mentator Didymus. If the queftion was involved in fo much obfcurity, as to induce the Emperor Adrian to apply to the gods themselves for an explanation, it was not to be expected that all the efforts of the critics fhould be able to elucidate it. To direct us in this inquiry, we have no certain guide in the Poems themfelves. The city of Smyrna, and the Iland of Chios, appear to prefent the leaft objectionable claims to the honour for which they contended. Of the numerous candidates, thefe are the only two, whofe pretenfions can be seriously examined. Each had its authors to record its title. The inhabitants of Chios relied on the teftimony of Simonides, and Theocritus. They had their Homeridæ, whom they considered as the defcendants of Homer, and a temple erected to his memory in the environs of Boliffus. They could boast the indirect authority of Thucydides, who afcribes to him the Hymn to Apollo, in which he reprefents himfelf as the blind man inhabiting Chios. Leo Allatius, who wrote exprefsly on this fubject, after weighing the pretenfions of all the candidates, decides for Chios. But the claim of Smyrna was till better founded. All the profeffed lives of Homer by Herodotus, Plutarch, and Proclus, concur in reprefenting him as a native of that city. This is confirmed by the general belief afterwards entertained, and expreffed in the different writings of Cicero, Strabo, and A. Gellius. Indeed fo violent were the Smyrnæans in maintaining this high honour, that it was neceffary for all, who wifhed to cfcape the fate of Zoilus, to give it implicit credit. But the claim of Smyrna admits, we think, a ftill clearer proof from the Poems themfelves, which abound in metaphorical defcriptions, congenial to a native of Afia. The earth refounding with the march of the army, like the thunders of Jove on the mountain which covered the giant Typhoeus; the defcription of a wind, blacker than night, hooting along the air with tempetts in its train;-of infatiate Difcord beftriding the earth, and lifting its head into the fkies;-thefe,and many other fuch images, which are to be found in the Iliad, atteft their Afiatic origin, and do not accord with what we may prefume to have been the chafter style and feverer manners of the Greeks of that age. It has been much agitated by modern critics, whether the art of writing was known in Homer's time, and if not, by what means a Poem of fuch length was originally pre ferved, and has fince been fo miraculously handed to pofterity, in its prefent itate That fuch a Poem could have been ever retained in the memory of man, and thus, by oral tradition alone, be tranfinitted from one generation to another, it is impoffible to affert. It is equally difficult to contend, that the Works of Homer were collected together at different times, and in detached portions, and that they were not finally completed till at a very late period, and with very confiderable difficulty. There is a connection throughout the Iliad at least, a clear deduction of events, a lucidus ordo in the arrangement and diftribution of all its parts, that effectually destroy fuch a fuppofition, and make it no prefumption to fay, that the Poem is nearly fuch as it came from the pen, or dictation of its author. If we adopt the common notion, that Homer was accustomed to fing or recite his poems in the affemblies of the Greeks, and that the frequency of fuch recitals, imprinted them on the memory of his auditors; we are not at liberty to reject other paffages of his fuppofed Life, equally improbable and uncertain. That fuch a custom was familiar in the earlier ages of Orpheus, Linus, and Mufæus, is poffible, and is confirmed by the fact, that, of thefe poets, the works of the two laft are entirely loft, and of the first we have only fome trifling fragments. But in placing Homer at a later period, a period of greater civilization, and when the art of writing was known and cultivated, it is no longer neceffary to refort to fuch tales, to account for the prefervation of his poems. And if it be urged, that of the twenty-four letters of the Ionic alphabet, only twenty were known in Homer's time, it may be contended that the four letters afterwards added by Simonides, were not effential to pronunciation; two of them being the vowels H and , to distinguish these iong founds from the fame vowels E and O; the other two were Z and Y, the founds of which could just as well have been expreffed by and II, as the S is even fill in Englith, French, and Italian, often pronounced like Z, though all thefe languages have the character Z to denote its The want therefore particular found. of thefe four letters was no impediment to Homer's knowing the Greek alphabet, as well as we do. And when it is recollected, that he was fuppofed to be a native of Ionia, a province on the confines of Perfia, and other caflern nations, where the arts and fciences were earlier cultivated cultivated than in Greece, it is reasonable to fuppofe, as far as any hypothefis can now be established, that the Iliad and the Odyffey, the only works which can with any certainty be attributed to him, immediately, or very foon, received that form in which we now fee them; and were preferved by the admiration of cotemporaries and of fuccceding ages, by multiplied copies and tranfcriptions. It is to this anxiety to preferve unimpaired the writings of Homer, fays the learned Wolfius, that we are indebted for their prefent perfection, while the works of fo many and more recent authors have defcended to us imperfect, or are irrecoverably loft. " he fuppofition, that the ed, by which regular Preterites are formed, is a contraction of did; thus "I worked," or "workdid;" and, in confirmation of this, it is ftated, that we fay, "he did work," or worked," but not "he did worked,” which would involve an unneceffary tautology equivalent to "he did workdid." This is an ingenious remark, and the only objection which, it ftrikes me, militates againft it, is the derivation of did itfelf from do and ed; thus doed, did.-It may be ftill farther objected, that the verb does itfelf is a compound of the noun do (for there is fuch a noun) and is; thus do is, does. That the verb of existence enters into it, and into every other verb, I am not going to deny; neither is the purport To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. of this letter to invalidate Mr. Pick SIR, N No. 150, of your valuable Ma bourn's hypothefis, with the whole scope of which I am not acquainted, nor to propofe any one of my own, but merely to Igazine, is a remark of Mr. Pick- explain what appeared to me, to be the bourn, on Mr. Pytches' affertion, "that the first terms of language were nouns, which were turned into verbs by being put in action." This affertion may, perhaps, be expreffed fomewhat loofely; but I think the meaning is fufficiently obvious. Before nouns can be turned into active tranfitive verbs, they must be put into action, fome way or other; they muft be endowed with motion. To explain more fully what I mean, I fhall take two nouns, fugar, and plough, and by Mr. Pickbourn's process, add is to each of them; thus, fugar is, plough is; do then thefe expreffions imply any thing equivalent to the active verbs, ploughs and fugars. They imply no action, and contain nothing but the fimple affertion of the exiftence of two names Is there not fomething neceffary to give thefe names action as verbs? And the obviating of this want is, what I conceive Mr. Pytches means, by "putting the nouns in action." Indeed, in regard to neuter verbs, Mr. Pickbourn's doctrine is rather plaufible; for rain is, and rains, are not very different. But in respect to, at any rate, active tranfitive verbs, it real import of Mr. Pytches' affertion. I grant, that the principal objection to Mr. Pickbourn's hypothefis, as far as I know its nature, is furmounted by the ufe of the participle, or, as he appears to name it, the noun of action; as "John ploughing is," or "John ploughs;" but this feems to me to be cutting the knot, and not untying it; fince it is as arduous a tafk to invent ploughing, to denote the name of the action of the inftrument, plough, as to conftruct the verb itself. To conclude, it appears to me that the verb is enters into all verbs, do included; and that do enters into all verbs, is excepted, whether tranfitive or intranfitive, and that it is the verb which infufes into all of them their energy; which, otherwife, they would not poffefs.-Mr. Pickbourn's "Differtation," I have not feen, but I have always heard it spoken of, as a work of great merit and ingenuity. Crouch End, Highgate, December 16, 1806. Your's, &c. J. GRANT. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, has always feemed to me more likely, I be noticed, that during his illuefs, and that the nouns are put into action, by the verb do, which I imagine to be nearly Co-eval with be. Hence, taking the noun. plough, and prefixing to it, do, forming "I do plough," I denote the action of ploughing. In time, do might have been omitted, leaving "I plough;" and, from this circumftance, I apprehend, it arifes, that we have fo many actions expreffed by the fame word, as the noun, or name of the thing. Indeed, it is a common to his death, the abolition of the Slave Trade was moft particularly near to the heart of Mr. Fox. It was not Henry Kerbe but Henry Kirke White, who died at St. John's, Cambridge, on the 19th of October laft. He was born on the 21st of March, 1785. He is juftly characterized by one of the firft Poet's of this age, as a truly original Poetic genius. His application to feience and literature were almoft unexampled : and and his proficiency during his fhort career of life, was as mott fully answerable. A fever intercepted, as to this world, the faireft and higheft promifes, and took off this admirable youth in a very few days. His Poems have been printed in a fmall octavo. His Manufcripts are in his brother's hands, and whatever may be found in a ftate for publication, will, I feel convinced, be laid before the public in a manner worthy of the person who has charged limfelf with this office of affectionate refpect to his memory. To me MEMOIRS OF EMINENT PERSONS. THE LATE DUKE OF RICHMOND. "En la Rofe je FLEURIE.", A have taken place in Europe, we MIDST the recent changes which have equally to lament the fall of flourifling itates and of illustrious men. Of those who fought the battles of liberty, in either houfe of Parliament, during the American war, fcarcely one remains. The Earl of Chathain died at his poft, and was buried at the public expence, amidst the lamentations even of his enemies. The Earl of Camden with his dying breath gave his affent to that Bill which enables Juries to decide on both law and facts, in cafes of libel, notwithstanding the captious objections of most of those who, like himfelf, had been educated to the profeffion of the law. The Marquis of Lanfdowne, alfo, is no more. He, too, advocated the rights of America; and, even while a Minister, affented to the propofition of a reform of Parliament: thus affording a folitary exception to nearly all those who have tasted the fweets of power, and attained the objects of their ambition.-Burke, formidable on account of his talents, and the father, if not the fuperior, of all our modern orators, has alfo paid the great debt of nature; but his latter days were not aufpicious, and the glory of the fet ting fun, that burnt fo fiercely in the meridian, was intercepted by a thick cloud, He accordingly defcended to the grave, thorn of half his honours; and his motives, however plausible, appeared neceffarily equivocal, because they appeared to be interested.-Fox, too, has difappeared! Great only when out of place, He has achieved but little as a practical ftatefiman; and, with the exception of one ingle Act, hiftory will have nothing to record of him as a Minifter. It will be thus feen, that most of our The folemn refolution of the two Houfes of Parliament to put an end to the Slave Trade. MONTHLY MAG. No. 153. * great characters, with a very few exceptions, have unfortunately forgotten their pledges to the public; and, leaving the interetis of the many to their fate, have but too often taken care of thofe only appertaining to the individual. How far the subject of the prefent Memoir may be free from, or deferving of, this reproach, will be easily gathered from an attentive furvey of his parliamentary conduct. The late Charles Lenox poffeffed no lefs than three ducal coronets. He was Duke of Richmond, Earl of March, and Baron of Settrington, in England; Duke of Lenox, Earl of Darnley, Baron Torbolton and Methuen, in Scotland; and Duke of Aubigné in France, as confirm ed and registered by the Parliament of Paris in 1777. † Minifter, perhaps, of our day, who perform*The Marquis of Rockingham is the only ed, in place, all he had promifed while out. His defcent, which on one fide was royal, may be briefly traced as follows: The Du chefs of Orleans, filter of Charles II. having come to England in the year 1660, brought in her train a Mademoiselle Louise Renée de Pennecourt, of Keroualle, in France. Majesty, proverbially amorous, was immedi ately captivated with the charms of this lady, His whom he foon after created Duchefs of Portf mouth, Countess of Farnham, and Baronefs of Petersfield, all in the county of Hants, to enjoy the fame during her natural life, by guft 19, 1673. letters patent, dated at Westminster, on Au Charles Lenox, fo called after Charles II. and the only fon of the Duchefs of Portsmouth, was born on July 29, 1672; and in the third year of his age, was created by his royal fas ther, Baron of Settrington in the county of York, Earl of March, from the Marches in Wales, and Duke of Richmond in Yorkshire. His Majesty also bestowed the eftate and dakedom of Lenox, &c. on him; and, after the demife of his mother, he became entitled to the dukedom and territory of Aubigné in the province of Brittany, by fpecial grant from the French King. G fubjects in natural hiftory. He has amaffed much important information; and, among other claims to the gratitude of his country, not the leaft confifts in having imported a valuable affemblage of trees and vegetables, in a state to admit of propagation, and which, being culti vated in thofe parts of the peninfula that are moft congenial to their growth, will render this expedition as memorable in the annals of agriculture, as in thofe of medicine and humanity. It is hoped that the fubdirector and his coadjutors, appointed to carry thefe bleffings to Feru, will fhortly return by way of Buenos-Ayres, after having accomplished their journey through that vice-royalty, the vice-royalty of Lima, and the diftricts of Chili and Charcas; and that they will bring with them fuch collections and obfervations as they have been able to acquire, according to the inftructions given by the director, without lofing fight of the philanthropic commiflion which they received from his Majefty, in the plenitude of his zeal for the welfare of the human race. THA For the Monthly Magazine. RECENT IMPROVEMENTS of the METROPOLIS, in the VICINITY of BLOOMSBURY and the FOUNDLING-HOSPITAL. HAT a fituation fo convenient for mercantile and legal bufinefs, and for pleasure, as the neighbourhood of the Foundling Hofpital, fhould fo long have continued unbuilt upon, when the moft, remote and inaufpicious parts of the town have been moft clofely covered over, has been a fubject of great furprife. The means that were ufed by an interefted party, by whom the charity was fo long kept from thofe advantages its fituation commanded, to protract the commencement of a plan from which fuch an immenfe revenue will now be derived, being overcome by the exertions of its friends, the buildings were commenced in the year 1790 in Guilford-ftreet, to the eastward of Lamb's Conduit-street; and from that time have been unceafingly profecuted to the prefent year. Very foon after the commencement of thefe buildings, the proprietor of the Doughty eftate adjoining eastward, and the late Duke of Bedford to the weft, united in carrying into effect thofe plans which have now revealed themselves to the public; but it will long be a fubject of deep regret, that any part of the fhort-fighted policy which retarded the commencement of these plans fhould have again evinced itself, and an injunc tioni obtained from the court of Chancery to prevent the making, under any modifications whatever, a communication between Queen-fquare and Guilford ftreet; the inlets to which cannot now, without the aid of Parliament, be inate rially amended for many centuries; and the fquare must confequently be accellible only by the prefent miferable avenues from the fouth and weft. It is also unfortunate, that, from the faine fource of oppofition, the continuation of Queenfquare of an equal width, was not effected to the northern extremity of the Foundling eftate, which had been projected. It is much to be regretted, that the plan of Mr. Cockerell the architect was not adopted-by which the hospital was to form the centre of one large fquare, extending the whole fize of Bruntwick fquare, a correfponding space eastward, and to Guilford-ftreet fouthward; the ufelefs dwarf buildings round the hospital being removed to make way for a noble area, defigned to have been dreffed, planted, and furrounded by iron palifa does, which would then have formed by far the grandeft fquare in London, and a fuperb ornament to the metropolis. Perhaps alfo it may be confidered unfortunate, that the original intentions of the late Duke of Bedford were not carried into effect. By thefe it was proposed to rebuild the mansion-house on a magnificent fcale, removed further from Bloomsbury-fquare, and to radiate two lines of capital houfes northward from thence to the New Road, on each fide of a lawn of about thirty acres inclofed and planted, having funk cross-roads to cominunicate with Gower-ftreet. Under this impreflion, the new houfes on the eaft fide of Ruffell-fquare, and the detached houfes northward, were built. But the fubfequent determination of the duke to refide nearer the court produced the prefent arrangement; by which fo great an increase has already been made to his grace's rental, and which will to prodigiously enlarge the income of his fucceffors. In 1800 Beford-houfe was pulled down, and in 1803 all the new houfes between Ruffell-fquare and Bloomsbury-fquare, on the fite of the old houfe and gardens, were erected; fince 1801, all the new buildings, exclufive of thofe already mentioned, on what was formerly known as the Long-fields, have been erected. Ruffell-fquare is confiderably larger than any other in London, Lincoln's Inn-fields, excepted. Its dimenfions nearly (for it is not perfectly at right angles, in confequence of the alteration of the plan already mentioned,) are 678 feet on each fide. Bolton-houfe, occupied in 180S by the late Earl Roslyn, has recently been divided into two, and its courtyard covered by three excellent houfes, which completes the eaftern tide of the fquare. Much pains have been ufed, and expente incurred, in laying out and planting the area of this fquare; which, when the trees and plants all have arrived at a greater degree of maturity, will render it one of the moft agreeable in London. On the fouth fide, immediately oppofite Bedford-place, a pedeftrian ftatue in bronze of the late excellent Duke Francis. is to be fet up by Mr. Weftinacot, by public fubfcription, and will much add to the beauty of this place. To the northward, Taviftock-fquare is commenced, and by an early attention to the incloting and planting its area before the erection of the habitations, it bas become at once pleafant, healthy, and defirable. To the eastward of the Foundling-hofpital á fquare is begun, of the fame dimenfions as Brunfwick-fquare. Northward of the hofpital garden is the eftate of Mr. Harrison, where a respectable neighbourhood is rapidly forming; and nearly adjoining, is a large field belonging to the Skinners' Company, for which extenfive building-plans have been projected, but through fome extraordinary inadvertence, no agreement has been effected, to infure refpectable acceffes either by the fouth, eat, or western fides. The eftate formerly belonging to Mr. Mortimer, at the north end or Gowerftreet, after many years' litigation, has now become the property of Sir William Paxton, who propofes to put up extenfive and refpectable buildings on it, and to continue Gower-ftreet to the road. To the northward of Tavistock-fquare, an area of about twenty acres is propofed to be furrounded with buildings; the centre to be occupied and drefied as nurfery-grounds; the Paddington road running between them. Directly northward, from the centre of this large area, a wide grand road is to lead to the Hampstead road at Camden Town; the des to be planted with double rows of MONTHLY MAG, No. 153, trees, and the houses to be coupled or detached, allowing abundant space to each for refpectable inhabitants. It is worthy of remark, that a line drawn from the obelifk in St. George'sfields to the Hampstead road, will directly pafs to the eafiward of Somerfet-place in the Strand, by Bloomsbury, through Ruffell and Tavistock-fquares, and the above grand avenue; and, at a comparatively fall expenfe, form a noble strect of communication of more than three miles in extent; dividing the metropolis north and fouth, almoft centrally. The new bridge (fo injudicioully intended to be built across the Thames oppofite Beaufort-buildings), without the poiibility of any confiderable northern outlet, fhould undoubtedly be placed in this line; the eaftern wing of Somerfetplace completed, and a correfpondent range of buildings at the back of Surryfireet erected, with a fpacious ftreet between, at leaft eighty feet wide, forming the accefs from the Strand, and leading direct to the propofed grand fireet. The road from the bridge to the obelink would be through property that muft be moft materially increafed in value by the operation; and if the prices which building-ground has produced to the cor poration of London, at their improve ments by Snow-hill and Temple-bar, be a criterion, the making fo grand a ftreet as is here projected, would prove an undertaking of very confiderable profit to any individuals who, fanctioned by the legiflature, might undertake it; the greater proportion of the space between that part of Holborn and the Strand being at prefent chiefly occupied as fheds or tene ments of the moft miferable quality. The new ftreet would allow of houfes of the moft refpectable clafs, public or private, and confequently the ground must be proportionably valuable. It fhould alfo be at leaft eighty feet wide; ninety or one hundred would be better; and its arrangement of houfes, elevation, character, &c. ought all to be new and ftriking. The dwellings fhould afford fufficient fpace for trade, but not to overwhelm the tradefmen with rent; and private individuals, or profeffional men, fhould therein find accommodations. To return to the new buildings by Bloomsbury-The corporation of the city of London, on its eftate between Gower-treet and Tottenham Court-road, is caufing a freet, with a crefcent at each end, to be erected, and a long range of shops next the road: the whole |