not, however,
to disparage the other parts; for it is worthy to be the jewel of
anybody's volume. A single reading of the "Essay," as it ought to be
read, will suffice to make any one glad to own the book, and will almost
certainly induce him to mark it down for a second reading, as the second
also will for a third. The work, indeed, is a positive, and we think it
will prove a permanent addition to our already opulent inheritance of
Shakespearian criticism. It is weighty throughout with fresh, yet sober
and well-considered thought, expressed in tight and sinewy
English,--every part being highly elaborate, but nothing over-labored.
The author discusses a large number of topics, all in "a manly style,
fitted to manly ears," but is particularly full and instructive in
regard to the poet's language and style: a rich field, indeed, which has
not been proportionably cultivated by the poet's later critics, who have
put their force mainly on what may be called his dramatic architecture,
and on his development of character, where there is more room to be
philosophical, but less chance of determinate results. Over this field
Mr. White walks with the firm, yet graceful step of a master: his
current of thought running deep, strong, and clear, and carrying us
through page after page full of nice and subtile discrimination, without
over-refinement, and of illustrations apt and luminous, yet without a
touch of false brilliancy or mere smartness; which is saying a good
deal, in these days of high-pressure rhetoric.

We commend the "Essay" to all lovers of solid and well-proportioned
critical discourse.

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