pear.

Alfred, with the Edwards and Henrys, were not yet introduced at the commencement of the panegyric, nor Spenser and Chaucer at the end. The influence of Bacon, as "the great deliverer," lines 1542-1549, was not then conceived by the poet, nor the fine description of Hampden's influential example, "Bright at his call," &c. lines 1518-1520.

Immediately after the panegyric on the Worthies of England there ap peared in 1727 the following filial tribute to Scotland:

And should I northward turn my filial Beyond the Tweed, pure Parent-Stream! Eye,

to where

country of Wallace and Buchanan, lest he should incur the imputation of a too fond nationality.

In the paragraph now commencing line 1579, the poet, in 1727, had immediately joined to the " beauty" of "Britannia's daughters," the charms of "elegance and taste." In 1730, and ever after, he also assigned to them those more valuable endow ments,

"The feeling heart, simplicity of life," an imputation, the justice of which I should regret, if any of your male readers were able to dispute.

Instead of the paragraphs now found lines 629-897, these appeared in 1727 and 1730 immediately following the paragraph now ending line 1618. It is remarkable that only one of the following lines, which I have distinguished by italics, was preserved in the later editions.

"Thus far, transported by my Country's Love, Nobly digressive from my Theme, I've aim'd

To sing her Praises, in ambitious Verse; While, slightly to recount, I simply meant,

The various Summer-Horrors, which infest

"Such are thy horrid Deserts, Barca, such,

Zaara, thy hot, interminable Sands,

Suns.

Till the Sun sees no more: and unknit Earth,

Shook by the South into the darken'd Air,

Falls, in new, hilly Kingdoms, o'er the Waste.

""Tis here, that Thirst has fixed his

dry Domain,

And walks his wide, malignant Round, in search

Of Pilgrim lost; or, on the Merchant's Tomb,

Triumphant, sits, who, for a single Cruise

Of unavailing Water paid so dear : Nor could the Gold his hard Associate save."

In the edition of the Seasons 1730,

"In the desart of Araoan, are two tombs with inscriptions on them, importing that the persons there interred were a rich merchant and a poor carrier, who both died of thirst; and that the former had given to the latter ten thousand ducats for one cruise of Water.”— THOMSON,

that he had seen there several sorts of trees, the most part olives and palms, all of stone, and of a blue or rather lead colour.

"That he saw also figures of men in a posture of exercising their different employments; some holding in their hands staffs, others bread; every one doing something, even women suckling their children, all of stone.

"That he went into the castle by three different gates, tho' there were many more, where he saw a man lying upon a bed, all of stone.

"That there were guards at the gates, with pikes and javelins in their hands. In short, that he saw in this wonderful city, many sorts of animals, as camels, oxen, horses, asses, sheep and birds, all of stone, and of the colour above-mentioned."

This marvellous tale appears to have excited no small portion of public attention, since such a judicious traveller as Dr. Shaw considered it deserving a serious investigation. For this purpose he applied to M. Le Maire, who, when Consul at Tripoli, forty years before, had minutely examined the story 'by order of the French Court." As the result, Dr. Shaw declares, that "the petrified city, with its walls, castles, streets, shops, cattle, inhabitants and their utensils, were all of them at first the mere fables and inventions of the Arabs, and afterwards propagated by such persons, who like the Tripoli Ambassador and his friend," (the above-mentioned man of credit,)" were credulous enough to believe them."

Dr. Shaw returned to England in 1733, and first published his Travels in 1738. Thomson, probably on such sufficient authority, became dissatisfied with this report of "distant fame," and sang no more of the petrified city.

The paragraph which now appears, lines 898-938, will be seen to be an enlargement, with considerable alterations, of the following:

"Here the green Serpent gathers up his Train,

In Orbs immense, then darting out anew, Progressive, rattles thro' the wither'd Brake;

And lolling, frightful, guards the scanty Fount,

If Fount there be or, of diminish'd Size, But mighty Mischief, on th' unguarded Swain

By

supreme Hunger smit, and Thirst iu

The parapraphs on storms, lines 959-1051, are not in the editions 1727 and 1730. The paragraph describing the plague, lines 1052-1091, is now much enlarged. The following appear, in 1727, instead of the present lines 1070-1086.

"Empty the Streets, with uncoath Verdure clad, And rang'd, at open Noon, by Beasts of Prey,

And Birds of bloody Beak: while, all Night long,

In spotted Troops, the recent Ghosts complain, Demanding but the covering Grave. Mean time, Lock'd is the deaf Door to Distress; even

Friends,

And Relatives, endear'd for many a Year,
Savag'd by Woe, forget the social Tye,
The blest Engagement of the yearning
Heart;

And sick, in Solitude, successive, die,
Untended, and unmourn'd."

In the edition, 1730, Thomson discarded" the recent ghosts," and substituted after " bloody beak,"

"The sullen door No visit knows, nor hears the wailing

"Much of the Force of foreign Summers still,

Of growling Hills, that shoot the pillar'd Flame,

Of Earthquake, and pale Famine, could I sing;

But equal Scenes of Horror call Me Home."

In 1727 and 1730, the lines 11081116, were in the following form:

"Thence Nitre, Sulphur, Vitriol, on the Day

Stream, and fermenting in yon baleful Cloud,

Extensive o'er the World, a reddening

Gloom!

In dreadful Promptitude to spring, await The high Command."

The description of the thunderstorm, lines 1144-1168, was originally in the following form, the last paragraph being omitted in 1730:

"Down comes a Deluge of sonorous Hail,

In the white, heavenly Magazines congeal'd;

And often fatal to th' unsheltered Head Of man, or rougher Beast. The sluicy Rain,

In one unbroken Flood, descends; and yet

Th' unconquerable Lightning struggles thro',

Ragged and fierce, or in red whirling Balls,

And strikes the Shepherd, as He, shuddering, sits,

Presaging Ruin, in the rocky Clift.
His inmost Marrow feels the gliding

Flame;

Bull,

And Ox half-rais'd. A little farther, burns

The guiltless Cottage; and the haughty Dome

Stoops to the Base. Th' uprooted Forrest flies

Aloft in Air, or, flaming out, displays The savage Haunts by Day unpierc'd before.

Scar'd is the Mountain's Brow; and, from the Cliff,

Tumbles the smitten Rock. The Desart shakes,

And gleams, and grumbles, through his deepest Dens.

"Now swells the Triumph of the
Virtuous Man;

And this outrageous, elemental Fray,
To Him, a dread Magnificence appears,
The Glory of that POWER He calls his
Sole honourable Name!-But woe to
Friend,
Him,

Who, of infuriate Malice, and confirm'd
In Vice long-practis'd, is a Foe to man
His Brother, and at Variance with his
God.

He thinks the Tempest weaves around his Head;

Loudens the Roar to Him, and in his Eye

The bluest Vengeance glares. Th' Oppressor, who,

Unpitying, heard the Wailings of Dis

tress,