Drury Lane will always be interesting to the theatrical loiterer, from the number of _stars_ that have _irradiated_ from its _horizon_. If the wise Solon had lived in our times, he would no doubt have felt a local attachment to this neighbourhood; for he frequented plays even in the decline of life. And Plutarch informs us, he thought plays useful to polish the manners, and instil the principles of virtue. P.T.W. * * * * * SOLUTION OF THE ENIGMATICAL EPITAPH, (See Mirror, vol. xiv. page 214.) O! Superbe! Mors superte! Cur Superbis? Deus supernos! negat superbis vitam supernam. Proud man know this! then wherefore art thou proud? This awful doom--terrific cries aloud-- Death lifts his arm! with unrelenting dart, Ready to pierce thy lofty-tow'ring heart. Why then persist? The Almighty hath denied Eternal life to all the slaves of Pride! * * * * * The Selector; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_. THE NEW-YEAR'S GIFT AND JUVENILE SOUVENIR FOR 1830. _Edited by Mrs. Alaric Watts._ The association of the line-- In wit a man, simplicity a child-- is so happy as to be applicable to the Poet of all Nature. It expresses as much, if not more merit, than any single line often quoted, and its frequent repetition has probably induced us to consider the latter half--"simplicity a child"--as the peculiar talent of writing for young people, aimed at by many, yet accomplished by so few. What is it that so delights the young reader--we may say ourselves--in Robinson Crusoe[3]--the Shakspeare of the play-ground--but _simplicity;_ and where, among the thousands of nursery books that have since been written, can we find its match? In childhood, youth, manhood, and old age, this is the great charm of life; and even the vitiated appetite is not unfrequently coaxed into amendment by its very delightful character when contrasted with coarser enjoyments. Metaphysicians deal out this fact to the world over and over again, and all the philosophy of Locke, Newton, and Bacon would be of little worth without it. [3] A few weeks since we gave a copy of Robinson Crusoe to a young man, "whose education had been neglected," and who had never read this delightful book: the account of his delight from its perusal has more than recompensed us tenfold.