Beaumont and Fletcher, Ford, Massinger, and Jonson, with all the world of literary wealth which their works contain, were given to the public by the successive labours of Seward, Whalley, Coleman, Weber, and Gifford. Ellis and Headley also published their " Specimens of the Ancient English Poets;" and Dr. Anderson sent forth into the world his Edition of the English Poets, including all those mighty Bards who were omitted in Dr. Johnson's Edition, by reason of the strange plan which he imposed upon himself, or which was dictated to him by others, of beginning that collection with the works of Cowley. An Author too, of a far higher character for originality of mind, purity of taste, simplicity of thought and expression, and deep observation of nature, than had come before the public for many years, appeared in the person of the highly-gifted, but ill-fated Cowper. The success of his exquisite "Task" was so rapid and brilliant, as to shew that the taste of the public had undergone a great revolution, since the time when the Pastorals of Phillips, the Heroics of Blackmore, and the Lyrics of Lansdowne, were it's favourite studies.

Into the merits and the authenticity of two works, which created an extraordinary sensation about this time, I shall have a more convenient opportunity

of enquiring in a subsequent Lecture. I mean the Poems attributed to Rowley the Saxon, and to Ossian the Celtic, Poets. The authenticity of the former appears to be a point which is now very generally given up; but that of the latter is a question with which the literary world is still agitated, and with which it will probably continue to be agitated, as long as the Poems themselves are extant.

Having thus endeavoured to lay before you the history of the rise and progress of English Poetry, from the days of Chaucer to those of Cowper, I do not intend to bring the enquiry down to a later period, or to venture upon any discussion of the merits of the writers of the present day. There is, however, one omission in my Lecture which may perhaps require an explanation. I have not directed your attention to the Scottish Poets who flourished during the period which has been embraced by our enquiries. This omission has occurred, not, I trust, from any insensibility to the merits of those distinguished writers, but from a consciousness of my own inability to speak critically upon the subject. To select a few names at random, Dunbar, the northern Chaucer; James the First, the only Monarch whose poetical laurels have been large enough to hide his diadem; and Burns, the

most exquisite Lyrical Poet which this nation or any other has ever yet possessed, are Authors whose merits, although they may be universally felt and appreciated, can only be critically expounded and pointed out by a native of the country to which they belong.

Here, therefore, must we pause for the present: the illustrious names which have "been familiar in our mouths as household words," carry their own eulogy along with them; and I will venture to assert, that there are few persons who will refuse to echo the sentiment of a distinguished living writer;

"Blessings be on them, and eternal praise,

The Poets!"

LECTURE THE SECOND.

EPIC AND NARRATIVE

POETRY.

Epic Poetry in general:-Epic and Dramatic Poetry compared ::-Critical distinction between Taste and Genius:Chaucer, Spenser, and Milton compared:-The Mirror for Magistrates:-Lord Buckhurst:-Drayton:-Chamberlain's Pharonnida :-Chapman's Homer, and other old English Translations of Epic and Narrative Poetry:Milton:-Influence of Paradise Lost on the National Taste:-Paradise Regained:-Cowley's Davideis :-Davenant:-Dryden :-The Translations of Rowe, Pope, &c. -Authenticity of Macpherson's Ossian:-Chatterton.

HAVING already treated the subject of English Poetry historically, and endeavoured to give a sketch of the revolutions in Public taste and opinion, I shall not consider myself any longer bound to speak of the Authors who may come under our review in any Chronological order, but shall classify them according to the nature of the subjects on which they have written. I shall, therefore, devote this, and the remaining Lectures, to the consideration,-First, of Epic and

Narrative Poetry; Secondly, of Dramatic Poetry; Thirdly, of Descriptive and Didatic Poetry; including Pastoral and Satire; and Fourthly, of Lyrical and Miscellaneous Poetry. In pursuance of which arrangement, we shall at present confine our attention to the subject of Epic and Narrative Poetry.

The production of a standard Epic Poem has been generally considered the highest effort of human genius, and so seldom has such an effort been made, that the rarity of such an occurrence alone, would seem to justify the very high estimate which has been formed of it's value. I will not attempt to say how many, or how few, Poems have been produced, which are really and truly of an Epic character. Some Critics maintain that there is only one, the production of the immortal Father of Poetry; others admit the "Eneid" into the list; Englishmen struggle to obtain the Epic bays for Milton; and the Italians, the Portuguese, and the Germans are equally strenuous in their advocacy of the rights of Tasso, of Camoens, and of Klopstock. Even granting all these claims, and I am not aware of another which is deserving of a moment's consideration, we shall find that the World has, during the Six thousand years of it's existence, produced only six Epic Poets.