The Poetical Works of James Thomson; with Memoir of the Author. By Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas. 2 vols.

THIS is the most complete and the best edition of Thomson extant, for it contains a very excellent Life by the Editor, and numerous poems not to be found in any other. The biography of Thomson will be found enriched with much of the author's correspondence not previously collected, and with very judicious observations on his poetical talents and productions. We quote the concluding passage.

"Lord Lyttleton has justly said of Thomson's writings that they contain 'No line which, dying, he would wish to blot ;' and, considering the taste of the age in which he lived, this praise is perhaps the highest which could be pronounced. With a slight alteration the same eulogy might be passed on his whole life; for it was free from a single act which could create remorse.* To his relations he was liberal and affectionate,-to his friends faithful and devoted. Viewing all mankind with beneficence and love, he performed with exemplary but unostentatious piety that first of Christian virtues-to teach the world to reverence the Creator in His works, and to learn from them veneration for His wisdom and confidence in His

ened, by the poet who has sung of her in all her seasons."

The poems for the first time printed in a collected edition of Thomson's Works, and taken partly from the Edinburgh Miscellany and partly from manuscripts, amount to no less than one-and-twenty, and are valuable as showing Thomson's original deficiencies, both in language and metre, and his progressive improvement in the poetic art. Of these poems we shall select four, all of which will be new to the general reader.

STANZAS SENT TO GEORGE LYTTLETON, ESQ. SOON AFTER THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE; WRITTEN IN THE COPY OF THE SEASONS.

Go, little book, and find our friend,

Who Nature and the Muses loves,

Whose cares the public virtues blend

With all the softness of the groves. A fitter time thou canst not choose

His fost'ring friendship to repay; Go, then, and try, my rural Muse, To steal his widow'd hours away.

TO AMANDA.

(From a MS. in the possession of the present Lord Lyttleton.)

Come, dear Amanda, quit the town,
And to the rural hamlets fly;

*Sir Harris Nicolas has not alluded in his Life of Thomson to the story, related (we think) in Mr. Taylor's Records, of Thomson being married, and concealing his wife in a state of privacy unknown to his friends. We know on this head nothing further than what we find in that work, and are unable to state the evidence, if any, on which the circumstances are related.-REV.

†The only remark which we have to make on this is, that Thomson's language GENT. MAG. VOL. XXVIIJ.

A gentle radiance glads the sky. The birds awake, the flowers appear; Earth spreads a verdant couch for thee: 'Tis joy and music all we hear,

'Tis love and beauty all we see. Come let us mark the gradual Spring; How peeps the bud, the blossom blows, Till Philomel begins to sing,

And perfect May to swell the rose. E'en so thy rising charms improve, As life's warm season grows more bright, And, op'ning to the sighs of love,

Thy beauties glow with full delight.

ON MRS. MENDEZ' BIRTHDAY (Who was born on Valentine's Day). Thine is the gentle day of love,

When youths and virgins try their fate, When, deep retiring to the grove,

Each feather'd songster weds his mate. With temper'd beams the skies are bright, Earth decks in smiles her pleasing face; Such is the day that gave thee light, And speaks as such thy every grace.

AN ELEGY UPON JAMES THERBURN,
IN CHATTO.

Now, Chatto, you 're a dreary place,
Pale sorrow broods on ilka face;
Therburn has run his race,
And now, and now, ah me! alas!
The carl lies dead.

Having his paternoster said,
He took a dram, and went to bed;
He fell asleep, and Death was glad

That he had catch'd him,
For Therburn was e'en ill bested
That none did watch him;
But had the carl but been aware

That meagre Death, who none doth spare, T'attempt sic things should ever dare

As stop his pipe,

He might have come to flee or skare The greedy gripe.

Now, had he but a gill or twae, Death wou'd nae got the victory sae, Nor put poor Therburn o'er the brae

*

Into the grave.

What does "carved" mean? is it a misprint for curved? or is it a Scotticism?

P. 11, The Morning in the Country. Down upon easy moss he lays, [praise. And sings some charming shepherdess's Here the deficiency of metre in the first line and the active form of the verb lays both show that the word himself is omitted :—

Down upon easy moss [himself] he lays, &c.

P. 11, On a Country LifeThe pleasing bleatings of the tender lambs, Or the indistinct mum'ling of their dams. We suppose mum'ling is a Scotch provincial phrase; but here also the line is deficient in a foot.

P. 21, Psalm CIV.

Establish'd, a lófty cloud's thy car.
It ought to have been printed-
EstablishED, a lofty cloud's thy car.
P. 22,-

By Nature taught, on thee they rear their nests,

That with inimitable art are dressed.
Read "nest."

Ibid.

That man may be sustain'd beneath the

toil

P. 44, On the Hoop. Should you go search the globe throughout You'll find none so pious and devout,

There is something wrong in this couplet, as it is a foot shorter in measure than those which precede and follow; and the second line is also wanting in harmony. It appears that some word is to be supplied in the first, and then the second reads thus, Should you go search the varied globe throughout,

You will find none so pious and devout.

The River Dove; with some quiet thoughts on the happy practice of Angling.

66

THIS very pretty and pleasing book is intended as a worthy tribute to the memory of the best masters of the art -Mr. Izaak Walton and Mr. Charles Cotton; and the author, in recommending it to the reader, expresses his hope that we may all have a south wind when we go a-fishing, and be blest with a virtuous cheerful spirit, a peaceful conscience, and at last eternal rejoicings in the kingdom of angels." It is written in that quaint and yet pleasing style which is so captivating in Walton's own work, and has the same qualities of purity of thought, kindness and benevolence of expression, gaiety of manner, and beauty of description. The motto both of the master and the pupil is the same: Let other men their pastimes then pursue, And on their pleasing fancies feed their fill, So I the fields and meadows green may view, And by the rivers fresh may walk at will.

We shall quote (and it is a pleasure to quote from such a book on such a subject) the account of Mr. Cotton, from 75:

p. "Painter. I pray you what age is Mr. Charles Cotton?

"Host. Sir, Mr. Cotton was born fortyseven years gone the 26th of last month; but he is yet in the morning and flower of his life, and to look at him you might believe him to be less than forty, by reason of his youthful carriage and comeliness; and when he converses with his inferiors, such as myself and others who have the happiness to call him master, the sweetness of his discourse and his discreet familiarity expels every fear. And then, sir, if you could see him, as I often have done, in his suit of slashed velvet or rich taffeta,

you would be sure he was bred at court. Indeed he is notable for his comportment and alluring person. Nevertheless, I have sometimes seen him transported beyond his usual behaviour; and I cannot help smiling at a story of himself I have heard him relate to his friends.

"Angler. I beseech you, let us hear it. "Host. Well, sir, you are to know Mr. Cotton will sometimes have a slight hindfound a stout beggar that sat under the rance in his speech; and so on a time he great yew-tree, near to the door of the hall; whereupon he asked him with an hesitation, What d-dost d-do here, f-friend? Now it chanced the beggar had the same infirmity of speech with noble Mr. Cotton, but greater; so he began to stammer in his answering, and make wry words and looks. Upon this Mr. Cotton, thinking he mocked at him, seized the

man on a sudden, and declared he was a sturdy rogue, and he would teach him manners, and have him put into the stocks. Therefore the other, in his fright, could not but stut the more, seeing how obnoxious he was to so fine a gentleman, till at length Mr. Cotton, finding it to be a real entanglement in the fellow's speech, was at once mollified, and did humbly ask pardon for his severity, and after that fell laughing, and with pleasant persuasions called him into his house, and feasted him there till the beggar thought himself as g-great as a l-lord.''

a

"Host. Well, sir, I need not tell you my master is the furthest possible from an avaricious man, for his hand and purse are open to the poor, and he will always have his servants well provided; but the cook is sometimes a pinch-crust, and then the servants will grumble. Now it chanced one day in the last summer, as Mr. Cotton walked down this way to fish, the mowers were cutting the grass badly, and so he cried out to them-'How now, fellows! what do you call this? a grass-plat, or a meadow-land? I pray you let me see it better done, and smoothly.' Thereupon they looked at one another doubtingly, and whispered among themselves. length one that was known to be something of a dry wit among them, after some persuasive winks and nods from the others,

At

came forward with his hat in hand to be spokesman. Then, in an humble tone, and with something of a facetious look, which always takes with Mr. Cotton, he said

'Little meat, and half enough,

Makes the scythe cut high and rough.' So, because Mr. Cotton has no austerity of behaviour towards the lowest and poor. est man that speaks to him civilly, he inquired what his meaning was, and then the truth came out. 'Well, well, honest man, (he replied,) go to your work, and I'll presently see to it.' And so he walked home to the hall, and there made a rout at the cook, and ordered the servant to take down provisions enough and plenty ; and in the afternoon he found his rascals hard at work, bending lustily over their scythes. Then he goes and looks at them, and then out steps the poet, with his hat in his hand as before, and says to him,→→ 'Now we've meat, and some to spare, It makes the scythe both wipe and pare.' Meaning the grass should be cut smooth and fine. So Mr. Cotton laughed at his rustical wit, and said-'Go to, go to! thou art a wag:' and so he turned away, and took his recreation a-fishing; and I am sure he was more entertained than he chose to tell them."

To wander leisurely through the pages of this book is like seeing a diorama of the scenes themselves gently pass before us, a succession of pictures, with all their pleasing and romantic accompaniments of light and sound. To listen to the conversations of the angler and the painter is to enjoy the company of those who knew how to make recreation itself instruc

tive, and the purity and cheerfulness of whose minds seem to sanctify and adorn every subject on which they even casually touch. Let us end then, as the author ends, with the farewell words of the angler to his friend :

"Farewell, brother! and remember always how the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of great price. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.' We have led some innocent

days of leisure amidst the beauties of the

natural world; but let us not forget to give all diligence in our journey to the glories of the spiritual world; for these pleasures of the earth are but a faint shadow of the blessedness of the heavenly Sion. Let us be prepared in the whole armour of Christian soldiers, that when our tem

poral warfare is accomplished we may receive an eternal crown, and rest and repose ourselves beside the ' pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.' Once more, farewell!"

The History of Rome from the first Punic War to the death of Constantine. By B. G. Niebuhr, M.A. in a series of Lectures. Edited by L. Schmitz, Ph.D. 8vo. 2 vols., pp. xxvii. 434, and xii. 406.

A History of Rome, from the earliest times to the death of Commodus. By Dr. L. Schmitz, F.R.S.E. Post 8vo. pp. xii. 673.

ALTHOUGH these works have appeared at different times, it will be mutually serviceable to notice them together, as they are not only connected by the subject, but the editor of the one is the author of the other, which also, in its views and its language, is mainly based upon the former.

The carlier of these works is constructed from notes of the lectures delivered by Niebuhr in the university of Bonn, 1828-29, the last time he ever lectured upon the subject. His intention was to carry it down to the fall of the Western empire, but the time did not suffice. The notes were taken by the editor, Dr. Schmitz (now Rector of the High School of Edinburgh), who was then one of Niebuhr's pupils; but the task of preparing them for the press has been very great, as not only did Niebuhr deliver his lectures quite extempore, so that no help author's, but there was a repugnance could be derived from papers of the sketches of their great master's preamong his pupils to publish imperfect lections. Other difficulties are described in the preface, which make us glad that so much has been recovered from various quarters; for we must balance the imperfect state of the remains against the loss of the whole, which would otherwise have been inevitable, even as we estimate the Laoprincipal figure, but by the beauty and coon, not by the missing arm of the symmetry of what is still existing. In this respect Dr. Schmitz may be styled the historical retriever. "The substance of Niebuhr's lectures (he informs us) is preserved throughout, and there are only a few instances in which

the omission of explanatory matter is perceptible." (Preface, p. xiv.)

The lectures are ninety-one in number; twelve on the sources and study of Roman history, and the rest on the history itself, beginning with the first Punic war, and ending at the death of Constantine. The editor has added numerous references, endeavouring as he proceeded to verify Niebuhr's statements, and in one or two instances giving his own opinion, where he had failed of doing so. The two volumes were originally intended to form a continuation of Niebuhr's own "History of Rome," and references are interspersed where differences appear in Niebuhr's opinions or inferences, and the indexes adjusted accordingly. But this plan, the best that could then have been devised, is fortunately now superseded, as the editor has been able to procure materials for another volume, from the earliest times to the first Punic war, which will thus constitute the lectures a distinct and complete production.* Yet as such they will occupy a contiguous place to the "History" in our libraries, as Mosheim's "Commentary," which is his chief work, accompanies his more popular "Institutes" in well-furnished collections of books.

A passage in the preface to M. Michelet's History of the Roman Republic is so characteristic that we gladly introduce it, and the more so as its author is by no means a servile follower of the master whom he

reveres :

"It must be admitted Niebuhr knew antiquity, as antiquity does not always know itself. What, compared with him, are Plutarch and many other Greeks in comprehending the rude genius of the primitive ages? He understands ancient barbarian Rome the better for bearing something of her in himself. He is as one of the long-haired authors of the Salic law, Wisogast or Windogast, who, having acquired the right of citizenship, sits with the sage Coruncanius, the acute Scævola, and the elder Cato. Do not venture to attack this colleague of the decemvirs, or to speak lightly of him."

To Niebuhr, indeed, belongs the rare distinction of having entirely

* This volume, we understand, is likely to appear in the course of the summer.

changed the history of a nation. Exceptions may be taken to his hypotheses, apologies may be offered for traditions that he has displaced; Livy may still find defenders, as in MM. Poirson and Duroisoir; but no one will now venture to write the early Roman history as it used to be written. Nor without him would it, at least in our days, have taken this turn. Men wrote it under a yoke, as is evident from Hooke's notes, to go no further, and many disbelieved it; but no professed writer of a history dared to treat it as a fable en masse. Whether

a partial reaction may not one day take place, and Livy be treated as a metallum, instead of a sentina, it would be premature to ask. But age has scarcely less likelihood of returning to childhood than Roman history of reverting to the Trojan origin and septiregal succession.

In the preliminary examination of historical sources the author considers Valla the first who proved that there were impossibilities in Livy's narrative; and it is one of his own most pleasing recollections that he discovered Valla's tombstone, and induced the Chapter of the Lateran to replace it in their church, of which he had been a canon. In this, we may add, he reminds us of Cicero, who discovered the tomb of Archimedes, of which the magistrates of Syracuse were ignorant, among the brambles and rubbish of an ancient cemetery. (Tusc. Disp. 1. v. c. 3.)

He speaks of Pighius and others as being in possession of good ideas, which they did not carry out successfully. "The investigations of Perizonius are masterly " (p. 3), and Niebuhr regrets that he did not devote his whole attention to the subject. Beaufort, and before him Pouilly,"

"Went so far as to reject the wheat with the chaff . and men grew ashamed of believing Roman history, as it was transmitted to them After such a state of things a sound criticism must follow, or else the subject is lost." (Vol. i. pp. 4, 5.)

In a note at p. 47, he remarks that Mai has published many things with an unfortunate variety, and his countryman Ciampi has censured him for his want of candour, "which, however, must not prevent our acknowledging