23 APRIL 1831, Page 20

Mr. VALPY has commenced his " Epitome of English Litera-

ture," which is to consist of a series of abridgments o fall the classical works in the language. The idea is an excellent one ; and if the execution correspond with the design—and here is the great danger—the work, when completed, will be nearly invaluable. In the present immense increase of literature in all its branches, and in the vast supply of books, which, by their novelty and value, daily: solicit the interest of the student, there is great danger that the stand- ard works of tried value, which, in fact, settle the principles .upon which men write, and act, and speak, on most subjects, will be neglected—time absolutely fails under the task of mastering them in their integrity. It is with a view of relieving the student from this difficulty, that such works as " courses" of literature, like that of LA. HARPS and other authors, have been com- posed ; but the succedaneurn is a poor one—the description of an author must always be the source of but a very super- ficial knowledge, whereas a tasteful and judicious abridgment will often comprise every thing that is valuable in an author, and communicate all the real knowledge his works contain, together with parts of him in such an entire state as to enable the student to form a well-grounded opinion of his excellencies and defects. Many original authors are, moreover, better in abridgment than in their original state ; for it frequently happens, that the matter of an author is adapted only for his age, whereas. his matter may be for all'time. Some author, too, are loose and wordy in the expression of their ideas, -and fill whole volumes with truth in a state of the utmost expansion. A. judicious epitomizer will reduce all this mass of dead leaves to a small extract. The task of abridgment has been committed in this . country to wretched hands, and it is rare to find a work at all well condensed. We do, however, possess at least. one specimen of able abridgment, which Mr. VALPY will do well • to adopt as a model, and which he will, if the law of copyright allow him, pro- bably comprise in -his collection : we mean the abridgment of TUCKER'S Light of Nature,—a voluminous and verbose work,:of great value, by the late Mr. HAZLITT. The first volume of the Epitome contains PALEY'S Moral Philosophy.