size, affording scope for pictorial illustration, on a scale capable of
doing justice to "the most finished poem in the English language."

J.F.M.

* * * * *


ON AUTHORS AND BOOKS, NO. 2

To revive the memory of estimable authors, or of estimable books, is a
pursuit to which a man of leisure may devote himself under the certainty
that he can neither want materials to proceed with, not miss the reward
of commendation.

It is by the extensive circulation of biographical dictionaries, and the
re-productive agency of the press, that the fame of authors and their
works is chiefly perpetuated. General biographers, however, relying too
much on the intelligence and tact of their precursors, are frequently
the dupes of tradition; and the press, like other descriptions of
machinery, requires a _double_ motive-power.

A remedy happily presents itself. As it appears, a short note is
sufficient to raise inquiry; and inquiry may lead to new fact, or
advance critical equity. It may rescue a meritorious author from
oblivion, and restore him to his true position on the roll of fame.

It is near a century and a half since Ant. Wood printed a notice of the
reverend Thomas Powell, and more than a century since the inquisitive
Oldys devoted eighteen pages to an abstract of his _Human