may be as
mathematically beautiful and perfect as a larger one. To such compositions
we may apply the observation of an ancient critic, that though a little
thing gives perfection, yet perfection is not a little thing.

The poet must be alike polished by an intercourse with the world as with
the studies of taste; one to whom labour is negligence, refinement a
science, and art a nature.

Genius will not always be sufficient to impart that grace of amenity. Many
of the French nobility, who cultivated poetry, have therefore oftener
excelled in these poetical amusements than more professed poets. France
once delighted in the amiable and ennobled names of Nivernois, Boufflers,
and St. Aignan; they have not been considered as unworthy rivals of
Chaulieu and Bernard, of Voltaire and Gresset.

All the minor odes of Horace, and the entire Anacreon, are compositions of
this kind; effusions of the heart, and pictures of the imagination, which
were produced in the convivial, the amatory, and the pensive hour. Our
nation has not always been successful in these performances; they have not
been kindred to its genius. With Charles II. something of a gayer and more
airy taste was communicated to our poetry, but it was desultory and
incorrect. Waller, both by his habits and his genius, was well adapted to
excel in this lighter poetry; and he has often attained the perfection
which the state of the language then permitted. Prior has a variety of
sallies; but his humour is sometimes gross, and his versification is
sometimes embarrassed. He knew the value of these charming pieces, and
he had drunk of this Burgundy in the vineyard itself. He has some
translations, and some plagiarisms; but some of his verses to Chloe are
eminently airy and pleasing. A diligent selection from our fugitive poetry
might perhaps present us with many of these minor poems; but the "_Vers de
Societe_" form a species of poetical composition which may still be
employed with great success.

* * * * *

THE GENIUS OF MOLIERE.

The genius of comedy not only changes with the age, but appears different
among different people. Manners and customs not only vary among European
nations, but are alike mutable from one age to another, even in the same
people. These vicissitudes are often fatal to comic writers; our old
school of comedy has been swept off the stage: and our present uniformity
of manners has deprived our modern writers of th