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to furnish his mind with facts, and gratify his with a pleafing romantic fcenery, he undertook, and actually accomplished, a tour, principally, if not wholly, on foot, through the most interesting parts of England, Scotland, and Wales. No man in this country is more converfant with what may be termed the cradle and the grave of genius-the free-fchools and the prifons of the island, most of which he has visited in perfon. The prefent ftate of his mind, in respect to religion, we are wholly unacquainted with; of all the ancient fects, however, he feems most to refemble the Peripatetics, who placed the fummum bonum, "not in the pleasures of paffive fenfation, but in the due exercife of the moral and intellectual faculties." Like them too, he has been accustomed to imbibe or retail inftruction while he walked; and as this country has not, like Athens of old, a Peripaton, he frequently indulges in the ftreet or the public road.

There is another peculiarity obfervable in this gentleman: this confifis in the rejection of all titles fion his works; for which, he fays, he has hiftory, philo fophy, and even Chriftianity on his fide. He alfo obferves very fhrewdly in one of his publications, "that thofe artificial diftinctions which originated in tyranny, and are perpetuated by cufiom, lie at the "bottom of many ferious evils that exift in fociety."

MR. D'ISRAELI.

THIS gentleman is the only fon of a refpectable Italian merchant, who has long refided in this country, and who is well known upon 'Change.

The early part of his youth was paffed at the country refidence of his father at Enfield, where he was fent to a neighbouring fchool. Here he learned nothing but a little imperfect Latin; enough, however, to perceive that there were beauties in Virgil and Horace, which his pedagogue could not affift him in difcerning and appreciating. After a refidence of feveral years, the affectionate care of his parents fupplied him with a variety of mafters; but as he revolted against the difcipline of elementary knowledge, it was refolved that he should be sent to a private seminary in the city of Amfterdam. A year had scarcely paffed under his new tutor, when he became the mafter of his mafter. If he had made no progress in claffical literature, he had now, however, acquired a confiderable knowledge of all the modern languages; he declaimed paffages from the plays of the Spanish Calderon, the Lufiad of the Portuguese Camoens; the Jerufalem of Taffo, and particularly from the Henriade of Voltaire. He formed a paffionate attachment to the higher clafs of French writers; he felt with all the energy of tafte, the rich imagination and feductive periods of Rouffeau, the pointed and brilliant diction of Voltaire, and the concifcnefs and delicacy of Montefquicu.

On returning to his native country, he again retired

to

to the country-houfe of his father. He now indulged more extenfively in an uninterrupted perusal of authors of tafte. He faw, with pleasure, that he was neither adapted by nature nor designed by his friends for a commercial life. Having made a tour through France and Italy, he returned with a valuable collection of books, particularly in the French language. He by this time had a confirmed tafte for the literature of that refined and volatile people; and, as he has obferved, among them he not only found works of taste, not elsewhere to be met with, but a vast refource for the Materia Literaria which exifts in no other nation.

The earliest performance avowedly by Mr. D'Ifraeli is," A Poetical Epiftle on the Abufe of Satire," which was written, we understand, to gratify a certain man of letters, who was his neighbour, and who fmarted under the fcourge of Peter Pindar. As a first production, it exhibits his poetical talents to confiderable advantage. This effufion afterwards procured him the friendship of Dr. Walcott, who has not only encouraged his poetical efforts, by unequivocal marks of his approbation, but conferred on him ftill more useful fervices, by many proofs of his friendship.

In 1790, Mr. D'Ifracli made a more formal ap. pearance in public, by addreffing a poem, entitled "A Defence of Poetry," to the prefent laureat. The whole edition, excepting a few copics fold, was burnt by the author; undefervedly, it feems, for the Monthly

Review of March, 1791, gives it the following character:

"Mr. D'Ifraeli is among the few modern poets who have at"tained their (the mufes) favour; they appear, from the testi66 mony before us, to have distinguished him from the crowd, "and to have allowed him a plenteous draught from their foun"tain of infpiration. He is not without a knowledge of the re"quifites of genuine poetry: his verfification is elegant, flowing, "and harmonious; nor can we read this fpecimen of his abili"ties, without perceiving that he has devoted his days and his "nights to our immortal Pope."

In 1791, from thefe elevations of poetry, our author defcended into the humble, but, with him, the agreeable and entertaining path of compilation. The first volume of his "Curiofities of Literature" was published anonymously; but the fascination of public favour induced him to prefix his name to the second. Thefe compilations foon became popular, and have been a fource of numerous imitations. The volumes form a rich repofitory of literary anecdote, and contain many original and well-written criticifins. The rapid fale of three large editions is the beft proof of the public opinion.

As an original writer, he foon afterwards produced his Differtation on Anecdotes," of which work the Critical Review, for January, 1794, obferves, that

"This is an eccentric, an ingenious, and philofophical per"formance. The author, in a very masterly way, vindicates the "detailer of anecdotes from the charge of being a literary trifler, "and his remarks are extremely fenfible and entertaining; they "are given in a lively ftrain of reafoning, and form a very judi"cious and curious fpeculation."

This was followed by his " Effay-on the Literary Character." The merits of this ingenious and original performance are too generally known to require any eulogium in this place, and it certainly ranks first among his works.

In 1796, he produced a volume of Miscellanies; it is not fo original as his two former productions, but the diction, as ufual, is highly polifhed, and the anec→ dotes are uncommon and curious.

His next performance was a philofophical novel, in two volumes, under the title of "Vaurien." The chief object of this work was to satirize certain literary eccentricities and monftrofities which have lately been obtruded upon the public. Some of the game was doubtless fair; a few characters were, however, too much overftrained and caricatured to imprefs every reader with the juftice of the attack.

He has lately publifhed a work, which promifes confiderably to exalt his reputation as a fine writer. It confifts of feveral romances, embellifhed with original poetry.

Mr. D'Ifraeli is unmarried, and at this time about thirty-three years of age. His habits and connexions are as ftrictly literary as thofe of any refident of the metropolis. Few perfons read and write more; fcarcely any compofe with equal rapidity; and, if clofe application do not injure his health, the execution of fome of his literary defigns promife confiderable future gratification to the public.

THE