letter; which is so delicately worded, as to leave it doubtful whether it is addressed by Werter to his friend or his tailor. I should rather incline to sup pose the latter; but the public will judge for itself; and as the billet is not long, I transcribe it:

September 6.

I have left off, with the greatest

"reluctance, the blue frock, which I wore

the first time I danced with Charlotte,

though it was perfectly shabby; but I

have procured one exactly like it, and

with a buff waistcoat and breeches. I do

not, however, like it so much as the

original, yet I hope it will in time be"come equally dear to me.

Of our hero's philosophy and selfcommand, the conclusion of the fourth letter affords a luminous instance: My heart,' he says, is like a sick child;

and, like a sick child, I let it have its

way: but this between ourselves; for I

know the world would blame me for

suffering my passions to get such an ascendancy over my reason.'

For his gallantry and condescension, see letter five.

'The last time I was at the fountain,

I found a young woman upon the

steps, with her pail beside her, waiting 'till somebody came, who might help

to place it upon her head: "Shall I

assist you, my dear?" I said.

“Oh,

no, sir," she answered, colouring. "Come, come, make no ceremony," 'said I; and helped her to lift the pail : 'she thanked me, and went up the steps, 'smiling.'

In this scene, which is highly dramatic, its admirers assert that the unities are finely preserved, the incidents well imagined, the dialogue terse, and beau

M. Goëthe has conferred a multiplicity of accomplishments on Werter, at a very small expense: we are assured that he not only draws, but understands Greek; and his literary taste is put out of doubt by various allusions, in terms of rapture, to those incomprehensible and tiresome forgeries, usually called the Poems of Ossian.

Every page contains instances of Werter's powers of reasoning, and his dexterous use of logical deductions: but nothing in this way can exceed one in the sixty-first letter, dated the 30th of October; a day, it may be presumed,

auspicious to moral argument. A hun'dred times have I been on the point of

clasping her in my arms' (his friend's

wife). What torment to see such loveli

ness, such charms, passing and repassing. 'continually before one, without daring

to touch them! To touch is so nasona

'tural: do not children endeavour to

touch every thing they see; and Whence it appears that this

frantic gentleman knew extremely well what he was about; and that, moreover, had Mrs. Charlotte been ugly, he would not have been so anxious to touch her.