lume and the dramatic pieces of the author. The next two volumes are occu pied by those poems which Mr. Scott classes under the bead" Historical and Political;" consisting of the "Heroic Stanzas to the memory of Oliver Cromwell," "Astrea Redux" on the Restoration, "Panegyric on the Coronation of Charles I.," and the sameness of a copy would have been substituted for the spirit of a characteristic original. But, had Dryden executed his intended plan, we should have found picturesque narrative de tailed in the most manly and majestic verse, and interspersed with lessons Reaching us to know human life, maxime proper to guide it, and sentiments which ought to adorn it. In the Knights Tale, and in Dryden's other narrative poems, we see enough to induce us to regret" Addresses" to Hyde, and to the the sordid negligence, or avarice, which withheld from him the means of decent support, while employed upon the pro mised task. But Arthur, as a sort of counterpoise to his extravagant reputa tion during the middle ages, was doomed in the seventeenth century, to be reluc tantly abandoned by Milton and Dry. den; and to be celebrated by the pen of Blackniore." " When Dryden abandoned this heroic plan, it seems probable that he adapted the intended subject to the opera of King Arthur, which possesses some, but not by any means of the highest order, of his beauties. 26. "Cleonienes," 1692. The Spartan character of the hero is well sustained, and that of Cleonidas is mentioned by Mr. Scott with commendation, though he does not think it equal to the Hengo" of Beaumont and Fletcher, from which it is manifestly copied. Mr. Scott has not remarked Dryden's constant false quantity (of Cleomēnes) throughout the play. He has thought proper to prefix Creech's translations of the Life of Cleome nes from Plutarch, merely because it was the foundation of the play; but this we must regard as a very unnecessary addition to a addition to a collection of Dryden's works. 27. "Love Triumphant," 1694, Dryden's last, and almost his worst, performance, damned at the representation. The "Secular Masque," and one or two little songs written by Dryden, to be performed with Beaumont and Fletcher's "Pilgrim," revived for the poet's own benefit in 1700, and written within a very few weeks of his death, complete the eighth vo Duchess of York- Satire on the to relieve him. no We are sorry, however, that we must confess ourselves by means satisfied with his reasoning on this subject. Facts are sometimes too stubborn to be done In this instance the very catalogue away by conjectural inferences. of Dryden's works is sufficient to accuse him; and his must indeed have been a very uncommon mind framed for the circumstances of and most happily and wonderfully the times, if conviction really accompanied his close adherence to power, through the administration of Cromwell and all the cameleon politics of the courts of Charles and James. The holiness once attached by the delightful fictions of enthusiasts, to the poetical The apology for convert the gloomy puritanisın, My thoughtless youth was winged with vain desires, &c." bear in our opinion a much more Blount and others, seem to us very strongly to support that allusion. We suspect the "Religio Laïci," to be much more a political than a religious poem, and to have been written against the dissenters, (including catholics) to answer a courtpurpose, as much as his "Hind and Panther" was afterwards written for the Catholics to serve the shifted politics of the time. That, before he wrote the latter poem, he had publicly professed himself a member of the Roman church, is certain; and we believe it very possible that, having entered on the question with a mind very free from the shackles of former enquiry, `he, of a partizan, was made a convert; that, having attended only to the arguments which best answered the ends of his policy, he easily prevailed on himself to believe those arguments unanswerable. But it seems to us very questionable indeed, whether real conviction preceded an act so admirably well-timed as Dryden's public profession. If it did so, we must account him among the most unfortunate of men, that his conversion took place exactly at that point of time when it was utterly impossible for himself or his most zealous advocates to clear him from the imputation of a mere worldly motive. Dismissing now these less agreeable topics, we must say that we have seldom met with so pleasant a lounge as in Mr.Scott's commentaries on the political poems in the ninth, and the "Hind and Panther" in the tenth volume, which are full of very scarce and entertaining anecdote, and able delineation of character. If the reader can only, for the occasion, discard every old prejudice and become in imagination a Tory and a Jacobite, or if he can put himself in the place of Dryden, or suffer himself to be carried along by the stream of politics in conjunction with him, he will meet with nothing to interrupt the full course of his pleasure. In these respects, of curions, entertaining, and copious historical illustration, we consider Scott's Dryden as an admirable model for future editors, and so far from accusing him of an impertinent and useless profusion of commentary, we felt only regret whenever we reached the termination of his labours on any particular subject. In another point, few commentators will be found who are qualified to rival him in critical taste and knowledge of the art in which his author excelled. We regret that our limits are too confined to admit of setting this advantage in its fullest light by more copious extracts than we have been able to do. We must now content ourselves with giving little more than a catalogue of the pieces distributed in the remaining volumes. Of these, the eleventh contains, we believe, the whole remainder of Dryden's original poetry, his elegies and epitaphs, his odes, and those most delightful works, which, though copied from others, he effectually made his own in the transfusion, his fables. Here, however, we were somewhat mortified to find that Mr. S. had condescended to to swell his publication by the insertion of all the originals from Boccace and Chaucer. The translated pieces (including the whole of Virgil) occupy the three next, and part of the 15th volumes; the remaining part of the 15th is made up of three or four pieces of poetry which Mr. Scott, having decided on the very best proofs to be the works of other persons than Dryden, would have acted more consistently, in our opinion, by rejecting altogether. These are the Essay on Satire," "Epistle to Julian," Tarquin and Tullia," "the Young Statesman," "Suum cuique-,"" the Art of Poetry,"also was not originally Dryden's, but Mr.Soames's, who translated it from Boileau however, since Dryden almost made it his own by new modelling it entirely, and transferring to his native country, and existing circumstances, all the allusions and criticisms of the poet, there seems sufficient reason why this should be distinguished from the five be fore mentioned. Before we dismiss this subject of Dryden's poetical works, we shall repeat, that as no man is better qualified than Mr. Scott to appreciate fairly his exalted talents, so we think no man could have pointed out both his faults and his beauties with more justice, impar tiality, and discrimination. But in another view it appears to us that Mr. Scott has suffered himself to be very much warped in his opinions and prejudices, which are per. haps naturallyincidental to his office, as an editor and a biographer, but against which, on that very account, he ought to have more particularly guarded himself. We agree with him, and with all the world besides, that Dryden not only excelled all his contemporaries, but so far ex celled them that his name must ever stand alone in the literary history of his age. While he lived, this superiority failed of obtaining universal acknowledgment, and the giant was sometimes obliged to display his mighty powers in repelling the attacks of a swarm of interior enemies. But his fame is now fixed on the most immoveable foundation, and no injury could be done his memory by admitting all his rivals to the highest ranks that they can lawfully claim. Shadwell, Tate, Lee, Blackmore, nay even Settle and Flecknoe, had their different shades and degrees of merit; and more candidly these are allowed them, the more colossal will Dryden's height appear on the comparison. But Mr. Scott absolutely enters into all Dryden's quarrels, the Fights all his battles o'er again, And thrice he triumphs o'er the fallen And thrice he slays the slain. This spirit of "descended" animosity is no where more striking than in the continued sneer with which Mr. S. treats the attack of Prior and Montague in the "Hind and Panther transversed," which certainly no more rivals, than it was meant to rival, the poetical merit of the poem which it burlesques; but has clearly the advantage of it in argument, and proves its author to be very far from deficient in a happy talent of ridicule. Nor is it less obBrown is quoted. That celebrated servable in all passages where Tom humourist was, it must be allowed, coarse enough in his mode of jesting; but his blunt knife sometimes cuts very deep, and few men either felt, or deserved to feel, it more severely than Dryden. The admirable humour of the "Rehearsal" seems also to be designedly undervalued by Mr. Scott with all the soreness of an offended author. The last three volumes contain such of Dryden's prose works as have not previously been annexed to the poems to which they are respectively" Prefaces," "Dedications" or accompanying "Essays." This deduction, every one must be aware, can leave very little original matter behind. But Mr. Scott had engaged to fill eighteen volumes, and this could not be done without having recourse to translations. Accordingly, the whole of one volume is occupied by the "Life of Xavier" translated from Pêre Bohours; and another is about made up with Fresnoy's Art of Painting" and long specimens of Maimbourg's History of the League." What a pity that Literary Journals were not in use during the Life of Dryden! He would certainly have been a reviewer; and Mr. Scott might have been able to fill a dozen volumes more with his monthly or quarterly criticisms. ART. II. Reliques of Robert Burns; consisting chiefly of Original Letters, Poems, and critical Observations on Scottish Songs. Collected and published by R. H. CROMEK, 8vo. pp. 453. NEVER was poet more happy in have felt very delicately on this subject; his biographer and first editor than but a wife and children are things which Burns. In the late excellent Dr. have a wonderful power in blunting Currie, his memory found a friend these kind of sensations. Fifty pounds whose enthusiasm never got the bet- a year for life, and a provision for we ter of his judgment, whose discretion dows and orphans, you will allow is no bad settlement for a poet. For the igequalled his sensibility. In the present instance he has been much nominy of the profession, I have the less fortunate. There is not a line recruiting serjeant give to a numerous, encouragement which I once heard a amongst these relics that can add if not a respectable audience, in the to the poetical reputation of its au- streets of Kilmarnock. "Genile. thor: but there are many whole men, for your further and better encou pieces which will tend, we fear, to ragement, I can assure you that our regilessen it. Not that any of those li- ment is the most blackguard corps uncentious effusions in which it is under the crown, and consequently with derstood that the poet sometimes us an honest fellow has the surest chance indulged himself, have found their for preferment." way into this volume; it contains little that can be offensive to delicacy; but less that will be gratifying to taste. His earliest attempts at rhyming, his idlest impromptus, his most trifling fragments, even the poor words, fitted to old tunes and silly choruses, which he meant only to be sung, not read, are here scraped together with foolish zeal and unblessed industry. Of the letters many are trivial and vulgar, but a few there are in his best styles, serious and comic, which certainly merited preservation, though not in a thick octavo volume. On entering the excise, he writes thus pleasantly to Mr. Robert Ainsley. We do not recollect so manly and eloquent a specimen in that very difficult kind, the letter recommendatory, as the following. "DEAR SIR, "Allow me to introduce to your acquaintance the bearer, Mr. Win. Duncan, a friend of mine, whom I have long known and long loved. His father, whose only son he is, has a decent little property in Hyrshire, and has bred the young man to the law, in which depart ment he comes up an adventurer to your good town. I shall give you my friend's character in two words: as to his head, he has talents enough, and more than enough for common life; as to his heart; when nature had kneaded the kindly clay that composes it she said, "I can no more. You, my good sir, were born under kinder stars; but your fraternal sympathy I well know, can enter into the feelings of the young man, who goes into life with the laudable ambition to do some thing, and to be something among his fellow-creatures; but whom the consciousness of friendless obscurity presses to the earth, and wounds to the soul! "Even the fairest of his virtues are against him. That independent spirit, and that ingenuous modesty, qualities inseparable from a noble mind, are, with the million, circumstances not a little disqualifying. What pleasure is in the |