Literary loves and jealousis were much the same in the ancient and middle

ages as the present; but we hear a great deal more of the loves than the reverse; because genius survives and ignorance does not. The ancient philosphers had a delicate way of honouring their fayourites, by inscribing treatises with their names. It is thought a strange thing in Xenophon that he never once mentions Plato. The greater part of the miscellaneous poetry of the Greeks, is lost; or we should doubtless see numerous evidences of the intercourse of their authors. The Greek poets of Sicily, Theocritus and Moschus, are very affectionate in recording the merits of their contemporaries. Varias and Gallus, two eminent Roman poets, scarcely survive but in the panegyrics of Horace, Virgil, and Ovid; all of whom were fond, of paying their tributes of admiration. Dante does the same to his contemporaries and predecessors. Petrarch and Boccacio publicly honoured, as they privately loved, each other. Tasso, the greatest poet of his time, was also the greatest panegyrist; and so, as might be expected, was Ariosto. lle has introduced a host of his friends by name, male and female, at the end of his great work, coming down to the shores of poetry to welcome him home after his voyage.

There is a pleasant imitation of it by Gay, applied to Pope's conclusion of Homer. Montaigne, who had the most exalted notions of friendship, which he thougnt should have every thing in common, took as much zeal in the literary reputation of his friends, as in every thing else that concerned them. The wits of the time of Henry the Fourth, of Louis the 14th,' and of Louis the 15th,-Malherbe, Racan, Corneille, Moliere, Racine, Chaulieu, La Fare, D'Alembert, Voltaire, &c. not excepting Boileau, where he knew a writer, all do honour in this respect to the sociality of their nation. It is the same, we believe, with the German writers; and if the Spanish winced a little under the domination of Lope de Vega, they were chivalrous in giving him perhaps more than his due. Camoens had the admiration of literary friends as poor as himself, if he had nothing else; but this was something.

TO CORRESPONDENTS. F. is informed, in answer to his welcome question, that a Tille-page and Index to the First Volume of the INDICATOR wiil appear in the next Number.

We regret that we have mislaid some verses which were sent us from Lincoln's Inn, and which, if they were writteu by a young man, were of considerable promise. The signature, we think, was S.

We will take into due consideration the remonstrance offered against our types by J. W., who contrives to make his rebukes as pleasant as other men's praises.

Printed and published by Joseph APPLEYARD, No. 19, Catherine-street, Strand.

Price 2d.-And sold also by A. Glippon, Importer of Snuffs, No. 31, Tavistockstreel, Covent-garden. Orders received at the above places, and by all Booksellers and Newsmen.

No. LII.-WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4th, 1820.

,

UPON INDEXES.

1

Index making has been held to be the driest: as well as lowest spe. cies of writing. We shall not dispute the humbleness of it; but since we have had to make an index ourselves, we have discovered that the task need not be so very dry. It is true, our index is made up.out of our own work; and as Indicator, we may reasonably be supposed to

; point out our own good things with no great unwillingness. But we do not so much allude to the one before us, as ito others. Had the thought struck us sooner, we might have turned the former inta something really entertaining. As it is, we have been obliged to cut it down to fit in to our number, till it is worth little or nothing any way. But calling to mind indexes lo general, we found them presenting us a variety of pleasant memories and contrasts. We thought of those to the Spectator, which we used to look at so often at school, for the sake of choosing a paper to abridge. We thought of the index to the Pantheon or Fabulous. Histories of the Heathen Gods, which we used to look at oftener. We remember how we imagined we should feel some day, if ever our name should appear in the list of Hs; as thus, Home, Howard, Hume, Huniades,

The poets would have been better, but then the names, though more fitting, were not so flattering; as for instance, Halifax, Hammond, Harte, Hughes, ~. We did not like to come after Hughes.

We have just been looking at the indexes to the Tatler and Spectator, and never were more forcibly struck with the feeling we formerly expressed about a man's being better pleased with other writers than himself. Our index seems the poorest and most second-hand thing in the world after theirs : but let any one read theirs, and then call an index a dry thing if he can.

As there is a soul of goodness in things

a eril,” so there is a soul of humour in things dry, and in things dry by profession. Lawyers know this, as well as index-makers, or they would die of sheer thirst and aridity. But as grapes, ready to burst with wine, issue out of the most stony places, like jolly fellows bringing burgundy out of a cellar; so an Index, like the Tatler's, often gives us a taste of the quintessence of his humour. For instance,

a

Bickerstaff, Mr. account of his ancestors, 141. How his race was improved, 142. Not in partnership with Lillie, 250. Catched write ing nonsense, 47.

Dead men, who are to be so accounted, 947.

Sometimes he has a stroke of pathos, as touching in its brevity as the account it refers to; as,

Love-letters between Mr. Bickerstaff and Maria, 184—186. Found in a grave, 289.

Sometimes he is simply moral and graceful; as,

Tenderness and humanity inspired by the Muses, 258. No true greatness of mind without it, ibid.

At another, he says perhaps more than he intended; as, ;

Laura, her perfections and excellent character, 19, Despised by her husband, ibid.

The Index to Cotton's Montaigne, probably written by the translator himself, is often pithy and amusing. Thus in Volume 2d,

Anger is pleased with, and flatters itself, 618.
Beasts inclined to avarice, 225.
Children abandoned to the care and government of their fathers, 613.
Drunkenness, to a high and dead degree, 16. A
Joy, profound, has more severity than gaiety in it. !
Monsters, are not so to God, 612.

li La Voluptuousness of the Cynicks, 418. ilutoot;o 13,

Sometimes we meet with graver quaintnesses and curious relations, as in the index to Sandys's Ovid ; , Diana, no virgin, scoft at by Lucian, p.:55: : vb.io Ylicou...? Dwarfes, ab Italian Dwarfe carried about in a parrot's cage, p.113.

Eccho, at Twilleries in Paris, heard to repeat a verse without: fail, ing in one syllable, p. 58., 3.

Ship of the Tyrrhenians miraculously stuck fast in the sea, p. 63. A Historie of a Bristol ship stuck fast in the deepe Sea biy. Witchcraft: for which twentie-five Witches were executed, ibid. ? : Bnt this subject, we find, will furnish ample materials for a sepa. rate article ; and therefore we stop here for the présent. We have still a notion upon us, that because we have been making an index, we are bound to be very business-like and unamusing.t it,

1

ERRATA. Page 387. For it is not knowledge that makes us happy, as we grow up,” read " it is not knowledge that makes us unhappy," &c. There are many smaller errors 'scattered 'volume! which are owing

Acquaintance, link of personal, traeed up from the present times to Shakspeare, 41.
Advice, why disliked, 391.
Alelouses and similar places of recreation, not to be condemned till certain statis-

tical matters are decided, 269.-1
Ancients, their attention to the mutual interests of mind and body, 176. See Re-

ligion.
Anglers, their meditative want of thought, 44—Fish-like face of their father Wal-

ton, 45 — Their tendency to passive obedience, 46-A case put to them. Ib.

Quere, whether they would catch shrieking fish, 2700 ?
Ariosto, bis description of a beantiful bosom, translated, 12–His prison, à sonhet,

translated, 376.
Basso, Andrea de, his Ode to a Dead Body, translated, 377-Remarks upon it, 381.
Being, error of jndging of one mode of it by another, 385.
Bourne, Vincent, his epitaph on a dog translated, 240.
Boyle, Hon. Robert, 'singular gratuitousness of his moral arguments, 312.
Chartier Alain,'his picture of a lover, translated probably by Chaucer, 247.
Cliaucer, beauty of his versification, 229—Passages of his Palamon and'Arcite, com-

pared with Dryden's version, 290.-
Children, their romance, 72—Deaths of, 201 - A lost child the only eternal image of

youth and innocence, 203—Ilow men should be as oliildren, 204—Further Re-
marks on, 386.
Christ's Hospital, its retired and scholastic character in the heart of the city, 21

See Lamb.
Clouds and vapours, their aspect next the sun, 58-—-Use of, by the poets, 59.).
Coaches, their variety and merits, 361.
Coachmen, private, stage, and hackney, described, 861, 366, 373-Hackney, why

inferior in spirit to the others--ib.
Compliment, how to be given and received, 167. ¥ !!!
Conscience, cure for a wounded one according to Platn, 34.
Cotton, bis observations on the justice and passive obedience of anglers, 46.*?"?
Country, Little Known, Description of one, 263.
Crusades, their good effecí on more refined tempers, 71) pizli
Custom, ils self-reconcilements and contradictions, 390.
Davle, his description of ani angel coming over the sea translated, 61.";'
Day, a rainy one described, 289A' rainy ove liow to be turned to account, 260

See Now.
Deaiħ, pictures of it 'how overwrovght, and to what little purpose they are so; 381.

A kindly imposition upon tlie public, 386-Other guesses respecting it; 388.
Despot, a sleepivg one held up, 107.
Dolphins, probably the same as the porpus, 132-Great favourites with the poees,

136-See Stories.
Endeavour, sure to be right--388.
English, do not make enough of their sunshine, 9L Nor of their winter' ont of

doors. Great instructors and little enjoyérs, 58-Nothing'greater than their
great men, or grosser thản arrogani dives, 96—Gentlemen' in Charles the

Second's time, jealous of the coinmonest Frenchman in love matters, 104.7
Excitement, a sufficient quantity of it, how cheaply to be obtained, 232,
Fairfax, the translator, account of, 195---See Tasso.
Gentleman, the, Old, described, 129.
"Godiva, Countess of Coventry, how she'rode vaked through the streets to free mér
6."? husband's 'subjects from a lax, 18.
Good and Evil, Nature liuw justified in their proportion, 388-Goodness in things
Hands, two errors in the custom of shaking them, 314.
Happiness, how we forego it on earth, and might do as much in heaven, 391.
Hats, unpleasantpess of new ones, 169.--History of their varieties, 170.
Health, the power of voluntary thought proportioned to the state of it, 383.
Ideas, agreeable, how against disagreeable ones, 58.
Imagination, humble in proportion to its empire, 68—Fond of things remote, 69-

Realities of, 185—Its renovation of the commonest things, 192.
Innovation, how to know whether its spirit is bad or good, 311.
Intolerance, candid treatment of, the last and best proof of the growth of tolera-

tion, 32.
Jealousy, its resnlts in a noble mind, 163.
Jesus, summary of his doctrines, 115.
Jews, amonnt of the question between them and Christians in general, 372.
Keats, Mr. his early and true poetical genius, 352.
Lady's Maid described, 177.
Lamb, Mr. his mention of a curious instance of the romantie among his school-fel-

lows at Christ's Hospital, 72.
Leg, Lady's, what sort of one beautifal, 291-Uuder what circumstances its stocking

may be advantageously mudded, ib.--Ditto with respect to certain huge legs of

the other sex, ib.
London, pleasant recollections associated with various parts of, 19, 235— Ils aspect

to be enjoyed even in foggy weather,.58.
Love, its essence consists in ihe return of pleasure, 218.
Marvell his untimidated friendship for Milton, 406.
May-day, how passed by our ancestors, 225–Why no longer what it was, 231,
Melancholy, bad spirits, or nervous disorders, greatly owing to body, 33—Reme-
-1, dies of, ib. 56-Different in their extremest cases from madness, propealy so

called, 53–Nature of, mental and physical, ib.
Money:getter described, 7.
- Montaigne, his study, 11.
Mother, the grave of one, 202.
Names, utility of pleasant ones, 137-Signification of our Christian names, 138.
Nature, her general benevolence opposed to our brief and particular sufferings, 68.
Now, a, descriptive of a hot day, 300.
Ovid, the story of Cyllarus and Hylonome translated, 206-Description of the

haunt of Cephalus, ditio, 215.
Parents, severity of, difference between brutal and mistaken, 64.
Pastime, the folly of thinking any innocent one foolishi, 34.
Penates, the personification of a particular providence, 38.,
Perception, variety of the colours of, 385-How they are caused, 386.
Petrarch, brief sketch of the character of his life, 317–His sight of his mistress sit-

ling under a laurel, translated, 316-Ode to the Fountain of Vaucluse, Irap-

slated, 318.
Poetry, Original, 88, 120, 153, 161, 246, 304, 307, 402,
Principle, the very notion of it makes some persons impatient, 66.
Punislıment, Eternal, Mr. Coleridge's remark on the self-delusion of shore wlio
I think they believe in it; 68 --Absurdity of it as an argument for being pious, 384

-Heaven and earth should petition to pass away rather than a single being should
undergo it, 389.
Quotations from Bacon, 34-Beaumont and Fletcher, 21, 108, 11, 303-Browne,

226, 227-Butler, 50, 104-Catullus, 40, 79-Chaucer, 108, 71, 192, 219, 228,

230, 250-Codrington, 407-Coleridge, 68, 75-Collins, 200---Colton, 46-Cra-
17., shaw, 252-Dante, 66, 136~Davenani, 191-Draylon, 19-Dryden, 43, 230-

Fletcher, 276--Ford, 255-Gay, 24-Ben Jonsan, 44, 191, 404–Keals, 337, &c.
344-Miss L. V. L., 368-Marvell, 51-Milton, 11, 39, 59, 71, 134, 188, 219,
276-Ossian, 72-Prior, 363, &c. Raleigh, 405-Rousseau, 267—Shakspeare,
2, 4, 136, 172, 190, 218, 370, &c.-Shelley, 333, &c. 336-Spenser, 107, 60, 135.
222, 226, &c.—Walton, 44-Warner, 36-Wither, 221-Wordsworih, 72, 116,

221.
Religion of Greece and Rome less superficial and thoughtless than is commonly

supposed, 115-Modern, the refuge it takes in words, and its compromise with

Mammon, 116.
Review, Retrospective, its merits, 249.
Rising, Early, on cold mornings, what it lias to say for itself, 117.

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