In point of fact, Sir Walter had no very exalted opinion of the genus Critic; and I could give one or two anecdotes, which I heard from his own lips, strongly reminding one of the old fable of the painter who pleased nobody and everybody.
In conclusion, I beg leave to observe, that in these "Notes" I do not presume to underrate, in any degree, Mr. Jeffrey's acknowledged powers of criticism. He and Scott have alike passed away from the stage of which they were long the ornaments in their respective spheres; but I must consider that in the passages here cited, as well as in many others, he has proved himself either incompetent or unwilling to appreciate the originality, the power, and, above all, the invention of Sir Walter Scott's genius.
A Borderer.
POEMS DISCOVERED AMONG THE PAPERS OF SIR KENELM DIGBY.
Since I last wrote to you on the subject of these poems, I have discovered the remaining portions of Ben Jonson's poem on the Lady Venetia: I have therefore no doubt now that my MS. is a genuine autograph; and if so, not only this, but the "Houreglasse," which was inserted in your 63rd No., is Ben Jonson's. This last has, I think, never been published; nor have I ever seen in print the followings lines, which are written in the same hand and on the same paper as the "Houreglasse." They were probably written after Lady Venetia's death.
"You wormes (my rivals), whiles she was alive,
How many thousands were there that did strive
To have your freedome? for theyr sakes forbeare,
Unseemely holes in her soft skin to wear,