rate and ingenious disquisition, relative to the structure of the feathers, and many other particulars.

It may not be unamusing to the reader to place after this the parallel account of Buffon, which, though not in the most full-dressed style of the author, contains one or two passages which remind one of Sterne's wig "immersed in the ocean," when contrasted with the more English style of Dr. Shaw. We quote Buffon from an English translation, not happening to have the original at hand.

"Of all animated beings, the fly-bird (Oiseau mouche, angl. humming-bird) is the most elegant in its form, and the most brilliant in its colours. The precious stones and metals polished by our art cannot be compared to this jewel of nature. Her miniature productions are ever the most wonderful; she has placed it in the order of birds, at the bottom of the scale of magnitude; but all the talents which are only shared among the others, nimbleness, rapidity, sprightliness, grace, and rich decoration, she has bestowed profusely upon this little favourite. The emerald, the ruby, the topaz, sparkle in its plumage,* which is never soiled by the dust of the ground. It inhabits the air; it flutters from flower to flower; it breathes their freshness; it feeds on their nectar, and resides in climates where they blow in perpetual succession.

"It is in the hottest part of the new world that all the species of fly-birds are found. They are numerous, and seem confined between the two tropics; for those which penetrate in summer within the temperate zones make but a short stay. They follow the course of the sun; with him they advance and retire; they fly on the wings of the zephyr, to wanton in eternal spring."

At this, methinks, we hear a French critic exclaim, exquisite, beautiful, delightful vein of eloquence! Not so the more phlegmatic English. The bird-orator proceeds:

"The Indians, struck with the dazzle and glow of the colours of these brilliant birds, have named them the beams or locks of the sun. The Spaniards call them tomineos, on account of their diminutive size, tomine signifying a weight of twelve grains. I saw, says Nieremberg, one of these birds weighed with its nest, and the whole together did not amount to two tomines. The smaller species do not exceed the bulk of the great gad-fly, or the thickness of the drone. Their bill is a fine needle, and their tongue a delicate thread: their little black eyes resemble two brilliant points; the feathers of their wings are so thin as to look transparent; hardly can the feet be perceived, so short are they and so slender; and these are little used, for they rest only during the

night. Their flight is buzzing, continued and rapid. Marcgrave compares the noise of their wings to the whirr of a spinning-wheel; so rapid is the quiver of their pinions, that, when the bird halts in the air, it seems at once deprived of motion and life. Thus it rests a few seconds beside a flower, and again shoots to another like a gleam. It visits them all, thrusting its little tongue into their bosom, and caressing them with its wings; it never settles, but it never quite abandons them. Its playful inconstancy multiplies its innocent pleasures; for the dalliance of this little lover of flowers never spoils their beauty."

Bravo, M. le Comte! a little French gallantry to crown all! Goldsmith, though an excellent poet, is not half so poetical. He says, with more precision perhaps than any other describer:

"They who imagine they have a complete idea of the little tribe of Manikin birds, [he probably includes the Creepers,] from the pictures we have of them, will find themselves deceived, when they compare their draughts with nature. The shining greens, the changeable purples, and the glossy reds, are beyond the reach of the pencil; and very far beyond the coloured print, which is but a poor substitute to painting."-Anim. Nature, Birds, Part IV. Chap. 6.

Dr. S. has very properly cautioned his readers that they are not to expect an equal degree of brilliancy in all the humming-birds, and that some are even of dusky colours. Nor are they all so very minute in size. The topaz-throated humming-bird, the most splendid of the tribe in plumage, is at least equal to the wren in the size of its body: and if measured from the bill to the extent of the two longest tail feathers, is not less than eight or ten inches long. Buffon abhorred artificial system, the consequence of which sapient opinion is, that he has made endless confusion. In the part of his work now before us, he has separated the colibris from the flybirds, though in the original language of Brazil they have but one common name; and are in fact not to be distinguished.

THE decision of the court of common pleas, on a late occasion, respecting Esquires, will, no doubt, spread a very great alarm among that very numerous and unlimited body, although perhaps it will surprise no person of legal or heraldic knowledge. By that decision, a man in trade, who was titled Esquire, was not suffered

to justify bail, because he had assumed a title to which he had no right; and by the same decision, I should presume, that all other legal instruments, in which the same title (without a right) occurs, must be invalid.

If one consequence of this decision shall be a diminution in the number of Esquires, it will surely be followed by a great depreciation of personal vanity; by which, however, the public at large will be great gainers. We are literally overrun with Esquires; and if some measures are not adopted to lessen their numbers, a species of equality will be established, more harmless, perhaps, but surely as absurd, as that with which the French Revolution once threatened the world. Besides the general manufacture of Esquires, there are sundry times, when an extra number are let loose upon the public, either by an insolvent act, or— at the Old Bailey-by proclamation.

Let us not, however, suppose that Esquire is a title of no value, because it has been so very liberally bestowed on those who have not a right to it. On a careful inquiry, I am inclined to doubt, whether our nominal Esquires, whose titles are to be found on the backs of letters, and in subscription lists, are above a century old. I doubt, indeed, whether they can be traced quite so far. It has fallen to my lot to inspect an immense quantity of manuscript correspondence during the above period; but I have not been able to trace Tradesmen Esquires much above 70 or 80 years. Before that time, the title belonged to a certain class, or certain classes of persons, whom I shall now enumerate, and reserve what I have to say respecting the new Esquires for another letter.

That much ignorance should prevail on this subject, is not more wonderful than ignorance on any other subject, where the means of knowledge are neglected. Not many weeks are passed since we heard of the shocking barbarity of taking a dead corpse out of a coffin, from an idea that it might be arrested. If we err in a matter so clearly decided, we must not be surprised at mistakes to which long custom has given somewhat of the appearance of propriety.

The title of Esquire is a title of honour, above a gentleman, and below a knight. It served anciently to denote such as were bearers of arms, or carried the shield, (armigeri or scutarii,) and was accordingly considered as a name of charge and office only. It stands upon record, however, that this degree was, in the reign of Henry IV. an order conferred by the king, by putting about the party's neck a collar of SS. and giving a pair of silver spurs. Gower, the poet, appears from his effigies in St. Saviour's church, Southwark, to have been an Esquire by creation. On the accession of Henry V. a statute was passed, which ordained, that in a!!

cases where process of outlawry lay, the additions of the estate, degree, or profession, of the defendant should be inserted; this made it necessary to ascertain who was entitled to this degree; and it is now universally agreed, by those who are conversant in titles of honour, that there are seven sorts of Esquires.

1. Esquires of the king's body, limited to the number of four, and well known at St. James's; so that it is not necessary to describe more particularly this very small number.

2. The eldest sons of knights, and their eldest sons successively.

3. The eldest sons of the youngest sons of barons, and others of the greater nobility.

4. Such as the king invests with the collar of SS. as the kings at arms, heralds, &c. There are some modifications in this class, which, for my general purpose, are not necessary to be specified.

5. Esquires of the knights of the bath, being their attendants on their installation: these must bear coat-armour according to the law of arms, and are Esquires for life, and so are their eldest sons.

6. Sheriffs of counties and justices of peace, (with this distinction, that a sheriff, in regard to the dignity of the office, is an Esquire for life, but a justice of the peace only so long as he continues in the commission,) and all those who bear special office in the king's household, as gentlemen of the privy chamber, carvers, sewers, cupbearers, pensioners, serjeants at arms, and all that have any near or special dependence on the king's royal person, and are not knighted: also captains in the wars, recorded in the king's lists. (This includes generals, colonels, &c.)

Lastly, 7. Counsellors at law, bachelors of divinity, law, and physic: mayors of towns are reputed as Esquires, or equal to Esquires, though not really so. It is also a privilege to any of the king's ordinary or nearest attendants, who if he serve in the place of an Esquire, he is absolutely an Esquire by that service; for it is the place that dignifies the person, and not the person the place.

Now, Sir, as these are the only persons who have a right to the title of Esquires, I shall leave it to your readers to determine how many of our new Esquires possess the above right.

I am, Sir, yours,

BLUEMANTLE.

LITERATURE OF THE GREEKS.

[From the Edinburgh Review of Mad. de Stael.]

Nor knowing any thing of the Egyptians and Phoenicians, Mad. de Staël takes the Greeks for the first inventors of litera ture-and explains many of their peculiarities by that supposition. The first development of talent, she says, is in poetry; and the first poetry consists in the rapturous description of striking objects in nature, or of the actions and exploits that are then thought of the greatest importance. There is little reflection-no nice development of feeling or character-and no sustained strain of tenderness or moral emotion in this primitive poetry; which charms almost entirely by the freshness and brilliancy of its colouringthe spirit and naturalness of its representations-and the air of freedom and facility with which every thing is executed. This was the age of Homer. After that, though at a long interval, came the age of Pericles: when human nature was a little more studied and regarded, and poetry received, accordingly, a certain cast of thoughtfulness, and an air of labour-eloquence began to be artful, and the rights and duties of men to be subjects of investigation. This, therefore, was the era of the tragedians, the orators, and the first ethical philosophers. Last came the age of Alexander, when science had superseded fancy, and all the talent of the country was turned to the pursuits of philosophy. This, Mad. de Staël thinks, is the natural progress of literature in all countries; and that of the Greeks is only distinguished by their having been the first that pursued it, and by the peculiarities of their mythology, and their political relations.

The state of society in these early times, was such as to impress very strongly on the mind those objects and occurrences which formed the first materials of poetry. The intercourse with distant countries being difficult and dangerous, the legends of the traveller were naturally invested with more than the modern I allowance of the marvellous. The smallness of the civilized states connected every individual with its leaders, and made him personally a debtor for the protection which their prowess afforded from the robbers and wild beasts which then infested the unsubdued earth. Gratitude and terror, therefore, combined to excite the spirit of enthusiasm; and the same ignorance which imputed to the direct agency of the Gods the more rare and dreadful phenomena of nature, gave a character of supernatural greatness to the reported exploits of their heroes. Philosophy, which has led to the exact investigation of causes, has robbed the world of much VOL. II. New Series:

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