So lovely from her helm th' unsullied ray,
And from her shield, and all her armour streams;
But far more fatal, and more bright than they,
Her face in beauty her brave pomp beseems;
Her face, that full of glory and desire,
Mix'd virgin sweetness with heroic fire.

"VII.

"In that unbounded garden of delight
A thousand souls had lost their liberty,
And wander'd in its charms, both day and night,
Delighted with their fond captivity;

O love, when thou art crowned to the height,
What art thou but divine felicity?

Her lovers, though to none she favour gave,
Yet each preferr'd to serve her as her slave.

"VIII.

"But she, indeed, not like unto her kind,
All thoughts of pity and of love disdain'd;
Which yet a blemish in her soul I find,
Since there the softest passions never reign'd;
To strife, to war, to battle she inclin'd,

And the sharp sword, and weighty spear maintain’d;

To perils, and to camps would turn her feet,

And shrilling clarions made her music sweet." P. 14.

We cannot refuse ourselves the satisfaction of placing one more specimen before our readers.

"CV.

"She heard a damsel singing on the plain,
As joyous as the lark at break of day,

Or that sweet bird, that in the night doth reign,
That all the air was filled with her lay;

A herdsman's daughter, and did there restrain
Her wanton steeds to wander in their play,
And, browzing, o'er the silver hills to roam;
And this her song, the while she drove them home.

"CVI.

"O happy state, the happiest of all!
The blameless herdsman in the flow'ry plain;
He cares not for great kingdoms' rise or fall,
Or battles, that the mighty Consuls gain;
His homely thoughts no foreign guiles can call;
He in his cottage, and his herd doth reign;
If Phœbus through the welkin look but clear,
His peaceful mind is joyous through the year.

"CVII.

"Before the sun to drive them to the lea,
Or up the mountain, tracking in the dew;
To see that they in good contentment be,
And eat their balmy breakfast as is due,
At noon from out the hills to set them free,
And to the valleys their soft steps pursue,
Wherein amid the streams, and silver shade,
They wanton till the light of day doth fade,

"CVIII.

"Sufficeth him: then, browzing on the way,
By Hesper bright he driveth to the fold;
Before his door his little children play,
His tender wife him in her arms doth hold:
O happy state! far different, they say,
From theirs, whom guilty purple doth enfold;
O happy state! (and sweetly she did sing,)
The herdsman of himself is truly king!"

P. 64.

It is unnecessary to add, that the Fairy Queen is constantly present to the poet's imagination, and that knights, damsels, giants, and aerial beings are the themes of song. The reader will everywhere be impressed with the rich powers of fancy, the ingenuity of contrivance, and beauty of language, which mark this production, and will unquestionably unite with us in the eager wish to see more from such a pen. The noble author, we have been informed, some time since claimed the attention of the public by the republication of the Defence of Poetry, by Sir Philip Sidney, with a small collection of original poems. These it was not our good fortune to see, and having inquired for them, we learn, with regret, that the author has recalled the impression. It should have been added, that the volume immediately before us concludes with a Sonnet to a very illustrious Nobleman, and a Copy of Verses, in all humility dedicated to the Prince Regent. These last are peculiarly elegant, but enough has been said to induce all lovers of poetry to procure the whole.

On Edinburgh Medical Education.

[From the Scotish Review.]

Ir medicine is an instrument, as few will doubt, of immense power, it becomes a question of no small importance, in whose hands this weapon is placed; whether it is wielded for the advantage or disadvantage of the human race.

It is needless to cant to our readers concerning the value of health compared with other blessings. We need hardly even point out to them, that if medicine be not employed beneficially, it must be injuriously, perhaps destructively. It is not one of those things which, if it does no good, will do no harm. When a sick person commits himself to the care of a physician, he gets into a situation where ignorance, rashness, or neglect, may soon terminate all his earthly prospects; where science, sound judgment, and attention, may long ward off the stroke of fate, and restore his relish for every enjoyment. Such considerations may show how valuable an acquisition a good physician is, how great a curse a bad one, and how useful it were to be able to appreciate the merits of medical pretenders.

By the universities of St. Andrews and Aberdeen, we believe, degrees are conferred in two ways-either the candidate is examined on his proficiency by the different professors, or a certificate is sent, signed by two physicians, of his moral* character and medical qualifications, and his having attended a certain course of study, along with 24l. 8s. 11d. 1-2, and the degree is returned in due course. To the former, if conducted by men at once qualified and determined to inquire into the attainments of the candidate, we can have no objection, but it is seldom if ever had recourse to; and in the latter truly commercial way, the power" medicinam faciendi, legendi, et docendi, hic et ubique terrarum," is conferred with equal discredit to the givers and receivers. Hence it is that quacks and impostors of every description have it in their power to prostitute the highest honours in medicine; and we have the title M. D. attached to the vendors of vegetable syrups, balms of gilead, lotions, tinctures, powders, pills, and innumerable nostrums, by which the public are at once cheated of their money, and, what is infinitely worse, undermined in their constitutions. These universities ought, as speedily as possible, to be deprived of the power of

We think the moral and religious character of the candidate ought to be certi fied by the minister of the parish, and the churchwarden or elder.

sanctioning impositions so abominable; and government ought to forego any advantage, however great, that may accrue from imposing duties, and thus literally giving the "stamp of royal authority" to, and participating in, a traffic neither better in principle nor practice than that lately abolished on the coast of Africa.

The English universities confer the degree of bachelor of medicine on those who, having previously acquired the degree of master of arts, have studied physic for two years. Here there is something preposterous. There are seven years of study required to obtain the degrees successively of bachelor of arts and master of arts, which can only be considered as preparatory, and only two are devoted to the acquirement of that for which so much preliminary study is judged necessary.

We coincide with the view of these universities, that it is proper the physician should have a good previous education. Invaluable works in medicine are among the precious relics of Greece and Rome; and he who cannot consult the originals, must often be deceived in their interpretation. The study of mathematics and natural philosophy is important in two points of view; first, because many of the phenomena of organic life are dependent upon mechanical as well as vital principles; secondly, because, in common with the study of languages, they accustom the mind to habits of observation and reflection, which will adapt it to the important investigations on which it is about to enter. The man who has been accustomed to search for truth in the complicated relations of lines and figures, will be equally delighted with the perception of it in the admirable laws which regulate the health of living beings; and he who has been accustomed to trace the apparently far different expressions of ideas which owe their origin to one root, both in the same and different languages, can with facility employ this discriminating faculty in tracing the connexion between the varied and apparently opposite symptoms which may indicate the same or a similar state of disease.

The study of the intellectual faculties and of morals appears as necessary to the physician as anatomy or physiology; for, independently of the propriety of a medical practitioner having a polite education, of which such studies must always be considered an elementary part, how is he, if ignorant of them, to treat diseases of mind? Yet physicians are on no ceremony in treating such diseases, without having once contemplated the structure, if we may use such a phrase, of the system which they attempt to restore.

As we have already stated, a course of two years appears

to us to be perfectly inadequate to the acquirement of such a knowledge of medicine as should entitle a man either to possess a degree, or to give him a chance of practising with advantage to those who may be committed to his care, or with satisfaction to himself. A man of powerful mind, who has attended to his preparatory studies, might do honour to the medical profession with even so short a period; but it is better to fix such a time as is suitable to common, than to be regulated by what is adapted to superior intellects alone. In short, we have here as a general rule what is applicable merely as an exception.

A certain apathy, however, attends these universities and every thing connected with them, which deprives us of all hope and faith in any of their children. Indeed, the shorter time that a student of medicine, or of any thing else, spends in these abodes of luxury and indolence, we believe it is the better.

In the university of Edinburgh, every arrangement seems admirably contrived for giving due respectability to the medical degree, with three exceptions; 1st. There are only three years study enjoined, two of which may be at another university; 2dly. There is no age fixed under which degrees are not conferred, or, if it be fixed, such a salutary law is overlooked; 3dly. There is not a sufficient degree of solicitude displayed concerning the preliminary education of candidates.

The course of the studies themselves is excellent, with the exception of moral philosophy and midwifery, both of which are omitted, for what reason we know not. Of the time we have already said enough when speaking of the English universities; and when the various and numerous studies necessary to complete a medical education are taken into account, we must be convinced that the period here is also insufficient. To the neglect of the candidate having arrived at a proper age, and to some other causes about to be mentioned, we owe the circumstance of so many striplings, just escaped from the nursery, attaining the degree of doctor in medicine, and stalking about with all the foolish and pert solemnity of grave fathers and full grown doctors. This is the severest stab of all; for it is rapidly hurrying a title, which we should wish to see respectable, into contempt and ridicule. The stage has produced few young Rosciuses; but the university of Edinburgh can boast of many examples of a Hippocrates who never had a razor on his face; some of whom assume a peculiarity of dress and manners only excusable in magistrates or borough deacons, or in those arrived at second childhood, that period when a physician is esteemed infallible. We do not mean to insinuate that all under age are, to a man, or, to