his direction.

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<«<Lost was the critic's sense, nor could be found,

<< While one dull formal unison went round. >>

From these soothing dreams, authors, booksellers, and critics << were soon to be aroused by a rattling peal of thunder; and a conspiracy of beardless boys innovated upon the memorial laws of the old republic of literature, scourged the booksellers out of her senate-house, overset the tottering thrones of the idols whom they had set up, awakened the hundrednecked snake of criticism, and curdled the whole ocean of « milk-and-water, in which, like the serpentine supporter of Vistnou, he had wreathed and wallowed in unwieldy sloth for a quarter of a century.

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(To be continued.)

HO-FI OF THE YELLOW GIRDLE. (*)

Fairer than rice, more graceful than bamboo, was So-Sli the daughter of Poo-Poo. Her foot was no longer than her finger, so that when she walked she tottered elegantly, and required the support of a reed or of a hand-maiden; so light was her form, and so lovely was her face, and so helpless was her air, that when she appeared abroad she attracted the notice of all, as a straw which a juggler of Shanghi balances on the tip of his nose. Her brows were arched like the feathers in the tail of the domestic bird of the river; her eyes were

(') The following passage from Davis suggested the subject of this story: The expence to the state of a wång (imperial relative) of the first rank is about sixty thousand taëls or 20,000 1. annually; and this diminishes through the several grades down to the simple inheritors of the yellow girdle, who receive only three taëls per month and two sacks of rice. But they are allowed one hundred taëls when they marry, and one hundred and twenty for a funeral; from which, says Serra, they take occasion to maltreat their wives, because when they have killed one they receive the allowance for her interment, as well as the dowry of the new wife, whom they take immediately. DAVIS'S CHINESE, vol. i. p. 381.

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