brothers in political intrigue. The extreme youth of Earl Douglas, Sir David his brother, and James their sovereign, does not admit of the developement of their several characters.
Many of these defects are corrected in "Earl Douglas, a Tragedy." The style possesses more dignity and energy, the characters are more strongly marked, the subordinate incidents more skilfully arranged, and the conduct of the whole drama rendered more interesting. The after-scene is judiciously retrenched; but the moral reflections interspersed are still sufficiently numerous. The description of passion is frequently substituted for the expression of genuine feeling. This fault was to be expected in a young writer, practised in descriptive poetry; in which species of composition, the habits of mind which fit a person for excellence, are extremely different from those which enable him to exhibit dramatic characters successfully. Earl Douglas, the principal character, displays a lofty spirit of patriotism, blended with ambition and the pride of ancestry; but the part he acts is not sufficiently conspicuous to rouse powerful sympathy; and when he falls, it is rather the sense of injustice, than particular interest in the hero, which excites our indignation against the authors of his fate. Some interesting situations, however, occur, as when the rescue
