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Article REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Page 1 of 8 →
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Review Of New Publications.
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS .
Essays , by a ' Society of Gentlemen at Exeter , two , 573 pages . 9 s . boards . Cadell andliivies . PROVINCIAL literary societies are , we believe , of very modern date , at least in this country , and few of them have risen into any respe & able notice . That at-Manchester appears to have been the first to attract the public ' attention by the . respectability of its transactions and " the success which the
; volumes published by that society have obtained seems to have excited a spirit of emulation in other parts of the kingdom . The literary society of Exeter has certainly the next place ; and this first volume of its production * will give it great c . edit , and no doubt will stimulate its members to further exertions . "' We are sorry , however , to find that jealousy and ill-will have attended the publication of this volume , and that something like a literary warfare has takeii lace in
p consequence of it . Such bickerings are often fatal to promising and well-composed bodies , and must be peculiarl y injurious to a society formed of men of letters . But we shall turn from this lui pleasing theme to the more agreeable and . profitable employ , of reviewing the various contents of this interesting publication . In a very modest , s'hort , but well written adver ' - tisement we are informed that " These essays were read at the stated meetings of a society , oriinallunited b rivate friendshi When number
g y y p p . a of papers had accumulated , it was supposed , that a selection from them , would not be uninteresting- ; and , as in a miscellaneous publication , no advantage could be attained by arrangement , the order , in which each member read an essay has been adopted . " To the justness of this remark we readil y accedebut we think that the addition of the names of the authors would have been no disadvantage to the work , and certainly would have been more agreeable to the reader .
The volume opens with an address to the society , which might have done very wx-11 as an extemporaneous effusion , but possesses neither sufficient ingenuity or excellence of language to give it credit where it now stands . This is followed by ; _ lines read at the second meeting ; ' which are , indeed , " a Very curious composition . The poet begins by givihg auricular organs ' to a liver : ' '
A theme invites- —a rugged word the theme . That ne ' er was heard by the castalian stream . ^ ' Some merit is then taken b y the author from the singularity and difficulty ot his undertaking , wliich is " To trace the birth , the progress of a CLUB . ' * We are next presented with a long ' vindication of the character of Pindar , and translation of two of his odes
a . ' The poet has . been charged with venanty by some scholiasts , and translators have given strength to the accusation by the turn which their versions have taken of the eleventh Pythian Ode , anel vhesecond Isthmian . The essayist enters at large into file defence of the old card ; and it must be confessed , that his arguments ' are decisive , and hi * translations . do him credit both as a' scholar and a . poet . ' '" VOL , VIII . ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS .
Essays , by a ' Society of Gentlemen at Exeter , two , 573 pages . 9 s . boards . Cadell andliivies . PROVINCIAL literary societies are , we believe , of very modern date , at least in this country , and few of them have risen into any respe & able notice . That at-Manchester appears to have been the first to attract the public ' attention by the . respectability of its transactions and " the success which the
; volumes published by that society have obtained seems to have excited a spirit of emulation in other parts of the kingdom . The literary society of Exeter has certainly the next place ; and this first volume of its production * will give it great c . edit , and no doubt will stimulate its members to further exertions . "' We are sorry , however , to find that jealousy and ill-will have attended the publication of this volume , and that something like a literary warfare has takeii lace in
p consequence of it . Such bickerings are often fatal to promising and well-composed bodies , and must be peculiarl y injurious to a society formed of men of letters . But we shall turn from this lui pleasing theme to the more agreeable and . profitable employ , of reviewing the various contents of this interesting publication . In a very modest , s'hort , but well written adver ' - tisement we are informed that " These essays were read at the stated meetings of a society , oriinallunited b rivate friendshi When number
g y y p p . a of papers had accumulated , it was supposed , that a selection from them , would not be uninteresting- ; and , as in a miscellaneous publication , no advantage could be attained by arrangement , the order , in which each member read an essay has been adopted . " To the justness of this remark we readil y accedebut we think that the addition of the names of the authors would have been no disadvantage to the work , and certainly would have been more agreeable to the reader .
The volume opens with an address to the society , which might have done very wx-11 as an extemporaneous effusion , but possesses neither sufficient ingenuity or excellence of language to give it credit where it now stands . This is followed by ; _ lines read at the second meeting ; ' which are , indeed , " a Very curious composition . The poet begins by givihg auricular organs ' to a liver : ' '
A theme invites- —a rugged word the theme . That ne ' er was heard by the castalian stream . ^ ' Some merit is then taken b y the author from the singularity and difficulty ot his undertaking , wliich is " To trace the birth , the progress of a CLUB . ' * We are next presented with a long ' vindication of the character of Pindar , and translation of two of his odes
a . ' The poet has . been charged with venanty by some scholiasts , and translators have given strength to the accusation by the turn which their versions have taken of the eleventh Pythian Ode , anel vhesecond Isthmian . The essayist enters at large into file defence of the old card ; and it must be confessed , that his arguments ' are decisive , and hi * translations . do him credit both as a' scholar and a . poet . ' '" VOL , VIII . ,