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 plagium which modern times have witnessed. The work of Middleton at once attained to great reputation, and chiefly through that skilful arrangement of the writings of the orator himself, which Bellenden had provided to his hands. The theft was first denounced by Warton, and subsequently made clear by Dr Parr, in his preface to the "De Statu." As the latter gentleman was prepossessed in favour of both the literary and political character of Middleton, the terms in which he speaks of the theft are entitled to the more weight. He commences his exposure in the following strain of tender apology, which we quote in the original, on account of its extraordinary beauty; for we know not that even the writings of Tully exhibit periods more harmonious, or that the human ear has hitherto been gratified with a more enchanting sweetness of language:

"Litteræ fuerunt Middletono, non vulgares hæ et quotidianae, sed uberrimæ et maxime exquisitæ. Fuit judicium subtile limatumque. Teretes et religiosæ fuerunt aures. Stylus est ejus ita purus ac suavis, ita salebris sine ullis profluens qaiddam et canorum habet, numeros ut videatur complecti, quales in alio quopiam, præter Addisonum, frustra quæsiveris. Animum fuisse ejusdem parum candiduui ac sincerum, id vero, fateor invitus, dolens, coactus."

"Middleton was a man of no common attainments; his learning was elegant and profound, his judgment acute and polished; he had a fine and correct taste; and his style was so pure and so harmonious, so vigorously flowing without being inflated, that, Addison alone excepted, he seems to be without a rival. As to his mind, I am compelled with grief and reluctance to confess, it was neither ingenuous nor faithful.

"Of the faith of any man, in matters of religion, I presume not to speak with asperity or anger: yet I am vehemently displeased that a man possessed of an elegant and enlightened mind, should deprive Bellenden of the fame he merited. For I assert, in the most unqualified terms, that Middleton is not only indebted to Bellenden for many useful and splendid materials, but that, wherever it answered his purpose, he has made a mere transcript of his work. He resided at Cambridge, where he possessed all the advantages which that university and all its valuable libraries afford, to make collections for his undertaking-. Yet did the man who proposed a system for the regulation of a university library, possess the writings of Bellenden, anticipating all that he professed to accomplish. I cannot deny but that he makes some allusion to this particular work of Bellendenus in his preface, although in a very dark and mysterious manner; particularly where he speaks of the history of those times, which, whoever wishes to understand minutely, has only to peruse Cicero's Epistles with at^ tention; of the tediousness of being obliged to peruse Cicero's works two or three times over; of the care and trouble of consorting for future use various passages scattered through the different volumes; and, above all, of the very words of Cicero, which give a lustre and authority to a sentiment, when woven originally into the text.

"To conclude the whole—whatever Middleton ostentatiously declares it to be his wish and his duty to do, had been already done to his hands, faithfully and skilfully by Bellendenus, from the beginning to the end of the work!

It is impossible to dismiss the life and singular writings of William Bellenden, without a passing expression of regret, that so much ingenuity, so much learning, so much labour, may be expended, without producing even the remuneration of a name—for Bellenden, to use a phrase of Buchanan, is a light rather than a name. His last work extended to 824 pages in folio, and he contemplated other two of similar size, and equal labour. Yet all this was so futile, that the very