The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-04 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

4Ncycz OP./ED/A BRITANNICA. Part CIII.
Black and Co., Edinburgh, 1838*
_" Although the national title of Encyclopaedia Britan.
Itil!!," observe the spirited proprietors of this great under-
ITLuting, " has been retained in the present edition, yet in
, anY respects it deserves to be considered rather in the
iight ur a new work ; which while it exhibits a comprehen-
ve et, of the present state of knowledge in every depart-
thetzletlt, is also a repository in which are treasured sonic of
~tmost masterly disquisitions which have adorned the
tile etlrature of the country within the last fifty years." There
n exaggeration here, high as is the praise, and strongly
prepossessedhs as may seem the quarter whence it proceeds.
fees
it
to is really and truly just what its proprietors pro:
ter! t? be
a repository of some of the "most mas
Tor disquisitions" of which modern literature can boast.
k`liate Part before us is particularly rich in them. We have.
48 'and elaborate Essay on ' Poetry" by Professor Mho!?
co .e°n' nn " Poisons," by Professor Christinos ; a
,t.
Po-
fifth, ,
lasi: .°lar Seas," by Sir John Barrow ; a fourth, on
tonedoo-
fifth`ati of Light," by Messrs. Arago and Young ; an
hotl: f Polit I E •" by Mr. Macculloch ;to say
lea Economy,"
lice, n 0 several minor articles, in each of "
to 41 and research are manifested. The essay onPoetry,"
1:40 18 the most elaborate, so also is it the most successful
effort yet made by Mr. Moir. We like it the better
hi at its author, exciting as is his theme, does not allowb
it, ba,,e,lf to be hurried into extravagance or enthusiasm by
of ,•". views it, in all its bearings, by the sober day-light
issense. His distinction between fancy andis
°oe of
very happily made, but the question
rise; okf_ °lase subtle and complex ones, which no theo-
to settle "9 ever
0 .
ingeniously propounded, will. ever be able
Part, n any thing like a certain basis. For our own
that is believe that fancy and imagination are in escence—
arid itskt° say, as suggestive and creative faculties—just one
(lift '`'e same ; and that the application, makes the only
eree„
tlece '. between them. Mr. Moir's remarks on the study
are ssarY to form a poet, are as sound in thought, as they
e ter,. ,
,-- chaste in expression :
tiiit 411 addit," he observes, .. to the natural gifts of rensi._
fah! to feel, memory to retain impressions, imagination
dand 14;1 tu fashion new conceptions, and judgmoesnateetoomble inultaited,
ktur ?'Y all the materials which have beenth
the ems just as essential for the formation ofthe poet, as for
studqUisition and practice of the most mechanical art That
Allielhregards both the materials of poetry and the language by
%her theY are to be ccmmunicated in
.a sible form to
laibi,'• Study of men in the different conditiosnesnof
.life, and the
st.,,`Of observing and systematizing these observations ; study
escape
tothlerilal nature so as to mark the peculiarities which
re-
se -tb4 eyes - the accustoming the mind to search for. iteinelbleness
among things different, and. to lay them up in the
tee °rY as in a treasury ; these are assistances which no poet
is
deprived 9verook, and without which the imaginative faculty
evea. of its due nourishment and of half its power.. For,t
taust Cagination does not strictly create out of nothing ;
ail,
Ind d quickened and set in motion by something extern
changee materials on which it can try its processes of
or recombinati "
Ilpon, oatsh etir. tviiords, imagination must have. legs. to. stand
14.1411Sha.k.sp:;•el,a4thweings to fly with. Alluding incidentally
author remarks that he " seems to
esliaei; like the universal sun, over the provinces of emotion,
at, telling all alike," which is a truism neatly and aptly
ho._
The account of Hebrew poetry is just, and in places
sad Harr
considerable critical perspicacity. "Of dramatic
ief` narrative poetry," we are told, " the Hebrews have
f°rtnh? BPecimena"—a fact which has often surprized us,
(41;4 11, we should have imagined, would have been the form
487rar..
Y composition most natural and most adapted to the.
,Jewtea of such an energetic and impassioned people as th si,issl Whose annals, too, abound in such startling, dramatic
eei:ttls. Mr. Moir next proceeds to expatiate on.
the olusetrY, and speaking of the character of Ulysses in
" fi 31 eY, says--
laq, ais a conception more in harmony with ancient than
he dery •11 `iews of heroism. Our ideas on the subject have
li 'sa str
%our • °ngly influenced by those notions of the. point of
date
tritroduced by chivalry, that we do not easily sympa-
*Sys rh"h a hero who, though not deficient in bravery, is al-
p!kls -t:', re ready to employ craft than courage, and only ep-
%l4.4,•",,arrns when artifice is found to be ineffectual. The
told'hvr embodies the idea of en accomplished man of the
after the manner of ancient paganism ; and it is there-
It is:',ilt,hsorne effort that we, whose ideal of such a personage
stake I;,,:"rent, interest ourselves in his fate. Yet he does
-Poe - Way at last into our affections. His character growsn
thit44B, like the gradual influence of good sense. Human
tnisioteeP forth under the guise of impassive constancy and
•;' His home-sick longings for Ithaca, is a
re-
.414(11;13 the Power of love under the influence of Circe,
h, 8 of our common humanity."
illa-" sentenn which w , have marked in italics, appositely
sb4trats,, ,1.---,Te • .-1
•of Ulysses, which, how-
-,es ~,, -- the Homeric conception
bfitlCßinirable, sinks into insignificance when compared
nhle6',uailtsPeare's conception of the same character. In
'°e vs-eeK Poet, the wandering Ithacan urges few things, in
;1.4 aref thought or feeling, that we care to remember,
kokr,itill traordinary sagacity they may possess ; but in the
INT, 84.11 dramatist, he is constantly furnishing the reader
()Pip; 'uod for philosophic reflection, and throwing out
ak -Pa. steeped in worldly wisdom. Mr. Moir's hints
1141 e', tin poetry—for they are little more—are scru-
Vir°RiPY. in keeping with- good sense, so far as
Itillte :a concerned, but we demur to his esti-
'etiti„,°' Ovid, of whose " extravagant luxuriance and
laks 0,-14 conceits " be speaks in terms of somethinglike
?tilt', .5 We regreti this, for in •fancy, and the various
or sni poetical powers, Ovid is unquestionably the
,11(i tif tu.e Roman writers. If he have not the sustained .B°'fied elea•ance of Virgil, neither has he his mon
41110,141 freo 1*
t t ness. His defects are not s.o
4414,ie-sii: eanceitus7 as excess of fancy. ; and his style is
Ne A---annple—copious—sententiousjust as. occasion
11a" ilas. sin his Tri
There arc many passage
SNitirePlete with the simplest pathos ; and his ex-
U" of the " Pythagorean system" is the. most
Itlilelleit and animated piece of poetic declamattot? with_
beeti tik ile are q •t d On the tempting subject of
-1;4" Pbetr a'c' -ualialueth.or descants at some length. His.
4Deeir4ticistns Ire our
rose on Spenser and Dryden ; but m
thilitY8,1"1101 the latter, while he condemns his " bombastic.
0;444444,'1wi11.t5h allh noticeti rof his splendid translation of
are merit of containing many
i4algetB' e Pecilieilly in aatheiesixth book, superior to the mad-
fr-A, tteldl3: His sketch of the sybil . who is represerte.
ifi r
..11? " along the waste dominions of the dead," is
ktetleeptleite•van Virgil's. Mr. Moir's remarks on Thompson
tsfit
be
, but we should have been glad. that he had said
ItPil' 1, ns about his plays for several dainty bits of poetry
Pt.. fnund in them • arnong others this pass.age, de-
'N:4 (:if the feelings' of a man—Philoctetes, Ifw:Lre-
`, elthtly--who has been left on a desert coast
Ivlst on the wildest of the Cyclad isles,
Tisu_ere never human foot had marked the shore,
eese ruffians left me; yet believe me, Areas,
°eh is therooted love we bear mankind,
411 ,
heartless as they are—l never heard
14:111e atr'und so dismal as their parting oars !"
10, hot ?ng, instinctive yearning after humanity ; the
tipil!kestre'eas sense of desolation expressed in the simple,
0,,.‘,116
_ltlgical, words, " partingfi oars," were never so
Itelia....fs:°nveyed as in the above
finfethplasnseage. Tne very
et:etiet.`"si.abrupt break-off inthe i has a most
ptalltea qnificance in it. On the whole, Mr. Moir has
Ai Ain is u; task with signal ability ; and few essays of the
4,Kt ti uetter bear a second perusal than the one we have
of gis fis rtlY noticed.
tf tt,LWri-itnt'cle headed " Police" is clearly
with
he production
the working
)11.1t•ttle L° who is intimately acquhainstends
wwith a sketch, as
tt!eal
.._`'
.11 system. It furnishes
these establishments,
calk la tn", it is comprehensive,
inent ; and in the statisti-
.p,,, .on ~..
te `'atli °r It, corrects the errors of former
.statists. Its
eliti ladle
a. te, ,Passages consist of a summary of the various.
kn'eoll, „ r an efficient system of police.. " Political
Nfl,ll .3', ~is by Mr. Macculloch,,compiler of the well-
tseNyin "Mmercial Diction. a.ry, and is valuable, as
atiel• R the matured opinions of this celebrated
ette Ist. Q.
NI coot
..tr John Barrow's article. on the " Polar
401,,1 exls,l4.lns a compact historical digest of the nume-
V titoe'llinns of discovery which have been. made
!es,l it see: to time to these inhospitable regions.
,B, y
4.1' toil -"fi that the Russians have recently discovered a
°ra, vo,s4.(lerable extent of land to the southward of Cape.
gin INC„e1:1 is covered with snow and wholly barren;
andad%-
kil' uphn-,,,tree
nor shrub of any kind. It is also," 411theru I uninhabited, there being no such people. in the
n
sti:eked,uetnisphere as the Esquimaux ; and it may be
)011,4 Lek that no human beings are found in the southern_
e_
Pp 4 thr the fifty-fifth parallel of latitude, and none b
koetto,'. fiftieth, except on Patagonia and Terroa.
the
lisq4.l liso2.Ve have given a hasty notice of so,m, e trepe.
14 vatktidr4:unt articles in this Part of the Ency
.1
kits 111 ?lea ;" but there are many others abounding
°fiell ;°,atters of information, and which deserve more
Or; u4° We can afford to bestow on them.
1111:4t°Unt 11----i-,--
‘ftethiNn C,,,., Melbourne, accompanied by the Hon.
\r" °ou, f-- F." Per, arrived in town at two o'clock yesterday
to to Icou ?ra a visit to her Majesty at Windsor Castle.
liWti r-ettstterdlia owick and Lord Glenelg returned
Thor Ca, , Y afternoon from a visit to her Majesty at
14 IA 13 6tier
Vilinirtl6- 0, Rutland left town on Saturday last
tittille atl•
~ ,„Earl ~
Th 4tarapt of Surrey left town on Saturday for
tipti e t °o•
tt, ky ford of
41 t . Shelburne left Lansdowne House yes-
-I,;Pobt. wood Park, accompanied by the Hon. H.
ktltl e Earl ;
the °ther f ()* Yarborough, Lord and Lady Worsley,_.
the then
of it are on a visit at Sprotborough Hall
eg_ olr
"ePh William Copley, near this town,-- Ciironicie, • .