lime. For, indeed, fuch to me appear the Paffages that I fhall tranfcribe from Mr. JAMES THOMSON on the Seafons, viz. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter; late Pieces of Poetry, which, according to LONGINUS's Criterion of Sublimity, have upon a repeated Perufal irrefiftably forced myAttention and lasting Admiration. [N. B. They are taken from his firft Edition.]

The following fublime APOSTROPHES are his.

The first in Praise of Agriculture. After having described the preparative Effects of the Spring, and Labours of the Husbandman in plowing, fowing, harrowing, &c.-he fays

BE gracious, HEAV'N! for now laborious Man
Has done bis Due. Ye foftering Breezes, blow!
Ye foftening Dews, ye tender Showers, defcend!
And temper all, thou world-reviving Sun,
Into the perfect Year! Nor, ye who live
In Luxury and Eafe, in Pomp and Pride,
Think these loft Themes unworthy of your Ear.
'Twas fuch as these the Rural M ARO fung
To the full ROMAN Court, in all it's Height
Of Elegance and Tafte. The facred Plow
Employ'd the Kings and Fathers of Mankind,
In ancient Times. And fome with whom compar'd
You're but the Beings of a Summer's Day,
Have held the Scale of Justice, shook the Lance
Of mighty War, then with defcending Hand,
Unus'd to little Delicacies, feiz'd

The Plow, and greatly independent liv'd.

Spring, ver. 48.

The

The next to the Supreme Being, as the Soul of Vegetation --

HAIL, MIGHTY BEING! UNIVERSAL SOUL Of Heav'n and Earth! ESSENTIAL PRESENCE, bail!

To THEE I bend the Knee; to THEE my Thoughts
Continual climb; who, with a Master-Hand,
Haft the great Whole into Perfection touch’d.
By THEE, the various vegetative Tribes,
Wrap'd in a filmy Net, and clad with Leaves,
Draw the live Æther, and imbibe the Dew.
By THEE, &c..

Spring, ver. 509.

His next is in recommending a vegetableDiet, and describing the Cruelty of feeding on Animals --

Shall MAN, fair Form! Who wears fweet Smiles, and looks erect on Heav'n, E'er ftoop to mingle with the prowling Herd, And dip his Tongue in Blood? Alas! ye Flocks, What have ye done? ye peaceful People, what, To merit Death? You, who have giv❜n us Milk In luscious Streams, and lent us your own Coat Against the Winter's Cold? whofe Usefulness In living only lies. And the plain Ox, That harmless, bonest, guileless Animal, In what has be offended? He, whofe Toil, Patient, and ever-ready, clothes the Fields With all the Pomp of Harveft; fhall be bleed, And wrestling groan beneath the cruel Hands

Even of the Clowns he feeds? Spring, ver. 402.

F

Another

Another to Light, while he defcribes the Sun rifing

BUT yonder comes the powerful King of Day,
Rejoicing in the East,—and burnish'd plays
OnRocks, and Hills, andTowers, and wandering Streams,
Higb-gleaming from afar. Prime chearer Light!
Of all material Beings first, and best!

Efflux divine! Nature's refplendent Robe!
Without whofe vefting Beauty all were wrap'd

In uneffential Gloom, &c.

Summer, ver. 80.

Another to the chief Architect--

HOW fhall I then attempt to fing of Him,
Whofe fingle Smile bas, from the first of Time,
Fill'd, overflowing, all thofe Lamps of Heav'n,
That beam for ever thro' the boundless Sky?
But fhould be hide his Face, th' aftonish'd Sun,
And all th' extinguish'd Stars, would loofening reel
Wide from their Spheres, and Chaos come again.
And yet was every faultering Tongue of Man,
Almighty Poet! filent in thy Praise;
Thy matchless Works in each exalted Line,
And all the full barmonic Univerfe,-
Would vocal, or expreffive, thee atteft,
The Caufe, the Glory, and the End of all.

Summer, ver. 177.

Another to Husbandmen, recommending Charity in Harvest

--

BEHIND the Master walks, builds up the Shocks;
And, confcious, glancing oft this Way and that
His fated Eye, feels his Heart heave with Joy.

The

The Gleaners fpread around, and here and there,
Spike after Spike, their sparing Harvest pick.
Be not too narrow, Husbandmen! but fling
From the full Sheaf, with charitable Stealth,
The liberal Handful. Think, ob! grateful, think!
How good the God of Harveft is to you;
Who pours Abundance o'er your flowing Fields;
While thefe unhappy Partners of your Kind
Wide-bover round you, like the Fowls of Heav'n,
And ask their humble Dole. The various Turns
Of Fortune ponder; that your Sons may want
What now with hard Reluctance, faint, ye give..
Autumn, ver. 174.

The next to the Almighty, a Prayer worthy a Rational Creature! --

FATHER of Light and Life! thou Good fupreme!
O teach me what is good! teach me thyself!
Save me from Folly, Vanity, and Vice,
From every low purfuit! and feed my Soul
With Knowledge, confcious Peace, and Virtue pure,
Sacred, fubftantial, never-fading Blifs!
Winter, ver. 199.

The laft I fhall produce, is his Addrefs to Infidels concerning the Soul of the great Sir ISAAC NEWTON, departed -

AND you, ye hopeless gloomy-minded Tribe!
You who, unconscious of thofe nobler Flights
That reach impatient at immortal Life,
Against the prime endearing Privilege
Of Being dare contend, fay, can a Sout
F 2

Of fuch extenfive, deep, tremendous Powers,
Enlarging ftill, be but a finer Breath
Of Spirits dancing thro' their Tubes a while,
And then for ever loft in vacant Air!

I am, S IR,

Ver. 163.

Your's, &c.

LETTER VII.

SIR,

Holt, June 3.

LEST by my laft, you should think I wander too far from my Author, I now re

turn---

LONGINUS in SECTION XVII. fays that Figures and Sublimity stand mutually in need of each other, and hints that it is not the bare Ufe of Figures that can cause Sublimity in Stile, but the proper Management of them. Because Figures may be imperfect various ways-

FIGURES, unnatʼral, fenfeless, too-fine-fpun, Over-adorn'd, affected, copious, sbun.

IN SECTION XVIII. he treats of EROTESIS, or Interrogation, a Figure very useful to fix the Attention of our Auditors.

Mr. THOMSON has very Sublime Ones.

Thus he afcribes the various Inftinct in Animals to Divine Providence --

WHAT is this MIGHTY BREATH, ye Curious, fay, Which, in a Language rather felt than beard,

4

Inftructs