21 
Burd—Eight Unedited Letters of Joseph Riison 
Thomas Paine, as a strong argument in favour of the four 
evangelists, after the example of Caesar, Xenophon, and other 
ancient historians: 64) which is all i have at present to say 
upon the subject. I understand however, that some gentlemen, 
at Edinburgh, have transcribed the entire poem for the pur¬ 
pose of publication, which i should, in fact, have done myself, 
tho ’ without the like advantages, had it not been mutilated and 
imperfect. 65) 
I put into your hands a few years ago an alphabetical list of 
the names of British rivers, which, if it would be of any service 
to you, and has already perfoi^med it, i should be obliged to you 
to leave for me at Egertons any time it may be convenient. 66) 
I am. 
Dear Sir, 
Very respectfully & sincerely yours, 
J. Ritson. 
Grays inn, 
26th June 1801. 
** Richard Watson, Apology for the Bible, in Letters to Thomas Paine, 
London, 1796. 
This, in all probability, alludes to the copy which formed the basis of 
Scott’s edition. Ritson’s veneration for Scott seems to have led him to 
underestimate his own ability as a transcriber. Had he copied the whole 
poem for publication, it would certainly not have been less perfect than 
Scott’s version, which, according to Kolbing, ‘swarms with errors’. He was 
remarkably painstaking and accurate in such matters. Scott was not, and 
he often, as perhaps in the case of “Sir Tristrem’’, left the copying to be 
done by a hired clerk. See E. KOlbing, Die nordische und die englische Ver¬ 
sion der Tristan-sage, Heilbronn, 1878-82, 
“This unpublished MS. is now Douce 340, in the Bodleian Library: “A list 
of river names in Great Britain and Ireland, with a few etymological notes 
on them.” 
