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LIV.

That hour of triumph-day of fame!
Shall live in many a trophied name,
There grav'd upon the stone of time,
Shall fire thy sons to deeds sublime;
Call forth the spirits of the slain,
To fill some human form again;
Shall plume thy warrior's haughty crest,
And swell the tumult of the patriot's breast.

LV.

But Thou-the mover of the scene

How low! to what thou er'st hast been!

So chang'd-man scarce believes thee He-
To whom so long he bent the knee;

Thou the minist'ring rod of heav'n

A living scourge to mortals giv'n

A planet-in the polar height

Now dash'd and scatter'd from its bourne of light.

Many of the smaller poems are amatory; but interspersed with others of a different character. Of these are some lines on the execution of Ney, said to have been written by a friend of the author's; some verses to Lord Byron, &c.

Mr. Wedderburne Webster having written his poems from no such urgent motive as that which has impelled many of the other Waterloo bards to teaze and worry the muse with invocations, it is unnecessary to say any thing by way of recommending them to the indulgence of the public; and as we make ourselves pretty sure that he will not be so ambitious of fame as to desire to see a second edition of his work, we shall abstain from offering any hints for its improvement.

ART. VI.-Lexicon Islandico-Latino-Danicum, BiörnoniS HALDORSENI. BIORN HALDORSEN's Islandske Lexicon. Ex MSS. legati Arnamagnæani cura R. K. RASKII editum. Præfatus est P. E. MÜLLER. Havniæ, 1814. 2 vols. Imported by Bohte, York Street, Covent Garden.

THE study of northern languages and antiquities has formed a new epoch in the history of European literature. The labours of Junius, Marshall, Hickes, Benzel, Lye, Knittel, and Ihre, had considerably increased our acquaintance with the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon dialects, which, to all the countrymen of the authors we have enumerated,

were alike interesting and important, as being the groundwork of their own tongues, which the lapse of time and other circumstances afterwards polished, modified, and enriched. The English, the German, the Swedish, the Danish, and even the French lexicographer, could ill dispense with a knowledge of the mother-tongues; because without it he could not possibly trace to their source the various words which it fell to his lot to explain: nor was it very easy to expound words which relate to ancient customs and superstitions, without perfectly understanding the early Gothic and Saxon annals, which were, of course, inaccessible to all who were not possessed of the language in which they are written. These considerations caused the languages of which we have been speaking to be cultivated with attention: but the Islandic presented no such attractions; at least, not in the same degree: it became therefore an object of study, chiefly, if not exclusively, to professed philologists; and the number of those who pursue that course of research being but small, a knowledge of Islandic was extremely rare, and the possessors of it were regarded as objects of astonishment rather than of rivalry, of admiration rather than of imitation.

The Danes, however, did at length begin to study the language of that people which stood in such a degree of politi cal affinity with Denmark. Hence we find, that the chief, indeed almost the whole assistance which we can receive in the prosecution of this study, we must look for from Denmark. Our countryman Hickes had, indeed, in his Thesaurus Linguarum Septentrionalium, given a grammar of the Islandic dialect; and a glossary had been printed at Upsala in 1691: but these works were very far from perfect. Two other vocabularies, more full, but still very incomplete, had been printed at Copenhagen; one edited by Olaus Wormius, in 1650; the other by P. Resenius, in 1683. But as none of these publications were sufficient for the purpose for which they were designed, this Lexicon has been produced; and, a short time before its appearance, a Grammar, which, according to Professor Müller, is the very best which has hitherto been produced, proceeded from the pen of Raske, the learned editor of this lexicon; but, as it is written in German, it is not likely to be very extensively useful.

The glossaries which had been added to several modern editions of Islandic works, had been found very incomplete; and it was therefore determined to print the MS. Lexicon of Haldorsen, which the learned author had left nearly ready

for the press. In making the Danish translation, which, it appears from Professor Müller's preface, had not been added by the author, the assistance of several Islanders was obtained: this sometimes does not entirely agree with the Latin version; but where it departs from it, it closely follows the Islandic text. We cannot find, however, that any new words have been added by the editors: it is offered to the reader as a work confessedly imperfect, but still as more complete than any which had preceded it.

With regard to the manner in which the work has been executed, we confess ourselves unable to give any òpinion: but we thought it right to notice the appearance of a book so important to the lovers of northern literature. We can only remark, that the Preface is written in very inelegant, not to say incorrect, Latin: but this will neither increase or diminish the value of the work, considered as a book of reference; and we therefore shall not waste our own time, nor that of our readers, by pointing out instances.

The Preface, which is written both in Latin and in Danish, concludes with a brief biographical memoir of the author, and a catalogue of those Islandic writers whose works have been published, with a notice of the editions through which they have passed. If this be correct, it will form a very useful supplement to a performance of this nature; and may in some measure assist, at some future period, in the composition of a critical history of the literature of the north of Europe; a work which would be of great utility, and which is much wanted.

ART. VII.-Eglantine; or, The Family of Fortescue: a Novel. By CHARLOTTE NOOTH. 2 Vols. Sherwood. 1816.

HOWEVER much the moderns may be surpassed by the ancients in the higher departments of literature, they have a decided superiority in that class of writings which commonly goes under the appellation of novels. Not that this superiority is any just ground of exultation; for where there is no contest, there can be no triumph. Novels, however, are a most important addition to literature;-important both from their numbers and their effects. That they are given to the

world in such unlimited profusion appears to us to arise from two causes: the erroneous estimate that is often formed of the difficulty of writing a good novel; and the indiscriminate eagerness with which all novels are read. We are inclined to think that the qualifications necessary to enable a novelist to attain any considerable eminence, are so numerous, as rarely to be found united in the same person. It requires not only a fertile invention, but great opportunity and talent for observation, and a quick perception of the minuter shades of character, which it is so difficult to catch with certainty, and to represent with precision. To the generality of mankind it appears an easy task to adorn a hero and he roine with more perfections than ever were in reality bestowed on any two beings; eventually to conduct these through a proper share of distresses and difficulties to conjugal happiness; and to introduce a few subordinate auxiliaries who may be disposed of at the end of the work by marriage or by death. This task, we say, seems not to require any extraordinary talent, and the faculty of the mind which it principally calls into exercise, (namely invention,) is precisely that which authors are most fond of exerting.

The undistinguishing avidity with which novels are read is the other cause which contributes greatly to multiply them. Thousands there are of young females among the lower classes of society, who devote to these works every hour they can snatch from their necessary employments; who receive whatever is presented, without distinction and without preference, and who derive as much pleasure from any of the nameless numberless novels which form the ordinary stock of a circulating library, as from the valuable productions of Miss Edgeworth and Miss Burney. The circulation of a novel is not proportioned to its merit or demerit; and as every novelist is secure of some admirers, it is not wonderful that so many are eager to strive for fame, and that so many bad novels are daily issuing from the press. Bad, not as exhibiting that seductive licentiousness which have so often disgraced the French press, but as tending to give erroneous ideas of human life, and to excite ideas which the ordinary course of things can never realize.

We hope we have not alarmed Miss Nooth by our remarks on novels in general: we have had no such intention. We consider her work a very respectable performance; and, as instances of complete failure are so lamentably numerous, her success will be more pleasing to herself and more acceptable to others.

We cannot enter into a detailed analysis of Eglantine; we cannot even attempt a sketch of all the characters introduced into it. We shall confine ourselves to the principal personages, and begin by presenting to our readers the first introduction of the hero and heroine, with its attendant circumstances.

"Her step advanced towards the screen,-Fitzroy lifted his eyes,-and in a moment she stood before him: he had plenty of leisure to observe her, since her eyes were fixed on a letter which she held in her hand, and after one straight-forward glance into the room, which not reaching the corner where Fitzroy sat shrouded in shade, of course did not discern him, she walked deliberately to the end, and was turning back into her own division, when Fitzroy, determined not to lose such a golden opportunity, let drop the hand which sustained his sabre, and down it fell, with as much clatter as he could have wished.-Down fell also the letter of the fair unknown, aud the liveliest carnation glowed upon her face, as she turned to see from whence the noise arose, and Fitzroy stood revealed.-Recovering herself in a moment, with a slight curtesy she apologized for her intrusion, with 'I beg pardon, I thought I had been alone.'

"If you command it, you shall be alone.' "A half-smile on the lady's part.

this is your apartment, and that is inine.'

I cannot command you, sir; but

"She retreated, but turned to hear Fitzroy, who spoke just before she reached the screen.

"If my being here offends you, both apartments shall be yours.'

"Oh! no, that would be too unreasonable:' she curtsied and disappeared. Dissatisfied with himself, Fitzroy glanced his eye round the room for a plausible pretext for renewing the conversation, when the fallen letter caught his eye. He advanced to the screen, and lightly tapped on it -no answer. Madam'-no reply. Miss Fortescue.'

"Sir-did you speak to me?"

6

"You will excuse the liberty I take, but you have left your letter at my mercy.' And she appeared at the edge of the screen, holding out her hand for it. I have not presumed to touch it-there it lies,—on the floor where you dropped it, when I was so unfortunate as to alarm you by letting fall my sabre.'

Fitzroy pronounced the word unfortunate with the best grace imaginable.

"Then I must go and fetch it.' Fitzroy bowed, and, while Miss Fortescue stooped for the letter, reached a chair and placed it for her, as a mere matter of course. She could hardly forbear laughing.

"❝Indeed, sir, I am not going to stay here.'

"Not for a moment? Consider, I might have kept the lotter—'

"Then you would have done very wrong.

"And do I deserve no reward for doing right?"

"You have your own approbation.'

"I wish I could deserve yours.'

"Your own is more important to you. But I did thank you, and I thank you again-good evening, sir.'

"Oh! madam-do not thank and punish me in the same breath,—do not leave me.'

"The young lady looked a little alarmed. Fitzroy advanced very

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