388 A Winter Evening with the Poets. 



surcharged with autumnal riches, and glorying in their golden fruitage, 

 which depended amiably" KapTwy affajupJ/zEvwv iXapwj Milton says- 



- 



Thus was this place 

 A happy rural seat of various view : 

 Groves whose rich trees wept odorous gums and balm, 

 Others whose fruit burnished with golden rind, 

 Hurtg amiable. Book 4, p. 250. 



Surely this coincidence could not have been accidental. But we 

 have neither time nor space to pursue this inquiry. Whenever Milton 

 descended from his majestic throne to gather assistance from the 

 humbler works of others, he always rose, Antaeus-like, with tenfold 

 energy. 



And now, thou most dainty blue book, we must close thee for a brief 

 period, for we are desirous of saying a few words upon one who resem- 

 bled thee only in his adoration of nature, and the innocency of his 

 breast we mean the author of " the Seasons." We shall return to 

 Milton in a future Winter Evening, for we have much to say upon that 

 now frequently underrated poem, the Paradise Regained. 



The principal merit of the earlier volumes of the Aldine Edition, 

 appears to us to consist in the antiquarian research which they display. 

 The purely critical passages might have been written by Alaric Watts, 

 or Robert Montgomery. Indeed, we have been occasionally reminded 

 of these distinguished authors during our perusal of the Life of Thom- 

 son. We shall offer two or three specimens of the biographer's style, 

 and we are the rather inclined to do so, because of the subsequent lives 

 (we allude to those written by the Rev. Alexander Dyce, and the Rev. 

 J. Mitford) we have already, in the case of Milton, spoken and shall 

 continue to speak in terms of high praise. The author of the " Life of 

 Thomson" commences his memoir with the following lucid observation. 



" The biography of a man whose life was passed in his study, and 

 who is known to the world by his writings alone, can present few facts 

 to render it popular, unless it was chequered by events that excite 

 interest, or marked by traits which lessen esteem." 



We have two remarks to make upon this paragraph. In the first 

 place, it would seem strange to persons of ordinary minds, that an indi- 

 vidual who had been honoured with a " biography," should be never- 

 theless " known to the world by his writings alone," and secondly, how 

 it is possible for the " biography of a man whose life was passed in his 

 study, to be chequered by events that excite interest." We make this 

 objection with all diffidence, and proceed to illustrate our remarks by 

 another quotation. The author of the Memoir, has been alluding to the 

 injustice Thomson always received at the hands of Dr. Johnson, and he 

 proceeds thus : " The cause of this hostility must be sought in vain ; 

 but the temper of Johnson, and his violent political feelings, are suffi- 

 ciently notorious to render the patriotic sentiments which Thomson 

 every where inculcates a sufficient explanation of his hostility, whilst 

 his country may have been another ground of his dislike." 



We are gravely assured at the beginning of this short sentence, that 

 " the cause of thii conduct will be sought in vain," and in the next line, 

 are presented with the very cause itself. We repeat our conviction, that 

 the Memoir of Thomson was written by the author of " Satan." We 



