75. THE SAUNTERER. To the various instances which we have lately recorded of very young persons attempting the composition of periodical essays, we have now to add the name of Mr. Hewson Clarke, who had written some of his Saunterers before he had completed his fourteenth year; and, in the preface to the first edition of his work, which is dated Gateshead, September 1st, 1805, he is desirous the reader should remember," whatever may be the imperfections of his pages, that they were composed by a youth, who, when he first commenced their publication, had only just completed his seventeenth year; who owed all he knew to his own enquiries and exertions; who was neither encouraged by friendship to display his literary talents, nor submitted his writings to its correction." That Mr. Clarke, notwithstanding these repressing circumstances, has produced a work of merit, no unprejudiced person will deny; the style of the Saunterer is spirited and nervous; and, together with a general attention to the interests of virtue, he has exhibited humour, invention, and ingenuity; but he has, likewise, exhibited numerous instances of juvenile temerity and inexperience, and too great a fondness for personal satire, and dictatorial criticism. We may venture to predict, that before he has finished his education at Cambridge he will see the necessity of retracting many of his literary censures; and more especially of conciliating the injured spirit of Addison, of whom, in his 25th number, he has not hesitated to say, that "he cannot be considered as entitled to the applause of genius;" and that "whether he endeavours to elevate us by sublimity, or to please us by wit, his style is equally without animation"!! The Saunterer was originally published at Newcastle, in a weekly newspaper, called the Tyne Mercury, during the years 1804 and 1805; and having reached forty-four numbers, was printed in a duodecimo form early in 1806. A second edition, in two volumes 12mo. including fifty numbers, with the second volume inscribed to the Master and Fellows of Emanuel College, Cambridge, reached the press before the close of the same year. These essays, 76. MELANCHOLY HOURS. twelve in number, are the composition of Henry Kirke White; a young man of extraordinary talents, and of extraordinary virtues; and whose premature death, at the age of twenty-one, must be considered both by the literary and the moral world, by the disciples of genius and of piety, as His Life and Re a heavy and irreparable loss. mains, lately published by Mr. Southey, form one of the most affecting and interesting productions which has, for many years, been given to the public. They present us with a picture the most lovely and engaging; where virtue pure and firm, devotion warm and sincere, are united with feelings exquisitely keen, and with poetic talent of the highest order: while to the whole an impression the most pathetic is imparted; as we perceive all these steadily existing under the pressure of perpetual bodily suffering. The following address to, and personification of, the disease under which he died, cannot be read without the most poignant regret and admiration. To Consumption. Gently, most gently, on thy victim's head, And softly go to slumber with the dead. That strains angelic oft foretell the day Dissolving sad in dying symphony, Whisper the solemn warning in mine ear; And smiling faintly on the painful past, The Melancholy Hours of this lamented youth were, I believe, first published in the Monthly Mirror during the year 1805. They exhibit much feeling, taste, and judgment, and are written with correctness and purity of style. 77. THE ANTIQUARY. Of the intentions of the author of this paper, the best developement will be an extract or two from the first number, which was printed in the Monthly Magazine for February, 1805. "Periodical Essays," remarks the Antiquary, "have been usually confined to subjects, which, like those of Lord Verulam, come home to men's business and bosoms; their chief end has been to promote the regularity of social life; and, though criticism and the arts of elegance have now and then received a momentary mark of their attention, the writers of them have seldom even ventured to trace the slowness and mediocrity of the inventive genius of man. The comparative state of public morals, or domestic history, never formed with them a topic of enquiry; and while the caprices of modern life were taken as abstracted subjects for temporary satire, the progressive improvement or retrogradation of our national manners was entirely forgotten.-If, in the series of papers here intended, this defect should be occasionally supplied, (though interwoven with more solid discussions. in the illustration of ancient manners, arts, and history,) the intention of the writer will be fully answered." "The researches which the Antiquary is intended to contain, though chiefly limited to Britain, will occasionally deviate. Classical remains, both political and monumental, will be frequently considered; the narratives of historians compared with the very scenes of action they commemorate (as Polybius scaled the summits of the Alps to trace the march of Hannibal); and some pages will undoubtedly be devoted to the history and illustrious remains of Ancient Egypt. The comparative characters and progress of Architecture, Sculpture, Poetry, and Painting, in our own country, will be given in a systematic form, separated into æras; one or two of our most choice remains of Gothic art will probably occupy whole papers to themselves; and the uniformity of the work be sometimes varied with sketches of antiquarian biography." Sixteen numbers of the Antiquary have already been published in the Monthly Magazine, and these certainly contain a considerable fund of curious and entertaining information. 78. HOURS OF LEISURE. Many of these |