Oldalképek
PDF
ePub
[ocr errors]

Geodes Family
4-29-32

THE LIFE OF

JAMES THOMSON.

Ir is commonly faid that the life of a good writer is beft read in his works, which can scarce fail to receive a peculiar tincture from his temper, manners, and habits: the diftinguishing character of his mind, his ruling paffion, at least, will there appear undisguised. But however juft this obfervation may be, and altho' we might fafely reft Mr. Thomson's fame as a good man, as well as a man of genius, on this fole footing, yet the defire which the public always fhews of being more particularly acquainted with the hiftory of an eminent author ought not to be disappointed, as it proceeds not from mere curiofity, but chiefly from affection and gratitude to thofe by whom they have becn entertained and instructed.

To give fome account of a deceased friend is often a piece of juftice, likewise, which ought not to be refused to his memory, to prevent or efface the impertinent fictions which officious biographers are foapt to collect and propagate : and we may add, that the circumftances of an author's life will fometimes throw the beft light upon his writings, in:stances whereof we fhall meet with in the following pages.

Mr. Thomfon was born at Ednam, in the shire of Roxburgh, on the 11th of September, in the year 1700. His father, minifter of that place, was but little kaown

beyond the narrow circle of his co-prefbyters, and to a few gentlemen in the neighbourhood, but highly respected by them for his piety and his diligence in the paftoral duty, as appeared afterwards in their kind offices to his widow and orphan family.

The reverend Meffrs. Riccarton and Gufthart particularly, took'a most affectionate and friendly part in all their concerns. The former, a man of uncommon penetration and good tafte, had very early difcovered, through the rudeness of young Thomson's puerile effays, a fund of genius well deferving culture and encouragement: he undertook, therefore, with the father's approbation, the chief direction of his ftudies, furnished him with the proper books, corrected his performances, and was daily rewarded with the pleafure of seeing his labour fo happily employed.

The other reverend gentleman, Mr. Gufthart, who is ftill living *, one of the minifters of Edinburgh, and fenior of the Chapel-Royal, was no lefs ferviceable to Mrs. Thomson in the management of her little affairs, which, after the decease of her husband, burdened as fhe was with a family of nine children, required the prudent counfels and affiftance of that faithful and generous friend.

[ocr errors]

Sir William Bennet likewife, well known for his gay humour and ready poetical wit, was highly delighted with our young Poet, and used to invite him to pals This life was firft publifhed in the year 1762.

the fummer vacation at his country-feat, a fcene of life which Mr. Thomson always remembered with particular pleasure: but what he wrote during that time, either to entertain Sir William and Mr. Riccarton, or for his own amufement, he deftroyed every new-year's day, committing his little pieces to the flames in their due order, and crowning the folemnity with a copy of verses, in which were humourously recited the feveral grounds of their condemnation.

After the ufual course of school education, under an able mafter at Jedburgh, Mr. Thomson was fent to the University of Edinburgh: but in the second year of his admiffion, his ftudies were for fome time interrupted by the death of his father, who was carried off fo fuddenly, that it was not possible for Mr. Thomson, with all the diligence he could ufe, to receive his laft bleffing. This affected him to an uncommon degree, and his relations ftill remember fome extraordinary inftances of his grief and filial duty on that occafion.

Mrs. Thomson, whofe maiden name was Hume, and who was co-heirefs of a fmall eftate in the country, did not fink under this misfortune. She confulted her friend Mr. Gufthart, and having, by his advice, mortgaged her moiety of the farm, repaired with her fa mily to Edinburgh, where the lived in a frugal decent manner, till her favourite fon had not only finished his academical courfe, but was even diftinguished and patronized as a man of genius. She was, herself, a

perfon of uncommon natural endowments, poffeffed of every focial and domestic virtue, with an imagination for vivacity and warmth fcarce inferior to her fon's, and which raised her devotional exercises to a pitch bordering on enthusiasm.

But whatever advantage Mr. Thom fon might derive from the complexion of his parent, it is certain he owed much to a religious education; and that his early acquaintancewith theSacred Writings contributed greatly to that fublime by which his works will be for ever diftinguifhed. In his first pieces, the Seasons, we fee him at once affume the majestic freedom of an Eaftern writer, feizing the grand images as they rife, clothing them in his own expressive language, and preserving, throughout, the grace, the variety, and the dignity, which belong to a just compofition, unhurt by the ftiffness of formal method.

About this time the ftudy of poetry was become general in Scotland, the best English authors being univerfally read, and imitations of them attempted. Addifon had lately difplayed the beauties of Milton's immortal work, and his Remarks on it, together with Mr. Pope's celebrated Essay, had opened the way to an acquaintance with the best poets and critics.

But the most learned critic is not always the beft judge of poetry, tafte being a gift of Nature, the want of which Ariftotle and Boffu cannot fupply, nor even the ftudy of the beft originals, when the reader's fa

culties are not tuned in a certain confonance to thofe of the poet; and this happened to be the cafe with certain learned gentlemen into whose hands a few of Mr. Thomson's first effays had fallen. Some inaccuracies of style, and thofe luxuriancies which a young writer can hardly avoid, lay open to their cavils and cenfure; fo far, indeed, they might be competent judges, but the fire and enthusiasm of the poet had entirely efcaped their notice. Mr. Thomson, however, conscious of his own ftrength, was not difcouraged by this treatment, especially as he had fome friends, on whose judgment he could better rely, and who thought very differently of his performances: only, from that time, he began to turn his views towards London, where works of genius may always expect a candid reception and due encouragement; and an accident foon after entirely determined him to try his fortune there.

The divinity chair at Edinburgh was then filled by the reverend and learned Mr. Hamilton, a gentleman univerfally respected and beloved, and who had particularly endeared himself to the young divines under his care by his kind offices, his candour and affability. Our Author had attended his lectures for about a year, when there was prescribed to him, for the fubject of an exercise, a pfalm in which the power and majesty of God are celebrated. Of this pfalm he gave a paraphrase and illustration, as the nature of the exercife required,

« ElőzőTovább »