THE Edinburgh Magazine, OR LITERARY MISCELLANY, FOR DECEMBER 1791. With a View of DUNEIRA*, a Seat of the Right Hon. HENRY DUNDAS, one of His Majefty's Princ pal Secretaries of State. * Moft beautifully fituated near the head of Loch Erne, in Perthshire. With the Magazine for January will be given, an elegant Print of MARY QUEEN of SCOTS, engraved by BEUGO, from an original Painting in the poflefon of the Earl of Buchan. State of the BAROMETER in inches and decimals, and of Farenheit's THERMOMETER in the open air, taken in the morning before fun-rife, and at noon; and the quantity of rain-water fallen, in inches and decimals, from Novmeber 30th 1791, to the 30th of Dec. near the foot of Arthur's Seat: AMUSEMENTS OF MEN OF LETTERS. MEN EN of letters, for a relaxation from literary fatigue-a fatigue which is more unfufferable than that which proceeds from the labours of the mechanic-form, amufements, fometimes, according to their profeffional character; but, more frequently, according to their whim. Tycho Brahe diverted himself with polishing glaffes for all kinds of pectales, and making mathematical inftruments. D'Andilly, the Tranflator of Jofephus, one of the most learned men of his age, cultivated trees; Barclay, in his leifure hours, was a florit; Balzac amufed himself with making paftils; Peiresc found his amufement amongft his medals and antiquarian curiofities; the Abbé de Maroles with his engravings; and Politian in singing airs to his lute. Rohault wandered from fhop to hop, to obferve the mechanics labour. The great Arnald read, in his hours of relaxation, any amusing romance that fell into his hands. This alfo did the critical Warburton. Galileo read Ariofto; and Chriftina, Queen of Sweden, Martial. Guy Patin wrote letters to his friends; an ufual relaxation amongit men of letters, and very agreeable to their correfpondents, when they are worth the poftage. Others have found amufement in compofing treatifes on odd fubjects. Seneca wrote a Burlesque Narrative on Claudian's Death. Pierrius has writ-, ten an Eulogium on Beards. Virgil fported prettily with a gnat ; Homer with frogs and mice. Holftein has written an Eulogium on the North Wind; Heinfius, oo the Afs; Menage, the Tranfmigration of the Parafitical Pedant to a Parrot; and alfo the Petition of the Dictionafies/ 443 Earafinus has compofed-I think it was to amufe himself when travelling in a poft chaife-his Panegyric on Morus, or Folly: which, authorized by the pun, he dedicated to Sir Thomas More. Montaigne found a very agreeable play-mate in his cat. Cardinal de Richelieu, amongst all his great occupations, found a recreation in violent exercifes; and he was once difcovered jumping with his fervant, to try who could reach the higheft fide of a wall. De Grammont, obferving the Cardinal to be jealous of his powers in this relpect, offered to jump with him; and. in the true fpirit of a courtier, having made fome efforts which nearly reached the Cardinal's,confeffed he was furpaffed by him. This was jumping like a politician; and it was by this means, it is faid, he ingratiated himself with the minifter. Dr Campbell was alike fond of robuft exercise; and the fholar has been found leaping over tables and chairs. What ridiculous amufements paffed between Dean Swift and his friends in Ireland, his difcerning editors have, kindly revealed to the public. We are aftonified to see a great mind ¡uffering itfelt to be levelled to trifles which even our very magazines confider as difgraceful to their pages! The life of Shenftone was paffed in an amufement which was to him an eternal fource of difappointment and angusth. His favourite ferme ornée, while it difplayed all the taste and elegancies of the poet, difplayed allo his characteristic poverty. His feeling mind was often pained by thofe invidious compar fons which the vulgar were perpetually making with the ftately fcenes of Hagley's neighbouring magnificence. If Dr Johnfon fuffered his great mind to defcend into trivial amule3 K 2 ment In the last century, it was a confo. lation, at leaft, for the unfucceful, writer, that he fell infenfibly into oblivion. If he committed the private folly of printing what no one would purchase, he had only to fettle the matter with his publisher: he was not arraigned at the public tribunal, as if he had committed a crime of magnitude. But, in thofe times, the nation was little addicted to the cultivation of letters the writers were then few, and the readers were not many. When, at length, a tafte for literature fpread itfelf through the Body of the people, vanity induced the inexperienced and the ignorant-to alpire to literary honours. To oppose thefe inroads into the haunts of the Mufes, Periodical Criticifm brandithed its formidable weapon; and it was by the fall of others that our grea eft geniufes have been taught to rife. Multifarious writings produced multifatious ftrictures; and if the rays of criticifm were not always of the frongeft kind, yet fo many continually ifluing, formed a focus, which has enlightened thofe whofe occupations had otherwife never permitted them to judge on literary compofitions. The origin of fo many Literary Journals takes its birth in France. Denis de Sallo, Ecclefiaftical Counseller in the Parliament of Paris, invented the fcheme of a work of this kind. On the 30th of May 1665 appeared the first number of his Journal des Sçavaos. What is remarkable, h. pube lifhedhi. Elay in the name of the cur de Hédouville, who was his foot ran One is led to fuppofe by this circumftance, that be entertained but a fant hope of its fuccefs; or, perhaps, he thought that the fcurrility of crit culm might be fauctioned by its fuppof d author. The work, however, met with fo favour ble a rec.ption, that allo had the fatisfaction of fee'rg t, in the next year, imitated through u. Farope; and his Journal, at the fame time, tranflated into various languages. But, as moft authors lay themfelves teor open to the fovere critic, the animadverfions of Sallo were given with fuch malignity of wit and afperity of criticifm, that the journal excited loud murmurs, and the moft heartmoving complaints pofficle. Sallo, after having published only his third our al, felt the irritated wafps of literature thronging fo thick about him, that he very gladily abdicated the throne of Criticifm. |