by "the first poet of the age." Let us hope then, that the trash, with which the press so disgracefully teems, may experience the contempt that is its due, and that works of established reputation may meet with that attention they so justly merit, and may become models of composition to future writers; above all, that the exemplaria Græca, the genuine source of all that is pure in taste, or sound in learning, may be looked up to with admiration, and fondly cherished, as relics above all praise, and the parent of them let us hail in the language of him, our great countryman, who so sweetly sung, what he so deeply, so exquísitely, felt: behold Where on th' Ægean shore a city stands, Dryden should be tried; of this, which, in opposition to rea- * Mr. Copleston's Defence of Oxford. Atque, ut omittam Græciam, quæ semper eloquentiæ princeps esse voluit, atque illas omnium doctrinarum inventrices Athenas, in quibus summa dicendi vis et inventa est, et perfecta. De Oratorie. 263 Or hospitable, in the sweet recess City or suburban, studious walks and shades." Of these joint translators of the Psalms, into he roic verse, published 1754, I know nothing; that their performance is far from being despicable, will appear from the single specimen here presented to,, the reader, whilst they are entitled to the highest, of all praise, that of giving the sense of their author correctly. Such tameness, however, and want of spirit pervade the whole work, as will no doubt for ever keep it in its present state of neglect and ob The book is particularly well printed. curity as the 27 CHRISTOPHER SMART, Born 1722. Died 1771. Smart's was an unhappy life, impudent, drunken, poor, diseased, and at length insane. Yet he must not be classed with such as Boyce and Savage, who were redeemed by no virtue, for Smart was friendly,. and liberal, and affectionate. His piety was fervent, and, when composing his religious poems, he was frequently so impressed as to write upon his knees. In his fits of insanity it became his ruling passion; he would say his prayers in the streets, and insist that people should pray with him. He composed a song to David, when in confinement, and being denied the use of pen, ink, and paper, indented the lines upon the wainscot with the end of a key. MR. SOUTHEY's Specimens of the later English Poets, vol. ii. From his version of the Psalms I have selected the 121st, as best entitled to my reader's attention.. SELECT PSALMS, &c. TO sundry keies doth Hilarie compare That, as it were, by sundry dores they bring For wouldst thou in thy Saviour still rejoyce, |