FOR THE ANTHOLOGY. SILVA. No. 14. « Si cui fortè nonnunquam tempus voluptasque erit lucubratiunculas istas cognostere, petitum impetratumque volumus; ut in legendo, quæ pridem scierint, non aspernentur quasi noté invulgataque : ПАТ et quid tam remotum in litteris est, quin id tamen complusculi stiant ?" A. Gellius, Præf. in Noct. Att. MODERN SCHOLARS. THERE is hardly a surer' mark of the degeneracy of modern literature, than the inordinate at tention which is now paid to bibliography. The knowledge of title pages has succeeded to the knowledge of subjects, and to ascertain the year of an editio princeps is now thought of as much importance and divides the learned as seriously, as to settle the true year of the birth of Christ. Scire ubi aliquid posses invenire, magna pars eruditionis est; but to know where a thing may be found is very consistent with ignorance of what may be found there. It is well worth inquiry whether the innumerable literary journals of the present age have promoted the cause of real learning. Certain it is, that the race of laborious scholars is nearly extinct. Chart may perhaps be said to have been revived in Bryant; Walton and Castell in Kennicott, Bent ley in Wakefield, and more than one scholar of the old school in Sir William Jones. But these men are now dead! Where now are the universal scholars, who can boast of being the legitimate successors of Selden, Grotius, Le Clerc, Vossius, and Bayle? What wonderfully crowded and compre hensive minds Alas, we are hardly competent to the republication of their works. Damnosa quid non imminuit dies! Bo DEVOTIONAL POETRY. IF I understand Dr. Johnson's remarks on this subject, in his life of Waller, he means only to say that the private exercises of a pious mind are not susceptible of a poetical dress, because if they are expressed at all they must be expressed in language, which has been appropriated to passions less sacred. Hence most of the sacred poetry of Dr.Watts may,by the oc casional substitution of the names of mortal, beauties, be converted into love songs and canzonettas. But when Johnson goes on to say, that the "enlargement of our comprehension, or the elevation of our fancy is rarely to be hopedfrom metrical devotion, because whatever is great, desirable, or tremendous is comprised in the name of the Supreme Being," surely he must have forgotten the sacred poetry of David, and the su blime prayer of Habakkuk, which you cannot read without breathing short with rapture. "Omnipotence, he says, cannot be exalted." True; but its operations may be described, and our conceptions be made to approximate toward what we can never fully embrace. "Infinity cannot be amplified." Neither can it be in strictness comprehended; but the mind may be filled with illustrations of a subject which it cannot completely grasp. "Perfection cannot be improved." But it may be contemplated, and admired, and this is all which devo ما tional poetry aims at accomplishing. Surely the morning hymn of Adam and Eve in Milton, Thomson's hymn on the seasons, and the devotional pieces of Mrs. Barbauld are sufficient to rescue English verse from the censure of Johnson, when he says, "that all attempts to animate devotion by pious poctry have miscarried." The true reason of these miscarriages I suspect is this; that the finest poets have not been the most devotional christians, or the greatest saints have not been the best poets. LITERARY ANECDOTE. Ir is curious to observe what confusion, uncertainty, and contradiction involve one of our most noted literary anecdotes. Who has not heard the famous story of the student at one of the English universities, who was required to write a theme upon the miracle at Cana, and having deJayed his task till he was in danger of being punished for his negligence, rescued himself by the following impromptu. The modest water saw its God and blushed. The truth is, that this is a literal version of the last line of a latin epigram of Crashaw, the first collection of whose poems was pub lished in 1646. The line alluded to is the following. Lympha pudica Deum vidit & erubuit. This very epigram was after wards translated by Aaron Hill, one of the heroes of the Dunciad, and passed for an original. When Christ at Cana's feast by power divine DR. AIKIN. It was said by Aikin of the late Dr. Enfield, that he was perfect master of what may be called the middle style. If any living author may claim the honour of succeeding to this character it is Aikin himself. His "letters to his son" should be in the hands of every young man, upon his entrance into the world, in preference to Little's poems; and his "letters to a young lady upon a course of English poetry" are worth at least as much as any bonnet in Cornhill. There is a chasteness of sentiment, a susceptibility of poetical beauty, a coolness of deci sion, and a liberality of mind discovered in every line of this engaging writer, which show the influence of literature on a mind, which perhaps bears no very ori ginal stamp, but is solid enough to take a polish, and pure enough to reflect rays of genius, and of taste. PORT FOLIO. THE editor of this work deserves the thanks of his countrymen for his perseverance in the ungrateful task of disciplining the taste of a money-getting age. I will venture to say that the literary history of modern times does not furnish a more honourable instance of a miscellany devoted exclusively to elegant literature, and relying for support on the intellectual sympathy and lettered generosity of a people, whose literary exports are so few, and so unprofitable, and who will long find, I fear, that the balance of trade is against them. We were glad to see this popular work assume at the beginning of the year a more graceful If it and convenient costume. would retain the admiration of the elegantium formarum spectatores, let it exhibit no wanton airs, no wicked looks, no Cyprian gestures. Mille habet ornatus; let us be al ways authorized to add, mille decenter habet. \BISHOP OF ALERIA. is indebted to him for an edition of Livy and of Aulus Gellius, printed at Rome, in folio, 1469; of Herodotus in 1475; and of Strabo, printed at Venice, in folio, in 1472; he also edited the epis tles of Cyprian, and the works of St. Leo." PUNNING EPIGRAM. THE following epigram was written by Sannazarius, upon the erection of two bridges over the Seine, by Jucundus or Giocondo, who was afterwards joined with Raphael and San Gallo, after the death of Bramante, in superintending the erection of St. Peter's. The point cannot be preserved in En I was long puzzled to know who was the bishop of Aleria, mentioned in Johnson's preface to Shakespeare, as the father of conjectural criticism. I have since found that his name was John Andrew, that he was secretary of the Vatican library, and was employed, at the first introduction of printing into Rome, in revising manuscripts, writing prefaces and dedications, and correcting proofs. Pope Paul II. appointed him to the bishop-glish. rick of Aleria in the island of Corsica, where he died in the year 1493. The republick of letters Jurundus geminos fecit tibi, Sequana, pontes : Jure tuum potes hunc dicere pontificem. ACCOUNT OF THE PRESENT STATE OF LITERATURE AND THE ARTS IN ITALY. Collected in a tour through that country in 1803, by M. Fernow. THE lateness of the season and other circumstances obliged me to use greater expedition on my return through Italy, than I had intended. I have not, therefore, been able to make all the inquiries I wished into the state of the literature and the arts in upper Italy. The few notices which I shall now communicate compose my whole collection. I know not whether you have heard of the new Academia Italiana. It has existed about two years, and has this peculiarity, that it has no fixed place of residence. Its members, among whom are the most celebrated literati in every department of science, and Vol. III. No. 4. Y From the Monthly Magazine. many of the first artists, are dispersed throughout all Italy. It has likewise foreign associates in France, England, and Germany, whose number was at first fixed at forty, but which is now intended to be augmented to an hundred. The present president of the Academy is Count Vargas, who is known to the publick by his Saggio sull' Eɲpigramma Greco, and other literary labours. He now resides at Naples. I called, at Siena, upon the secretary, Sachetti, who carries on the correspondence of the Academy, and superintends the publication of its Transactions, in order to inquire more minutely into the constitution and objects of this society, which, a short time previous to my departure from Rome, did me the honour to elect me a member. . I spent two days at Siena, and was employed the greatest part of that time in viewing the Sienese school, with which I had before but an imperfect acquaintance. Its finest master-pieces have fortunately been preserved from the tempest of the revolution, probably because in France this school is less known than it deserves to be. I saw in the churches a great number of exquisite pictures by Balthasar, Peruzzi, Sodena, Casolani, and others, which, in colouring and expression, far excel the works of the Florentine school, of the same period. The mannerists of this school, however, begin with Beccasumi, and Vanni, and, since their time, it has furnished no productions of merit. I could not procure a sight of the celebrated Madona, painted, in 1221, by Guido di Siena, which enabled the Sienese to dispute with the Florentines the merit of their Cimabue in the restoration of painting; for the church of St. Domenico, where it formerly hung, was destroyed by the late earthquake, and the pictures have been removed from it to a place to which I could not obtain admittance. The paintings executed by Pinturicchio, and by Rafael d'Urbino in his early youth, which are placed in the library adjoining the cathedral, were much more interesting to me than the floor of the latter figured by Beccafumi. If with these productions you compare those of Pinturicchio's pencil alone, the superiority of Rafael's genius immediately appears. The galleries of Spannocchi and Saracirvi are likewise worthy of notice; they contain many good pieces by Sienese masters, together with some capital productions of other schools. At Leghorn I was most curious to see the library of Gaetano Poggiali, a man of letters, and the proprietor himself. He is a member of the Academy of Florence, and one of the most zealous Cruscanti. He is solely occupied in endeavouring to add to the reputa tion of the literature of his native country, by editions of classick works, combining elegance with the utmost correctness. For this purpose he devotes two days in the week to the collation of manuscripts and early editions, for which he has four assistants. Poggiali's library, which contains 10,000 volumes, is unrivalled by any in Italy, as well in the ancient and rare editions of Italian authors, as in those which are more modern and elegant. There is not a book in it which is not distinguished either by its rarity or correctness, or by some other typographical excellence. How little it wants of being complete, appears from the catalogue of the books which are still wanting, and whose number amounts to about 800. He besides possesses a considerable collection of manuscripts,which, with the early editions, occupy another apartment; among these, he shewed me, as the most precious article in the collection, a manuscript copy of Dante, on parchment, which he considers as one of the most ancient, and probably contemporary with the author. Poggiali has a design of printing this work, which contains a great number of passages that vary considerably from the ordina ry versions, and would clear up many obscurities in Dante, togetl.er with the marginal commentary with which it is accompanied. Poggiali's bibliographick knowledge, acquired in thirty years spent in collection and study, is as unique as his library. He mentioned that he had some idea of publishing, at one time or other, a bibliography of Italian literature. Poggiali, in conjunction with four other members of the Academy of Florence, has, for several years, been collecting materials for a new edition of the great Dizionario della Crusca, and he shewed me a whole chest full of papers, which contained spoils taken, for that purpose, from a multitude of authors both ancient and modern. He himself was unable to say when this new edition would appear. The present state of affairs in Italy is too unfavourable to large and expensive publications, but he thinks that the want of such a work, which is universally experienced, would procure a consider able demand for it. The Parnasso Italiona, which appeared at Leghorn, twelve years ago, in fifty pocket volumes; the collection of the Novellieri Italiani, in twenty five volumes octavo, and the works of Machiavelli, in 6 volumes octavo, besides many other works of ancient Italian authors, very ele gantly printed at the same place, were edited by Poggiali, and are regarded as the most correct edir tions. With respect to Machia yelli, who is his favourite author, he told me, that he intended to publish another splendid edition, inferiour in no respect to Didot's or Bodoni's, and then he could die happy. The impression produced by, the cathedral of Siena, together with the Battisterio and the hanging tower, situated in a remote and solitary spot, where you scarcely meet a human creature, is singular and striking. The spectator imagines himself transported into another age, or into a country of the East. The deception was heightened by the unexpected sight of a train of ten or twelve loaded camels, which passed just at the moment, when we were leaving the cathedral to go to the Battisterio. About a league from Siena a colony of these animals has been established, where they propagate, and are employed in carrying burdens. In the cathedral of Siena, among the multitude of large pictures which decorate the walls, I found only one good piece, by Perin del Vaga; all the rest are scarcely worth looking at The printing-establishment of the Typographical Society of Pisa is a recent, but apparently a successful institution. The works printed at it are distinguished by the beauty of the letters, the goodness of the paper, and the correctness of the impression. As a proof I need only mention the new edition of Cesarotti's Works, of which nine volumes were printed when I was at Pisa. The tenth will contain the Academick Discourses of the author, which were never before published. Rosina, a man of letters, who conducts this establishment, gave me the first sheets of the volume. The discourses are written with great eloquence as well as elegance, Among the living authors of Italy, Cesarotti is, without dispute, one of those who possess the greatest talents and the most polished taste. The Society has announced splendid folio editions of the four first classick poets of Italy, Dante, Petrarca, Ariosto, and Tasso. The number of subscribers was com plete, but they had not yet com menced printing. I, however, saw a proof-sheet of Dante, with whose 1 |