Tant fut sifflé, qu'à l'unisson Croyant encor souffler, siffla. All this is excellent. Academies and academicians, damnings, and dull works, are the fair game of satire. But may not Lebrun be accused of insulting the misery of poor d'Arnaud, without provocation? Are natural deformities the legitimate objects of ridicule? A hunch, for instance, however oddly shaped, is, in our opinion, no laughing object; and even that of Theadon Desorgues, which formed his only prominent characteristic, which, by the bye, was not very large, should have been shielded from the sneer of an epigram. But since this subject, bad as it is, has so happily inspired our author, we see no reason for our being more squeamish than his editor. La bosse de Désorgues. Lui-même a grimpé sur Désorgue. The subjects of the following are much fairer game. A..., qui exaltait mes épigrammes pour déprécier mes odes. Dans l'épigramme au moins j'ai su te plaire: Là je suis bon; tu le dis, je le croi; En prose, en vers, Lubin compose, Sur un rimeur prolixe. Ce rimeur a du bavardage Un tel usage. Que même en un distique il a su trouver l'art D'être bavard. Sur Flins. Des léthargiques rimeurs Lui seul vaut mille endormeurs;" A un nouvel académicien. Contre un fâcheux. O la maudite compagnie Que celle de certain fâcheux Dont la nullite vous ennuie! On n'est pas seul, on n'est pas deux. Lebrun, who appears to have sought for enemies, has unfortunately rendered himself obnoxious to a very numerous and respectable portion of society, who are easily provoked, and who seldom, if ever, forgive-we mean the ladies. Not content with laughing at their foibles, he had the hardihood to question the morals of our fair countrywomen, and to stigmatize their infidelity. This perhaps might have been borne, as the sex is generally indulgent to calumniators on that head; but he even went further, and absolutely debarred them the privilege of writing books! He thought that a woman might be far more usefully employed in superintending her household and her family. But to this we may reply in the words of Madame Genlis, that if a wo> man devotes one hour, daily, to the regulation of her house, and giving orders to her servants (when she has any) there is no reason why the remainder of her time, may not be employed in enlightening the world. In giving publicity to the epigrams against certain ladies, Mr. Guingené has cautiously abstained from throwing out any clue to their names. In general, the initials only, are given, or else the fictitious appellations of Chloe, Lise, &c. We know not, therefore, who was the object of the following: Chloé, belle et pöete, a deux petits travers; Grand embarras. Dans l'art de plaire, ou le talent d'écrire, Qui lit Delphis aimerait mieux la voir. Ce qui donne à la femme une idée de Dieu et du diable. Sans lire ni bible ni fable, Instruite par le sentiment, La femme très-naïvement Se fait Dieu d'après son amant, Portrait de Madame de. . .. Ecoute deux mots pour ton bien: Tu dis qu'on te dispute et tes vers et tes charmes; This piece of discretion in the editor, is praiseworthy; as is also, his suppression of epigrams having reference to revolutionary scenes. We are almost tempted to regret this decision, when we read the following: Fraternité ou la mort. Bon dieu! l'aimable siècle où l'homme dit à l'homme: Soyons frères, ou je t'assomme! If our remarks had not already extended too far, we would say something of Lebrun's correspondence, which occupies near ly the whole of the fourth volume. The editor has been very moderate, as to the number of his notes, and we think he has acted with judgment. In less discreet hands, the works of Lebrun would have swelled probably to seven or eight volumes, instead of the four, in which they are now comprised; for we have not forgotten an unlucky "Ode," printed in 1806, which having fallen in the way of an unmerciful scribbler, was made the pitiable vehicle of a preface and body of notes, occupying not less than seventy-eight pages. CRITICISM-FOR THE PORT FOLIO. CUM TABULIS ANIMUM CENSORIS SUMET HONESTI.-Hor. THE works of Mark Akenside, M. D. in prose and verse, with his life, a fac-simile of his hand writing, and an essay on the first poem by Mrs. Barbauld, 2 vols. 12 mo.-T. & J. Swords, Newyork; Bradford & Inskeep, and A. Finley, Philadelphia; Thomas and Andrews, Boston. Printed by William Elliott of New Brunswick, N. J. THE name of Akenside is justly held dear by every Englishman who sets any value upon the literary reputation of his country, for he contributed to raise it high in the estimation of the world, and his want of general patronage during life, excites the sympathy of every feeling person, to whom the fact is known. The poor rewards bestowed upon literary men in repubfics, has long been deemed one of the objections to that form of government, by the friends of monarchy; but the reproach seems to be as unjust when applied to men of letters, as to the military or civil servants of the state. The literary biography of the European kingdoms, shows that poverty was the lot of most of them, and even in England, the boasted seat of Science and the Muses, it is sufficent to select from the long list of unfortunate authors, the names of Thomson the sweet poet of Nature, and Dr. Johnson, that Colossus in literature, both of whom long struggled with poverty, and were never enabled by the patronage of the public, or of the government, to enjoy more than a scanty subsistence. The minutes of the "literary fund" likewise show the number of learned men who were relieved by that truly humane society: and the political history of the country abounds with details of neglected merit, while pensions and offices were bestowed upon the worthless favourites of the court. Akinside would probably have starved, notwithstanding his great merit, had not a generous and disinterested patron been found in the honourable Mr. Dyson; who supported him while a candidate for business, and finally settled on him a pension of of 3001. annually, and thereby enabled him to make a proper appearance in the world, and to enjoy that luxury so essential to the success of a London physician,-a carriage. For the present edition of the works of Akinside, the public is indebted to Mr. John Garnett, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, and it is believed to be more complete than any extant. The "Pleasures of the Imagination," is given as originally published by the author in 1744, and as afterwards enlarged and altered in 1757: and the figures at the bottom of the page, in both copies, refer to similar passages in each, for the convenience of those who may wish to compare them; an arrangement that will be found a source of amusement, if not interesting to many readers. Mr. Garnett has also very properly inserted the advertisements to the edition of the works of Akinside, published in 1772, which appears to have been ushered into the world under the care of the author's friend Mr. Dyson, and explains the reason for preserving both copies. The author, says he, intended to comprise the new work in four books, but as what he left prepared, "takes in by much too small a part of the original poem, to supply its place, and to supercede the republication of it, both poems are inserted in this collection." The Hymn to Science, vol. 1. p. 177, it is believed, is in no other edition of the poet's works. The "Virtuoso," "The Poet," "Address to Cordelia," and the song beginning "The shape alone let others prize," are now it is believed, first published; and the prose essay "On Correctness;" "The table of modern Fame;" and "the Balance of Poets," are inserted in no other edition of his works: and although the pieces said to be now first added to this edition, are doubtless "genuine," since Mr. Garnett, assures us they are known to be so, yet it would have been |