We can only presume, as Mr. Elton is much too good a scholar to entertain doubts about this brat of the 16th century, that he was anxious to shew his qualifications, on the demise of the present incumbent, who, like Augustus, young Was call'd to empire, and has governed long, to fill the throne of amatory poetry, as much, if that were possible, to the satisfaction of ladies of fashion. The following description of the death of Archemorus from Plunged in the crested grass, that round him rose, Th' enormous snake dragg'd on each loosen'd fold; With bruising folds the groaning woods were twined, Oft with continuous sweep he stretches o'er The river-bed, and rolls on either shore : But now, when Theban Bacchus gives command, Now, when the water-nymphs, with dust bespread, Through the scorch'd pools he floats on many rings, Now, Now, roll'd supine, he lies in faint despair, And gasps for life, and licks the liquid air: Now, grovelling prone, he smites the groaning ground, On cleft Parnassus' trembling summits roll'd; And writhed with hundred wounds he lash'd the reedy wood.' There is an unfortunate tameness in the passages rendered from Lucan, where Mr. Elton has lost the condensed and pointed sentiment of his original in the expansion of blank verse. Thus, in lines familiar to every scholar, -Nor Cæsar can to aught superior bow, Nor Pompey bear an equal. But to know A mighty judge. Heaven owns the conquering cause, This is very flat. In return, we may justly praise the specimens from Silius Italicus, Valerius Flaccus, and Oppian. Perhaps the chief merit of Mr. Elton's plan is the opportunity it gives of introducing to the poetical reader those authors of a late age and unequal merit, whose real beauties have been overwhelmed by a mass of defects, and by that sweeping criticism which is entirely founded upon defects. It has been justly remarked, that in some minor excellencies, and especially in natural description, the later and less eminent poets frequently surpass those to whom we pay the exclusive homage of admiration. The following passage from the Dionysiacs of Nonnus, which we select from several equally beautiful, has a soft and splendid colouring, and a sweetness of language, that reminds us of Mr. Southey's style in description. With crooked bow, a dweller of the woods The beasts, and track'd the mountains. No soft bower With fragrant foliage hid; but in a place Of Of rocks, a desert haunt, in gloomy glen The web: more pleased to weave the close-wrought lines Of mottled panthers, and the lion kind, Upon the whole, these specimens do considerable credit to Mr. Elton's expertness in versification, and fluency in speaking the language of poetry. To each author a sort of biographical and critical sketch is prefixed. The criticisms shew a scholar and a man of taste, but they are sometimes expressed in too peremptory a manner. He is a little too fond of reversing established opinion as to the relative merit of poets. Dejicit superbos de sede, et exaltat humiles. It is strange enough to find an ingenious man preferring the Medea of Apollonius to Virgil's Dido; but, at all events, such critical heresies ought to be propounded with diffidence. ᎪᎡᎢ, ART. VIII. The Physiognomical System of Doctors Gall and Spurzheim, founded on an Anatomical and Physiological Examination of the Nervous System in general, and of the Brain in particular, and indicating the Dispositions and Manifestations of the Mind. By J. G. Spurzheim, M. D. London. 1815. Royal 8vo. pp. 571. THE HE writer of this volume, as its title-page imports, is a disciple and coadjutor of the celebrated Dr. Gall of Vienna; and, like his master, is so very equivocal a sort of personage, considered as a literary man, that in some respects we hardly know in what manner he is to be treated. In saying this, we do not particularly allude to the doctrines which he professes; although these savour not a little of empiricism; but rather to the mode in which they have hitherto been propagated. That a man should publish his opinions upon whatever subject, is natural enough; at least there is nothing in such a circumstance, which in the present times need excite surprize; but why he should travel over Europe for the purpose of preaching them, it is by no means so easy to explain. We do not mean to deny, but that in doing this Dr. Spurzheim may have chosen an honest method of gaining a livelihood; although we believe that to be pretty nearly all that can be said for it; yet it is one, which a person of liberal education and of a liberal profession would not, we should suppose, prefer, and which a man with any feeling of personal dignity about him, would surely disdain. But Dr. Spurzheim is a German, and not an Englishman, and it is possible that the manners of the two countries may make all the difference. Be this as it may, we are inclined to think, that whatever be the cause of Dr. Spurzheim's unsettled plan of life, whether the love of money, or the love of cranioscopy, or the love of fame, in no respect will the success of the publication before us gratify his views. Our author must not imagine that, because he has been able to find people in this country who would listen to him with patience, he will therefore be able to find readers equally good humoured. His doctrines may possibly have passed off with good success at a lecture; for, as Dr. Spurzheim's own experience must have informed him, there is no sort of absurdity but may be safely administered in that shape; but the difficulties which a writer has to encounter, are more considerable To suppose that nonsense may be presented to a reader, as to a hearer, stark naked and without even the decent clothing of a little sophistry, is a great mistake. very Dr. Spurzheim informs us, that he has been so long associated with with Dr. Gall in the labours of cranioscopy, and so accessory to the improvement and propagation of his system, that the latter has, for many years, been used to talk of his discoveries only as their joint property. Notwithstanding the evil augury of the poet's admonition, That in your nice affairs of system, Wise men propose, but fools assist them, we, therefore, took up the volume before us with the expectation of some amusement; for it seemed impossible to suppose that so many of the learned as our author can number among his proselytes should have been persuaded to believe in such wild doctrines as Dr. Gall's, except by a person possessed of more than ordinary talents of some sort or other. There have been instances of people not deficient, generally speaking, in good sense, who, in matters of religion, have sometimes suffered themselves to be imposed upon by poor, feeble-minded enthusiasts; but such instances are somewhat rarer in matters connected with philosophy. Accordingly, when this volume was put into our hands, it never entered into our minds to doubt for one moment but that the writer of it was some shrewd person who, in conjunction with Dr. Gall, had availed himself of the disgraceful ignorance which almost universally prevails upon subjects of abstract reasoning, to revive the foolish notions so long unthought of, respecting the seat of the soul and its faculties.-But in what language to express the surprize and disappointment which its perusal has occasioned us, we really know not, without making use of terms which Dr. Spurzheim might perhaps justly deem offensive. We would not willingly speak with a foolish emphasis; yet we can safely assure our readers, that from the beginning to the end of this huge volume, containing, we may presume, all the arguments by which so many have been convinced, we have not met with one single remark which a man of sense would not blush to have made, nor a single inference fairly drawn from the premises to which it is attached. The premises themselves, indeed, are usually of the most incontestible description; consisting either of propositions as incontrovertible as the axioms of geometry, or else of facts which it would generally be madness to deny. But the peculiarity of Dr. Spurzheim's logic is, that from these truths, he is perpetually drawing the most sudden and unexpected inferences; and then, because his data are irrefragable, he will needs have it that his conclusions must be the same. Accordingly, whatever may be the point which he wishes to establish, he seems to think that all things in heaven and earth may lawfully be put in requisition for the purpose of demonstrating it. If trees grow, or heavy bodies fall to the ground, if a cat watches for a mouse, or a sparrow falls from the house-top, it |