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CONTENTS.

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Subject of Letter II. continued-The novelist is, like the
poet, a man of good society-His stories never betray for-
getfulness of honourable principles, or ignorance of good
manners-Spirited pictures of gentlemanly character-
Colonel Mannering-Judicious treatment of elevated hi-
storical personages.

The novelist quotes and praises most contemporary poets,
except the author of Marmion-Instances in which the

The Poetry of the author of Marmion generally characterized
-His habits of composition and turn of mind, as a poet,
compared with those of the novelist-Their descriptions
simply conceived and composed, without abstruse and far-
fetched circumstances or refined comments-Great advan-
tage derived by both writers from accidental combinations

Stories of the two writers compared-These are generally
connected with true history, and have their scene laid in
a real place-Local peculiarities diligently attended to-
Instances in which the novelist and poet have celebrated
the same places-They frequently describe these as seen
by a traveller, (the hero, or some other principal personage)
for the first time--Dramatic mode of relating story-Soli-
loquies-Some scenes degenerate into melodrame-Lyrical
pieces introduced sometimes too theatrically.

Comparative unimportance of heroes-Various causes of this

fault-Heroes rejected by ladies, and marrying others

whom they had before slighted-Personal struggle between

a civilized and a barbarous hero-Characters resembling

each other-Female portraits in general-Fathers and

daughters-Characters in Paul's Letters-Wycliffe and

Risingham, Glossin and Hatteraick- Other characters

compared.

Long periods of time abruptly passed over-Surprises, unex-
pected discoveries, &c.-These sometimes too forced and

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