On the same subject, the English author and critic, THOMAS NOON TALFOURD, makes these interesting observations: "The hypothesis to which the antagonists of Homer's personality must resort, implies something far more wonderful than the theory which they impugn. They profess to cherish the deepest veneration for the genius displayed in the poems. They agree, also, in the antiquity usually assigned to them, and they make this genius and this antiquity the arguments to prove that one man could not have composed them. They suppose, then, that in a barbarous age, instead of one being marvelously gifted, there were many: a mighty race of bards, such as the world has never since seen--a number of miracles instead of one. All experience is against this opinion. In various periods of the world great men have arisen, under very different circumstances, to astonish and delight it; but that the intuitive power should be so strangely diffused, at any one period, among a great number, who should leave no successors behind them, is unworthy of credit. And we are requested to believe this to have occurred in an age which those who maintain the theory regard as unfavorable to poetic art! The common theory, independent of other proofs, is the most probable. Since the early existence of the works cannot be doubted, it is easier to believe in one than in twenty Homers." Very numerous and varied are the characterizations of Homer and the writings ascribed to him. POPE, in his "Temple of Fame", pays this tribute to the ancient bard: High on the list the mighty Homer shone; Eternal adamant composed his throne; Father of verse! in holy fillets dressed, His silver beard waved gently o'er his breast; Though blind, a boldness in his look appears; In years he seemed, but not impaired by years. The wars of Troy were round the pillars seen: Here fierce Tydi'des wounds the Cyprian queen; Here Hector, glorious from Patro'clus' fall; Here, dragged in triumph round the Trojan wall. Motion and life did every part inspire, Bold was the work, and proud the master's fire: A strong expression most he seemed to affect, And here and there disclosed a brave neglect. It is admitted by all that the Homeric characters are drawn, each in its way, by a master's hand. "The most pervading merit of the Iliad," says one, "is its fidelity and vividness as a mirror of man, and of the visible sphere in which he lived, with its infinitely varied imagery, both actual and ideal; and the task which the great poet set for himself was perfectly accomplished." "The mind of Homer," says another, "is like an Æolian harp, so finely strung that it answers to the faintest movement of the air by a proportionate vibration. With every stronger current its music rises along an almost immeasurable scale, which begins with the lowest and softest whisper, and ends in the full swell of the organ."