xxviii 
ACCOUNT OF THE 
actual composition of Park's work ; as to which very few 
remarks will be necessary. The intimate connection of 
Mr. Edwards with Park, the interest which he took 
in the success of his publication, and the influence which 
he appears to have exerted with respect to its contents, 
make it quite evident, that he must have seen, and been 
consulted upon, every part of the work; and there can be 
no question but that he, at least, revised and corrected the 
whole manuscript before it was sent to the press. It was 
avowed by Park himself, that as occasion offered, he had 
incorporated into different parts of his work, by permission 
of Mr. Edwards, the wliole of the narrative prepared by 
the latter for the use of the Association.* A person accus- 
tomed to literary composition, and confident of his own 
powers, would hardly have chosen to avail himself of this 
assistance ; which would be attended only with a slight 
saving of labour, and might probably have the unpleasant 
effect of a mixture of different styles. No such disadvan- 
tage, it may be observed, has in fact resulted from the 
course pursued in the present instance. No inequalities are 
apparent in Park's narrative ; nor are the passages which 
have been inserted from Mr. Edwards's Memoir, to be dis- 
tinguished from the rest of the work. The style is through- 
out uniform, and bears all the marks of a practised pen. 
Generally speaking indeed, it is more simple, and conse- 
quently more pleasing, than that of Mr. Edwards's avowed 
composi tion s.But, notwithstanding its general merits, it 
is altogether perhaps too much laboured ; and in particular 
passages, betrays too much of the art of a professed writer.4. 
^' Park's Travels. Preface, p. ix. 
t It would be easy, but invidious, to produce passages from Park's work 
