'all in a robe of darkest grain,' yet, when April and May reign in sweet vicissitude, I give, like Horace, care to the winds; and perceive the whole system excited, by the potent stimulus of sunshine.' An ancient bard, of the happiest descriptive powers, and who noted objects, not only with the eye of the poet, but with the accuracy of a philosopher, says in a short poem, devoted to the praises of mirth, that 'Young and old come forth to play, In merry spring-time, not only birds but melancholy old fellows like myself, sing. The sun is the poet's, the invalid's, and the hypochondriac's friend. Under clement skies, and genial sunshine, not only the body is corroborated, but the mind is vivified, and the heart becomes' open as day.' I may be considered fanciful in the assertion, but I am positive that many, who, in November, December, January, February, and March, read nothing but Mandeville, Rochefoucault, and Hobbs, and cherish malignant thoughts, at the expense of poor human nature, abjure their evil books and sour theories, when a softer season succeeds. I have myself in winter, felt hostile to those, whom I could smile upon in May, and clasp to my bosom in June. Our moral qualities, as well as natural objects are affected by physical laws; and I can easily conceive that benevolence, no less than the sun-flower, flourishes and expands under the luminary of the day. With unaffected earnestness, I hope that none of my readers will look upon the agreeable visitation of the sun, at this beauteous season, as the impertinent call of a crabbed monitor, or an importunate dun. I hope that none will churlishly tell him how they hate his beams.' I am credibly informed that several of my city friends, many fine ladies, and the worshipful society of loungers, considered the early call of the above red-faced personage, as downright intrusion. It must be confessed that he is fond of prying into chambers and closets, but not like a rude searcher, or libertine gallant, for injurious or licentious purposes. His designs are beneficent, and he is one of the warmest friends in the world. Notwithstanding his looks are sometimes a little suspicious, and he presents himself with the fiery eye and flushed cheek of a jolly toper, yet this is only a new proof of the fallacy of physiognomy, for he is the most regular being in the universe. He keeps admirable hours, and is steady, diligent, and punctual to a proverb. Conscious of his shining merit, and dazzled by his regal glory, I must rigidly inhibit all from attempting to exclude his person. I caution sluggards to abstain from the use of shutters, curtains, and all other villanous modes of insulting my ardent friend. My little garden, my only support, and myself, are equally the objects of his care, and were it not for the constant loan of his great lamp, I could not always see to write." Example 13. "There is great equability, and sustained force, in every part of his writings. He never exhausts himself in flashes and epigram, or languishes into tameness and insipidity; at first sight you would say, that plainness and good sense were the predominating qualities; but, by the by, this simplicity is enriched with the delicate and vivid colors of a fine imagination-the free and forcible touches of a powerful intellect and the lights and shades of an unerring, harmonizing taste. In comparing it with the styles of his most celebrated contemporaries, we should say that it was more purely and peculiarly a written style-and therefore, rejected those ornaments that more properly belong to oratory. It has no impetuosity, hurry, or vehemence-no bursts, or sudden turns, or abruptness like that of Burke; and though eminently smooth and melodious, it is not modulated to a uniform system of solemn declamation like that of Johnson, nor spread out in the richer and more voluminous elocution of Stewart; nor still less broken into that patchwork of scholastic pedantry and conversational smartness which has found its admirers in Gibbon. It is a style, in short, of great freedom, force and beauty; but the deliberate style of a man of thought and of learning; and neither that of a wit, throwing out his extempores with an affectation of careless grace-nor a rhetorician, thinking more of his manner than his matter, and determined to be admired for his expression, whatever may be the facts of his sentiments. But we need dwell no longer on qualities that may be gathered hereafter from the works he has left behind him.-They who lived with him mourn the most for those which will be traced in no such memorial; and prize, far above these talents which gained him his high name in philosophy, that personal character which endeared him to his friends, and shed a grace and a dignity over all the society in which he moved. The same admirable taste which is conspicuous in his writings, or rather, the higher principles from which that taste was but an emanation, spread a similar change over his whole life and conversation; and gave to the most learned philosopher of his day, the manner and deportment of the most perfect gentleman." Example 14. "HE IS FALLEN ! We may now pause before that splendid prodigy, which towered amongst us like some ancient ruin, whose frown terrified the glance its magnificence attracted. Grand, gloomy and peculiar, he sat upon the throne, a sceptered hermit, wrapt in the solitude of his own originality. A mind bold, independent and decisive a will, despotic in his dictates-an energy that distanced expedition, and conscience pliable to every touch of interest, marked the outline of this extraordinary character-the most extraordinary, perhaps, that, in the annals of this world, ever rose, or reigned, or fell. Flung into life in the midst of a Revolution, that quickened every energy of a people who acknowledged no superior, he commenced his course, a stranger by birth, and a scholar by charity! With no friend but his sword, no fortune but his talents, he rushed into the lists where rank, and wealth, and genius had arrayed themselves, and competition fled from him as from the glance of destiny. He knew no motive but interest-he acknowledged no criterion but success—he worshipped no God but ambition, and with an eastern devotion he knelt at the shrine of his idolatry. Subsidiary to this, there was no creed which he did not promulgate; in the hope of a dynasty, he upheld the crescent; for the sake of a divorce, he bowed before the Cross; the orphan of St. Louis, he became the adopted child of the Republic; and with a parricidal ingratitude, on the ruins both of the throne and the tribune, he reared the throne of his despotism. A professed Catholic, he imprisoned the Pope; a pretended patriot, he impoverished the country; and in the name of Brutus, he grasped without remorse, and wore without shame, the diadem of the Caesars. Through this pantomine of his policy, Fortune played the clown of his caprices. At his touch, crowns crumbled, beggars reigned, systems vanished, the wildest theories took the color of his whim, and all that was novel, changed places with the rapidity of a drama. Even apparent defeat assumed the appearance of victory-his flight from Egypt confirmed his destiny-ruin itself only elevated him to empire. But if his fortune was great, his genius was transcendent; decision flashed upon his counsels; and it was the same to decide and to perform. To inferior intellects, his combinations appeared perfectly impossible, his plans perfectly impracticable; but in his hand, simplicity marked their development, and success vindicated their adoption. His person partook the character of his mind-if the one never yielded in the cabinet, the other never bent in the field. Nature had no obstacles that he did not surmount-space no opposition that he did not spurn; and whether amid Alpine rocks, Arabian sands, or polar snows, he seemed proof against peril, and empowered with ubiquity! The whole continent of Europe trembled, at beholding the audacity of his designs, and the miracle of their execution. Scepticism bowed to the prodigies of his performance; romance assumed the air of history: nor was there aught too incredible for belief, or too fanciful for expectation, when the world saw a subaltern of Corsica waving his imperial flag over her most ancient capitals. All the visions of antiquity became common-places in his, contemplation; kings were his people-nations were his out-posts; and he disposed of courts, and crowns, and camps, and churches, and cabinets, as if they were the titular dignitaries of the chess-board." 23 HISTORICAL DISSERTATION ON ENGLISH STYLE. In the selection and arrangement of the following Examples, it is designed to present a brief and connected outline of the history of English style. To carry this design into full execution, would obviously require far more extended limits than those here prescribed. Of English Style before the Revival of Letters. There are few remains of English prose writers prior to the revival of letters, about the middle of the fifteenth century. Of the few productions that belong to early periods in English history, most are written either in Saxon or in Latin. Indeed the origin of the English language is dated about the commencement of the fourteenth century, Sir John Mandeville being the first prose writer in the language. It is not then to be expected, that selections made from writers before the middle of the fifteenth century, will be of much interest or importance, as specimens of style. In these compositions, as in the first efforts of young writers, there is no distinctly formed style—at least no traits so well defined and so prevalent, as to give a character to the style of the |