Cowper said, forty or fifty years ago, that he dared not name John Bunyan in his verse, for fear of moving a sneer. To our refined forefathers, we suppose, Lord Roscommon's Essay on Translated Verse, and the Duke of Buckinghamshire's Essay on Poetry, appeared to be compositions infinitely superior to the allegory of the preaching tinker. We live in better times; and we are not afraid to say, that, though there were many clever men in England during the latter half of the seventeenth century, there were only two great creative minds. One of those minds produced the Paradise Lost, the other the Pilgrim's Progress.--_Edinburgh Review_. * * * * * THE GATHERER. A London publisher advertises a collection of Nursery Tales as a "handsome present for _youth_." Here the schoolmaster is surely behind-hand. * * * * * IMPROMPTU.--TO A LADY. (_From the Italian_.) Think not thy _faults_, my pretty scold, Like transient clouds will pass away; Thine image in the rose behold, Whose leaves fade ere the _thorns_ decay. E.L.J. This trifle was sent to the _Mirror_ a few days since, and last Saturday it appeared in the _Literary Gazette_, with the same signature, E.L.J.--Is not this double-dealing? * * * * * _Pantomimes_.--Four hundred persons are nightly employed in the pantomime at Covent Garden Theatre, on the stage, behind the scenes, and in the orchestra. Of this number are 90 carpenters in the machinery, property, and scenic department. The usual cost of one of these relics of olden Christmas at a patent theatre is £2,000.; and upwards of £10,000. are annually expended in producing pantomimes for the amusement of the large and little children of this great metropolis.