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THOMSON, JAMES. 



THORBURN, ROBERT, A.R.A. 



this intimation of the Professor, he determined to give up divinity and 

 try his fortune in London. Slender as this pretext of ' encouragement ' 

 was, there have been many poets who have thus sought their fortune 

 from no stronger reason. The truth is, Thomson wanted to try his 

 capacity in London, and seized on this as a pretext. 



Arrived in London, eays Dr. Johnson, ho was one day loitering 

 about " with the gaping curiosity of a new-comer, his attention upon 

 everything rather than upon his pocket," when his handkerchief, con- 

 taining his letters of recommendation to several persona of consequence, 

 was stolen from him. And now the lonely poet in the vast city first 

 felt his inexperience and Ids poverty. A pair of shoes was his first 

 want; his manuscript of 'Winter' his only property. A purchaser for 

 this poem was found with great difficulty ; but Mr. Millar consented to 

 give a trifle for it, and it was published in 1726. It was little read till 

 Mr. Whately and Mr. Spence spoke so favourably of it that attention 

 was attracted, and it rose rapidly into pppularity, and one edition very 

 speedily followed another. This success procured him many friends, 

 among whom was Dr. Bundle, who introduced him to the lord chan- 

 cellor Talbot, and some years after, when the eldest son of that 

 nobleman made a tour on the continent, Thomson was appointed his 

 travelling companion. Meanwhile his poetical powers were fully 

 employed, and in 1727 appeared his ' Summer,' in 1728 his ' Spring,' 

 and in 1730 his 'Autumn.' Besides these, he published, in 1727, 

 ' A Poem sacred to the memory of Sir Isaac Newton,' and ' Britannia,' 

 a poetical invective against the ministry for the indifference they 

 showed to the depredations of the Spaniards in America. By this 

 piece he declared himself a favourer of the opposition, and therefore 

 could expect nothing from the court. 



The tragedy of 'Sophonisba' was acted in 1727, Wilks taking the 

 part of Masiuissa, and Mrs. Oldfield that of Sophonisba. So high 

 were the expectations raised, that every rehearsal was dignified with a 

 splendid audience collected to anticipate the pleasure that was pre- 

 paring for the public. Its success however was very equivocal. 

 " There is," says Johnson, " a feeble line in the play : 



' O, Sophonisba, Sophonisba, O ! ' 

 This gave occasion to a waggish parody, 



' O, Jemmy Thomson, Jemmy Thomson, O ! ' 



which for awhile was echoed through the town." 



At this time long opposition to Sir Robert Walpole had filled the 

 nation with clamours for liberty, and Thomson, instinctively seizing 

 the poet's office to utter in verse the wants of the nation, determined 

 on writing a poem on 'Liberty.' He spent two years on. this under- 

 taking, and viewed it as his noblest work, probably because it had 

 cost him the most trouble. It was divided into five parts, which were 

 published separately, thus : ' Ancient and Modern Italy compared, 

 being the first part of "Liberty," a poem,' 1735 ; ' Greece, being the 

 second part, &c.,' 1735 ; ' Rome, being the third part, &c.,' 1735 ; 

 Britain, being the fourth part, &c.,' 1736 ; ' The Prospect, being the 

 fifth part, &c.,' 1736. The poem of 'Liberty' does not now appear 

 in its original state, having been shortened by Sir George (afterwards 

 Lord) Lyttelton. Of all Thomson's poems this is the least read, and 

 deservedly so, for, independent of the feebleness of its execution, it is 

 obvious, as Johnson remarked, that " the recurrence of the same images 

 must tire in time ; an enumeration of examples to prove a position 

 which nobody denied must quickly grow disgusting." 



His friend Talbot appointed him secretary of briefs, a place requiring 

 little attendance, suiting his retired indolent way of life, and equal to 

 all his wants. When his patron died Lord Hardwicke succeeded him, 

 aud kept the office vacant for some time, probably till Thomson should 

 apply for it ; but either his modesty, pride, or depression of spirits 

 prevented his asking, and the new chancellor would not give him 

 what he would not request. This reverse of fortune increased his 

 literary activity. In 1738, besides editing his own works in two 

 volumes and writing a preface to Milton's ' Areopagitica,' he produced 

 the tragedy of ' Agamemnon,' with Quin for his hero. For this he 

 got " no inconsiderable sum," though it had but poor success. John- 

 son says that on the first night Thomson seated himself in the upper 

 gallery, and was so interested in its performance, that "he accompanied 

 the players by audible recitation, till a friendly hint frighted him to 

 silence." Thomson's next tragedy was ' Edward and Eleonora,' which 

 was not allowed to be represented on account of certain pretended 

 allusions. He then wrote, conjointly with Mallet, the masque of 

 'Alfred,' which was represented before the Prince and Princess of 

 Wales at Clifden in 1740. This masque contains the national song of 

 'Rule Britannia,' which Mr. Bolton Corney ascribes, "on no slight 

 evidence," to Mallet. Thomson's next work was another tragedy, 

 ' Tattered and Sigismunda/ which, being taken from the interesting 

 story in ' Gil Bias,' instead of the Grecian mythology, as were his 

 other pieces, had more success. Garrick and Mrs. Gibber played the 

 principal parts. His friend Sir George Lyttelton now appointed him 

 surveyor-general of the Leeward Islands, from which, after paying a 

 deputy, he received about 300Z. a year. 



The ' Castle of Indolence,' which was many years under his hands, 

 was now finished and published (1748). It was at first little more 

 than a few detached stanzas, in the way of raillery on himself, and on 

 some of his friends who reproached him with indolence, while he 



thought them at leaat as indolent as himself. But the subject grew 

 under his hands till it became his masterpiece. 



A violent cold, which from inattention became worse, at but carried 

 him off, on the 27th of August 1748. He left behind him a tragedy 

 of ' Coriolanus,' which was brought on the stage by Sir George Lyttel- 

 ton for the benefit of his family. A considerable sum was gained, 

 which paid his debts and relieved his sisters. The remains of the poet 

 are deposited in Richmond Churchyard. 



Thomson was " more fat than bard beseems; " of a simple, unaffected, 

 indolent, sensual character ; silent in company, but cheerful among 

 friends, of whom he had many and true. This character is discern- 

 ible in his writings. His simplicity is seen in the purity and warmth 

 of his sentiments, sometimes even childish; his indolence in the 

 slovenliness of his versification, and the inappropriateness of so many 

 of his epithets : he never seems to have thought anything worth the 

 toil of polishing, and hence the perpetual use of pompous glittering 

 diction substituted for thought or description ; his sensuality appears 

 in the gusto with which he describes all luxuries of the senses, and 

 the horrors of deprivation. Amidst much that is truly exquisite both 

 in feeling and expression, he mingles the absurdities of a schoolboy's 

 trite commonplaces and mechanical contrivances to piece out his verse. 

 A sweet line of almost perfect beauty is followed by a bombastic 

 allusion, or some feeble personification as tiresome as the first was 

 bewitching. A touch of nature is overloaded by superfluous epithets 

 a picturesque description is often marred by pedantry or by careless- 

 ness. In spite of these drawbacks, Thomson is a charming poet, and 

 one whose works hive always been the delight of all classes. The 

 popularity of his ' Seasons ' equals that of any poem in the language, 

 and it is said that some one, finding a shabby copy of it lying on the 

 window-seat of a country ale-house, exclaimed " That's true fame ! " 

 Thomson's beauties are genuine : his descriptions of nature often 

 come with the force of reality upon the mind ; and no one ever 

 painted more successfully the ' changing scene ' and the ' rustic joys ' 

 of England. 



His ' Castle of Indolence ' may be regarded as his best-sustained 

 effort ; for, although separate passages of the ' Seasons ' may be supe- 

 rior, yet on the whole it has fewer defects, while some of the stanzas, 

 especially in the first canto, fill the mind with lazy luxury. Of his 

 tragedies we need say little : their neglect has been so eignal, that we 

 may accept so unanimous a verdict without further examination ; 

 indeed the genius of Thomson was eminently undrarnatic. 



THOMSON, THOMAS, M.D., a celebrated chemist, was born April 

 12, 1773, at Crieff, Perthshire, and received his early education at tho 

 parish school of that place. He afterwards studied at St. Andrews 

 and Edinburgh, aud was a pupil of the celebrated Dr. Black. In 

 1802 he delivered a course of lectures on chemistry, and continued to 

 lecture on this science for nearly fifty years. He was one of the 

 editors of the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica' from 1796 to 1800, and 

 wrote the articles ' Chemistry,' ' Mineralogy,' &c. in that work. In 

 1802 he published his ' System, of Chemistry.' He first suggested 

 the use of symbols in chemistry, which have since become so generally 

 employed. He was one of the first chemists who recognised the 

 value of Dalton's atomic theory, and devoted himself to its elucida- 

 tion. He also at this time conducted for the Board of Excise a series 

 of investigations on brewing, which formed the basis of Scottish legis- 

 lation on that subject. In 1813 Dr. Thomson came to London, and 

 started the ' Annals of Philosophy,' a scientific journal, which he edited 

 till the year 1822, when he resigned it to his friend Mr. Richard Phillip?. 

 In 1827 this journal became merged in the 'Philosophical Magazine.' 

 In 1817 he was elected lecturer on chemistry in the University of 

 Glasgow, and the following year received the title of professor. This 

 chair he held till his death, assisted in his later years by his nephew 

 and son-in-law Dr. R. D. Thomson. In 1835 he published a work, 

 entitled ' Outlines of Mineralogy, Geology, and Mineral Analysis,' 

 and in 1849 a work on ' Brewing and Distillation.' He died on the 

 2nd of July 1852. His son, Dr. Thomas Thomson, is celebrated for 

 his botanical knowledge; he has published an account of his travels 

 in Thibet, and is now the superintendent of the East India Company's 

 botanic gardens at Calcutta. 



* THORBURN, EGBERT, A.R.A., was born at Dumfries, Scotland, 

 in 1818, and entered in 1833 as a student in the Scottish Academy, 

 Edinburgh, where he gained the highest honours. Having chosen 

 miniature-painting as his special province, he in 1836 came to London, 

 and quickly succeeded in securing a considerable measure of patronage 

 among the leading members of the court and aristocracy. He has 

 adopted a largeness of size as well as of style unusual with miniature- 

 painters, and he has endeavoured to superadd something of the depth 

 of tone and breadth of chiaroscuro usually found only in oil-paintiuga 

 to the brilliancy and transparency belonging to painting on ivory. 

 He has succeeded to a great extent in raising the style of painting on 

 ivory; but under his hands, and still more in the hands of his imitators, 

 the miniature has lost something of the gaiety which seems essential 

 to that class of paintings. Mr. Thorburn's likenesses are usually good 

 and characteristic, but there may often be seen a too evident attempt 

 to impart historical elevation to the countenances and figures of his 

 sitters, and this is sometimes sought to be increased by the adaptation 

 of the forms and arrangement of well-known compositions of the great 

 Italian masters. For many years, from the rank or eminence of his 



