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5. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zaob Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 74-3229 LEGASSE, James Joseph, 1947- "THIS DARK STATE": JAMES THOMSON'S CRITICAL -SATIRICAL RESPONSE TO THE LITERARY AND POLITICAL DELINQUENCY OF THE 1720fS AND 1730'S. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1973 Language and Literature, general

University Microfilms, A XEROX Company , Ann Arbor, Michigan

© Copyright by James Joseph Legasse 1973 "THIS DAHK STATE"i JAMES THOMSON'S CRITICAL-SATIHICAL RESPONSE TO THE LITERARY AND POLITICAL DELINQUENCY OP THE 1720'S AND 1?30*S

DISSERTATION

Presented In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy In the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By James Joseph Legasse, B.A., M.A. * ■* * *

The Ohio State University 1973

Reading Committeet Approved By Edward P. J. Corbett Arthur Efland 4 s w o w ______A. E. Wallace Maurer Adviser Department of English Betty Sutton ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank all who saw me through this project* Professor John B. Gabelv who helped me procure an Ohio State University Travel Grant so I could conduct my read­ ing and research at the British Museumt Professors Edward P. J* Corbett and Betty Sutton, who, as careful readers of my thesis, offered me their astute criticism and generous support; Professor A. E. Wallace Maurer, my adviser, who provided the inspiration, motivation, and direction to get me through some of the more wearisome moments of the year; and Margaret Glockner-Hartshorn, a dear friend, who read the roughest of my rough drafts, I only wish that my project (which, I suspect, will remain at an ln-prog- ress stage for a while) reflected the intelligence and precision of the work of my advisors, teachers, and friends^ who contributed greatly to my understanding of literature, scholarship, teaching, and myself.

ii VITA

June 22, 19^7 • • • Borm Cohoes, New York 1 9 6 9...... B • A • f Siena College, Loudonville, New York 1969-1973 • • • • • University Fellow, The Ohio State University 197 2 . H. A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 197 3 . Ph.D., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

AREAS OF STUDY

Major Area 1 Restoration and Eighteenth Century Literature Minor Areass Studies in Renaissance and Nineteenth Cen­ tury Literature Special Areat Greek, Roman and English Satire

111 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... li VITA ...... Ill INTRODUCTION ...... 1 Chapter I. THOMSON* S PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENTI THE SHAPING OF HIS CRITICAL-SATIRICAL TEM­ PERAMENT ...... 14 II. PATRONAGE, PROFESSIONALISM, AND POLITICS I THE PARAMETERS OF THOMSON'S CRITICAL REACH . 70 III. "THIS DARK STATE"! THOMSON*S WORLD VIEW AND THE STRATEGY OF HIS CRITICAL IMPULSE IN THE SEASONS ...... 122 IV. "KIND, WELL-TEMPERED SATIRE"* THE IDEN­ TIFICATION AND BACKGROUND OF THE PARODIC ELEMENTS IN THOMSON'S THE SEASONS...... 176 V. "THE WHOLESOME WINDS OF OPPOSITION"! THE INFLUENCE OF DISSIDENT WHIG THOUGHT ON JAMES THOMSON'S EDITORIAL TRAGEDIES...... 223 VI. EPILOGUE ...... 275 APPENDIX A ...... 281 B ...... 282 C ...... 284 A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED...... 28?

iv Enough for us to know that this dark state* In wayward passions lost and vain pursuits* This infancy of being* cannot prove The final Issue of the works of God* By boundless love and perfect wisdom formed* And ever rising with the rising mind. (‘•Summer*** 1800-05)

v

* INTRODUCTION

All you learn, and all you can read, will be of little use. If you do not think and reason upon it yourself. One reads to know other people's thoughtsi but if we take them upon trust, without explaining and comparing them with our own. It is really living upon other people's scraps, or retailing other people's goods. To know the thoughts of others is of use, because it suggests thoughts to one's self, and helps one to form a judgment» but to repeat other people's thoughts, without considering whether they are right or wrong, is the talent only of a parrot, or at most a player. — Philip Dormer Stanhope

George Buffon, an eighteenth-century French natural­ ist, claimed that "style is the man himself"* critics since Buffon, particularly psycho—linguists, have con­ curred i style Is the impress of a writer's personality upon his subject. Even Patrick Murdoch, James Thomson's first biographer, indicated his awareness of this basic critical principlei "The life of a good writer," he said, "Is best read in his works, which can scarce fail to re­ ceive a peculiar tincture from his temper, manner, and habitsi the distinguishing character of his mind, his ruling passions, will there appear undisguised."1. Though

1 the premise that the habit of one,s mind is inextricably and unavoidably related to the manner of one’s expression seems inviolable, its application has engendered many a serious critical error* James Thomson’s life and work is a case in point* His biographers and critics have persisted in viewing the man exclusively as that amiable, apolitical, generous literary freak, who saw the natural world in a fresh and novel fashion through the rose-colored glasses of Shaftes- burian benevolence and optimism* they claim, therefore, that his writing is exclusively lyrical, musically re­ cording the observations of an insouciant soul at peace with himself and his world. I maintain, however, that, given his peculiar tincture of mind, his work is also critical and satirical« not that Thomson was consistently indignant or that his work is always critical, only that, like all men, and particularly the professional writers of his day, he too had moments of exasperation, when he was compelled to ask Juvenal’s questions* Semper ego auditor tantum? numoue reponam * * * * and that such spots in time mark at least the rem substratum of Thomson’s canon* What his biographers and critics fall to realize is that Thomson’s personality (as it is manifested in his poetry, prose, and drama) easily accommodated the seeming­ ly distinct temperaments of the lyrical naturalist, appre­ ciative of the present, and the analytical satirist and critic* skeptical of the "achievements'* of the present when they are seen in relation to the glories of the past* The poet as lyrical painter of nature* the primary charac­ terization of Thomson since Wordsworth*s observations on The Seasons ("Essay, Supplementary to the Preface," 1815)» o has been more than adequately presented* No one, to my knowledge, however, has ever explored either his critical or satirical personality, which led him to be, at times, purposely somber or seemingly Jovial, either criticizing the foibles of his political foes or burlesquing the tri­ fles of his literary adversaries* Thomson’s biographers and critics are at fault in misrepresenting him unduly* They have all treated the poet too narrowly, the biogra­ phers out of friendship or lack of generosity, and the critics out of unconcern or reductive Judgment* Among the biographers, for example, Patrick Murdoch wanted to assist in glorifying his friend and fellow Scotsman* Since he assumed that the nonpartisan writer would be more readily loved and esteemed than the likes of a Pope or Swift, Irascible as they could sometimes be, Murdoch slanted his recollections of Thomson and selected only those facts which present the poet in the most flat­ tering manner* Murdoch admitted that it was difficult to be Just in relating the life of a "deceased friend" 1 he could not, therefore, adequately check his feelings for the man who, he unflinchingly states, possessed "amiable If virtues."^ His biography, as a result, eulogizes Thomson to the point of deification* the poet is no less than the h, embodiment of "a divine temper of mind,” Murdoch's relationship with Thomson, I suspect, pre­ vented him from seeing the poet in the clear light of dis­ interestedness. In a letter to Duncan Forbes of Culloden, Murdoch reveals lack of objectivity, an unpardonable trait in biographers. Murdoch, a decade before the appearance of his "Life,” effusively wrote* "We have lost, my dear Forbes, our old, tryed, amiable, open, and honest-hearted Thomson, whom we never parted from unwillinglyi and never met but with fresh transport? whom we found ever the same delightful companion, the faithful depository of our in­ most thoughts, and the same sympathising adviser • • • • Let us cherish the memory of our dear friend, profit by the Immutable lessons he has left us? and love one another with that affection which united . . . his bosom friends I do not wish to imply that Murdoch was not responding to certain qualities of Thomson's mind and art? I object only to his myopic view of the man, who was not, as he sug­ gests, forever the affable, tender-minded Thomson. The fact that Thomson's biographer "corrected” his poetry in a posthumous edition, blotting out the "uncharacteristic” passages, suggests that his "Life" is suspect, since it too exposed only what Murdoch's biased opinion of the poet and his work wished to expose.^ 5 Murdoch.* s opinion or Thomson was shared by at least two ol* the poet's contemporaries* one or them not a biog­ rapher* Collins* "An Ode on the Death or Mr* Thomson" perpetuates Murdoch's limited view or the poet* Dubbing him "meek nature's chiid,"? Collins Implies that Thomson was drawn to the contemplative rather than the active lirei that he would sooner have walked bareroot in St* James' Park than engage in the literary and political de­ bates which were raging In his lifetime.® Xn 1777 * John More similarly relt that Thomson's work displays "the ami­ able benignity of a heart happily alive to every impulse 9 of humanity” * that also is certainly neither a valid summation of a social critic nor a full analysis of Thom­ son* the complex man, the whole man* Nineteenth-century biographers uncritically accepted this narrow conception of Thomson's personal temperament and professional disposition* In the first sentence of his lecture on Thomson, for example, William Hazlitt warmly calls the poet "the kind-hearted Thomson" and later he refers to Thomson's "inoffensive goodness of disposi­ tion*"^ Likewise, George Gllfillan says of Thomson that "no one was ever more cordially beloved* He seems to have been a being totally destitute of malice or guile, firm in his attachments, generous to his friends and foes alike*"*1 Toward the end of the century, William Michael Bossettl, who did the notoriously inaccurate biography of his broth- er, Dante Gabriel, also tells us that Thomson was "free from all literary Jealousies or malignityi and preserved an unruffled temper • • • •"12 Not all biographers, however, have been friends to Thomson* In what must be the most denigrating study done on Thomson, G. L, Strachey mocks the poet, who he feels was either helplessly Insipid or hopelessly simple. This biographer, unlike Murdoch, selects only those anecdotes which cast aspersions on Thomson's genius. He describes Thomson as "the good-natured, easy going, comfortable Jemmy Thomson," who "when his watch was stolen merely ob­ served? 'Pshaw, I am glad they took it from me, it was never good for anything , • * ,'m13 Only Dr, Johnson's "Life of Thomson" rivals Strachey's in the lack of gener­ osity shown to the poet of The Seasons, Johnson, however, at least concedes genius to Thomson, though he is always ready to see him as eccentric and Indolent, But even the great Doctor, who was never a fan of Scottish adventurers, erred in Judgment, He failed to understand, for example, why one of Thomson's plays, Edward and Eleonora, should be banned from the stage. Either Johnson was unable to rec­ oncile the congenial (lyrical) with the indignant (criti­ cal) Thomson, or he never read the play. Certainly, Dr, Johnson failed to realize that Thomson was more than an innovative naturalist and painterly poet. Critics, too, have failed to recognize the Janus in Thomson* And even in the twentieth century, when criti­ cism is both a science and an art, they have overlooked his psychological and literary complexities. Morris Golden typically says that "Thomson seems to have been the least alienated writer of his times*"*** His statement im­ plies a hierarchy of hostile writers, but he does not make the comparison exact by saying, for instance, that Thom­ son was less alienated than Pope (if that is true, and I do not believe it is). Furthermore, the fact that Profes­ sor Golden makes his statement tentative suggests, like the criticism of other Thomson scholars, either his uncer­ tainty or his unconcern* Other critics, with the possible exception of Ralph Cohen, are reductive in their Judgment of Thomson* Like most critics, Patricia Meyer Spacks is content with the opinions, limited as they are, of Thomson’s friends and associates* Thus she confidently says that "according to the evidence of his contemporaries, the poet was amiable, pliable, ^and7 possessed of no very strong convictions• "*-* Because of this view of Thomson, Ms* Spacks Insists that he is a Pre-Romantici she implies that the Thomson "of no very strong convictions" is not of the early eighteenth century when convictions resulted in public (or as she says, "external") poetry, the literature of non-self, but of the nineteenth when the exercise of the imagination produced private (or "internal") poetry, the literature of self*1^ But the view of Thomson as- anachronism Is not en­ tirely satisfying* so critics look elsewhere than to the nineteenth century to discover the essential Thomson* Some see Shaftesbury providing the key**-? others, Isaac Newton*1® they too, however, "still make the whole depend upon a part•" Only Ralph Cohen admits that at least The Seasons is a product of Its age« "First and foremost," he emphasizes, "The Seasons is an Augustan poem, sharing with the major poetry of the period, an awareness of the valued past, the corruption of this past in the present, the limited nature of human life, and the faith that a better life exists be­ yond 'this dark state* ("Summer," 1800)*m19 Professor Cohen’s contribution to Thomson scholarship is great, thus far unsurpassed* I regret, however, that the scope of his project included only The Seasons (a substantial project in itself, I admit) and not Thomson*s other poetry, as well as his prose and plays, which have been long Ignored, yet readily confirm that he was Augustan in thought and temperament, X also regret that Professor Cohen's method was almost exclusively explication de texte* Again, I admit that his close reading allowed him to make important discoveries as to the texture of The Seasons and to cor­ rect Dr* Johnson's charge that the poem lacks design* but the nature of new criticism, unfortunately, slights cru­ cial biographical and socio-historical data which, X be— 9 lleve, greatly add to understanding of Thomson*s canon* Finally, I must confess disappointment in one of Professor Cohen*s conclusions* After 'brilliantly examining the image patterns of the poem and arguing that it is organ­ ically unified, he reverts to the time-worn theory that Thomson*s Shaftesburian vision "evolves sentiments of beauty, sublimity, and benevolism" and didactically leads men "to believe in, to love, and to fear God*s power,"20 This view of Thomson, 1 maintain, is limitedi its emphasis is upon the philosophy of Shaftesbury, who no doubt influ­ enced Thomson, but so too did Pope and his coterie. Their immediate influence, I feel, was greatest in shaping Thom­ son's moral vision and in determining both his profession­ al ethics and the direction of his career, M(y purpose, therefore, is to correct that view of Thomson which has been perpetuated by his biographers and his critics, and to show that he was neither the literary anomaly his biographers thought him to be, nor exclusively the Pre-Romantic, Shaftesburian, or Newtonian that his critics labelled him* 1 Intend to augment Professor Cohen's studyi to discuss Thomson's complete canon, to rely heavily upon both Internal and external evidence, and to prove that his temperament was Augustan, that he was actively involved in censuring the professional authors and politicians of "this dark state" ("Summer," 1800), and that his work, consequently, is not only lyrical but also critical and satirical. ENDNOTES

Patrick Murdoch^ "Life of Thomson," an introductory essay to The Works of James Thomson (London, 1788), I, 111* The essay first appeared in 1762# 2 For the most representative critics of this school, see the followingi Hoxie Neale Fairchild, Religious Trends In English Poetry (New York* Columbia University Press, 1959)V 1» 515 ff •i J. H. Hagstrum, "James Thomson,” Sister Artsi The Tradition of Literary Plctorlallsm and English Poetry from Dr.yden to Gray (Chicagot University of Chicago Press, 1958 ) , pp• 244-267 i Ralph Williams, "Thom­ son and Dyer* Poet and Painter," Pone and His Contempora­ ries* Essays Presented to George Sherburn. eds* J. L. Clifford and L. A* Landa (Oxford* Clarendon Press, 1949)* pp. 215-219* 3 Murdoch, "Life," xxlli. ^ Ibid. 3 Memoirs of Sir Andrew Mitchell (Londons Chapman and Hall, 1850), p. 38. ^ See John Edwin Wells, "Thomson*s Seasons 'Corrected and Amended,'" JEGP. 42 (1943)* 104-114. ? James Thomson, The Seasons. Odes. Songs, and Hymns (London, 1882), p. xxill. g Thomson himself, on the other hand, indicated that he was actively involved in the affairs of his country. In a letter to George Dodington, dated October 24, 1730, Thomson writes* "But not to travel /on the continent with Lord Talbot's son/ entirely like a poet, I resolve not to neglect the more prosaic advantages of it /His trip7i for it is no less my ambition to be capable of serving my country in an active than a contemplative way." See James Thomson (1700-48)* Letters and Documents (Lawrence * Uni­ versity of Kansas Press, 1958), p. 74• 9 John More, Strictures.Critical and Sentimental, on 11 12 Thomson's Seasons (London, 1777)■» P« 114. William Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets (New York i Russell and Russell, rpt • 1968), p. George Gllflllan, Thomson*s Poetical Works (Lon­ dons James Nisbet and Co., 1 8 5 3), p. xvi. *2 The Poetical Works of James Thomson, edited with a critical memoir by William Michael Rossetti (Londons £• Moxon, ^n.dL*?), p. xvii. 13 Strachey, *" "The Poetry of Thomson," Suectatorlal Essays (Harcourt, 1968), p. 154. 1 it Golden, "The Imaging Self In the Eighteenth Cen­ tury," Eighteenth-Century Studies. 3 (1 9 6 9), 13* Spacks, The Varied Gods A Critical Study of Thomson’s The Seasons (Berkeleys University of California Press, 1959)f University of California Publications. #21, P* 5* Ms. Spacks* definition of "romantic" or "pre- Romantic" Is based primarily on evidence of the poet's re­ liance on that faculty of mind, the imagination, which allows him "to see" the physical world, and "to see"— a very crucial verb In The Seasons, as she points out— both the beauty and splendor of Its creation. She feels that the impulse to extract meaning from, or to Impose meaning on, the disparate elements of creation Is the essence of Thomson's vision. "The poet's vision," she claims, "Is more significantly internal than external." See "Vision and Meaning in James Thomson," Studies in Romanticism. 4 (1965)# 206-219* See, for example, William E. Alderman, "Shaftes­ bury and the Doctrine of Benevolence in the Eighteenth Century," Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sci­ ences. Arts, and Letters~i 26 (1931 ) • 137"159 l Alfred 0. Aldridge, "Lord Shaftesbury's Literary Theories," PC£, 24 (1945)» 44-64* Robert Marsh, "Shaftesbury's Theory of Poetry1 The Importance of 'Inward Colloquy,'" ELH. 28 (1961), 54-69t 0* A. Moore, "Shaftesbury and the Ethical Poets in England, 1700-60," PMLA, 31 (1916), 264-232. See Alan D. McKlllop, The Background of The Sea­ sons (Minneapolis 1 University of Minnesota Press, 1942), as well as Herbert Drennon's articles* "James Thomson's . Contact with Newtonianism and his Interest in Natural Philosophy.," PMLA. 49 (1 9 3 4), 71-80* ’’Scientific Rational­ ism and James Thomson's Poetic Art," SP, 3 1 (1934), 453- 4-71 f ”James Thomson's Ethical Theory and Scientific Ra­ tionalism,” P£, 14 (1935), 70-821 "Newtonianlsm in James Thomson's Poetry,” ES, 70 (1936), 358-372• 20 Ibid,, p. 3. THOMSON•S PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT* THE SHAPING OF HIS CRITICAL-SATIRICAL TEMPERAMENT

^W7hy I lift aloft the satire's rod, And tread the path which famed Lucillus trod, Attend the causes which my muse have led. — Dryden, Juvenal. Sat. I /G/reat contemporaries whet and culti­ vate each other. — Dryden, Discourse Con­ cerning Satire

Correcting the Inaccurate view of Thomson as the In­ souciant naif by establishing the fact that he had a crit­ ical-satirical side begins most profitably by delineating his professional relationships with his literary foes and friends. Like all writers of his era, Thomson encountered criticism from men attempting to denigrate his work and impair his career. His experiences with adverse criticism compelled him to retaliate In kind, allowing him to devel­ op the tough-mlndedness necessary to his profession. Thom­ son's responses to his critics reveal not only the breadth of his critical reach, but also the depth of his under­ standing as to the role of a bona fide artist in society. His animosity toward his critics, his exasperation over what he perceived as the declining state of eighteenth- century letters, and his inviolable code of professional 1^ 15 ethlos, led him inevitably to Pope's camp. He accepted not only Pope#s friendship, but also, and more importantly, his moral and critical point of viewi he consequently Joined Pope's coalition against the ubiquitous dunces, particularly the clientele at Button*s. This movement, away from what he saw as the forces threatening literature toward Pope and his coterie, 1 maintain, was crucial to the direction taken by Thomson's career and instrumental in shaping his critical-satirical temperament, his Augustan habit of mind# Thomson emigrated to London from Ednam in 1725l on arrival, he was penniless and shoeless# His letters of reference had been stolen, and he was at the mercy of the town, then swarming with destitute writers willing to do in any prospective rival In order to be recognized# To survive, Thomson had to be as resourceful and circumspect as possible# He entered competition with ruthless men who were willing to show their teeth as soon as he showed his first poem, "Winter#" Murdoch claims that the first installment of The Sea­ sons "was no sooner read than universally admired#"'*’ His assertion, however, is inaccurate# Thomson*s first poetic enterprise elicited criticism from a fellow Scotsman,. Joseph Mitchell# The event ignited Thomson's rage and provoked his critical temperament# It also conditioned him to expect more of the same and to give petty criticism 16 Its just retribution. Most Importantly, however, It gave Impetus to the clarification of his convictions concerning the function of poetry and the tone that satire should assume• The Oracle, a late eighteenth-century periodical, carried the following anecdote relating Thomson*s Initial confrontation with Mitchelli When this ingenious and excellent man first produced his Winter, it was natural for him to submit his production to the opinion of men whom he valued, and gratify himself with friendly praise. He therefore sent his poem to a Mr. Joseph Mitchell, a critic probably never thus publicly commemorated. He re­ turned it with a friendly distich, which contained a falsehood on the face of it, and no little envy behind. "Beauties and faults so thick lie scattered here*/ Those I could read, if these were not so near.” Our poet answered this with great sarcastic readiness and justice* Why not all faults injurious Mitchell? Why Appears one beauty to thy blasted eye? Damnation worse than thine, if worse can be, ? Is all I ask, and all I want from thee. The fact that Thomson altered his reference to Mitchell's eye disease, his "blasted eye," to read his "blasting eye," was a significant revision* the effect, pronounced though less vituperative, suggests that Thomson was oper­ ating on the assumption that criticism should not, and need not, be mercilessly malicious. "Satire," as he says in his letters, "/ist7 a remedy the age much wants," but in order to distinguish it from the reams of invective 17 written by hacks, it must, as lie admitted, be "executed with a good design, public spirit, and success Thomson's short epigram did meet with success in si­ lencing Mitchell* Thomson, hardly "meek nature's child,” moreover, continued to rail against his first critic, both privately in his letters and publicly in his poetry* In a letter to David Mallet, also a poet and a fellow Scotsman, Thomson again expresses his animosity toward Mitchell* He includes him in a list of other dunces and "damn/s/ them to the lowest depths of poetical Tophet, prepared of old for Mitchell * * • • "**' And, in his poem "To the Memory of Mr* Congreve, Thomson paints a highly unfavorable por­ trait of Mitchelli Now meaner Cenus, trivial with design, Courts poor applause by levity of face. And scorn of serious thought* to mischief prompt. Though Impotent to wound* profuse of wealth Yet friendless and unloved* vain, flattering, false, A vacant head, and ungenerous heart*® The method of Thomson's satire is noteworthy* by not naming Mitchell, Thomson attacks the type, not the man* Several reasons underlie the poet's predilection for oblique criticism* He realized that his position in the profession was still Insecure * to incur Mitchell's wrath would have made Thomson run the risk of inviting a counter­ attack, which may have proved detrimental to the fulfill­ ment of his professional aspirations* Thomson also real­ ized that he could communicate his conception of artist as 18 Inspirational leader more readily by commending the "pub­ lic name" and "private worth" of* Congreve than by con­ demning# at great length# the likes of* Joseph Mitchell* Thomson's motive# therefore# was to remain divorced from an eye-for-an-eye notion of poetic Justice, because such an attitude would have rendered him as irresponsible and immoral as the object of his attack* Though Thomson's criticism is oblique# several innu­ endoes indicate that he is alluding to Mitchell, and# in so doing, he reveals his reasons for his hostility toward Mitchell* Thomson despised Mitchell primarily because he viewed him as a literary prostitute* Mitchell's only motive in writing was to make money. His conviction con­ cerning art can be simply stated* if the poem pleases, write iti if it sells, so much the better* Like "meaner Cenus," "friendless and unloved," Mitchell's friendship was accepted only by his patrons, the Earl of Stair and Sir Robert Walpole, "on the latter of whom," as Baker re­ minds us, "/Mitchelly? was for a great part of his life al­ most entirely dependent• "? They alone found him to be somewhat tolerable, because he supported them in their political campaigns. Known as "Bob's poet," Mitchell courted not only the Minister's applause but also that of anyone who could remunerate him for his poetic trifles. Douglas Grant cites an astonishing letter suggestive of Mitchell's lack of integrity. "Mitchell," writes Grant, 19 "scraped-up a living by composing elegies upon the recent dead which he presented to their mourning relatives* A curious letter exists In which he begged Sir John Cleric of Penicuik to accept some verses upon the death of his son •as a token of my respect to the memory of the youth I so much valued* Such as they are* they wait on you* and* be­ lieve it* my muse was heartily in sorrow, that inspir'd them, however unworthy they are of your son's merit, and your own perusal.1 This effusion," sneers Grant, "must have earned /Mltchell7 a pound or two."® His work, sneers Thomson, was "vain, flattering, and false." Because Thomson believed that personal morality* should be inextricably bound with professional Integrity, he alludes to Mitchell*s profligacy, reinforcing the con­ cept, expressed by Pope In An Essay on Criticism, that In order to be a writer of distinction, a man needed talent and a sense of moral rectitude. Mitchell had neither. We know from Baker*s Blographlca Dramatics (London, 1812, 5 1 9-5 2 0), which provides our fullest information about Mitchell, that his character was marred by "his fondness for pleasure, and eagerness in the gratification of every irregular appetite," traits which perhaps serve as back- aground to Thomson's accusation that Mitchell "scorn/ed7 . . . serious thought." (As a member of-Walpole's army of hack writers, though, Mitchell would be open to the same accusation.) We also know from Baker why Mitchell, to use 20 Thomson's phrase, was "profuse of wealth"* upon the death of his uncle, several thousand pounds devolved to him," though "he seems not to have been relieved by that acqui­ sition, from the Incumbrances which he laboured under, Baker's observation suggests that even Mitchell's Inheri­ tance could not support his "gratification of every irreg­ ular appetite," Thomson's accusation that Mitchell was "to mischief prompt,/ Though impotent to wound" further alludes both to the man and poet, Thomson's phrases refer specifically to the malevolence Mitchell demonstrated not only in his crit­ icism of "Winter” but also to his treatment of Thomson's friends, George C. Williams, who first indentifled Cenus as Joseph Mitchell, lists Aaron Hill, Thomson's early benefactor, among them.^ Hill helped to establish Mitchell shortly after his trek to London, The poet and playwright charitably relieved Mitchell by writing The Fatal Extravagance, a short play for Mitchell's financial benefit, Thomson's critic, however, did not respond with equal charity toward Hill, "According to the editor of Hill's works in 1 7 6 0," says Williams,'"Hill's kindness gave birth to a base quality his benefactor did not expect to see spring up, instead of gratitude. The once minister /Mitoheli7, on receiving caresses, as a poet became vaim and probably thought that what Mr, Hill had given him he had a right to frame anew, agreeable to his own taste. 21 This he did, and of a good tragedy of two actsv he made a sort of farce of fIvei which not one afterwards disputed being his own.'"11 Thomson*s criticism of Mitchell, as "Impotent to wound," may also refer to Thomson*s belief that Mitchell wrote a series of anonymous articles on the "false sub­ lime" for the British Journal* since the installments ap­ peared shortly after Mitchell*s criticism of "Winter," In a letter to Mallet, who must have been in agreement with Thomson’s criticism of Mitchell, the poet exclaimst "That British Journal of Saturday last is more contemptible than language can express— I suspect ^and he repeats an epithet similar to the one he formerly used to describe his critic7 that Planet-blasted fool Mitchell• Thomson construed these articles as the second round of criticism he had to endure. His reaction to them suggests that he believed strongly enough in his poetic theory to feel that Mitchell, in still another way, was impugning the very essence of literature• For a writer who frequently expressed the importance of the sublime1^ in poetry and who worked to achieve that effect in his Seasons, Thomson could not but readily feel that the Journal was criticising his work, and could not but take that criticism personally. Although the writer of the papers never mentions Thomson, he does Indirectly implicate him. The Journalist states his main objection 22 in the' first paper of the series* Flalse eloquence and false refinements of language are the useful effects of men's being more solicitous about the manner* than the matter of their compositions# By endeavoring at too many excellencies, they are apt to overload their writings with ornament» and lose the decent and beautiful in the monstrous and affected. They take greater care in the colouring than in the limning Zsic7 of a piece, and consequently, provided it be luminous and glowing, are very little concerned about the proportion, harmony, or position of the figure they draw.I1*1 And when the critic went on to castigate young writers of the day, who had the desire, but not the talent to imitate the sublime Milton, Thomson must have felt stung. The poet of The Seasons was too conscious and con­ cerned an artist to take criticism lightly, even the

* mildest. He was always in consultation with the poets of his day, sending off his latest verses to his associates for their advice* he talked and lived his art and worked diligently to correct what he considered inappropriate. The fact that he spent some twenty years revising The Sea­ sons should indicate how seriously he took his craft. Thus, Mitchell*s suggestion that Thomson "would deform /his/ pieces with the drapery of every fantastick mode that happens to prevail"1-5 was a charge he could not en­ dure * Thomson knew that his poetry was substantial in theory and execution, not trendy. But the Journalist#s attack cut even deeper with the insinuation that Thomson would "prejudice us against the truth*How audacious of a Mitchell to impute so dia­ bolical a motive to Thomson* who esteemed poetry so highly that Just a few months before the appearance of these articles he referred to poetry as "the most charming power of imagination* the most exalting force of thought* the most affecting touch of sentiment* • • .the peculiar lan­ guage of heaven I1*1? Thomson felt Justified in venting his spleen against "the planet-blasted Mitchell," whom he sus­ pected as the author of these critical essays* seemingly calculated attempts to impair the reputation of the fledg­ ling poet.1® His altercations with his first critic, therefore* reveal the burgeoning consciousness of a bona fide artist, who could meet criticism with criticism. These altercations had value in strengthening him psycho­ logically and morally, readying him for further profes- . sional trials. Thomson* like most writers of his day* was never free from the criticism of his foes* and another round occurred in the 1730*s, when his plays and Liberty went before the town. His first attempt at drama, in the writing and pro­ duction of Sophonlsba■ followed his rift with Mitchell. A "Mr. T. B." published a pamphlet entitled A Criticism of of the New Sophonlsba in 1730, shortly after Thomson*s play appeared at the Theater-Royal in Drury Lane. T. B. parodied the bombastic style of the play by, for example, altering Thomson's line, "Oh Sophonlsbal Sophonisba OhlH to "Oh Jemmy Thomson! Jemmy Thomson Oh!," a Joke which, according to Theophllus Cibber, was heard from the pit IQ during the first performance of the play, ^ Douglas Grant, in his biography of Thomson, says that the pamphleteer, probably Benjamin Martin, "commented with heavy wit upon all the faults that he could discover in the work."tup o Grant also remarks that a second pamphlet, entitled A De­ fense of the New Sophonisba, "appears to have settled the pi controversy•" That fact, however, has recently been correctedi H. H. Cambell says that the Defense contains an additional fifty pages of "merciless sarcasm on Thomson's play," and indicates the "persistence and viciousness of the critics of Sophonisba, " ^ I have not as yet discovered evidence whether Thom­ son responded to these scurrilous pamphlets, though I am. still searching* A response would have been likely, be­ cause he took dramatic poetry as seriously as lyric and satiric poetry, and he was capable, and ready, to defend his convictions. The fact that all Thomson's plays are tragedies might suggest- that the noble intention under­ lying his dramatic writing involved an analysis of the hu­ man condition and an attempt to create situations which are philosophically lofty in their conception and emotion­ ally powerful in their effect. Nevertheless, these pam- 25 phlets, even if* he did not respond to them, further condi­ tioned him for the difficulty he experienced when the work he was most proud of. Liberty, was attacked. Shortly after Liberty appeared, Isaac Hattkins Browne, a gentleman of law, who expertly parodied the style of Swift, Young, Hill, and others, took Thomson to task in the poem ”On the Praise of Tobacco,” subtitled "Mr, Thom­ son* s Style Imitated,” The disparity between the lofti­ ness of Browne*s style and the banality of his subject creates the comic effect he intended--at Thomson*s ex­ pense, of course, Browne ludicrously rhapsodized! 0 thou, matur*d by glad Hesperian suns. Tobacco! fountain pure of limpid truth, That look*st the very soul* whence pouring thought Swarms all the mind, absorbed in yellow care. And at each puff imagination burns. Flash on thy bard, and with exalting fires Touch the mysterious lip that chaunts thy praise. In strains to mortal sons of earth unknown; Behold an engine wrought from lawny mines • Of ductile clay with plastick virtue form*d And glaz'd magniflc o'er, I grasp, I fil /sic7 From Poetotheke with pungent powers perfum'd. Itself one tortoise all, where lives imbib'd Each parent ray, then rudely ram*d illume With the red touch of zeal enkindling sheet. Mark'd with Glbsonian lore, forth issue clouds Thought-thrilling, thirst inciting clouds around And many-mingling fires; I all the while Lolling at ease, inhale the breezy balm • . . ,23 Thomson neither appreciated the Joke nor remained si­ lent, He retaliated by writing "The Smoker Smok'd,” which appeared anonymously in The Gentleman * s Magazine shortly 26 o k after Browne*s poem was printed. Edmund Malone9 in his edition of Spence's Observations, attributes the anonymous poem to Thomson, but his attribution has been ignored or has remained undiscovered by Thomson's editors over the years, though Alan D, MeKillop accepts the poem as Thom­ son's,2^ To Pope's statement that "Browne is an excellent copyist; and those who take it ill of him are very much in the wrong," Malone addsi "Mr, Thomson did so; and so af­ ter they were printed and published, a warm copy of verses against Mr, Browne appeared, in one of the magazines or newspapers• Dost thou confound the poets in thy ire, Thou man of mighty smoke, but little fire? was one of the distichs in it,"2^ Thomson's poem suggests how easily his fire could be kindled. The poem is noteworthy, however, primarily be­ cause it exhibits his awareness of, and concern for, the state of letters during this period, when puerility was the hallmark of hack writers. His admonition, "First learn to write before you write like any," is central both to the poem and to Thomson's considered thought. There­ fore, Thomson, in response to Browne and his ilk, angrily replied < Still from thy pipe, as dull Tophet, say, Ascends the smoak, for ever and for aye? No end to nasty impolitic breath? Fohl dost thou mean to stink the town to death? ' Wilt thou confound the poets, in thine ire. Thou man of mighty smoak, but little fire? 27 • Apollo bids thee from Parnassus fly, Where not one cloud e'er stain'd his purest sky. Hencet and o'er fat Boeotla roll thy streams! Nor spit and sprawl about the muses streams. These maids celestial, like our earthly fair, Could never yet a filthy sraoaker bear. • Were to that dusky tribe Parnassus free. What clambering* up, what crowding shou'd we see? Good lord, what persons wou'd come bustling In? What foggy politicians, templars, cits! What coffee-house, what ale-house muddy wits! Take this plain lesson, imitating zany! First learn to write, before you write like any. Be cautious, mortal! whom you imitate. And wise, remember vain Soloman’s fate; Thro' Grecian cities he, thro' Ells, drove! And, flashing torches, deem'd himself a Jove. Madman! to think for thunder thus to pass His chariot rattling o'er a bridge of brass, Wrathful at this, from deep surrounding gloom, Th' almighty father seiz'd the forky doomi (No firebrand that, emitting sraoaky light, But with Impatient vengeance fiercely bright) He seized, and hurl'd it on the thundering elf. Who strait vile ahses fell his thunder and himself.2" This poetic endeavor, moreover, did not signal the end of the controversy. Thomson, by this time, was ada­ mant in defending his work against those, unlike himself, who were devastating literature. In 1738, therefore, another poem appeared in The Gentleman's Magazine and was dedicated to "a lady who spoke in defence of Liberty." This dark lady, I believe, was the Countess of Hertford, herself a poet, at one time under his tutelage! H. H. Campbell suggests that she may also have been his mis- tress. The poem entitled "On Tobacco" has never been attributed to Thomson, though I suspect he wrote it, be­ cause, in addition to being signed "T," it employs a 28 simile which closely resembles a comparison Thomson uses in "Spring," dedicated to Lady Hertford. The poet of "On Tobacco" statesi Thy virtues, fair enchantress, I rehearse, And sing thy pyalses in no mimick verse .... Thy virtues known, Arabia boasts no more Her balmy gums, her fragrant spicy store In "Spring," Thomson, extolling the virtues of his love, Amanda (Lady Hertford), similarly sayst . . . Arabia cannot boast A fuller gale of joy than liberal thence Breathless through the sense, and takes the ravished soul. Nor is the mead unworthy of thy foot, Full of fresh verdure and unnumbered flowers, The negligence of nature wide and wild. Where undisguised by mimic art, she spreads Unbounded beauty to the roving eye.30 Both the internal and external evidence, therefore, sug­ gests that Thomson is the author. If he did write "On Tobacco," he thereby demonstrates his propensity to show animosity toward such literary adversaries as Browne and generosity to those who, like Lady Hertford, supported him In his literary endeavors. Thomson's responses to criticism demonstrate the ex­ asperation he felt toward his literary foesj they provide the most overt manifestations of his critical temperament. But his indignation over what he perceived as the demise of eighteenth-century wit, stifled as it was by the Mitchells of the profession. Is further evidenced in his letters. Peppered as they are with the remarks of an 29 Infuriated writer, the letters provide us with a broader context for Thomson's scorn* They also suggest the coin­ cidence of Thomson and Pope's critical attitudes toward hack wrlting--the first of several reasons fox' Thomson's movement toward Pope as his principal ally in guarding the sacredness of literature*

As early as April 22, 1725* in a letter to Sir William Bennet of Grubet, a patron to Thomson and Ramsay, for example, Thomson complainst “I might say witt's at a very low ebb here, and being distributed among so many, not a grain falls to the share of every particular•"31 And on July 20, 1725* after Just six months in London, Thomson was able irately to remark that "as for poetry, she is now a very strumpet and so has lost all her life, and passes herself upon the world for the chaste Heaven ■j? born virgin* Within a year, in fact, the critical Thomson had singled out certain poets who were worthy of his sarcasm. In a curious threatening letter which mentions "Morrice, Hook, Cook, Beckingham, and a long etc,," Thomson tells Mallet, "Whenever I have evidence, or I think I have evi­ dence which is the same thing. I'll be as obstinate as all the mules in Persla*"33 Unfortunately, Thomson's letter- writing style does not provide the key to how, or why, he intends to be "obstinate" with respect to these minor poets* but his statement is characteristic of the strategy 30 and temperament of as great; an eighteenth-century social critic and satirist as Pope, prior to his writing of The Dunelad, Thomson#s attitude, as it is reflected in these let­ ters and In his encounters with hostile oritics, was coin­ cidental with Pope's, Both realized that literature was the underpinning for civilization and to allow a poet to act the "strumpet" was to violate man's responsibility to maintain the best that has been said and thought in the world. Both acknowledged that the poet had a responsi­ bility toward his craft and that the word was sacrosanct and the process of writing poetry at least semlsacramental * Acting upon these convictions. Pope compared the dunces to anti-Christs, since they desecrated art, Thomson, in The Seasons, works on the same assumptions by implying that the poets of the "new-creating word" ("Winter," 10^), share in the creative process of the "Almighty Poet" ("Summer," 1 7 2 7—3 8, 186), Thus, sounding much like Pope, Thomson could argue with Mallet* "But you destroy my whole scheme, by saying, that if they /the dunces/ have not good writing, bad will do as well, and better, A Hurlothrumbo or anything— Evil is their good. Damn their corruption, their low taste, and all their stupid ex- pence • Thomson, as we might therefore expect, took great in­ terest in Pope's program of attack, particularly as it is memorialized in The Duneiadi Pope, after all, was an ex­ pert in being as "obstinate as all the mules in Persia*" Thomson alludes to the final lines of Pope9s poem several times as an apt diagnosis of the state of letters* In April* 1729* writing to Sir William Bennet# Thomson de­ cries the fact that "here the grand world runs the same round of vanity, corruption, and luxury; wit, genius, and learning of every kind decays; wrangling party politics prevail; public spirit is almost extinct; and the great mlllenium of dullness, which Mr, Pope prophesies of in the conclusion of The Dunelad * seems to be fast approaching • • • Because he recognized the aptness of the' final image in The Dunelad. Thomson refers to It in letters of 1730 and 1735* In a letter to Valentine Mumbee, he notes; "All is dull here as wit had never been; and the great Platonic year predicted by The Dunelad in the following six lines, the Millenium of Dullness, seems to be fast ap­ proaching* 9As one by one, at dread Medea9s strain. The sickening stars fade off the etherial plain; As Argus eyes, but Hermes* rod opprest, Clos9d one by one to everlasting rest; So at her felt approach and secret might, Art after art goes out, and all is night And in his letter of 1735 to Dr, William Cranstoun, after commending Letters from a Persian in England to His Friend at Ispahan, a satire by Lyttelton, who was later to become a close friend of Thomson, and Bishop Hoadly*s A Plain 32 Account of the Nature and End of the Sacrament of* the Lord * s Suoner. a polemic in line with the Opposition par­ ty* s attempt to repeal the test a c t » ^ Thomson says, "All bigots roar against it • • • • I wish I could' send you more entertainment of this kinds but a new gothic night seems to be approaching, the Great Year, the Millenium of Dullness. These letters bespeak both Thomson's recognition and his approval of Pope's work— facts which were to make the mighty Pope receptive to Thomson upon meeting him. But the excitement these letters exhibit was displayed by Thomson in a still more significant way* he actually tried his hand at writing verses in the manner of The Dunelad. Using the technique of the mock heroic, he celebrates the repulsiveness of venereal disease, an affliction which Pope alludes to several times throughout his poem, par­ ticularly in his attack on Cur11. Thomson*s short poem has never been included in a collection of his works, al­ though the original is signed in his hand. In fact, only two ooples of the poem exists the signed copy, according to the Earl of Buchan,^ is among the papers of Sir Andrew Mitchell, the co-executor of Thomson's estate, and the other is Interleaved in the 1738 edition of Thomson, which was personally corrected by him. This second copy of the poem has been transliterated into Greek, supposedly to camouflage its obscenity. (See Appendix A for the Greek 33 poem and Appendix B Tor the transliteration.) The Importance of this poem is fourfold. The fact that Thomson only casually revised it and, for obvious reasonst never published it shows that he adhered to his convictions that only satire "executed with good design," not to mention decency, should go before the reading pub­ lic. Even though the poem never appeared in print, how­ ever, it exhibits, as I have said, Thomson*s interest in Pope*s method of attack, as well as his capacity for abu­ siveness when provoked. Even more importantly, however, because it lists Thomson's most abhorred adversaries ("More, Ralph, Theobalds, Welsted, Mitchell, Cook • it demonstrates the breadth of his critical Judgments, providing further evidence that Pope's enemies were also his • Actually, the poem is important for a fifth reason as well. After listing dunces, Thomson makes an omnibus.- statement which further indicates the direction of his orlticlsm. He extends his scorn to the writers "of all the gilded volumes against Pope."*** Thomson, obviously, shared in the literary gossip of the day and must have been aware of the several tracts which denounced Pope— and denounced him in the most brutal of terms. Thomson's statement, however, may have a more pointed reference. "For years /Pope7 had been carefully collecting the vari­ ous attacks upon him," James Sutherland tells us. "He 3<* had even got Tonson to bind them together in six volumes, labelled Curll and Company. Libels on Pope, etc/ 1 * These gilded volumes are now among the holdings of the British

Museum, ^ and they may have been known to Thomson through Pope. This supposition is not unlikely, since, as I have suggested, Thomson met Pope shortly after his emigration to London, and they later became close friends* . The alliance between Pope and Thomson against the literary evils of London society began as early as 1725* when the two men became acquainted* Thomson's meeting with Pope marked the beginning of a personal and profes­ sional relationship. The early overtures made to Pope by Thomson (and his friends) suggest the closeness of this relationship; so too does the information which has come down to us regarding the exchange between the two writers while they were in residence at Richmond. But an identi­ fication of Pope's roles as a follower and participator in Thomson's career and as a defender of his literary endeav­ ors, provides even more substantial evidence of their al­ liance, which was Instrumental in shaping Thomson's crit­ ical temperament, in reinforcing his ethical code, and in moving him from a defensive to an offensive position in the professional arena* Leon Morel, Thomson's first major biographer, records the fact of their meeting; En quelque lieu que se soit, il /Thomson*7 termine le po^me /Wlnter7pendant l'automme 35 do 1725. Tout on poursuivant son travail* 11 s*est cr^e peu a peu de relations dans la societe de la capltale• Aveo Mr* Elliot, dont James lui-meme disait a Cranstoun l'ac- cueil almable, un de ses premiers protec- teurs fut Mr. Duncan Forbes de Culloden* le "lord—advocate *11 que ses fonctions retenaient alors a Londi;es,. aupres du Parlement* II avait vu en Ecosse quelque poesies de son compatrlote* II s'lnteressa clandement & lui* le recu et le fit connaltre a plusieurs de ses amis, grand seigneurs et hommes d'etat* ecrivains illustres, et artistes en vogue 1 le du d'argyle, le Dr. Arbuthnot, Pope, Cay, le pelntre Aikmann avec lequel Thomson sa la d'une etrite amltie’*^ Duncan Forbes probably shared the honor of introducing the young Thomson to such "grand seigneurs" with others of his friends* such as Aaron Hill and David Mallet, who were among Pope's correspondents and devotees at this time*^5 These two minor poets, as well as Thomson, admired Pope and paid homage to him in their work— facts which suggest that they (and particularly Thomson) were of Pope's coterie and, therefore, of his mind. Hill, for example, called Pope the "great Archangel of wit's Heav- en," and Mallet, in the advertisement to "A Verbal Crit­ icism," claims that the poem was undertaken to "bear pub- lL*p lie testimony of his inviolable esteem for Mr. Pope*" f Thomson twice mentions Pope in The Seasons. In 1726 he suggests that his relationship with Pope was more than in its formative stages. Addressing Phoebus, who is Joined by "the Mantuan Swain" (532), "Great Homer" (53^), and "The British Muse," Thomson observes* See on the hallowed hour that none Intrude, 3 6 Save a few chosen friends, who sometimes deign To bless my humble roof, with sense refined. Learning well, exalted faith. Unstudied wit, and humor ever gay. Or from the Muse *s hill will Pope descend, To raise the sacred hour, to bid it smile, And with the social spirit warm the heart Thomson also mentions Pope in his poem "To Dr. De La Court in Ireland," written, according to Grant, to acknowledge Delacour's compliment to Thomson in his "Prospect of Poetry," composed just after Thomson's tour of the conti­ nent.^^ The last lines of the poem commend Pope, while they condemn Ireland, Delacour's homeland* Thy country, Tho* corrupted, brought thee forth, And deemed her greatest ornament* and now Regards thee as her brightest Northern Star. Long may you reign as such; and should grim time With iron teeth, deprive us of our Pope, Then we'll transport thy Blooming laurels fresh Prom your bleak shore to Albion's happier coast.50 A decade after these early overtures, Thomson became Pope's neighbor. In 1736, the poet of The Seasons, who before had either been travelling as tutor to Lord Tal­ bot's son or in residence with one of his several patrons, established permanent residence at Richmond, not far from Pope's Twickenham.- An anecdote has come down to us from the poet Thomas Park which gives information regarding these Richmond neighbors. In October, 1791* Park inter­ viewed Mr. Robertson, who held the position of surgeon to the Royal Hospital at Kew and who was "an intimate friend of Thomson." In answer to Mr. Park's question, "Did Pope often visit Thomson?" Mr, Robertson replied* "Yes, fre­ 37 quently. Pope sometimes said* *Thomson, I'll walk to the end of your garden, and then set off to the bottom of Kew Foot Lane, and back-* Pope courted Thomson, and Thomson was always admitted to Pope, whether he had company or not,"56 This anecdote suggests that Pope, whom Thomson great­ ly admired, reciprocated by granting Thomson his friend­ ship. Their relationship, however, was not merely per­ sonal, but also professionali Pope actually participated in Thomson*s career. Dr. Johnson, noting that he received his information from Richard Savage, tells us, for exam­ ple, that Pope wrote the prologue to Sophonlsba. which beginsi When learning, after the long Gothic Night, Fair, o*er the western world, renew'd his light, With arts arising Sophonlsba rosei The tragic muse, returning, wept her woes• The "Gothic Night" image, reminiscent of the final lines of The Dunelad. is significant, since it extricates Thom­ son from the evil forces threatening the world of lettersi Thomson, in Pope*s opinion, was no dunce* We also know that Pope closely followed Thomson's career, at least in the 1730*s when Thomson was writing his plays* Dr. Johnson, rather humorously, provides this information by way of an anecdote in his "Life of Thomson*" The final predicate he uses in relation to Pope's reaction to Thomson and his play denotes the degree of Pope's in- 38 terest in the young writeri He ^Thomson^ so interested himself* in his own drama that, if* I remember right, as he sat in the upper gallery he accompanied the player by audible recitation, till a friendly hint frighted him to silence. Pope countenanced Agamemnon by coming to it the first night,’ and was welcomed to the theatre by a general clapi he had much re­ gard for Thomson » • , .52 Pope fully demonstrated that regard for Thomson Just after the first performance of Agamemnon, when he assisted Thom­ son in revising his badly received play. In discussing this assistance, Benjamin Victor, in a letter to Nathaniel Wood, first deals with the reception of Thomson*s tragedyi As for Agamemnon■ I can promise you an excessive deal of pleasure from the read­ ing it Zslc7* I take the first three acts to be equal to anything that ever was written* they were excellently performed, and with the loudest, and most universal applause! after this (such is the uncer­ tainty of human affairs) the following acts, (particularly the last) were as de­ servedly hissed and cat-called* and the reason for all this proceeded-frcm a palpable defect in the plan.-*-* He continues by telling the manner in which the play was repairedt But a club of wits, with Mr. Pope at the head of them, met at the theatre the next morning, and cut, and slashed, like dex­ terous surgeons . . . and they have brought a fine sine, that finished the fourth act, into the fifth.-54* Pope played a still more significant role In Thomson's career in defending The Seasons and Sophonlsba. Because Pope recognized Thomson as a respected colleague, he 39 guarded his name from any suggestion of complicity with the despicable dunces of the profession. This fact is found among issues of The Grub Street Journal. Pope's second major project undertaken to clean up the world of letters. The dynamic of the paper* the method underlying its satire* was an ironical reversal of terms. Thus Pope, Swift, and their circle of associates were referred to as "our profest enemies," while poetasters were "our col­ leagues" or "our friends." Pope, shortly after the paper appeared, defended Thomson by counting him among the sup­ porters, if not the members, of his Scrlblerus Club. On February 5* 1730, a selection of lines from Thom­ son's The Seasons appeared in the paper. James T. Hill- house relates that incident and suggests the connection between Thomson and the members of the Scrlblerus Clubs "In an ironic essay on Miltonic verse, the charm of anti­ climax is illustrated by a passage from Thomson's *Winter•' The citation of Thomson to appear in the company of the dunces, and Inclose proximity with that notable member of the group, James Balph, who also furnishes an instance of anticlimax, taken from his 'Muses Address to the King* • • • /proved embarrassing for all concerned/."55 The mistake necessitated a retraction* accordingly, on Febru­ ary 18, Pope and his group printed the following notices Having observed that some of our readers . have imagined that Mr. Thompson /sic7 is a member of our societyt because an ex- 40 ample of* his anticlimax was quoted from his •Winter,* In a letter printed in our fifth Journal* I think myself felt bound in Jus­ tice to our society to declare, that he has not been admitted to that honour. It is not usual with us to receive any gentleman into our number, or the merit of any per­ formance 9 unless plura nitent In carlmlne♦ But on examining this piece of Mr. Thomp­ son, I do not find above one that deserves any applause, the greatest of it being writ­ ten after the Parnassian m a n n e r The club supported Thomson on a second occasion as well, after the poet*s Sophonlsba was attacked in the second pamphlet by Benjamin Martin. The Journal, at this time, avoided criticizing an admittedly bad play and in­ stead channeled its criticism against the pamphleteer. Thomson, in this issue, is said to be "probably the pro- fest enemy of our society"— a phrase connoting total ap­ probation and the highest p r a i s e . -57 Such effusiveness, by a group as cautious as the Scrlblerus Club, must have had its basis. Clearly, Pope would never have supported Thomson un­ less he could appreciate the man*s ideas* his philosophy, aesthetics, and politics. X am certain, therefore, that Pope regarded Thomson as a kindred spirit. The two wri­ ters, after all, espoused a number of common causes, the most important of which was their scorn for certain hack writers. Both worked, with varying degrees of intensity, to rid the. world of the forces threatening literature, and both were aware of their mutual mission. 4-1 Both privately and publicly, .Thomson made known his opinion of the professional authors of his day* Once again, his letters, which give us a sense of his outrage, are significant in providing us with his most straight­ forwardly expressed critical opinions, shared also by Pope* We know, for instance, that Thomson could agree with David Mallet, when in June, 1726, Mallet composed his poem HTo Mr. Thomson, on His Publishing the Second Edition of His Poem, Called Winter." In this place, Mallet crit­ icizes the trifling authors of the day. After commending Thomson's work, he admonishes his friend to keep . . . away From that worn path where vulgar poets strayi Inglorious herd! Profuse of venal lays.^t* Thomson, in reply to this work, not only nods his approval of Mallet's understanding of the literary situation but also suggests a solution. On June 13» Thomson writes t "Our venal bards, as you have lash'd them already— our low, spiteful writerss Hornets of Parnassus— operas, maskerades, fopperies, and a thousand things. You might make a glorious apostrophe to the drooping genius of Britain— have. Shakespear, and Milton, in your eye, and in­ vite to the pursuit of genuine poetry .**59 Thomson's "Preface to the Second Edition of Winter," though less direct in Its criticism of the "Inglorious herd," is likewise Important* it shows the extent to which Thomson felt compelled to lash out against those who were not friends to literature, either its theory or its execu­ tion* We know, as did Pope, that Thomson seized the op­ portunity to voice his lofty conception of the poet and his duty to art, when he publicly chastised "the enemies of poetry," not only for "the present contempt of it," but also for "their awkward imitation of it*"60 He, for exam­ ple, rather bitingly proclaimedt "I have seen their heaviness on some occasion deign to turn frlskish, and witty, in which they make Just such another figure as Aesop’s ass when he began to fawn. To complete the absur­ dity, they would even in their efforts against poetry fain be poeticalt like those gentlemen that reason with a- great deal of zeal and severity against reason*" Thomson levels his criticism against those who did not see the spiritual value of literature, and particular­ ly of dramatic poesy* Thomson’s aesthetic convictions, shared by Pope, compelled him, therefore, specifically to rebuke William Law, who in 1726, published his pamphlet The Absolute Unlawfulness of the Stage-Entertainment Fully Demonstrated * Thomson, never mentioning names, indicates the object of his attacks "that there are frequent and notorious abuses of poetry is as true as that'the best things are most liable to that misfortune* but is there no end of that clamorous argument against the use of things from the abuse of Them? and yet, I hope, that no man who has the least sense of shame in him will fall into it after 4 3 the present sulphurous attacker of* the stage •"6 2 Law's argument, which Is terribly contrived, proceeds in analogical leaps and bounds• Although he seems to work syllogistically throughout the tract, he equates dissimilar actions, exposing his argument as invalid* to support the stage, for example, is the same, -in his view, as worship­ ping graven images, Naturally, he reverts to Scripture to give the semblance of substance to his argument* Thus, be­ cause the third commandment is "plain and express against swearing" and because he feels the drama of the 1720• s Is replete with instances of "ribaldry," "filthy Jests," "rant," and so forth, the playhouse becomes not only- an occasion of sin but also, as his pamphlet states, a bla­ tant example of an iniquitous institution in violation of Christian morality.*^ So his argument, as he claims, "proves" that "the business of the stage is contrary to piety" and that "the playhouse is the house of the devil, In the final pages of his treatise. Law morallstlcal- ly points his finger at, and rather personally comments upon, "all persons who are pleased with the stage") he concludes that they "must have some corruption of heart, that are gratify'd with the corrupt passions which are there / X n the playhouse7 acted") and he asks* "Is this not as plain and evident, as if it were said, that all who are pleased with seeing barbarous actions, must have some seeds of barbarity in their nature? If you are delighted with the stroke of the whip, and love to see the blood flyf is it past all doubt, that you have a barbarity with­ in you? and if impure speeches, if wanton amours, if wild passion and immoral rant, can give you any delighti is it not equally past all doubt, that you have something of all these disorders in your nature?"^<5 Such a narrow exercise in llloglc, falling as it does to deal with possible alternatives, would alone have infu­ riated Thomsonj but Law*s heavyhanded insinuation that dramatic poesy is intrinsically evil was a moral Judgment Thomson, the freethinker, could never abide. Thomson felt that "genuine poetry," dramatic or lyrical or satirical, was actually "inspired by heaven" and helped to correct the faults of finite m e n , ^ He mentions the Book of Job, Virgil*s Georgies. and Hill*s Judgment Day. "noble and de­ votional works of art," as examples of "genuine poetry. In criticizing William Law, "the most recent attacker of the stage," Thomson implicates other critics as well, particularly those who had perpetuated the stage contro­ versy! as the exasperated poet asks in his "Preface," "is there no end .of that clamorous argument?" Thomson was aware of Jeremy Collier, Arthur Bedford, and others who, from 1699* had persisted in their belief that dramatic art led men astray,^® Interestingly, Sir Richard Blackmore, whom Pope numbered among the dunces, was also the author of an anti^drama tract. Although Blackmore*s work is less ■tendentious than Lav's, it does .recommend similar measures to prevent what he considers morally inexcusable in stage- entertainment■ Blackmore recognizes that abuses do exist in literature! the violations of* wit, decorum, and taste, the most gross example-of* which involves those writers who rail against religion or in any way denigrate the supreme importance of* the orthodox Anglican Church in the affairs of men. He suggests that any writer who displays the "atheistical wit" of the libertine should be punished ac­ cordingly for his errant habit of mind. Thus he Insists that the government restrict the liberty of stage poets. This final suggestion must not have been well received by Thomson, who was not an orthodox Anglican but who was a firm advocate of an non-suppressive, liberty-loving stated But the critical reach of Thomson"s "Preface" extends even further than his criticism of the "attackers of the stage." Sounding very much like Pope or a member of his circle, Thomson categorically condemns all poets who en­ gage in "low, venal, trifling subjects" and proposes that these poets, his contemporaries, amend their ways and con­ sider writing in a manner which is "fair, useful, and mag­ nificent." Thomson, the man of conviction, believed that poetry should "please, Instruct, surprise, and astonish." Looking toward the future,when the world would be rid of hacks and "when the most inveterate ignorance shall be struck dumb," he hoped that poets could "yet become the b 6 delight* * and wonder of mankind•”7^ - Because Thomson temperamentally could meet criticism with criticism and because he publicly demonstrated his understanding of the function of poetry at the present tlme9 Pope must have r6cognized in the poet of The Seasons a moral quality of mindi a fact which explains Pope's desire to befriend Thomson in the 1720*s and his urge in the early 1730*s to defend his honor by rescuing him from any tainted connection with the likes of James Balph* It is also probable, for these two reasons, that during this age of coffee-house feuds, Thomson aligned himself with Pope, who became entangled with the Little Senate at Button's, particularly Ambrose Philips and Joseph Addison, the man behind Tickel's translation of Homer* The coffee-house as an Institution so Informed the satirical-critical literature of the period that to under­ stand its history is to understand the professional wars it engenderedi to explore the vested Interests of each house, moreover, is to approach an understanding not only of Thomson's difficulty in gaining acceptance by certain of his peers but also of additional reasons for his moving toward Pope's coterie and supporting Pope's "causes." We know that by 1707 some three thousand coffee­ houses had been licensed and they each had Its own reputa- tion and was frequented by its habitual clientele* 71 In Addison's day, for example, Jonathan's was the haunt of 4*7 stockbrokersi the Bell Tavern, of country squires, most of • • them Tories* and St. James* Coffeehouse, of news writers, who gathered there because facts and rumors constantly fil­ tered In from the Palace across the way.7^ Literary men, wits, and scholars also had their special retreats, where they could retire to read the newspapers to which the pro­ prietor subscribed and spend their day in Idle discussion concerning the affairs of the profession. At times, how­ ever, the discussions were hardly Idle. The Greclal, for Instance, was the scene of a fatal duel "provoked by a dispute over a Greek accent."73 In the 1720*s, when Button*s and Will*s were the two most famous establishments of litterateurs, the coffee­ house atmosphere was nearly as tense as in the days of the Greclal. Both were located on Russell Street near the area known as Grub Street, and the fact that Wlll*s was opposite Button*s encouraged free-wheeling competition. It was at Will*s, we are told, that Pope, as a young man, reverently sat at the feet of Dryden, and where Pope later sat In counsel with Gay, Garth, Rowe, and Congreve.75 Button*s attracted the friends of Addison* here, the Jour­ nalist pontificated over his "Little Senate," as the group came to be called after the successful run of his Cato. Actually, the membership at Button*s was rather fluid. Pope tells us that Addison "spent five or six hours a day at Buttons.," r and Addison, no doubt, was the most regu- lar of its clients• But Pope himself• before Thomson came to Londonf attended its gossip sessions, though his mo­ ments at Button*s were few, especially in the second decade of the century. The Button*s crowd, at that time, con­ sisted of adamant Whigs, and Pope*s Catholicism suggested his Tory tendencies so strongly that he eventually found himself unwelcomed by the Little Senate. In a letter to James Craggs, dated July 15* 1725* Pope analyzes the rea­ sons for his split with Button*si **. • • the spirit of Dlssentlon is gone forth among ust nor is it a wonder that Button*s is no longer Button*s, when old England is no more old England, that region of hospitality, society, and good humor. Party affects us all, even the wits, tho* they gain as little by politicks as they do of their wit.**?? But Addison, Budgell, Philips, Corey, Tickell, Young, Hughes, and Colonel Brett were all card-carrying members of the party and are listed among the rank-and-file mem­ bers of the Button*s coterie*7® Thomson, like Pope, never frittered away his time In coffee-house conversation. He was, however, at least tenuously affiliated with the circuit. He tells Sir William Bennet, in 1729* for example« HIf you have any commands for me, please direct them to the Smyrna Coffee- House in Pall Mall•"79 We also know that the Smyrna Cof­ fee House was one place where Thomson*s patrons could re­ ceive their subscriptions to The Seasons. An article in ^ 9 the Whitehall Evening Post announced a proposal for print­ ing "The Four Seasons” In one volume, and added that "sub­ scriptions are taken by the Author, at the Smyrna Coffee­ house in Pall-Mall• When Thomson^ third play, Edward and Eleonora, appeared in 1738* the Smyrna, once again, was designated as a site for potential subscribers to or­ der copies of the play. We know very little, unfortunately, about the Smyrna Coffee-house, but an anonymous letter-writer in 1723 pro­ vides some Information concerning the placet "About 12t00 the Beau-Monde assembles in several chocolate and coffee- housesi the best of which are the Coooa-tree and White's Chocolate Houses, St. James's, the Smyrna, and the British Coffee-houses * and all these so near one another, that in less than an hour you see the company of them all."8* He realized, of course, that the "company" gave rise to the character of the establishment! so, in giving his friend a glimpse of his tour schedule, he addsi If it be fine weather, we take a turn in the Park till two, when we go to dinner? and if it be dirty ,/which I assume is a description of London's weathe?i7, you are entertained at Ploket, or Basset, or White's, or you may talk Politicks at the Smyrna and St* James's. I must not forget to tell you, that the Par­ ties have their different places, where, how­ ever, a stranger Is always well received! but a Whig will no more go to the Cocoa—tree or Ozindas, than a Tory will be seen at the Cof­ fee-house of St. James. The Scots go gener­ ally to the British,pand a mixture of all . sorts to the Smyrna.02 50 Addison also refers to the Smyrna In number seventy- three of the Tatler. In this paper, Addison*s sneers are at the expense of those who, like Thomson, frequented the coffee-house. Thus, he facetiously gives notice to all in'genius gentlemen in and about the cities of London and Westminster, who have a mind to be Instructed in the noble sciences of music, poetry, and politicks, that they repair to the Smyrna Coffee-house in Pall-Mall, betwixt the hours of eight and ten at night, where they may be Instructed gratis, with elab­ orate essays by word and mouth on all or any of the above-mentioned arts. The disciples are to prepare their bodies with three dishes of bohea, and purge their brains with two pinches of snuff. If an young student gives Indication of parts, by listening attentively, or asking a per­ tinent question, one of the professors shall distinguish him, by taking snuff out of his box in the presence of the whole audience, Addison then suggests that even the uneducated members of society are much amused by the transactions at the Smyrna,

In a parenthetical aside, he satirically sayst "Nota Bene--The seat of learning Is now removed from the corner of the chimney on the left-hand towards the window, to the round table in the middle of the floor over against the firei a revolution much lamented by the porters and chair­ men, who were much edified through a pane of glass that remain'd broken all last sumner."^ The Smyrna, it is true, did not match Button's as a haunt for true wits, and Thomson was probably fully aware of the second-rate reputation of the Smyrna, I am not 51 sure, however, that Thomson could have become a member or the Little Senate or could have remained a member of* the group after Addison*s death» even If he had set his sights on Button*s. To begin with, Addison showed some prejudice toward Scotsmen, which certainly would have disenchanted Thomson In his opinion of the mighty Journalist. Always the wit, Addison was smugly certain that no one could ri­ val his urbane manner. He ridicules those who are defi­ cient in the art in a paper, which appeared in 1710. “I have often . . . imagined to myself," he begins, "that different talents in discourse might be shadowed out after the same manner as different kinds of music* and that sev­ eral conversable parts of mankind in this great city, might be cast into several instruments that are in use among the masters of harmony • "^ He continues this lengthy analogical Joke, eventually turning his attention to the Scotsman, whom he likens to "the bagpipe species." Aocording to Addison, they "will entertain you from morn­ ing to night with the repetition of a few notes, which are play'd over and over, with the perpetual humming of a drone running underneath them. These are your dull, heavy, tedious story-tellers, the load and burthen of conversa­ tion, that set up for men of importance, by knowing secret history, and giving an account of transactions, that whether they ever passed in the world or not, doth not 52 signify a halfpenny to its instructions, or Its wel— far• Addison was not the only member of the Button§s crowd to cast aspersions on the worth and character of his north­ ern neighbors. Ambrose Philips, the rival of Pope for the chair of pastoral poetry, also made public his anti- Scottish sentiments. Philips addressed one poem of a series to Joseph Mitchell, Thomson's early critic, shortly after the death of John Mitchell, the poet's brother. In his prefatory poem, Philips cites Joseph Mitchell as the "aspiring genius" of Scotland. He commends Mitchell, yet condemns his fellow countrymen, by writing* You, generous youth, by heaven Itself inspir'd, Betimes display'd the noble heat that fir'd Your mind to action, while ten thousand lay Lazy as owls that shun the face of day. Like tapers burning in a sepulcher Many alas! too many Scotsmen are Unless to all mankind they live, and die, Without one pile to save their memory. Philips adds insult to Insult and says, for example, that Scotsmen are "proud of their modest Indolence and shame," and that "they baffle nature's gifts of wit and sense." He finally calls upon Mitchell "to civilize" his "rugged land."®^ This, no doubt, would have particularly hor­ rified Thomson* to think that that "planet-blasted fool Mitchell" should be considered the literary redeemer of Scotland! Button's reputation as a gathering place for Intel- 53 lectuals was not unstained--another reason why Thomson should Join Pope's coalition in opposition to his long running feuds with the Little Senate. Even Burnet, a friend of the Buttonians, had hinted as early as 1715 1** * the Grumbler (No. 7) that Button*s was "a seat of scan­ dal . In the 1720*s, after Addison died, the coffee­ house continued to he considered as the meeting place of backbitersi Robert Allen cites a couplet in support of that fact * But Button's now, since Addison is gone. In scandal deals, disdains to be outdone;• .9 Button's, therefore, bore all the signs of being a Grub Street dive. In Mist's Journal. September 9* 1721, there appears the following advertisement, indicative of the depths to which the revered haunt of Addison had sunk* "Lost by a sudden Jolt of a hackney coach, turning the corner of Grub Street, half a simile, two curious rhymes, and an alexandrinei all of which were designed to conclude the act of a tragedy, which the world is at present in ex­ pectation of* this Is to give notice, that whoever shall bring the above-mentioned fragments to Button's Coffee­ house, shall be rewarded for the whole, or proportionably for any part. Nota Bene * They are of no use to the owner. The frequenters of Button's were also notorious for their proclivity to corrupt the young writers of the day, 5^ by instructing them in "the modern mode of* thought." Samual CroxalD , whose poems Thomson parodies in The Sea­ sons . was one such lamb who was led astray.91 Croxall, no doubt, fell under the Influence of Leonard Welsted, for whom Thomson bore feelings of professional animosity» and Welsted« like Croxall, apparently thrived in the atmos­ phere of ill-will which permeated Button's.^2 Thus, in introducing Croxall's first volume of poems to London society, his teacher apologizes for the practically por­ nographic tenor of Croxall*s work. Croxall's teacher, who went unrecognized and who did not sign his name to these prefatory remarks, statess

These /poemsJ which are here communicated to the town, were some of them written during the time of an excursion, which the young gentleman /Croxall? made to London some few winters ago. Where-ever he went, love was still uppermost in his mind* so that he seems to have lived, as well as died, for that darling passion. I could wish it had excluded from his imagination, thoughts of a less Innocent nature, which he seems to have borrowed from the free-thinking frequenters of Button's. Since I can't help suspecting that those, who are so apt to expatiate upon the pious frauds of the ancient heathens, would (if they durst) be little less forward in their constructions of the rites and cer­ emonies of modern Christianity.93 The Buttonians, evidently, matured in their scandalous ways, until in 1733* their coffee-house was criticized as the den of "fops and f o o l s . " 9 ^ And in the same year, The Grub Street Journa1 said of its clientele i E #en Button's wits to worms shall turn. Who maggots were b e f o r e .95 Because the frequenters of Button*s were prejudiced against Scotsmen and because they were notorious back­ biters and profligates, ‘Thomson would have naturally fa­ vored Pope in his wars against the Buttonian hacks, as the role of the poet of The Seasons moved from a struggle with his personal enemies to a more mature confrontation with Pope*s adversaries, the adversaries of literature and civ­ ilization. John Gay, among others, realized the intensity of these struggles for literary supremacy, and referred to them as the "civil wars"i his telling verse suggests the extent to which personal friendships played their part in determining sides. In "The Judgment of Apollo Upon the Present Set of Poets," Gay, a lieutenant in Pope's forces, gives epic stature to his view of the ensuing battle. Apollo hearing civil wars arose, And poets now begin to fight In prose. Declar'd that he himself would hear the cause, Himself interpret, and explain the laws. In haste the summon'd wits from Button's came. Each ready to support his fav*rite's claim.9o The first "fav'rlte" who received the backing of the Little Senate was Ambrose Philips, whose pastoral poems were favored over Pope's. The Guardlan. an offspring of Addison and Steele's Spectator. published four articles on the subject of the English eclogue. The final paper con­ cluded with the story of Amyntas, who won the hand of Amaryllis, the daughter of* Menalcasi and the falsie ended with a remark that Pope interpreted as a calculated insult by one of Philips*s Buttonlan colleagues* The writer of the paper says t "Amyntas and Amaryllis lived a long and

* happy life, and governed the vales of Arcadia* Their gen­ eration was very long-lived, there having been but four descents In the above two thousand years* His heir was called Theocritus /sic7* who left his dominion to Virgil, Virgil left his to his son Spencer, and Spencer was suc­

ceeded by his eldest-born P h i l i p s * "97 The pastoral controversy, of course, occurred a de­ cade before Thomson's first meeting with Popet it did not, therefore, directly concern Thomson* The poet, however, in The Seasons, alludes to a key issue, which was one of several seized on by Pope in manifesting his personal and professional scorn for his adversary* Philips was intent upon imposing the hallmark of Greek and Roman pastorals upon English life; and Pope did not believe the illusion of the carefree life was at all appropriate to a country riddled with real problems* Philips, in attempting to create this illusion, imported wolves to England in order that the English countryside might resemble the magic isles* Pope recognized the contradiction in Philips* theory, and attacked him accordingly. Thomson, a few years later, reinforced Pope's crit- 57 leism. In "Autumn," after a diatribe on the senseless mistreatment of animals, Thomson suggests that* if the urge to kill is strong in man, then he should control that drive by directing his malevolent instinct toward preda­ tory animals only. But, if the sylvan youth, Whose fervent blood boils into violence, Must have the chase, behold, despising flight, The roused up lion, resolute and slow. Advancing full on the protended spear And coward band that circling wheel aloof. Slunk from the cavern and the troubled wood. See the grim wolfj on him his shaggy foe Vindictive fix, and let the ruffian die .... (4-58-^66) Thomson, who was also In the act of writing an eclogue in the manner of Virgil and Theocritus, Pope*s models, em­ phatically adds that "These /animale7~ Britain knows not" (^70). Obliquely, then, he sides with Pope in his recog­ nition that Philips* misinformation posed a problem both of critical theory and poetical execution. The repercussions of the Philips affair, moreover, further Involved Thomson, who stated the importance of thawing "the wintry world of letters," which exhibited more "venal" poetry than he could tolerate* and Philips, he recognized, was partly responsible for setting that trend. The quarrel between Pope and Philips lasted well Into the 1720*s, and allowed Thomson to apprehend fully the spitefulness of Philips, who not only condemned Scots­ men, but also personally reproached Pope. In a later 58 work, a poem occasioned, "by Pope's comments In The Dune lad, Philips met indignation with slander and maliciously at­ tacked Pope's physical appearance* One son heZFope*s father7 had, and only one, Whom much he set his mind upon* A little scurvy, purblind elf j Scarce like a tode, much less himself* Deform'd in shape, of pigmy stature* A proud, conceited, peevish creature* But as the crow her own thinks fairest, And apes their ugliest hold the dearest, His careful father saw with Joy* A love of learning in the boy!98 The phrase, "the finishing stroke," was part of the pam­ phlet's title, and Thomson, probably, viewed and despised the work as sheer invective, hardly "genuine poetry*" Pope's controversy with Philips gave rise to a second conflict with the Buttonians, and this time the stakes were higher* The issue concerned Pope's translation of Homer, the profits from which he saw as a way of liber­ ating himself from his patrons and of rendering himself financially secure* Shortly after Pope signed his con­ tract with Linton, Tlckell, the friend of Addison and Philips, signed his with Tonsont both promised to give a new translation of Homer to the town* Addison, according to Bonamy Dobroe, encouraged Pope, yet "here was Addison, we are now certain encouraging Tickell! When the same great figure first encourages a poet /Pop©7 whom he knows to be a shaky classicist, and then enters into collusion with another who is more than usually good, there is only 59 one Inference to be drawn« he wishes to humiliate the former* And that Is exactly what happened* Tonson published TIckell#s translation on the eighth of June* just a couple * of days after Pope*s appeared* "The rival versions," says Richard Eustace* "at once became the talk of the town* The general verdict was In favor of Pope, but when Addi­ son* s opinion was asked, he gave it In favor of Tlckell* on the grounds that Tlckell had more of Homer* in fact* he pronounced it to be the best that was.”100 The situation, the civil war* got well out of hand, as the factions grew further and further apart, with men from both camps writing satires slandering one another* Thomson himself had his favorite. Not only could he ap­ preciate The Dunelad. In which Pope finally and defini­ tively disposed of Tickell, Addison, Tonson, Philips, and company, but he also managed, in The Seasons, to recall the Homeric battle s Prom the Muse * a hill will Pope descend, To raise the sacred hour, to bid it smile, And with the social spirit warm the heart* For, though not sweeter his own Homer sings. Yet Is his life the more enduring song* ("Winter." 550-55^) As with many of Thomson*s critical statements* this pas­ sage can be read in two ways* as was his method, Thomson obfuscated many of his critical comments, so that only those who had.eyes to see, could see* Both readings, however, are ultimately complimentary in their praise of Pope* In this passage, the poet establishes a comparison between Pope's "Homer," and the "Homer" of some other wri­ ter* If the passage is read in context with what preceded it, then the distinction rests between the works of Pope and "the parent of song" ("Winter," 53*0 • Homer himself* in which case, Thomson would naturally have to concede that the original was obviously the "sweeter" work, by virtue of its place in time* If the passage is read in this manner, the implied assertion is that Pope's "Homer" is, therefore, superior to Tlckell*s* A second reading of the passage, however, reveals Thomson's implying that Pope's epic was superseded by that of his contemporary, a fact which critics since Addison admit* if Thomson's de­ cision falls with Pope's adversary, then he qualifies that Judgment by suggesting that Pope's part In the controversy was more honorable than the role played by the factious Buttonlans. Pope's work and his life, as Thomson says, will be remembered, since he alone acted according to right convictions regarding professional ethics* Thomson's Initiation into the fray of professional life in London, therefore, was significant In making him fully aware of the trials of his trade and the points at issue among professional authors* These years, when he came under attack by Mitchell and others, allowed him to 61 develop the confidence in himself and his craft to meet criticism with criticism. These years, furthermore, when he met Pope, compelled him to recognize that here was his primary ally in guarding the sacredness of letters. Pope readily accepted Thomson into his coterie and nurtured his critical-satirical point of view, enabling him to lash out at those responsible for the denigration of art. Pope1s convictions concerning literature and professional ethics, therefore, were reinforced as basic tenets in Thomson*s creed, and obtained well into the 1730*s, when the poet of The Seasons became further embroiled in literary-political affairs--with the emphasis at this time on political af­ fairs, extensions, as they were, of the battles raging in the 1720*3. ENDNOTES

1 Murdoch, "Life of Thomson," in The Works of James Thomson (London, 1 7 8 8), I. ix. o Cited by L. Werkmeister, in "Thomson and The London Dally Press 1 7 9 8 - 9»" 7 MP. 62 (1 9 6 5), 239* 3 James Thomson (1700-1748) t Letters and Documents (Lawrenee t University of Kansas Press, 1958), pi 3 6. McKillop, the editor, prints the texts "literatim et puntuatlm.11 and I cite the letters as he has printed them. Hereafter, all references to this collection will be en­ tered as Letters,

** Ibid,, p. 4-0• ■5 There has been some controversy concerning the authorship of the poem "To Mr, Congreve•” In 1897 Rev, D. C. Tovey, in his edition of The Poetical Works of James Thomson (London« George Bell and Sons, 1897)» attributes the poem to Thomson, and suggests that Cenus was a sketch of Colley Cibber (xxiv)• J# Logie Robertson feels that the poem was assigned to Thomson "on unsatisfactory evidence"! see James Thomson’s Poetical Works (London* Oxford Univer- sity Press, 1908), p. 4-57, George G. Williams, however, argues that the poem is Thomson*s, despite the judgment of Professor Robertson, Williams bases his view primarily on the similarity of structure of Thomson's four ocher memo­ rial poems; see"Did Thomson Write the Poem *To the Memory of Mr. Congreve'?" PMLA. 4-5 (1930), pp. 1010-13, ^ James Thomson's Poetical Works, ed. J. Logie Robertson (London* Oxford University Press, 1 9 6 5 / r e p r l nt7), p. 4-59* All further references to Thomson's primary works will be to this edition and, in this chapter, will be cited as Works. ? From Baker's BlograPhica Dramatlca (London, 1812, II, 519-520), as cited by Williams, in "Who was 'Cenus' in the poem 'To the Memory of Mr. Congreve,'" PMLA. 4-4 (1929), 497-4-98 . 62 6 3 James Thomson. Poet of the The Seasons (Londoni The Cresset Press, 1951)» pp. 65-66. 9 Williams, "Who was *Cenus,,w p. **98. 10 Ibid. 11 Williams is quoting from the introduction to The Dramatic Works of Aaron Hill (Londoni printed for T. Lownds,' l?6o} • 1-11; the statement appears on page **99 of his article. *** Letters. dated August 21 -27, 1726, p. 50. For a working definition of this term, see E. Chambers, Cyclopedia (1727)* who defines the term as "something that relates to the passions; and particularly that is proper to awake, or excite them"; see also Samuel H • Monk, The Sublime; A Study of Critical Theories in Eighteenth-Century England (Ann Arbor; University of Michigan Press, i9 6 0) for a definition of this aesthetic concept in Thomson’s period. The British Journal. September 3* 1726, #207* 15 Ibid. 16 Ibid. ^ Works. "Preface to the Second Edition of ’Winter,*" P. 239. A We do not know for certain who wrote these’ four essays. Alan D. McKillop states; "Thomson may ^Toave beeo/ right in connecting Mitchell with this small cam­ paign; it has been suggested, however, that Mathew Con- canen is implicated." Letters. see note, p. 52. 1 9 Cibber, Lives of the Poets. V, 209-210.

20 James Thomson. Poet of The Seasons, p. 91* 21 Ibid. 22 "Defence of the New Sophonlsba," N&Q. 1 7 (1970), 3 0 0. 23 The Gentleman*s Magazine. December, 1735* V, 731* 2** Ibid., December, 1 7 3 6, VI, 7**3* 2 5 Alan D. McKillop, The Background of T h o m s o n 9a Liberty. Rice Institute Pamphlet, 3^ (1951)*P * 117• 2^ Observations. Anecdotes* and Characters t of* Books_ and Men (London, 1820), p. 157. James Osborns recent edition of Spence ( Oxford i Clarendon Press, 1966) acknowl­ edges and repeats Malone, I, 21**". 27 The Gentleman*s Magazine. 1736, VI, 7^3* Hilbert H. Campbell, in a recent article, "Thom­ s o n s Seasons. the Countess of Hertford, and Elizabeth Young * A Footnote to The Unfolding of the Seasons." Texas Studies in Language and Literature^ T 5 11972), 4-35” , intimates that Thomson's relationship with the Coun­ tess was more than merely professional (pp. 4-36-^37)» and maintains that the Countess, not Elizabeth Young, was Thomson's "Amanda" (see "Spring," 500 f fi) • 29 The Gentleman*s Magazine. April, 1738* VIII, 211. 3° Works, 11. 500-7* P- 22. 31 A. S. Bell, "Three New Letters of James Thomson," N&Q (October 1972), p. 368. ^2 Letters, p. 13* 33 Ibid.. p. 1*0. 3^ Ibid., p. 6 5. 35 Bell, p. 369. 3^ Ibid., p. 7 6. The lines are from The Dunciad, A, III, 341-3^6. 3^ Ibid.. dated August 7, 1735* 1 explain Thomson's political Involvement with the Opposition Party of Fred­ erick, Prince of Wales, in my second and fifth chapters. 38 I*>ld.. P* 95* 39 See Collectanea Biographical An Historical and Pictorial Bloprraohy of Illustrious. Celebrated and Re­ markable Persons, bound by Henry Massey (London, 1853)* vol. 98. This work is a scrapbook of assorted Items related to the persons alphabetically listed. Among the items under Thomson, in addition to the various frontis­ pieces to editions of The Seasons. Is a clipping from 65 what appears to be a catalogue of* books* the clipping is headed 11 Thoms on la na , " and the letters, etc., are numbered consecutively. Number 2 9 1 Is described as follows 1 "Forty-eight very’ Interesting letters and papers relating to the author of The Seasons— viz., twenty-seven lines, truly facetious, entirely in his handwriting, which are thus indorsed by Lord Buchan*--’found among the papers of Sir Andrew Mitchell.'" The Works of James Thomson ( London, 1738)* Be­ cause the poem has been interleaved, it carries no page number* See Appendices A and B. I shall discuss the rea­ sons for Thomson's animosity toward these writers below, as well as in Chapters XI and IV*

^ I b i d * ft O The Dunelad (London* Methuen and Co., Ltd*, 1962), p • xxvi. They bear the shelfmark number, C116B1-4. IlIl Morel, James Thomson* Sa Vie et Ses Oeuvres (Paris, 1895)» PP. 44-4-5. See Letters* pp. 46-47* 46 "Advice to the Poets'* (London, 173*)* P- 18*

^ The Works of David Mallet (London, 1759)* P- 18* ^ 8 y/orks. "Winter," pp. 205-206* Thomson favorably mentions Pope in "Summer," when he refers to Pope's ill­ ness Just prior to his death. The lines were added in 1744* see pp. 103-105* and particularly lines 1427 ff. 49 James Thomson. Poet of The Seasons, p. 147* 50 Cited in Essays on the Lives and Writings of Fletcher of Saltoun and the Poet Thomson, by D. Erskine, Earl of Buchan (London, 1792) , p^ 197 • Douglas Grant cites the same lines, but with two alterations* for "deemed," he copies "deems"* for "transport," "trans­ plant." He does not cite the edition he used; however, his citation matches that of F. G. Fletcher. See his "Notes on Two Poems by James Thomson," N&Q, 168 (1935)* 2 7 4-2 7 5. ■5* Alexander Pope, Minor Poems (New Haven* Yale University Press, 1964), p. 310* 66 52 Lives of* the English Poets (Oxford* Clarendon Press, 1905) t H I , 288 . 53 Letters, p. 120. This letter Is dated April, 1738* the month and year Thomson*s play was received by the Drury-Lane Playhouse• 5^ Ibid. 55 Hlllhouse, The Grub-Street Journal (Durhami Duke University Press, 1928). ^ Grub Street Journal. February 18, 1730, #7* 57 Hlllhouse, p. 207* 58 The Poetical Works of James Thomson (London1 William Pickering, 183077 I, ciii-civ.

^ Letters. p. 3 6• 60 Works. p. 239 61 Ibid. 62 Ibid. 63 Law, The Absolute Unlawfulness of Stage-Bntertaln- ment Fu:Fully Demonstrated (London. 1726)7 p7 6. 6b Ibid., pp. 18, 12. 65 Ibid.. p. 35* 66 Works, p. 240.

6 7 Ibid.. pp. 2^0 -2M, 68 See Jeremy Collier, A Defense of the Short View of the Profaneness and Immorality of the English Stage (Lon­ don, 1699)J A Representation of the Impiety and Immorality of the English Stage, With Reasons for Putting: a Stop Thereto^ And Some Questions Addresst to Those Who Frequent the Playhouse! published anonymously in l?0b (London)j and A Second Advertisement Concerning the Profaneness of the Play-house. also anonymous, printed in Bristol In 1705* see also Arthur Bedford, The Evil and Danger of Stage- plays* Shewing Their Natural Tendency to Destroy Religion, and Introduce a General Corruption of Manners* In Almost Two Thousand Instances. Taken From the Plays of the Last 67 Two Years. Against All Methods Used for Their Re formal: Ion (Bristolp 1706)i and, finally, Bedford*s' A Serious Hemon- stranoe in Behalf of The Christian Religion. Affalnst The Horrid Blasphemies and Impieties Which Are Still Used. In The English Play-houses. To the Great Dishonor of Almighty God, and in Contempt of The Statutes of This Realm. Shew­ ing Their Plain Tendency to Overthrow all Piety. And Ad­ vance the Interest and Honour of The Devil in the World ” • • (Bath, Bristol, and Oxford, 1719)• See Sir Richard Blackmore, "An Essay Upon Wit," in Essays Upon Several Subjects (London, n.d.), pp. 189-235• Blackmore*s publisher was E. Curll, for whom Pope dis­ played particular scorn (see The Dune lad. I, 1. *4- 0 1 and "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, 1. 53) • For-a reference to Blackmore, see Dunelad. 1, 1. 10*4-, and II, 1, 2681 see also "The First Epistle of the First Book of Horace," 1. 16, and II, 1. 7 6. For a discussion of Thomson*s view of liberty as expressed in his "Preface to Areopagltloa.” written after his tragedy Edward and Eleonora was banned from the stage, see Chapter II. 70 Works, p. 2*4-0. 71 Robert Allen, Life in Eighteenth-Century England (Boston, 19*4-1), P« 1*4*• 72 I^id. 73 Leslie Stephen, English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth Century (London* Dutchworth and Co., 190*4-), P. 37. 7** Robert Allen, The Clubs of Augustan London (Cam­ bridge s Harvard University-"Press^ 1933) » P • 2*4-0. 75 William Henry Irving, John Gay 1 Favourite of Wits (Durhams Duke University Press'^ 19*4-0 ), p^ 60. 7 6 Stephen, p. 37• 77 Cited by William Ayre, Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Alexander Pope. Esq. (London. 17*4-5), I^ 95. 7 8 Allen, The Clubs, p. 2*4-1. 79 Bell, p. 369* 8 0 See Grant, p. 77• 68 8* A Journey Through England, in Familiar Letters From a Gentleman Here, To His Friend Abroad (London. 1732),p. 190. 'i^he first edition of this work appeared In 1725•

8 2 Ibid.. p. 191. 8 3 The Tatler. October 60?. 1709. #73* * 84 The Tatler. March 30-Apr11 lf 1710, #153. 85 Ibid. 86 Lugubres Cantus* A Poem on Several Grave and Im­ portant Subjects, Chiefl.v Occasion'd b.v the late Ingenlus Youth. John Mitchell (London. 1?19)l the prefatory pages are unnumbered.

8 7 Ibid. 8 8 Allen, The Clubs, p. 2^9* 8 9 Ibid. The source of Allen*s quotation is Notices and Extracts Relating To The Llon*s Head (1898). P» 33. 9 0 Cited by Allen, The Clubs, p. 250. 9* See Chapter IV for a discussion of the parodic element of The Seasons. 9 2 See Chapter IV. 93 ^ Samuel Croxall, Occasional Poems (London, 1720)* the preface is signed "Oxon., February 15, 1720," and carries no page number. 9**V "The Mianners of the Age" (1733). cited by Allen, p. 2 5 0. Grub Street Journal. January 9, 1733, #159. Cited by Irving, p. 8^.

9 7 The Guardian. April 17. 1713. #32. The following are the other papers of the series1 April 6, #22* April •7. #23* April 12, #28. 9 8 Codrust or. The Dune lad Dissected. Being the Finishing Stroke (London, 1728), pi 12, 9.9 50. Alexander Pope (London! Sylvan Press, 1 9 5 1),

,_ ^ __*00 fhOffiaR -» - PATRONAGE, PROFESSIONALISM, AND POLITICS! THE PARAMETERS OF THOMSON* S CRITICAL REACH

For poets, law makes no provision! The wealthy have you In derision. Of* state affairs you cannot smatter, Are awkward when you try to flatter. — Swift, On Poetry

The days of court poets and governmental subsidies were history by the time James Thomson arrived in London (1725)* On the accession of George I to the English throne, artists were compelled to look elsewhere than to the crown for financial aidi the gruff Hanoverians, who spoke little English, did not care for "bainting and boetry." To be sure, funds other than aid from His Majes­ ty were available! aristocrats and government officials were only too happy to enlist articulate, If not eloquent, spokesmen to support their petty causes. Thus, in those days of party zeal and Internal court factions, the terms professional ism, politics. and patronage became inextrica­ bly related, and artistic integrity yielded to the crucial concern of financial solidarity. The early eighteenth cen­ tury, therefore, gave birth to a horde of writers, who

70 71 might; have referred to themselves as "authors hy profes­ sion"^ or who might have teen given the less honorable title of "Grub-Street hacks." These poetasters, who wrote at #s per page, were r the talk of the town and were criticized almost exclusive­ ly by Walpole*s adversaries. Bolingbroke, for example, satirized them in The Occasional Writer, a series of iron­ ic letters mocking "state writers." In one, the putative author abandons himself, principles and conscience, to his employer, claiming that* From the moment I resolved to become a state— writer, I mentally devoted myself to your ser­ vice! and I do it now in this public and most solemn manner. Employ me. Sir, as you pleasei I abandon myself entirely to you* my pen is at your disposition, and my conscience Is in your keeping. Like a lawyer, I am ready to support the cause. In which, give me leave to suppose that I shall soon be retained with ardor; and, If occasion be, with subtil­ ity and acrimony. Like a Swiss, I will behave myself with equal boldness and fidelity; my pen Is my fortune, and I think it as honour­ able to offer it, as offer my sword, without Inquiring In a general battle, or in private skirmishes, at what relation or friend I strike. I cancel at once all former obliga­ tions and friendship, and will most implicitly follow your instructions in panegyric on your­ self and friends, in satire on your adversar­ ies; nay, In writing for or against the same subject, Just as your interest, or ever your passions, may render it expedient.2 The Craftsman, the anti-Walpole Journal, concurred with Bolingbroke*s critical view of such writers. "Their pan­ egyrics," Its editors complained, "are mere rhapsodies of 72 commonplace stuff, applied to every man alike, who happens to he In power or favour."^ Thomson himself, keenly aware of the presence of "state writers" and the threat they posed to letters, * called them "the scribblers of politics and poetry," Al­ luding to the great epics of Homer and Virgil, he exclaimsi "They ^Fhe scribblers7 increase proportionally to their distance from the source, like rivers or (since I*m in the way of similes) like Discord, as the poets personate her, small at first, but in a short time her body reaches from the Zenith to the Nadir, and her Arms from one pole to the other, which Is the case of Fame,-—To sound as Fkme is, when great actions make a great noise, so news Concerning GrubbiansT^ are a noise about nothing."** His "simile," although possessing more art than matter, suggests his criticism of the anarchic tendency of professional authors, as well as the magnitude of the problem* these writers were ubiquitous and were not only creating a serious prob­ lem on the Job market, but also were prostituting their art in the process. As Thomson complains in the same letter, "/poetrv7 is now a very Strumpet. Written Just four months after his coming to London, this letter indicates Thomson*s conviction that literature ought never be essentially a pecuniary adventure. He ar­ rived at this belief early in his career, despite the fact 73 that he too confronted the same problems of state writers he could so vehemently criticize* how does a professional author reconcile* for example* the demands of his art with those of his patron* how can an author remain divorced from the evils of partisanship, when he must appeal to govern­ mental persons to support the continuance of his literary endeavors? Thomson wrestled with these problems all his life# ("The Castle of Indolence," his final poem, sug­ gests that the conflict between art for the world and art for one's patron was never satisfactorily resolved in his own conscience.) I maintain that only after some experience with the system did Thomson's practice catch up with his ethic, al­ lowing him to criticize patrons from a consistent, non­ compartmentalized point of view, and moving him to a posi­ tion in opposition to Walpole and government officials, who, because of their conscription of artists for hire, were most responsible for demeaning literature. In plot­ ting the direction taken by his career, I hope to indicate those spots In times which were crucial to the shaping of Thomson's critical attitude toward patrons (particularly governmental patrons), and to provide the necessary con­ text for an understanding of his anti-Walpole, pro- Frederick, criticism. Thomson's early career, I admit, closely resembled that of a hack writer. As a professional author, he dedi­ cated his poem "To the Memory of Newton" to Sir Robert Walpolet this fact cannot be overlooked as a symptom of his willingness or desperateness to grovel before men of * power* even the most corrupt of them. Thomson*s dedication* which he later withdrew, and its implications are under­ standable (perhaps even forgivable), however, when we recognize Thomson's predicament* when he came to London, he had to replace those shoes he had lostj he realized that before he could luxuriate in his craft he was in need of cash or credit. Artistic freedom for Thomson, as for all creative people, involved financial solvency* and that was something Thomson at this time in his career did not enjoy. Recognition of Thomson's financial insecurity is cru­ cial, I believe, in understanding the reason for his later opinions* his insolvency was not only the cause underlying his decisions early in his career to approach such'men as Walpole but also the first step in the unfolding of his critical attitude toward patrons (especially politicians) and professional poets. The degree of his desperation shows through in one of his early letters to William Cranstoun, to whom, on October 1, 1?25* he writes* I'm going (hard task!) to complain, and beg your assistance— When I came up here, I brought very little money along with me* ex­ pecting some more upon the selling of Wide- hope /Thomson's family home on Kale Water, in the parish of Korebattle, in Scotland/, 75 which was to have "been sold that day my mother was buried /May, 172j£7# Now 'tls unsold yeti but will be disposed of, as soon as it can be conveniently done* tho indeed 'tis perplex'd with some difficulties. I was a long time here living at my own charges, and you know how expensive that 1st this, together with the furnishing of myself with clothes linnens one thing with another, to fitt me for any other business of this nature here, necessar­ ily oblig'd me to contract some debt* being a stranger here, *tis a wonder how X got any credit* but I can't expect 'twill be long sustained, unless X immediately clear it. Even now, I believe it is at a crisis# My friends have no money to send me, 'till the land is sold* and my creditors will not wait till then— you know what the consequence would be . . • Thomson requests from Cranstoun a letter of credit for twelve pounds and explains that he had to resort to Cran- stoun's generosity, since his short acquaintance with London society had made him terribly aware of "the selfish inhumane temper of the generality of the world. Thomson also confided in David Mallet and informed him of his financial difficulties, even after he had received some aid. Regarding Mallet's suggestion that Thomson's patrons "may do something" for him, Thomson scornfully responded* "But 'tis a cold thought— I'm afraid of little o money from them#" The poet's attitude toward patronage was, at this time (shortly after he had established himself in London) Just forming, though his own experiences and the advice from his colleagues allowed him eventually to recog­ nize the inadequacies of the patronage system as well as I

7 6 Its 111 effects on literature. To stoop to men of wealth and distinction and to beg their financial aldt regardless of their demands, was, he realized, to debase one's honesty and one's artistic Integrity. But Thomson came to this * realization only after his initial confrontation with the system in his attempt to find a patron for "Winter*" Thomson sought advice on this subject from Aaron Hill, who answered him with a poem. Hill's verses denounce patrons and encourage Thomson to "slight such delusive props and stand alone." Hill emphasizes that Fruitless dependence, oft has prov'd, too late. That greatness dwells not, always with the great. Hill knew that wealthy men were not necessarily arbiters of taste. In a less than ideal world, they literally could afford to attract writers simply to be flattered by them, being interested only in self-aggrandizement. "Patrons are nature's nobles," Hill continues, "and not the state's,"

And wit's a title no broad seal createst E'en kings, from whose high source, all honours flow. Are poor,in paw'r,when they would souls bestow. Thomson's counsellor indicates how an artist of integrity should conduct himself* Heedless of fortune, then, look down, on state. Balanced, within, by merit's conscious weight* Divinely proud, of independent will, Prince of your wishes, live, a sov'relgn still* Oh! Swell not, then, the bosoms of the vain, With false conceit, you their protection gain. 77 •Poets, like you, their own protector*s stand, Plac*d above art, from pride*s inferior h a n d ,9 Such advice complimented Thomson on his idealism, but did not contribute to the solution of his problemi and Hill minimized both the idealism and the problem with the sug­ gestion that he turn "to the court's soft climate" for aid* To Hill, the answer involved a simple juggling of the basic premises of Thomson*s idealism and, for that matter, his own as well. He suggested that Thomson think essen­ tially of his craft and only incidentally of "following interest close" or of falsely flattering a party official* The problem would be solved once the public became aware of the intrinsic worth of Thomson's work* Thus Hill con­ cludes his poem with realistic advice« But, in defiance of our taste— to charm. And fancy's force, with judgment caution arm. Disturb, with busy thought, so lull'd an age, And plant strong meanings o'er the peaceful page* Impregnate sound, with sense, teach nature art. And warm e'en winter, till It thaws the heart* How could you, thus, your country's rules transgress^ Yet, think of patrons, and presume success.10 After further consultation with his colleagues, Thom- * son eventually didlcated the first Installment of The Seasons to Sir Spencer Compton, then Speaker of the House of Commons, who, a few years earlier, had been George II's first choice as head of state before Queen Caroline per­ suaded her husband to retain Sir Robert Walpole.11 As the poet surely must have realized, the praise he lavished on 78 Sir Spencer was ludicrously fulsome. He flattered his patron by extolling his Hsound integrity** ("Winter,** 1* 3 2) and his "uncorrupted soul" (1. 33)* be exalted him as a "statesman" (1. 3 6) and a "patriot" (1. 37)• Yet, Sir Spencer, in spite of Thomson's efforts, neglected to re­ munerate the poet. It was then that Thomson had reached the ultimate point of exasperation, the prelude always to the exercis­ ing of his critical talents. It was bad enough to act "the strumpet," he believed, but It was far worse to go unpaid. At this time, therefore, with a little help from his friends (Hill and Mallet), his criticism was levelled against the likes of Sir Spencer. Thomson planned to incorporate Hill's poem (cited above) as well as Mallet's, both critical of patrons, in the material prefatory to the second edition of "Winter." Mallet's poem, like Hill's, subordinates criticism of statesmen to praise for Thomson. He attacks Sir Spencer's narrowness of mind and his inability to see the breadth of Thomson's genius. Affecting the smugness of the Horatlan satirist, Mallet, therefore, directly applauds the poet and obliquely criticizes his patron* Thus I dare sing of merit faintly known, Friendless— supported by itself alone s For those who aided well could lift thee high In fortune, see not with discernment's eye. Nor place nor power bestows the sight refined, And wealth enlarges not the narrow mind.12 Before the second edition of "Winter*1 was published, Sir Spencer presented Thomson with twenty guineas--quite a handsome fee. The poet, his position in the profession still insecure, decided, therefore, that discretion was in

* order--at least, that was his initial decision in the wake of his patron*s generosity* Ever cautious, Thomson wrote to his friends and asked them to make such "alteration £ L n their poems7 as shall clear Sir Spencer."!3 Thomson's indignation, though temporarily calmed, soon surfaced as the poet realized that a mere twenty guineas did not ob­ viate the professionalism/patronage problemi he would not be enticed to overlook his obligation to lash out against the inadequacies of the system. He, then,angrily exclaimed to Mallet* "Twenty guineas— twenty curses on them • • • • I need not mention to you the avarice, littleness, luxury, and stupidity of our men of fortune* the generous, barbar- ous, contempt of Poetry, that noblest gift of heaven." lii' In the same letter he acknowledges that "satire /1§7 a remedy the age much wants," implying that a critical at­ tack, beyond Hill and Mallet's poems, is forthcoming. Thomson adhered to his promise, and his voice was heard not only by Mallet and Hill but also by the reading public. When the second edition of "Winter" came before the town in 1726, it contained his colleagues* unaltered satires as well as a polemic of his own. In which he 80 alludes to the difficulties he had in getting money for his project* The poet bravely begins the tract« "I am neither ignorant nor concerned how much one may suffer in the opinion of several persons of great gravity and char- * acter by the study and pursuit of poetry*" Thomson, no doubt, had Sir Spencer well in mind when he referred to those who show "contempt" for arti he addst "The truth of the case is this t these weak-sighted gentlemen cannot bear the strong light of poetry and the finer more amusing scene of things it displays*"^ After this incident, he eased his conscience over the Compton affair by turning his attention to procuring employers more worthy of his talent* His criteria were simplei his future patron must show an active concern for art and allow him to express himself freely and to remain divorced from the vested interests of poetical propagan­ dizing, or "following interest close*" Thomson first turned to George Bubb Dodington, to whom he addressed his "Summer," published in 1727• Doding­ ton, though in many ways a despicable man, possessed an unusual appreciation for creative genius, and Thomson dis­ covered in him the enthusiasm and interest needed to fer­ tilize his imagination* While traveling on the continent, the poet corresponded with his patron* the topic of dis­ cussion was nearly always Thomson*s literary endeavors or 81

art In general* In a letter of October 2 1 7 3 6* f o x ex­ ample, Thomson seems to be responding to his patron*si sug­ gestion that he attempt an epic poem, when he indicates his reluctance to undertake such a project* "If anything * could make me capable of an Epic performance, it would be your favourable opinion in thinking me so. But as you Justly observe, that must be the work of years, and one in an epic situation to execute it."1^ In another letter, Thomson discusses the French theater, and Informs Doding- ton of Voltaire*s Brutus,1^ He recognized the intelligence of Dodington and never hesitated to share with him his ideas about art and letters; nor did he fail to acknowl­ edge his indebtedness to his patron* "The kind of advice

and encouragement ^fou g i v e / me, together with the many frank and unsolicited obligations I lie under to your goodness, have made an Impression on my heart which I shall always feel with particular delight In whatever part of the world and circumstances of life I am."1® Thomson's patron for "Spring" was as conscious ot*, and Interested in, literary affairs as was Dodington. The Countess of Hertford was lady of the Bedchamber to Prin­ cess Caroline, but she was apolitical by nature and cared •more for poetry than party. Lady Hertford learned of Thom­ son by way of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe, who wrote to her shortly after the publication of "Winter," "There is a poem in 82 blank verse lately printed called Winter by Mr. Thomson, " Mrs. Rowe tells her, and "tis very fine so I am perswaded Zsic7 will please the Justice of your taste*h19 The Coun­ tess invited Thomson to Marlborough Castle in 1727* she * regularly encouraged young poets by making her home avail­ able to them as a studio far from the congestion of the city# The invitation was not altogether gratuitous, how­ ever, since the poet was expected to serve as mentor to Lady Hertford, herself a fledgling poet.2^ Nevertheless, Thomson found her receptive to his projects, and he sus­ tained their relationship long after the summer of 1727# sending her his "Hymn to Solitude" and "A Poem on the death of Mr. Aikman," because he trusted her critical acu­ men.21 Ms. Hughes, who wrote of the poet and the Countess, discovered a poem, not included in J. Logie Robertson's Oxford edition of Thomson, which celebrates Thomson's in­ tellectual relationship with Lady Hertford. "To Retire­ ment, an Ode," was written June 13# 1735# some seven years after Thomson's sojourn at Marlborough Castlei and, as the poem implies, the poet could still pleasurably recall those momentsi Come calm retirement! Sylvan Power! That on St. Leonard's 7H1117 Lov’st to walk, To lead along the thoughtful hour And with the gentle Hertford talk.22 After his dealings with Sir Spencer Compton, there- 83 fore, Thomson was fortunate in working with patrons who could assume more than Just a financial role in assisting the poet * early in his career, he found a way to reconcile his personal dilemma of art for art's sake and art for * * survival's sake. His integrity, moreover, did not escape the observation of his contemporaries. After Liberty ap­ peared and Mr. Slaughter did his portrait of the poet "with the figure of Liberty in his hand,*1 G. W. (possibly Gilbert West) wrote a poem in which he judiciously com­

mented t Yes Slaughter, in these lines /of Liberty7 a soul X trace That scorns a falsehood ev'n to gain a place.23 Thus, not only was Thomson cognizant of a real (though far from ideal) solution, but he was recognized by his contemporaries as a writer of artistic and professional integrity. Having established that reputation, he became increasingly critical of those who persisted in debasing their art by engaging in Whig panegyrics and of patrons who commissioned such pieces. Writing to Mallet in August 21- 27* 1726, Thomson makes one such attack* "Have you heard that our present Blockhead Laureat, or Laureat Blockhead, has had a fling at Walpole too," he asks Mallet) "He had •better bribe them to silence. Posterity will call him, if Posterity hear anything of the matter, the Maevius-Baevius- Maecenas, the discelebrated knight. As Alan D. McKillop points out In his note for this passagef ”the Laureate at this time was Laurence Eusden* hut It does not appear that he had published anything that could be called fa fling at Walpole.*"2^ Thomson, however, may have been merely displaying his contempt for the of­ fice (although Eusden himself was as contemptible as his job)* The post ofpoet laureate represented to Thomson the epitome of poetical prostitution. The position suggests that poetry is taskwork, and not a genuine creative enter­ prise, and that writers are more interested in celebrating the parochial than propounding the universal. Eusden, who was attacked by Pope and Swift as well as by Thomson, was an example of the artist manque'. Unlike Dryden, who was able to manipulate the office so as to allow his genius to mature fully, Eusden complacently engaged in trifles pro­ claiming the honor that was the king#s and the beauty that was the queen*s. His canon exhibits poems which are ob­ viously calculated to placate the wrath of the lords at court or of political figures. They make no political statement other than hyperbolic praise for merits of the English system and nation.2^ Eusden, therefore, was a mere professional writer, a hack. Thomson, I think, re­ acted against Eusden*s work for Just that reasons his art was merely a Job, and the product reflected his attitude. Knowing Eusden, he would expect him to have a go at 85 Walpolei thus, his slip is understandable. Thomson, no doubt, despised the Poet laureate for still another reason. Eusden, evidence suggests, actually campaigned for the office. Aware of the political situa— tion, he petitioned Addison, we know, to speak favorably of his merits to King George. Eusden begins one of his electioneering poems by flattering the Journalisti While to new Honours you, unenvy'd, soar And too much merit is a crime no more* While regents chuse you with a general voice, And glad Britannia loud proclaims the choicei Pleas'd with my fond ambitious zeal, excuse The tuneful labours of a loyal muse• O! may you kindly listen to the lyre, You, whom I love, as much as I admire.2? He aligns himself with Addison in his anti-Tory campaigni "Long have we struggled in a glorious cause/To guard reli­ gion, and secure our laws"; he rejoices, of course, In their victory in preventing the Catholic, James Stuart, from usurping George's crowni "Old annals to the last the most inclIne/And honour Guelphs with the god-like line."28 His letter to the governor of Button's little senate, therefore, represents the type of political profiteering which Thomson, like Pope, saw as a violation of the func­ tion of poetry. Professor McKIllop, however, believes that Thomson, in his letter of August 21-27» 1726, was referring to

Joseph Mitchell*s "begging poem," and his evidence Is worth repeatingt 86 In 1725 Mitchell published Two Poetical Peti­ tions to The Right Honourable Robert Walpole. Esq. It will be helpful to give both titles in fullt The Slne-Cure: A Poetical Peti­ tion to the Right Honourable Robert Walpole. Esq.t For the Government of Duck-Island. in St. Janes's Park, and The Equivalents A Sec­ ond Poetical Petition to The Right Honourable Robert Walpole Esq.. for the Dignity of Foet- Laureat. In Scotland. This last title may have led Thomson to coin his expression 1Block­ head Laureat, or Laureat Blockhead.' In 1 7 2 6 Mitchell followed up these performance / s t q j with The Promotion 1 A Poetical Petition To The Right Eonourable Sir Robert Walpole, for the Office and Importance of Secretary of State For Scotland, and The Alternative 1 An Anacreontic Petition to The Right For the Power and the Glory of a Royal Commission, to Superintend the Next Public Lottery, or the Next General Assembly of the Kirk • • • • With Thomson's phrases for Walpole, 'The Maevius-Baevius-Kaecenas, the discelebrated knight,' compare the Alternative. page 29* And the hum of thousands hear Fraught with my encomiums dear! Mix'd with thine, my worthy knight, My Maecenus, my delight!2^ Thomson's comment that "the Laureat Blockhead had a fling at Walpole too11 / j a y italics7, indicates Thomson's general dissatisfaction with men like Eusden and Mitchell. One word broadens his criticism to include the other wri­ ters who took advantage of this trend in letters 1 the above phrase, therefore, may refer to Charles Beckingham, among others. Thomson damned this minor poet to "the lowest depth of poetical Tophet" in a letter to Mallet that same month. 3 0 Beckingham, in 1725* addressed an ode to Walpole in honor of his installation as a Knight of the Garter. 8? In the poem "the noble dead • • • Join the great proces­ sion of the day” and are inspired by the worth of Walpole* In fact, Beckingham says they "Burn t*assooiate with renown anew." All Join in praise of the minister, "whose coun- * sels prop an Empire’s weight," as the poet focusses on Walpole’s plan to keep England out of war3I--a policy which Thomson criticizes in "Britannia."-^2 Thomson’s criticism of scribbling writers, therefore, emanates from his awareness that their concept of profes­ sionalism differed from his. Poetry, he was convinced, should not be taskwork. Like Pope, he believed that the "new-creating word" ("Winter," 1044) was sacrosanct, and that poets shared in the creative process of the '-’Almighty Poet" ("Summer," 186, 1727-38), "the Eternal cause, sup­ port, and end of all " (190). Thus, by definition, the writing of poetry should remain primarily a sacramental process and only accidentally a pecuniary adventure. But, in Thomson’s view, the "scribblers of politics and poetry" wrote first to please and make money. For this reason, he was infuriated not only by the fact that such panegyrical writers allowed the profession to sustain mediocrity but also by the fact that hack writing bred hack writing. The Scriblerus Club, to which Thomson was allied, shared his ethical convictions concerning professionalism and patronage, and at this time the group renewed its animosity toward Ambrose Philips, among others, greatly criticizing him (as the most famous of Whig Buttonlans) for his mercenary involvement with Lord Carteret. Like Mitchell courting Sir Robert Walpole, Philips became the symbol of a poet prostituting his work to gain the favor of a prospective patron. Some years after the pastoral controversy, he elected to trade in his rural pipe for a child#s rattle in order to please Carteret and, more im­ portantly, to profit from his performance. Philips knew, as did Eusden, Mitchell, and Beckingham, that personal panegyrics were selling more readily than pastorals* so, the former pastoral1 st wrote doggeral verses to Lord Carteret's children, thereby provoking several parodies. Philips* critics not only mocked the style of his poems, but also satirized his ulterior motive in writing them. Dean Swift called Philips "Namby Famby"--a tag later to become a stock joke, along with Philips* second sobri­ quet, "Humpus,"33 A broadside ballad, printed around 1725» indicates the extent to which Philips* antics became the target for town ridicule. An anonymous poet, writing in the cadence of Philips* "Carteret poems," sings the fol­ lowing jingle i Nymphlings three, and three, and three, Daughters of Mnemosynes, Thrice, and thrice, and thrice again, I invoke your virgin train, • • • • Haste and help me, fly with speed, 89

Namby never had more need Ev'ry bordling now throws dirt On my numbers quaint and curt* Join your forces all to ease me ^ See how many scribblers tease me ! ^ This poem was in response to Captain Gordon's "Namby Pamby, or a Panegyric on the new versification*" which condemned Philips* poetry for "little subject* little wit*"35 Gor­ don's attack* although vicious* was mild in comparison to others on Philips' flirtations with the Carteret family* One poet advises that Philips "Leave off great Cart'ret to rehearse/In thy damned, paultry sluggish verse. This poem must have been written by an ant1-Buttonian t because it also attacks Tickell and Kneller* both of whom were friendly with the Whigs at court and with Addison* while he generaled the group*37 The writers of these broadside ballads usually make some reference* implicit or explicit, to the Butto’nians as poetical Jobsters* In "Namby Pamby*s Lamentation for the departure of Mr* Nobody," a parody of .Philips' poem, "On the Departure of Lord Carteret," for instance* the "chorus of poetasters" suggests the Impulse which motivated the Eusdens, Mitchells, and Philipses of London, by chanting* Power o'er every power supreme, Thou the poets hallow'd theme, From thy nercy seat on high Hear our number, hear our cry. Guard our great poetic Jobsters 90 Ftom the double headed lobsters. And thou O Monarch of the fishes, To accomplish all our wishes, Waft them safely to the land, To the state of Old England, Let not their destiny be sudden. Long may they feed on good plum-pudding And live In clover, while we sing, Their happiness— God save the King. Burlesquing the venality of poetasters, the writer satir­ izes those who regard "plum-pudding, " the reward for their taskwork, more highly than a "hallow'd theme,” the norm from which these ”Jobsters” have departed. Swift knew Philips ten years before the pastoralist was courting Carteret and, at that time, regarded him as more a place-hunter than a poet. "Before going to Bath with Addison,” Mary Segar tells us, "Philips had written to Swift for help in obtaining a post. Swift's reply was discouraging. He was by now definitely unfriendly to Philips. To Stella, he wrotei 'This evening I have had a letter from Mr. Philips, the pastoral poet, to get him a certain appointment from the Lord Treasurer. I have now had all the Whig poets my solicitorsi but I will do nothing for Philipsi I find he is more a puppy than ever. So X don't solicit for him.'"^® Swift's estimate of Philips, as expressed in the Namby Pamby poems and in his note to Stella, suggests rea­ sons for his critical attitude toward the poetry of men like Philips— an attitude shared by Thomson and Pope. The Eusdens, Mitchells and Philipses of the profession cared less for artistic Integrity than financial self-aggrandize­ ment* Their convictions concerning poetry hardly reflected the stuff of "The Almighty Poet," the poetry of moral in­ struction and universal significance! and Thomson knew it* Thus, he could argue with Malleti "But you destroy my whole scheme, by saying, that if they have not good wri­ ting, bad will do as well, and better. A Hurlothruinbo or anything— Evil is their good. Damn their corruption, their low taste, and all their stupid expence 1 That these writers wooed men of the opposite party, of course, made Thomson*s exasperation all the more pronounced! their Whiggism was a major cause of his criticism of them. Thomson, a dissident Whig (a term I will explain be­ low), has been described as an enthusiastic Whig, which would put him politically in line with his rivals, the poets he criticizes in his letters. The critics* assess­ ment of his political leanings, however, is much in need of qualification, since party lines in the 1 7 2 0*s and « 1730*s were not precisely drawn. The terms Whig and Tory suggest a nominal distinction but, at this time in British history, do not necessarily imply a distinction based on ideology. Rapin De Thoyras, when writing his Pissertat1on on the Rise. Progress. Views. Strength. Interest, and Char­ acter of the Two Parties of the Whigs and Tories, in 1717* classifies the Tories into moderate Tories, rigid Tories, and mitlgatorsj and again, into arbitrary Tories or High Flyers, and moderates. And he has as many divisions of* Whigs, including State, Republican, and Moderate Whigs* He continuously shows. In spite of* his confusing distinc­ tions, that certain Tory factions were closely affiliated in theory with certain Whig factions* Of the moderate Whigs, for example, he states* "The second branch of the state Whigs contain the moderate Whigs, who are nearly al­ lied to the moderate Tories in principle* and consequently are to be considered as true Englishmen, who desire, the government may be maintained upon its antlent foundations* Herein they would be exactly like the moderate Torys, were it not that these incline more to the King, and the mod­ erate Whigs to Parliament• "**0 Not even Thomson*s contemporaries were sure of the distinctions in the political ideologies of the two par­ ties* Charles Bechdolt Realy cites several men and women of the period to show the ambiguity of party lines* The Duke of Wharton, a supporter of the Pretender, James, for example, claimed that what the Jacobite cause required was a "Whig and a brisk one, too, and I am the man."^ Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, in trying to differentiate Hanover­ ian Tories from Moderate Whigs, said that "the country Whigs and the country Tories were not very different in 1^2, their notions." In some instances, this problem became 93 the subject of* comic Ironyi even John Bull was confused* for In Charles the Second's day, says he, ye Prigs. Tories were Tories then, and Whigs were Whigs.^ In spite of the fusion of Whig and Tory camps, how­ ever, a distinct pattern emerges with respect to who was supporting whom. Thomson was a Whig, but he was a dissi­ dent Whig in opposition to George's court. He professed allegiance to the Hanoverian succession, to the principles of parliamentary government, to constitutional rule, to liberty, and he aligned himself with Pulteney, Wyndham and Bolingbroke, the leaders of the anti-Walpole forcesThus he was able to befriend Pope and Bolingbroke and share com­ mon political views with them, in spite of the fact that they were nominal Tories. The line of demarcation, then, can be drawn between men of court and men out of court, with the latter group, the dissident Whigs, comprised of both Tories and Whigs* this, I think, Is the most meaning­ ful way to approach Thomson's politics. * Since Thomson's dissident Whig opinions led him to be critical of men in office, his reasons for espousing the beliefs of the Opposition should be noted. The story be­ gins with the accession of George I, who was in taste and character like his son, the future king. George I and II confronted the English nation with a considerable handicap* they were foreign-born, and spoke very little English* yet, 9 *** they were expected to quell the threat of Jacobitlsm and to devastate the Tory factions at court* A letter of John Ker of Kersland to "Monsieur de Leibnitz'' gives some indica­ tion of George's immanent problems* The letter was written just after Queen Anne's death* Ker anxiously warns Leibnitz to prepare His Majestyi Sir, It is with the extremest pleasure I have the honour to congratulate you upon the great and good news of His Majesty's accession to the Crown of Great Britain* and being now his subject, I must not presume to speak so free­ ly as I did before* It will be much for the King's service, and the happiness of Great Britain, That you in­ stantly leave Vienna, and make haste to Han-' over* for, by reason of your universal knowl­ edge, particularly of British affairs, your long experience, and great reputation with the King, you are Justly entitled, more than any man in the world, to be his chief coun­ sellor before he goes to England, whose man­ ners and language he is but too much a stran­ ger to* Pray pardon me, to put you in mind, that the success of all great enterprizes depends much upon the power which gives the first mo­ tion, that one wrong step being made, can not easily be retrieved, and considering the present divisions and animosities in Britain, it will require uncommon application to extri­ cate him out of the difficulties which will unavoidably attend him, if he offers to take JtJt part with any one side more than the other * • • • George's obtuseness and his want of appreciation for art alienated many of the writers of the time* One author circulated a broadside ballad which ridiculed George for Just these reasons. The song, "The Devil over Lincoln," sung to the tune of "A Cobbler there Was," was occasioned 95 by the erection of the king's statue on the steeple of St. George*s Church in Bloomsbury, built in 1724-. The author exposes not only George's ignorance of the English language but also his lack of taste. Even Walpole, who was also a * notorious cretin as far as matters of art were concerned, said that Mthe steeple is a master stroke of absurdity, consisting of an obelisk, crowned with a statue of George I, and hugged by the royal supporters• In a rather coarse way, then, the balladeer writess As the Devil o'er Lincoln was looking one day For when Satan looks sharp he can see a long way— He spy*d an odd figure on Bloomsbury Steeple With his horns high exalted surveying the people. Derry down, etc. • • • • From thence Satan kenned the sweet face of the creature, He knew his old friend in each line and each featurei Without further preface he addrest his ally, With a 'How the plague, George, came you mounted so high? * * Speak, how got you up? I shall humble your pride — What, have you now learn'd on a broomstick to ride?* •No softly,* quoth George, 'You be vasting mistaken, Me be ne'er por de vitch, nor the conjuror takon. •But to tell you de trute vas plac'd here by my brewer Ven I vas Ignorant of it as you are ; But do' I'm a fool, as you plainly may see, . - You have noy von more humble servant dan me,*^° The picture of the King and Satan as allies, although a seemingly harsh if not treasonous innuendo, suggests the popular dislike for George I. The support George II re­ ceived was little different. As Pope says in the opening 9 6 of "Book I" of The Dune lad* "Still Dunce the Second reigns like Dunce the First*" More significantly, however, the first two Georges further alienated men of letters (Thomson and Pope and their circle of friends) by naming Robert Walpole Prime Minister* Where the Georges were mocked, Walpole was despisedt the kings reigned, but the minister ruled, and not very honestly* One early nineteenth-century critic notest "Chesterfield's view of Sir Robert Walpole's char­ acter was, in some measure, correct* He was the first minister who practised corruption systematicily. He was accustomed openly to maintain that all men were venal and had their price; and that all the world was governed by interest• Thackeray's character sketch of the minister is more pointed still* "In religion he was little better than a heathen, cracked ribald jokes at • * * bishops, and laughed at High Church and Low* In private life the old pagan revelled in the lowest pleasures* he passed Sundays tippling at Richmond; and his holydays bawling after dogs, or boozing at the Houghton with boors over beef and punch* He oared for letters no more than his masters ^George I li-R and 1 1 7 did." His philistinism, in fact, is the subject of several anecdotes, one of which explains why he too did not care for nonpartisan poetry. The story is told by Lord E* 97 Fltzmaurice, who. In referring to Walpole, says that he was "a coarse, noisy m a m no orator, no scholar* with no nearer approach to even a tincture of literature than the conventional possession of a few stale tags from Horace# * In his own library at Houghton, he once found Henry Fox reading and said to him* 'You can read. It is a great happiness# I totally neglected It while I was In business, which has been the whole of my life, and to such a degree that I cannot now read a page.•"^ Walpole was, indeed, the "poet’s foe," and he was satirized in Gay’s Begger’s Opera. Swift's Gulliver’s Travels. Fielding’s Jonathan Wild, and a score of other works written In the 1720*s and 1730’s. His character and his personality would have gone unnoticed had it not been for the "systematic corruption" he practiced* his dealings with non-governing men provoked the dissident Whigs of the Opposition Party, to which the now more famous authors of the day belonged. In his letter of August 21-27# 1726, Thomson expresses his contempt for Walpole’s writers by suggesting that the Minister "had better bribe them to si­ lence.” Thomson’s remark signifies the extent to which Walpole’s maneuvers were known. There Is evidence, moreover, suggesting that Thomson was not misreading Walpole’s use of bribery to enlist sup­ port. William King, a contemporary of the minister and a 98 secretary to the Duke of Ormond* relates one such example of Walpole's strategy, which is worth citing at length* I am • • • put in mind of something • • • which happened in Sir Robert Walpole's admin­ istration* He wanted to carry a question in the House of Commons, to which he knew there would be great opposition, and which was dis­ liked by some of his own dependents. As he was passing through the Court of Requests, he met a member of the contrary party, whose avarice he imagined would not reject a large bribe. He took him aside, and said, 'such a question comes on this dayi give me your vote, and here is a bank bill of 2 0 0 0^, * which he put into his hands. The member made him this answer. 'Sir Robert, you have lately served some of my particular friends* and when my wife was last at court, the King was very gracious to her, which must have happened at your insistance. I should therefore think myself very ungrateful (putting the bank bill in his pocket) if I refuse the favour you are now pleased to ask me*50 Furthermore, Walpole flaunted his bank bills in the face of those writers who grovelled before him in the hope of securing his patronage as poetic jobsters. Michael Foss, in a recent book on patronage, claims that Walpole "spent 5 0,000J^ from the secret service fund on writers and print­ ers • • • • Arnall, one of the chief among them is said to have received 1 1 ,0 0Q^ in four years, and retired on a year , It was this conscription of writers that principally perturbed Thomson, for Walpole was polluting the world of nonpartisan poetry. Thomson and Pope, whatever personal animosities they may have nurtured, were convinced that to take art lightly was to debase the best that had been said and thought in the world. Both realized that man has a responsibility to language, since it undergirds civiliza­ tions to pervert poetry into propaganda was to allow language to function dishonestly and to inhibit man's ob­ ligation to reason rightly for the ultimate improvement of* mankind* Operating from this concept of language and lit­ erature, Pope could compare dunces to demons, and Thomson could vehemently state, Ha Hurlothrumbo or anything— Evil is their good*"-^ (The poet's reference to Hurlothrumbo if significant, Alan D. McKillop has pointed out that Hurlothrumbo was ”a nonsensical piece by a dancing master from Cheshire named Samuel Jonson, which ran at the Hay- market for thirty nights from March 29» 1729*"-*3 Inter­ estingly, Walpole subscribed to thirty copies— another example of the tasteless favoritism he showed to certain writers•) One additional reason moved Thomson toward the minor­ ity faction of extra-court Whigs and Tories, and it relates to his realization (perhaps rationalization) that, unlike the poets he criticizes, he was not writing essentially in return for favors received. Thomson, I believe, had taken to heart Hill's advice to think first of his craft and second of "following interest close.” I maintain that the poet of The Seasons accepted Hill's fine distinction, and 100 I cite, a letter by Thomson to George Ross to that effect. Written November 6, 1736, when Thomson was under Freder­ ick* s patronage, the letter Indicates that Thomson was still experiencing financial difficulties* more signifl- cantly, however, It Indicates the manner by which he will repay the loan he requests from Mr. Ross. "I own X have a good deal of assurance, 11 Thomson writes, "after asking one favour from you, never to answer your letter till I ask another. But not to mince the matter, and all apologies apart, hearken to my request— My sisters have been advised by their friends to set up at Edinburgh a little milliner*s shop * and if you can conveniently advance to them 1 2^ , on my account, it will be a particular favour. That will set them a-going, and I design from time to time to send them goods from hence. My whole account I will pay you when you come up here, not in poetical paper credit, but in the solid money of this dirty world."^ That Thomson offers to repay the loan with "solid money" rather than "poetical paper credit" suggests his realization that writing poetry in return for services rendered would violate his profes­ sional ethic.' I suspect, therefore, that the poet con­ sidered first the motivation (his and others*) for invoking the muse,and recognized that bona fide artists were above involving themselves in a money-for-poetry business trans­ action. Thus, understanding his motivation to write for 101 posterity (not particular people with personal, political motives), he could self*-righteously maintain the necessary distance from the objects of his attack. Professional authors wrote partisan poetry on a auld pro quo basis in­ tended for one man’s selfish purposes, while Thomson wrote pure poetry, from a dissident Whig point of view to be sure, but Intended essentially for the edification of all men through the ages* and he felt that Pope, like himself, professed similar sentiments* For these reasons, then, Thomson (and Pope for that matter) leaned toward the Opposition and lent his voice to its anti-Walpole causes* His Initiation into the Opposi­ tion was given impetus by the action of Lady Hertford, who presented Prince Frederick with a copy of The Seasons • Thomson gratefully acknowledged this opportunity to have a member of the royal family show an interest in his work, especially the Prince,"who unlike his father could make claims to sensibility, being an enthusiastic playgoer and a fair cellist, singing French songs at an open window to his own accompaniment for hours * Thus, Thomson writes to Lady Hertford* Give me leave to return you my most humble acknowledgements for the honour you did me in presenting my Book to The Prince of Wales* I wish it had been something more worthy of you to present, and of him to read* The ap­ probation he was pleased to give a first im- . perfect essay does not so much flatter my vanity, as my hope, of seeing the fine arts 102 flourish under a Prince of his so noble, equal, humane, and generous disposition} who knows how to unite the sovereignty of the Prince with the liberty of the people, and to found his happiness and glory on the publick good. Oh happy as a God he, who has it both in his hand and his heart to make a people happy!56 This letter is postmarked from Paris, October 10, 1732, and was written while Thomson was travelling as tutor to Lord Thlbot's son. Thomson's movement toward Frederick is significant, for it was the Prince, because of his rift with George, who became the titular leader of the dissident Whigs. This rift between the royal households was noticed as early as 1729 • when Lady Anne Irwin wrote to Lord Carlisle that Lord Essex was "more in favour with the Prince than any other person and consequently ill at court; he was always with Pulteney, and he talked much against Sir Robert•"■57 The rift came after Frederick quarreled un­ successfully with his father over two issues« his pro­ posed marriage to Wllhelmina of Prussia, which George II prevented from taking place because of diplomatic squab­ bles, and the Prince's penurious allowance. Prince Frederick's income was not so limited, however, as to prohibit him from enlisting the assistance of such men as Thomson, whose works favorably impressed him. It must be noted that the Prince could be as devious as Walpole In getting supporters. He usually recruited them 103 by threatening that he would one day be king, when being In his graces would matter. The Earl of Marchmont records, for example, the Prince*s warning to Lord Harrington* "Remember, my Lord," Frederick said, "the King Is sixty- one and I am thirty-seven."5^ Thomson recognized the Prince and accepted him as the tltlular leader of the Opposition, despite his tactics, for three reasons* the Prince, unlike his father and Walpole, could appreciate the legitimate talent of others) he represented the lesser of two evils (he was certainly better, in every way, than George II)) and he did profess the principles of parliamentary rule and individual liber­ ty, basic tenets of Opposition thought, which Thomson also enthusiastically accepted. Thus, the poet of The Seasons lent his full support to the Opposition and pledged his nominal allegiance to the Prince of Wales, thereby al­ lowing Thomson to act upon still another fine distinction. The coalition, then, with the backing of literary men, indefatigably aroused public sentiment against Wal­ pole. Realy cites Observations on . . . The Craftsman- a contemporary pamphlet which indicates the zeal of the group* "All hands were employed and all engines set to work, manuscripts weie circulated, the press loaded, coffee­ house talkers, table wits and bottle companions had their instructions given them."59 And Thomson played his parti 10^ he too was critical of the government and evidence sup­ porting this fact can he found In his poetry, plays, and prose• Thomson dedicated several of his works to Frederick, Indicating the poet*s Opposition bias. In fact, his great­ est political poem Liberty was written In the Prince*s honor. In the prefatory material to the poem, Thomson publicly proclaimed his patron*s attributes, despite the political Implications of dedicating a piece to a dis­ owned member of the royal household who had blatently dis­ avowed the governmental principles of the court and Its ministers. Echoing the sentiments of the dissident Whigs, the poet writes to Fredericki In you the cause and concerns of Liberty have so zealous a patron, as entitles what­ ever may have the least tendency to promote them to the distinction of your favour. And who can entertain this delightful reflection without a feeling of pleasure superior to that of the fondest author, and of which all true lovers of their country must participate? To behold the noblest dispositions of the Prince and of the Patriot united— an overflowing benevolence, generosity, and candour of heart Joined to an enlightened zeal for liberty, an intimate persuasion that on it depends the happiness and glory both of kings and people --to see these shining out in public virtues, as they have hitherto smiled in all the social lights and private accomplishments of life, is a prospect that cannot but inspire a general sentiment of satisfaction and gladness, more easy to be felt than e x p r e s s e d • "60 But Thomson did express himself, and the implied assertion underlying his "Dedication" was not only that Frederick’s 105 virtues were singular, but more importantly, that he rep­ resented the hope of a new form of government much unlike George II*s under Walpole. Thomson*s poem is c.ritical of kings and their minis­ ters from the days of Greece and Rome to the England of the early eighteenth century. Public servants, the poet realized, need the constant reminder that social welfare is their duty and morality in government their responsi­ bility* regardless of office or royal privilege, they must submit to unlicensed criticism if the liberty of the peo­ ple (a crucial term in the catechism of the dissident Whigs^*) is to be preserved. Thus Thomson warns(Liberty. Part I) that England must be made cognizant of the mis- Judgments of past governments as well as the errors of her own present system, and the literary man must assume the role of the social critic to ensure that the party in power remains honest* in England, "Truth /must7 unli­ censed ^walk7* and ^dare^ aocost/Even Kings themselves . . (36^-365). The poet, naturally, realized that his poem was a dissident Whig panegyric, supportive of Frederick, the symbol of liberty, and critical of Walpole, the symbol of tyranny* moreover, the town saw the poem for what it was.

Fog*s Weekly Journal. September 18, 1 7 3 6, for example, ran the following advertisement* "The design of this poem, is 106 td trace the rise, progress, and fall of liberty, thro* the several states where she has flourished, to her es­ tablishment in Britain, with the melancholy prospect ad­ mitting the loss of it,* and advice to Britons how to pre— serve and compleat theirs.” In addition to Liberty, which is his most forthright political poem, Thomson dedicated several shorter poems to Prince Frederick and the Princess, each reflecting Thom­ son* s political ideology and, therefore, critical of the Whigs in power. Even his birthday ode "to His Royal High­ ness the Prince of Wales," written in celebration of the birth of the Princess Augusta (July 31« 173?)• is riddled with Thomson's criticism of Walpole's policies, especially his pusillanimous dealings with France and Spain, Thomson Isolates the occasion of the poem as a rare "gleam of Joy" showing forth among the more unfortunate, political and social, scenes of British life. The birth of the Princess allows the "sons of roughest toil," therefore, to forget "their pain," and all to rejoice.^ let Thomson Informs the reader that the reason for celebration Is unique t conditions at this time do not permit England to sustain such singular moments of bliss, for the Princess was born. While secret-leaguing .nations frown around, Ready to pour the long-expected storm— While she who wont the restless Gaul to bound, Britannia, drooping, grows an empty form— While on our vitals selfish parties prey And deep corruption eats our soul away. 107 Unlike the glorious past, the present Is marred with cor­ ruption! but, according to the poet, the future promises to regain the spirit of the past* When Frederick becomes king, then, *'• • • recovered Britain will * • • soar/When France Insults, and Spain shall rob no more. Thus, Thomson, even In a birthday ode, cannot long ignore polit­ ical conditions* his critical impulse invades a poten­ tially felicitous poem and converts it into a significant socio-political document* The dynamic of the piece is contrast! the past with the present, a moment in time with the duration of time, and the present with the future* It is the same technique he uses in two of his memorial verses, poems which Dr* Johnson could have included in his list of Thomson's in­ novations* The poet wrote five such poems, occasioned by the deaths of relatives, friends, and colleagues. Seldom, however, does he wallow in grief* rather, when the hurt comes, he uses It to reflect on the past and to learn from It* His critical eye, then, always focussed more on the present, enables him to hold up for our Inspection those virtues embodied in the lives of his associates* He es­ pecially chides men who scorn rectitude, whether In poli­ tics, as in "To The Memory of Lord Talbot," or in the world of letters, as In "To the Memory of Mr* Congreve," a poem which touches upon patronage as well as the respon— Filmed as received without page(s) 108

UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS. 109 reward will not be Increased, nobody judging him to be worth a crown." Other of Thomson*s political innuendoes, however, were more apparent still* his depiction of the wily Aegisthus, for example, is quite obviously a calcu­ li1 lated attack on Walpole• Thomson’s political plays and others like them were in vogue in the 1730*s* Mallet wrote Mustanha* Henry Brooke, Gustavus Vasai and Hill, Ceasar. Thomson*s sec­ ond political play was Edward and Eleanora. written in 1739* The poet turned playwright was so highly critical of George * s government in this play that it was necessarily banned from the stage by Walpole's Licensing Act, estab­ lished in 1737* Thomson should have anticipated the min­ ister's interference, since Brooke's Gustavus had been prohibited on March 18, just two weeks before Thomson's play met with the same fate, "The Dally Gazaeteer." according to Professor HcKll- lop, "was obliged to deal with these opposition plays, and fired its opening salvo on April 12 in a letter which be­ gins by asserting, with some truth, that hitherto the Lord Chamberlain had exercised his power very moderately. One play had been licensed which combined 'poetry and party* • • • • The reference is clearly to Mustauha."^5 Refer­ ring to Thomson, the Journalist of the Dally Gazaeteer statesi 110 I am sorry In this place to have occasion to mention, In a light little superior to the above writer, a gentleman of whom I con­ ceived, on the publication of his first poem, a very favourable ideas and though in Sophonisba he greatly erred, it was gener­ ally received as a tolerable first attempt, and the reception given the heavy scenes of Agamemnon was not thought so bad as to make this author so entirely despair of his dra- matlck genius, as to prostitute the tragick muse to the mean hope of breeding upon the hope of his contemporaries * which attempt is but a melancholy instance of the advantage arising from our full enjoyment of liberty, and what can bring no benefit to Britannia in any season whatever— and having in this instance fallen so low, it is not much won­ der'd, though by his friends it must be re­ gretted, that he should so servilely tread in the beaten path of telling in one para­ graph that the refusal of a license greatly surpriz'd him (which only himself could know) and hoping he would do himself justice by appealing to the publick from the press, since the stage was denied him*-~such incon­ siderate sallies of resentment look but in­ differently in writers, who, by the smallest attempt of a dramatick kind, offer themselves as directorsv-of the affections and passions of mankind. The journalist took up his pen once again on April' 26* This time his thesis regarding these political plays was that "partisan writing covers up literary deficiency• The Licensing Act and the articles printed in the Dally Gazaeteer sparked Thomson's righteous indignation* Before publicly attacking the government, he privately •vented his spleen in the following letter to Aaron Hilli as always, he implicitly suggests that Walpole's use of state writers is the cause of partisan poetry and "this want of taste"* Your observation, with regard to Political Corruption, like natural, when come to a crisis, producing more exalted scenes of animation, is fine, and pleases by the fu­ ture prospect it opens* but it awakens, at the same time,'a sentiment no less mortifying, should we find our Lot cast in the Times of Putrifactioni should we find ourselves devoted, in an anti-heroic manner, for the good of pos­ terity, I wish, heartily, that I could re­ fute what you likewise observe with regard to the Cause of this Corruption. Certainly the kind Exchanger of the Super-abundance for the Sweets and Elegancies of Life, is itself cor­ rupted, and its Gifts abus'd, from the want of taste i For whence is it, save the want of Taste, that the continual tide of Riches, poured in upon this Nation by Commerce, has been lost again in a Gulph of ungraceful, in­ elegant, inglorious luxury? But whence, you will say, this want of Taste? Whence this sordid Turn to cautious Time-serving, Money­ making, sneaking Prudence, instead of regard­ less, unfetter'd virtue? To private Jobs, in­ stead of public Works? To profitable, instead of fine arts? To Gain, instead of Glory? In a Word, to the whole venal system of modern Administration.68 In the same letter, Thomson suggests how the situation might be rectified, not merely on a personal basis, for he had worked that out long before, but on a national scale. His proposal involves a government program of copyright as a means of legitimately subsidizing the artsi I wish we had one good Act of Parliament fore securing to Authors the property of their own work* and that the stage were put upon the footing of common sense and Human­ ity, and can it be, that those who impress paper with what constitutes the best and everlasting riches of all civiliz'd nations, and of all ages, should have less property In their paper, so enrich'd,than those who 112 deal In the rags, which make that paper? Can It "be, that the great,the delightful school of. manners, should be abandon'd to common sale, and become the property of anyone, who can purchase It, to be, per­ haps, the school of folly, and corrup­ tion?— a simony this, in Virtue* which, if not so wicked, yet is as pernicious as that in Religion* What would Athenians have said to this! What laughter, what contempt, what indignation would it have raised among them.°9 Thomson did not let the licensers of the stage or the writers of the Dally Gazaeteer escape the brunt of his critical anger* Nor did he, however, choose to defile their personal reputations by haranguing their actions* that would have been too easy. Rather, he criticized their actions in terms of their implications. His paper ap­ peared, quite appropriately, as the preface to a reprint­ ing of Hilton's free-speech document, Areopagitlca* Thom­ son's name did not grace the essay, perhaps because he be­ lieved that his readers might have misconstrued the mean­ ing of the piece, mistaking it as the product of a maligned author, rather than as the product of one genuinely sensi­ tive to the government's intrusion into the vital area of personal freedom. We know, however, that Thomson was the author of the preface * our most conclusive evidence is provided in the memoirs of Thomas Hollis, who had intended to publish an edition of Milton in the eighteenth century, but never completed it. The following note, found among the material which comprised Hollis* work in progress is 113 on the subject of Areopacrltlca and what we now know to be Thomson's "Preface*'i "This matchless speech Zby Milton7, composed of noblest learning, wit and argument, was re­ published in 1738, with an excellent Preface by Thomson, author of 'Liberty, A Poem,' and other works,"70 Thomson's thesis, then, is that the free press is England's only recourse to truth, and without this liber­ ty, a nation is doomed to "Darkness and Barbarity."71 The poet takes a truly positive view of liberty, and says that it is requisite to the intellectual development of mankind* "For without it • • • men soon cease to be men': they soon cease to be rational creatures" (ill). Liberty, to Thomson therefore, implies "the free exercise of wit and reason" (iv), resulting in "Wisdom, Knowledge, Virtue and Science" (iv)• To deny a people this prerogative is to "strip /Ehem7 of the use of /their7 noblest faculties* /their7 souls themselves are imprisoned in a dark dungeon 1 Zthe^r7 may breathe, but Z£hey7 cannot be said to live. And when a government acts in opposition to a free exercise of rea­ son, as it has done in establishing the Licensing Act, it reduces its subjects to slaves, in fact, to Pack-horses or mules" (v)* Thomson attacks the government for suggesting that "liberty and free government, publick good and ration­ al happiness" require "limitations of the press, and li­ censers of books" 1 to propound this, he says, "is as absurd as to speak of liberty in a dungeon, with chains on every limb** (v) • Thus he says it is "glaring bare-faced non­ sense" to say "that the very support of a free constitu­ tion requires the extinction of the press," His criticism reaches its most forceful moment when he Indicts the ad­ ministration for perpetrating "the cruellest, the wicked­ est, the most irreligious" actions imaginable. Against those who abuse their responsibility by writing poetry and drama for reasons exclusively political, and not literary, Thomson rails» "I hate all calumny and defamation, as I hate the corruption of heart, from which alone it can pro­ ceed* and do with the utmost zeal detest those profaners- of liberty, who pretending to be friends to it, have re­ course to such black diabolical methods. But I take the laws already in force amongst us, to be a more than suffi­ cient preservative (at as far as human Prudence is able to provide) against all the abusive overt acts, I am now ex­ pressing my abhorrence of" (vii)l Thomson*s "Preface" to Areopagltlca is more angry than his "Preface” to the second edition of "Winter" in its ex­ pression of his circumspect moral vision-—the source of, and reason for, his critical point of view. Both pieces speak to the issues of the day and call for a correction of contemporary problems. The "Preface" to "Winter," written during his first years in London, addresses itself 115 to the problem of patronage# a professional problem Thom­ son had to confront immediately after he had written 'Win­ ter*" The demands of patronage, he eventually realized# were not in keeping with his professional ethic* Before he * arrived at a consistent# noncompartmentalized# critical view of the system# however, he had to Juggle the premises of his Idealism* Only when he had formulated his ideas regarding the primary motives of establishment writers and measured them against his own could he recognize the essen­ tial difference between his work and the work of his ad­ versaries* Thus# some ten years after his Initiation into the profession, he became fully conscious of the errant „ attitudes of his literary foes and of the unnecessary re­ lationships among patronage# politics, and professionalism# Also aware of both a personal solution and a possible governmental solution to this unnecessary triangle of in­ terests# he could self-righteously attack the court and charge that Walpole was responsible for perverting poetry into propaganda# while he rallied to the Prince where he was fully able to develop his craft and safely able to exercise his critical (dissident Whig) impulse* And that critical impulse, I maintain, invades not only his prose# ■minor poems# and plays, but also, in a special way, his magnum opus■ The Seasons* ENDNOTES

1 I am borrowing the term from William Guthrie, who» recognizing all of Its Implications, was the first writer, to my knowledge, to refer to himself as a professional author. He admits that he is an “author by profession" In a letter cited by Isaac Disraeli, Calamities and Quar­ rels of Authors (Londoni Frederick Warne and Co•, n.d,), pY 8 1 My L o r d , In the year 1745-6, Mr, Pelham, then first lord of the treasury, acquainted me, that it was his majesty’s pleasure I should receive, till better provided for, which never has happened, a 200.j£ a year, to be paid by him and his successors In the treasury. I was satisfied with the august name made use of, and the appointment has been regularly and quarterly paid me ever since. I have been equally punctual in doing the govern­ ment all the services that fell within my abilities or sphere of life, especially in those situations that call for unanimity in the service of the crown. Your Lordship may possibly now suspect that I am an author by profession* you are not deceived? and I will be less so, if you believe that I am disposed to serve his majesty under your Lordship’s future patronage and protection, with greater zeal, If possible, than e v e r • I have the honour to be, My Lord, William Guthrie 2 “The Occasional Writer,“ The Works of Lord Boling- broke (Philadelphia* Carey and Hart, 1841), 202-203, ^ The Craftsman. June 8 , 1728, #101, (1 700-1 7 4 8 ) 116 117 {Lawrence* University of Kansas Press, 1958), p. 13• The letter is dated July 20, 1725# Just four months after Thomson*s arrival in London#

5 Ibid- ^ Ibid#, pp. 15-16# 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid., p. 20. This letter is dated October 12, 1725. 9 "To Mr. James Thomson; on His Asking My Advice to What Patron He Should Address His Winter,” In The Works of the Late Aaron Hill (London, 175*0# III* 77-78. 10 Ibid.# pp. 78-79- For a biographical sketch of Sir Spencer Compton, see The Memoirs of the Celebrated Persons Composing the Kit-Cat Club (London* Robinson and Co#, 1822), p. 117. 12 gee "To Mr. Thomson, On His Publishing the Second Edition of His Poem, Called Winter," in the Aldine Edition of Thomson's works, cill. Letters, p# 33# ^ Ibid.# p. 36 (dated June 1 3, 1726). ^ Works, p. 239. Letters. p. 7**» *7 Ibid., p. 7 8. 18 Ibid.. p. 73. From Alnwick MSS, #110, p. 131* as cited by Helen Sard Hughes, In "Thomson and The Countess of Hertford," MP, 25 (1928), p. 44-3. Dr. Johnson, "Life of Thomson," III, p. 287- 2* Hughes, p. 4 5 6. 22 Hughes, p. 450. 118 23 "On Mr. Thomson*s picture drawn by Mr. Slaughter* with the figure of Liberty in his hand* as describ'd by him In his poem on that subject," The Gentleman's Magazine, December, 1736, p. 7^3• 2*** Letters. p, 50* 25 ibid.. p. 51. pi See, for example, Eusden's Three Poems, one edi­ tion of which appeared In London, 172?» "The First, Sacred to the Immortal Memory of the Late King"r "The Second, On The Happy Succession, and Coronation of His Present Majes­ ty"! "A Third, Humbly Inscribed to the Queen." 27 Letter on the King's Accession to the Throne" (London, 171^)» P. 1* 2® Ibid., pp. 2,4-. 29 Letters, see note, p. 51. 3° Letters. p. ^-0. 31 An Ode to the Right Honourable Sir Robert Walpole. Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, on His In­ stallation (London, 1725)• PP* 1-6, ^ I need not discuss Thomson's reaction to Walpole's peace-at-any-price policy, since it has been fully treated in several articles. See, for example, Cecil A. Moore, "Whig Panegyric Verse, 1700-1760* A Phase of Sentimental­ ism," PMLA. (1926), 362-402i Moore states* "Seldom has the British Lion roared more loudly • • . than he does through the 2 9 9 lines of this poem, written by a poet who • . • is . • • denouncing ZWalpole7 for pusillanimous inactivity In the face of Spanish insults" (p. 397). ^ The Poems of Ambrose Philips (Oxford* Kemp Hall Press, 1937). Percy Reprints. W l % 7 ix. "Namby Pamby's Answer to Captain Gordon" (n.p., n.d. ) • 35 Capt. Gordon, "Namby-Pamby, or a Fanegyrick on the New Versification, Address'd to A P . Esg." (n.p., n.d.) • 36 Anon., On The Works Of Humpus. Town Poet (London, 1725)* P. 1. 119 37 ibid. 38 The Poems of Ambrose Philips, xxxv. letters. p. 65* The History of England. Trans. Nicholas Tindal (London, 1732), 2 vols* The "Dissertation," first pub­ lished in 1 7 1 7 , Is In volume II* see p. 801. 4*1 The Early Opposition to Sir Robert Walnole (1720- 27). (Lawrencet University of Kansas Press, 1931)» P» 37* Realy is quoting from the Hardwlcke State Papers (April 5» 1726), II, 637. ^ lb Id . . p. 3 9 . Realy cites Wharncliffe*s, The Letters of Mary Wortley Montagu. I, 98.

Ibid.. p. 3 9.

^ The Memoirs of John Ker. of Kersland In North Britain. Esq. (London. 1 7 2 6), 5T, 94-95 • ^ Cited by William Walker, in Political Ballads of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (Londons Longman, Green, Longman^ and Roberts, i8 6 0) , 11, 206. Ibid.. pp. 206-209. 47 Anon., Memoirs of the Celebrated Persons of the Kit-Cat Club (Londons Robinson and Co., 1822)• ^ The Four Georges (London* The Falcon Press', 194*8), p. 4-3. J. H. Plumb* s biography Sir Robert Walpole * The Making of a Statesman (London* The Cresset Press, 1956), is more generous than Thackeray's sketch of the minister* Plumb recognizes Walpole's faults, his love for money and power, his hatred of criticism and dissident Whig writers, but he concedes political genius, Industriousness, and ef­ ficiency to the man. 4^ Cited by Archibald Ballantyne, In Lord Carteret. A Political Biography 1690-1793 (London * Richard Bentley and Son, 1887)* p. 80. Political and Literary Anecdotes of His Own Times (Lond on * John Murry, 1818), pp. 27-29. 31 The Age of Patronage* The Arts In England. 1660- 1750 (Ithaca, New Yorkt Cornell University Press, 1971)* 120 P. 147. 52 Letters, p. 6 5. 53 Ibid., see notep p. 66.

^ Cited by D. Ersklne, Earl of Buchan, In Essays on the Lives and Writings of Fletcher of Saltoun and the Poet Thomson: Biographical. Critical, and Political (London, 1 7 9 2), p. 199. 55 John Carswell, The Old Cause: Three Biographical Studies In Whlgglsm (London : The Cresset Press, 1954), pT T & r .

5 6 Letters, p. 8 3* 57 MSS of the Earl of Carlisle. Hist. MSS Comm. (Lon­ don, 1897)* Appendix, pt• vi, 5^* Dlarv of Hugh. Earl of Marchmont. as cited by G. W. Cooke, Memoirs of Lord BollnrebrokeILondon. 1 8 3 6), II, 206.

59 The Early Opposition, p. 1 5 8. The Craftsman. a periodical paper, was the official organ of the party, as of 1725* Works, p. 310• 61 See Chapter V for a discussion of liberty and other key terms from the dissident Whig catechism. ^ Works. pp. 464-465*

64 Cited by the Rev. D. C. Tovey, The Poetical Works of James Thomson (London: George Bell and Sons, 1897)» iTx- lx, I shall discuss Thomson*s plays at length In Chap­ ter V. My purpose here is merely to furnish the back­ ground Information relevant to Thomson's critical (dissi­ dent Whig) statements. 65 "Thomson and the Licensers of the Stage," PC£, 37 (1958), 450. ^ Ibid., as cited by McKillop, pp. 450-451•

6 7 Ibid. 121 Letters, pp. 105-106.

6 9 Ibid.. p. 106. Cited by G. W. Whiting, "James Thomson, Editor of Areopagltloa." N&Q. 1 6b (1933). ^57*

Areonagitlca t A Speech of Hr. John Milton, for the Liberty of Unllcens'd Printing. To the Parliament of Eng­ land (London. 1738), ill • PurtTier references to this work will be entered parenthetically in the text. "THIS DARK STATE"i THOMSON•S WORLD VIEW AND THE STRATEGY OF HIS CRITICAL IMPULSE IN THE SEASONS

That not in Fancy*s maze he wander'd long, But stoop'd to truth, and moraliz'd his song* --Pope, Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot

The Seasons can be read as a divine work propounding the glories of God and His sublime universe or as a natu­ ralistic work dealing with a view of God's creation in all Its particularities or as a pre-Romantic work Indicative of the poet's fanciful vision, which imaginatively Imposes order upon the disparate elements of reality* But the poem can be read In still another way, since Thomson's model was Virgil's Georgies, a flexible form fusing all manner of statementIn my reading of The Seasons* I wish to explore the topical element* Thomson's critical response to the historical condition of man In "this dark state" ("Summer," 1800), the postlapsarian world of the early eighteenth century. In other words, I wish'to read the poem as a social document* maybe not essentially or solely as a forthright statement of Thomson's convictions regarding the controversies of the day, but surely as an 122 123 as an Augustan work, the nature of* which allows the poet's negative responses to emerge. Of course, interest in the topical alone does not make Thomson's work Augustan, although during the early eighteenth century writers frequently employed occasional themes for poetic purposes. Nor do Thomson's critical re­ sponses to man's delinquency alone constitute Augustanism, although this manner of statement is more indicative of the great age of satire than the propensity to celebrate the parochial. Rather, the poem, as I read it, is Augus­ tan principally because it reflects a world view peculiar to its aget the attempt, by a process of intense analysis, to perceive the Ideal nature of man and to measure the ex­ tent to which man has become an Insidious aberration. In true Augustan fashion, The Seasons formulates a circum­ spect view of man, recognizes his delinquency, reflects moments of exasperation and indignation, resorts to satire or criticism, displays a sense of social satisfaction on the part of the writer, and aims to effect moral obliga­ tion in the reader. In analysing The Seasons. I shall discuss generally how Thomson perceives man In ”thls dark state," and specif­ ically, and at greater length, how his philosophy deter­ mined the expression of his critical spirit. I hope to accomplish the latter by demonstrating the strategy of his 124- concern, the technical manner In which he makes his convic­ tions known* I shall classify the expression of that con­ cern by means of an illustration of what I shall call the rhetorics of contrast, allusion, obliquity, and analogy# Professor Fairchild and several other critics have taken the Shaftesburian strain in Thomson's philosophy to epitomize the poet's world view,3 Such studies, however, tend to be misleading, since Shaftesbury's optimism dis­ misses evil in the world (or in man, the microcosm) more readily than Thomson's. The poet of The Seasons, as these critics recognize, does share Shaftesbury's view to some extenti but Thomson's beliefs, X maintain, do not exactly coincide with the intuitions of his precursor* although some passages in The Seasons lead one to suspect that Thomson's god is the "smiling deity" of "Spring" (862), they are outbalanced by the more pronounced suggestions that his was not the best of all possible worlds* According to Thomson's world view, man is the measure of all things. Because of man's vice and folly through the years, the order in the universe has become increasing­ ly obfuscated* because of man, "order confounded lies11 ("Autumn," 114-1). Bemoaning this fact, the poet identi­ fies those evils existent in man's potentially glorious nature, the principal vices that flesh is heir to. Echo­ ing Shakespeare's Hamlet and Donne's First Anniversary. 125 Thomson concretizes a seemingly tragic vision* importantly, the problem in the world is seen as a problem in m a m /N/ow the distempered mind Has lost that concord of harmonious powers Which forms the soul of happiness* and all Is off the poise within. ("Spring,” 275-278) I say"seemingly tragic" because Thomson recovers from this early seventeenth-century point of view by stating the reason for the world*s being out of Joint. That he is able to know the cause moves him from a sense of tragedy (though the situation Is surely unfortunate, as he implies) to a sense of outrage, resulting In criticism. Thus, Thom­ son's explanation, in content and tone, is typically Augustan* man has allowed his lower nature to supersede his rational faculty* "the passions all/Have burst their bounds," and "Reason" has become either "half extinct," "impotent," or so gnarled that when man perceives the "foul disorder," he commends, rather than condemns' it ("Spring," 270-280). Man's culpability In perverting what should be is at the center of Thomson's philosophical system, his world view* his every critical comment emanates from this point. For this reason, he uses personificatIon in listing the •sins of society, critically expressing his perception of both the problem and its source, man* Senseless and deformed. Convulsive Anger storms at large* or, pale And silent, settles Into fell revenge. Base envy withers at another's joy, And hates the excellence it cannot reach. Desponding fear, of feeble fancies full, Weak and unmanly, loosens every power. (“Spring," 281-28?) In the same catalogue, the poet persists in suggesting the monstrousness of modernity. Still focussing on man and revealing his conception of him, Thomson emphatically states that even the softer virtues have undergone a transformation, becoming progressively more malicious. "Dove itself is bitterness of soul" (288)i it has "sunk to sordid interest," and feels no more That noble wish, that never-cloyed desire, Which selfish joy disdaining, seeks alone To bless the dearer object of its flame. ("Spring," 290-293) “Hope sickens," and "grief swells into madness," as man's reason loses its sway (29^-295). Instead of being active­ ly concerned for his "neighbor's good" (302), man has set­ tled into selfishness and, worse yet, into "coward deceit, and ruffian violence" (303)• The poet's final assessment of modern man, therefore, is hardly optimistic. Not only has man persisted in his errant ways, but he has Ignored his responsibility to dis­ cover the ultimate cause of the malaise. Rather than ad­ mitting that the fault resides within, man attributes the evil in the world to the stars or to an angry god who has altered the course of nature 1 127 At last, extinct each scclal feeling, fell And Joyless humanity pervades And petrifies the heart. Nature disturbed Is deemed vindictive, to have changed her course. ( "Spring,11 305-308) Thomson, however, in keeping with a view he held consis­ tently throughout his life, claims otherwise* at least that Is the Implication in his use of the passive "Is deemed•" Thomson's world view compels him to evaluate the more far-reaching effects of man's inhumanity. Because man has subverted his responsibility to act according to his na­ ture, the entire age Is marred. In "Spring” Thomson, in­ dicating the breadth of his critical judgment as it is informed by his view of man, designates the entire age "These iron times/These dregs of life" (27*4— 275) • The first phrase could be read as an Inoffensive reference to the commonly recognized progression of time from the Gol­ den Age, through the various stages of civilization, to the eighteenth century, the time of mercantile progress and burgeoning industry. The appositive ("these dregs of life"), however, undercuts any implied compliment, since "dregs" connotes the worthless residue of the Indus­ trial or "iron" process. The use of the adjective "iron" with Its pejorative connotations, I might add, was current* In fact, in the writings of the Opposition, it refers to the tastelessness of some forms of early eighteenth- 128 century literature* Bolingbroke, in the prologue to Altemlra. for example, rues that • • • In this iron age, your souls to move In vain we try, by honor or by lovet The certain way to please your vicious taste Are streams of blood and valleys of bombast; Dancers and tumblers now the stage profane; Music and farce alone our plays sustain, . And art and nature leave the trifling scene• The poet refers to this "iron age" in "Autumn" as well, In a passage firmly supporting his view that man Is responsible for the immorality of the age* In "Autumn," Thomson speaks of those who act exclusively from avarice, those who "brave the flood In quest of gain" (1278)* Let such as deem it glory to destroy Rush into blood, the sack of cities seek— Unpierced, exulting in the widow's wail. The virgin's shriek, and infant's trembling cry* Let some, far distant from their native soil, Urged on by want or hardened avarice, Find other lands beneath another sun. Let this through cities work his eager way By legal outrage and established guile, The social scene extinct; and that ferment Mad into tumult the seditious herd, Or melt them down to slavery. Let these Ensnare the wretched in toils of law, Formenting discord, and perplexing right, An Iron race! ("Autumn," 1280-9*0 In this passage, the connotations of "Iron" decidedly speak to man's evil disposition. The merchant, like the barbarian, "/sack^ cities," and purposelessly devastates foreign civilizations. His inanity, his madness (1290), renders him unworthy of humanity; he is classified, there­ fore, as a member of the "herd." A more serious condem- 129 nation Is the irony that such reprehensible activity can occur within the confines of the law* this "legal outrage” suggests a fault with the English judiciary system, which can allow anarchy, chaos, and"discord” to subvert a ra­ tional and benevolent treatment of one's fellow man. Although several similar passages can be ctied to illustrate Thomson's criticism of this "iron age" as it reflects his hardly optimistic world view, I believe that the manner in which he expresses that point of view must now be examined, for such an examination of Thomson's strategy will suggest why critics have ignored his crit­ ical side and will provide insights necessary to perceive that side as it is manifested in The Seasons, Thomson's perception of man and his world emerge as we become aware of the rhetoric of his critical impulse in The Seasons, Certain patterns recur throughout the poem and constitute the manner in which statements made by the poet can be construed as criticism. Of the four patterns that I perceive, the first is the rhetoric of contrast* Thomson's juxtaposition of two opposing or dissimilar ele­ ments to suggest the differences between them, with a view toward commending one to condemn the other* the philoso­ pher with the savage, primitive man with modern man, rural life with court life, the Golden Age with the modern age, Thomson uses the term savage■ both literally and 130 metaphorically,to compare "unenlightened man" (Summer," 1758) with the philosopher--"unenlightened," not only be­ cause man has been deprived of the benefits of civiliza­ tions, but also because his basic disposition is anti­ intellectual, precluding any interest in bettering his situation physically, culturally, or morally. First ask­ ing, "Without thee ^Philosophy7 what were unenlightened man?" Thomson answers* A savage roaming through the woods and wilds In quest of preyi and with unfashioned fur Rough clad; devoid of every finer art And elegance of life. Nor happiness Domestic, mixed of tenderness and care, Nor moral excellence, nor social bliss, Nor guardian law were his; nor various skill Mechanic; nor the heaven-conducted-prow Of navigation bold, that fearless braves The burning line, or dares the wintry pole, Mother severe of infinite delights! Nothing, save rapine, indolence, and guile, And woes on woes, a still-revolving train! ("Summer," 1759-72) The philosopher, in contrast, both knows and appreciates the "effusive source of evidence and truth" ("Summer," 1732). Because he is aware of the "chain of causes" (17^5) and because he honors "the world-producing Essence" (17*4-7), the poet elevates him Above the tangling mass of low desires, That bind the flattering croud. ("Summer," 1739-^0) The direction of Thomson's criticism becomes apparent as we realize the equations he establishes. The savage, who does not possess "moral excellence," Is likened to 131 modern man, the representative of the Iron age* the phil­ osopher, on the other hand, Is aligned with Thomson him­ self i With thee, serene Philosophy, with thee, And thy bright garland, let me crown my song! ("Spring,M 1730-31) The comparison between the poet and the philosopher sug­ gests Thomson's recognition, however exaggerated by him for the purposes of his criticism, of his own moral excel­ lence, This recognition Is to be taken not merely as a moment of self-congratulation but as an indication on Thomson's part that he is separate from the objects of his attack. Unlike his contemporaries, his foes, he has main­ tained the necessary distance from evil, in order to recog­ nize and to criticize its manifestations, if only metaphor­ ically, as savagery. The savage is not to be confused with the primitive man who appears intermittently throughout the poem. Prim­ itive man, as Thomson characterizes him in "Summer," is the Emblem instructive of the virtuous man. Who keeps his tempered mind serene and pure, And every passion aptly harmonized Amid a jarring world with vice inflamed. (^65-^68) The poet ironically asserts that, although primitive man does not have the benefits of civilization, he is far more civilized than Englishmen. Thomson distinguishes between 132 the trappings of civilization, all that wealth can pro­ cure, and the essence of civilization, which involves vir­ tuousness as a habit of mind and soul. The primitive "sons of Lapland" ("Winter," 843), for example, are intrinsically more civilized than certain Europeans, for Laplanders "ask no more than simple nature gives" (845)* They possess "no false desires, no pride-created wants" (847). Thomson calls them the "thrice happy race"(88l), because they are by poverty secured From legal plunder and rapacious power, In ^them/ fell interest never yet has sown The seeds of vice, whose spotless swains ne'er knew Injurious deed, nor, blasted by the breath Of faithless love, their blooming daughter*s woe, ("Winter," 880-886) Thomson contrasts the gentleness and virtuousness of these people with the base qualities of "the boisterous race," populated by Europeans engaged in the slave trade. The Europeans, not the Laplanders, are described as barbarians. The Laplanders have managed to "despise the insensate bar­ barous trade of war" (884), but the English Drove martial horde on horde, with dreadful sweep Resistless rushing o'er the enfeebled south, And gave the vanquished world another form. ("Winter," 840-843) The Laplanders, in other words, have preserved the stabil­ ity of the past, while Thomson's contemporaries, appearing to prefer change and ensuing chaos, have scorned the con­ cepts of civilization and an ordered way of life# 133 Thomson*s commendation of primitive man relates to still another element of his rhetoric of contrast* primi­ tive man enjoys rural seclusion, while modern man must suf­ fer the corruption of city and court life. Thomson rhap­ sodizes about rural life in "Autumn”* Oh! knew he but his happiness, of men The happiest he! who far from public rage Deep in the vale, with a choice few retired, Drinks the pure pleasures of rural life. (1235-38) In "Winter" Thomson claims that "rural life" (603) allows one to "learn the private virtues" (601)i in fact, the country is the one place where the mind, In endless growth and infinite ascent, Rises from state to state, and world to world. (606-609) This life, therefore, is free from the contagious influ­ ences of the city and particularly the court. Thomson makes his criticism of the court explicit as he indicates that primitive man is more fortunate than modern man "though the dome be wanting" ("Autumn," 1239). and though the glittering robe. Of every hue reflected light can give. Of floating loose or thick with massy gold, ("Autumn,". 124-2-4-4-) is denied him. Such environs "/vomitf/ out the sneaking croud/Of flatterers false" ("Autumn," 124-0-4-1) The "vile intercourse" ("Autumn," 124-2) of court life, furthermore, hardly provides the ideal haunt for writers 1 13^ the court, with its redundant luxuries, encourages dis­ honesty and breeds "flatterers false," not artists of in­ tegrity. The simple life of the country, however, streng­ thens virtue and allows .the "devoted" poet to give "his muse to better themes"* The se, The scenes where ancient bards the inspiring breath Ecstatic felt, and, from this world retired. Conversed with the angels and Immortal forms, On gracious errand bent— to save the fall Of virtue struggling on the brink of vice. In waking whispers and repeated dreams To hint pure thought, and warm the favoured soul, For future trials fated, to prepare? To prompt the poet, who devoted gives His muse to better themes. ("Summer," 522-532) The most pronounced implication in this passage is that a professional writer in the city (court) wastes talent on Inferior themes. Thomson*s criticism, I might add, was not novel? Horace and Juvenal,long before, recommended the country as the Ideal haunt for writers, since its life purges and cleanses the soul and enables a writer to de­ vote his talent to more worthwhile creative endeavors than those demanded or commissioned by vain patrons. In The Seasons contrast functions in still another way when Thomson measures his civilization with the Golden Age. Just as primitive man, for example, served as a norm against which the poet could measure the worth of modern man, so too the concept of the Golden Age suggests the degree to which Thomson's civilization has departed from perfection. 135 And, again, Thomson Is aware of the Irony that the past, "the primitive age of man,” is far superior to the present in spite of the progress men presumably make with the revo lutlon of the seasons. Thomson twice refers to the "Golden Age." Without using his critical voice, he exclaimsi Bear me Pamona! to thy citron groves To where the lemon and the piercing lime, With the deep orange glowing through the green, Their lighter glories blend. Lay me reclined Beneath the spreading tamarind,that shakes, Fanned by the breeze, its fever-cooling fruit. Deep in the night the massy locust sheds Quench my hot limbs* or lead me through the maze, Embowering endless, of the Indian fig • • • • ( "Summer, " 66*1—671) Witness, thou best Anana, thou pride Of vegetable life, beyond whatever The poets imaged in the Golden Age. ("Summer," 885-887) A second description, however, bears the mark of Thomson*s critical temperament revealing itself through the rhetoric of contrast. "The prime of days" ("Spring," 271) repre­ sents the Golden Age when man was "uncorrupted" ("Spring," 2^3) and "lived in innocence" (237)* it was also a time when man was A stranger to the savage art of life, Death, rapine, carnage, surfeit, and diseases— The lord and not the tyrant of the world. (239-2*H) Those days are set in opposition to Thomson*s present, and the poet*s qualifying temporal transition ("but now") functions to point out the contrasti 136 . But now those white unblemished minutes, whence The fabling poets took their golden age. Are found no more • • • . ("Spring," 272-27*0 The same syntactical pattern (those days • • • these times) is repeated elsewhere. In the "prime of days," "Great Spring • , ./Greened all the year" (320-321)* there were no storms, and all was peaceful. The present, however, suffers from instability, chaos, and changes But now, of turbid elements the sport. From clear to cloudy tossed, from hot to cold. And dry to moist, with Inward-eating change. Our drooping days are dwindled down to nought . . . ("Spring," 331-33*0 The criticism inherent in this passage is oblique* it emerges only as we realize the archetypal significance of the poet’s images. Thus, Thomson may be not only sug­ gesting that the change of seasons Is a naturalistic pro­ cess but also hinting that seasonal changes, and partic­ ularly those which give rise to violent climatic condi­ tions like "storms" (325)* "Hurricanes" (326), and "autum­ nal fogs" (329)* signal a warning from the Creator that the present is "drooping" morally. The poet prepares for this Implication by referring to the Biblical deluge, God’s way of ridding the world of a civilization thriving on vice alone 1 Hence, in old dusky times, a deluge came 1 When the deep-cleft disparting orb, that arch’d The central waters round, impetuous rushed With universal burst Into the gulf. And o ’er the high-piled hills of fractured earth 137 Wide-dashed the waves In undulation vast, Till, from the center of the streaming clouds, A shoreless ocean tumbled round the globe. {“Spring," 309-316) By alluding to the Biblical myth in reference to the pres­ ent state of English affairs, Thomson can implicitly crit­ icize his fellow citizens. The violent storms of the pres­ ent portend a time like that prior to the flood. The deluge was, or will be, the effect* rnanfs immorality, the cause. Thomson's concept of the Golden Age is not facile, fantastic, or naive* rather, it is a calculated attempt to communicate his belief that certain of its moments can be relived in the present. In his conception of the Golden Age of government, for example, he nostalgically describes the Ideal parliamentary system, a concept dear to members of the Opposition* . . . Gathering men their natural powers combined, * • • Z?l7ormed a public * to the general good Submitting, aiming, and conducting all. For this the patriot council met, the full, The free, and fairly represented whole* For this they planned the holy guardian laws, Distinguished orders, animated arts, And, with joint Oppression chaining, set Imperial Justice at the helm, yet still To them accountable* nor slavish dreamed That toiling millions must resign their weal And all the honey of their search to such As for themselves alone themselves have raised. ("Autumn," 9 6-IO8) The topical significance of this passage, as I have already suggested, resides in the fact that Thomson accepted a limited monarchy, a government In which the power Is 138 shared by the king, his ministers, and Parliament, with the burden of power resting on Parliament* This political con­ viction, furthermore, has its basis in Opposition politics* The concept of a limited monarchy was first set forth by Bolingbroke, the political philosopher whose writings served as the foundation of dissident Whig thought. In his Dis­ sertation Unon Parties. Bolingbroke considers alternate forms of government and, like Thomson, opts fora system of checks and balances* Absolute democracy may appear to some, in abstracted speculations, a lesser deviation from nature than monarchy, and more agree­ able to reason, because here it is the will • of the whole community that governs the whole community, and because reason does certainly instruct every man, even from a consciousness of his own frailty, the Im­ potent la anlml of Latin writers, to trust as little power as possible to any other man. But still it must be confessed, that If it be unsafe for' a people to trust too much power to a prince, it is unsafe for them likewise to keep too much power to themselves. Absolute monarchy is tyranny* but absolute democracy is tyranny and anar­ chy both. If aristocracy can be placed be­ tween these two extremes, it is placed on a slippery ridge, and must fall into one or the other, according to the natural course of human affairs* if the few who govern are united into tyranny, perhaps more severe than any other; if they are disunited into fac­ tions and disorders as great as those'of the most tumultuous democracy .... The best form of government must be one compounded of these three, and in which they are all so tempered, that each may produce the good ef­ fects, and be restrained by the counter­ workings of the other two, from producing . the bad effects that are natural to it.5 139 Phomson* s reference to the "patriot council" also indicates that the criticism inherent in the passage from "Autumn" (quoted above) has its basis in dissident Whig thought, rhe adjective "patriot" provides the clue* the word and its variants ("patriotic," "patriotism," etc,) was a crucial term in the catechism of the Opposition,^ The term carried favorable connotations and was invariably used in reference to the activity of the dissident Whigs, Thomson's implica­ tion here, then, is that only the Opposition to Walpole can overcome his "Joint oppression" and, once again in the gol- Len age of government, "set imperial Justice at the helm," Thomson's personal biases emerge, furthermore, when le suggests that the Opposition, when Frederick is crowned /ill once again animate the arts. That day, in other words, /ill mark the beginning of a new Golden Age, when "every form of cultivated life" will be "in order set, protected m d inspired" ("Autumn," 109-110), and when the government, ;he "nurse of art,” once again will inspire her sons (1 1 3 )* liike his other implied topical critical statements con­ trolled by contrast, this admiration of the past (The Gol- Len Age) and hope for the future (The Age of Frederick) is l concealed condemnation of the then present system, in rhich George IX and Robert Walpole subsidized only those rriters engaged in political propagandizing. The Golden Age passages, and especially the "citron 140 grove” linesf^Summer,M 663ff.)» depict an edenlc paradise and have led critics to appreciate the poet*s flair for description* But what must "be emphasized, or at least no­ ticed, is that there are real toads In Thomson*s garden* Thomson allows these passages, as well as the other norma­ tive passages concerning the philosopher, primitive man, and rural seclusion, to suggest that the present Is flawed* The comparison is made within the universe of the poem by means of the poetical Information Thomson provides; and the criticism is clarified, at times, only when we recognize the historical precedent which precipitated the poet's rhetoric of contrast. A discussion of the topical innuendoes In the poem relates to a second technique of Thomson's critical manner, the rhetoric of allusion. I say "relates” because I recog­ nize that the various classifications I am suggesting are hardly discrete; passages in The Seasons might simultaneous­ ly call into play both the rhetoric of contrast and the rhetoric of allusion, or for that matter the rhetorics of analogy and obliquity as well. Aware of this limitation, I wish merely to provide a serviceable grammar by which we may perceive what has gone unnoticed by Thomson's critics, viz. the critical dimension of The Seasons. The rhetoric of allusion, then, allows the poet to make further editorial statements concerning the political situation of his day. The Intensity of the criticism varies from statement to statement depending upon the degree to which the topical allusion is explained Internally in the poem or upon the degree to which the social—historical referent lies outside. The criticism Inherent in the "patriot council" passage, for example, is heightened only when we realize that Thomson's dissident Whig thought is guiding the selection of his material as well as the ex­ pression of his sentiments. This passage, therefore, rep­ resents the rhetoric of external allusion, because it ex­ pects us to react to it as if we were eighteenth-century men, with a consciousness Informed by an awareness of the times. The rhetoric of external allusion, however, is but a subcategory of Thomson's allusive manners thus, we must recognize that the use of internal allusion also charac­ terizes his critical expressiveness. Internal allusiveness involves the poet#s providence of the necessary poeticized historical information for critical effectiveness! the criticism inherent in such passages is overt, and requires little more than an eye focussed on the details of the poem's historical passages. Thomson's overt criticism of the English prison sys­ tem provides an example of the rhetoric of internal allu­ sion. In "Winter" he explicitly describes the jails as places where 1^2 misery moans. Where sickness pines, where thirst and hunger burn And poor misfortune feels the lash of vice, (262-26*0 L*he irony of the situation emerges, within the content of ;he poem, as Thomson notes the contrast between the cell ind street* inmates, some innocent, suffer in their "gloomy jail" (361) While in the land of liberty— the land Whose every street and public meeting glows With open freedom— little tyrants raged, Snatched the lean morsel from the.starving mouth. Tore from cold wintry limbs the tattered weed, Even robbed them of the last comforts of sleep, The free-born Briton to the dungeon chained Or, as the lust of cruelty prevailed, At pleasure marked him with inglorious stripes, And crushed out lives, by secret barbarous ways. That for their country would have toiled or bled, ("Winter," 366-375) Thomson provides the necessary details to allow his irony ;o assume the power commensurate with his critical convlc- ionsi England supposedly is the "land of liberty" (3 6 5)* et "little tyrants" (26 7) prevent "the free-born Briton" 371) from experiencing his right to freedom. Formulating the problem by baldly stating that men, cting in "secret barbarous ways" (37*0* have subverted the ause of Justice, Thomson prepares the reader for further irect critical statements. After rehearsing the horrors f the Jail, Thomson straightforwardly urges the "sons of ercy" to Drag forth the legal monsters into the light Wrench from their hands oppression's iron rod, 1^3

■ And bid the cruel feel the pains they give* ("Winter," 382-385) While still urging on the "sons of mercy," Thomson shifts from an Internal to an external allusion. He direct­ ly states that "little tyrants" mar the potential greatness 5f Britain, because by disposition they are "dark Insidious aen" (384-) who deliberately "perplex the truth" (3 8 5)* But Ln calling for a remedy to correct the political problem of •this rank age" (382), he again draws upon the stock terms >f the Opposition to make his critical comments* "the jatriot's weeding hand" (383) is required to save the lation from "little tyrants" (3 6 7) who wield "oppression's Lron rod” (380). His references to patriotism as a solu­ tion to tyranny and oppression are expressive of typical

)pposItlon r h e t o r i c Thus Thomson's critical allusiveness >an be expansive* the poem Itself provides one frame in rhlch his criticism assumes shape and meaning, but when ’ead in conjunction with, for example, his dissident Whig >ias, the criticism Inherent In these passages becomes more sentrifugal, taking on more pointed reference and greater significance • Thomson's rhetoric of allusion usually casts asper­ sions on the political aristocracy, men who, for example, ire responsible for the conditions of the Jails. His ‘hetorical manner, however, does not always straightforward- .y attack them. His praise of "patriots," those who belong 14*1- to the Opposition, is the prime example of Thomson's abili­ ty obliquely to criticize some while applauding others. Innuendo allows Thomson to praise Lytteltonf Pelham, and Q Cobham, all resolute opppnents of Walpole, and to imply that their actions are commendable, while those of Walpole and his associates, are condemnable• In making such Implied judgments and in expecting the reader to understand that his heroes are Opposition members, Thomson Is being exter­ nally allusive. This method of criticism, the rhetoric of external allusion, is most clearly seen In Thomson's praise of Lord Chesterfield and William Pitt, both of whom were also ac­ tive members of the anti-Walpole movement. For the full effect of the criticism inherent in these passages to be felt, knowledge of the social-historical background Is necessary. Thomson added his complimentary lines to Chesterfield in 17^^, long after the fourth Earl had proven himself a friend to the Opposition (and two years, I might add, after Walpole had been voted out of office). The event that moved Chesterfield to the left occurred while George I was on the throne, and Walpole had just begun his ministry. In 1725 Walpole deprived Chesterfield of a place as captain of the Yeomen of the Guard, because earlier that same year Chesterfield and others spoke out against the Minister's 1 **5 revival of the Order of Bath, which they recognized as a political ploy by Walpole to reward supporters of his party. 3ne stanza from Chesterfield's ballad adequately suggests ;he tenor of the piece, as well as the reason for MBob*s" >ffencei Tho* I a bauble call it. It must not thus be slighted; ■ Twas one of the toys Bob gave his boys When first the chits were knighted-9 B. Realy claims that Chesterfield's attack "afforded the Opposition a subject of humor and ridicule that served them rell for many years."^ Lord Chesterfield's abuse of Wal­ pole, furthermore, continued through the 1730,s- Sidney j@e claims that Walpole "held Chesterfield responsible for aany defactions in the lower House."*'1 Thomson's lines are significant, therefore, since ;hey explicitly praise a dissident Whig, while implicitly iriticizing his adversaries- Thomson celebrates the "patrl- >t virtues" of Chesterfield, who "/rejected^ the allurements >f corrupted power" (6 7 0)— a phrase, no doubt, alluding to ;he fact that Chesterfield refused to accept the "riband" 'rom Walpole when he offered it- Thomson, likewise, points ;o Chesterfield's anti-Walpole ballad, which he extols as 'kind well-tempered satire, smoothly keen,//which7 steals through the soul and without pain corrects" (6 7 6-6 7 7)» and ;o Chesterfield's activity in Parliament, when he, opposed 146 to Walpole * s measures, “pleaded” the cause of* "Britannia's sons” (680-681). The poet's references to Pitt, who was similarly in­ strumental in dethroning Walpole in 1742, were also added * in 174**-. The passage mentioning him is seemingly without any blatant political statement* Thomson appears to express a desire merely to reside at Cobham's rural seat* And there, O Pitt! Thy country's early boast, There let me sit beneath the sheltered slopes, Or in that temple where, in future times, Thou well shalt merit a distinguished name. And, with thy converse blest, catch the last smiles Of autumn leaning o'er the enchanted round X walk. ("Autumn," 1048-53) The politics underlying this statement, an apparent wish to escape to the serenity of an eighteenth-century garden, be­ come evident as we realize the full allusive implications of this garden paradise and Pitt's place in it. Fortunately, Stowe received a great deal of publicity during the period, and Just before Thomson wrote this pas­ sage, a pamphlet was published entitled A Description of Lord Viscount Cobham's Garden at Stow in Buckinghamshire. The pamphlet describes the two most celebrated monuments in the garden, erected as testimony to the declining morality of England, and referred to by Thomson in the above passage. Thomson mentions "that temple," when actually there were two at Stowe t the temple of modern virtue and the temple of ancient virtue. Opposite one another, both were meant 1^7 to serve as an architectural reminder of the contrasting new and old ages. According to the pamphlet, the temple of modern virtue lies in ruins, while the temple of ancient virtue is “in a very flourishing condition.(See Appen­ dix Cj The second temple houses four statues, each with a description suggestive of the political virtues both Cobham and Pitt professed. The irony is obvious* the temple of ancient virtue has been able to withstand the onslaught of the ages (the wind and the rain and the encroaching base­ ness of modernity), while the temple of modern virtue has been quickly devastated, presumably because the early eighteenth century lacked the moral fiber peculiar to great civilizations• If I may be slightly digressive, I wish to indicate the other uses Thomson makes of the rich political sugges­ tiveness of the architectural design of Stowe, before I continue to comment on the above passage commending Pitt.. The various inscriptions on the statues function as norma­ tive statements indicating the Ideals from which the modern age has strayed. And Thomson echoes the importance of these virtues throughout The Seasons in celebrating the in­ tellectual heroes of his ideal world. At Stowe, for exam­ ple, Lycurgus is commended because he "secured by the most prudent means every inroad of corruption”* he was a man of moderation, who despised “the gratification of . • . inor- 4

3.48 linate desire , " and ordered his lire and his government, iherefore, on the principle of the golden mean. Thomson, Ln "Winter," suggests the necessity to reject "the costly pride of courts'* (8l5)t "the slothful pomp of courts'* (966), *nd, throughout the poem, criticizes the immoderate, Impru— lent life of royalty. He also questions, like Lycurgus, :he seeming injustice connected with an unequal distribu­ tion of the nation's wealth, in one section asking* Why the lone widow and her orphans pined In starving solitude* while luxury In palaces lay straining her low thought To form unreal wants * why heaven-born truth And moderation fair wore the red marks Of superstition* s scourge* why licensed pain', That cruel spoiler, that embosomed woe. Embittered all our bliss. ("Winter," 1 0 5 5-6 3)1** At Stowe, Socrates Is praised because he "delivered Philosophy from an Idle and .disputative scholastic life." Thomson praises Plato for the same reason* The great deliverer he, who, from the gloom Of cloistered monks and Jargon-teaching schools, Led forth the true philosophy, there long Held in the magic chain of words and forms And definitions void. ("Summer," 1535-39) Similarly, at Stowe, Socrates is praised because his "true lotions In morality and religion, withstood the corruption >f a licentious state." Thus Thomson agrees with, and In 'act restates, the convictions of Cobham and Pitt, as ex- iressed on the statues at Stowe. And the poet's reference ;o the "temple" calls Into play, through external allusive- nessf the critical statements Implied in the architectural design of the garden— statements, for and against, the vir­ tues and vices Thomson extols and condemns in The Sea­ sons . ^ But the passage in "Autumn” has further political significance. After he addresses Pitt and expresses his desire to reside ”ln that temple" of ancient virtue where Pitt’s statue will one day stand, Thomson continues with an underlying external allusiveness, as I shall show in a mo­

ment, guided by his critical point of viewt While there ^Stowe7 with thee the enchanted round I walk, The regulated wild, gay fancy then Will tread In thought the groves of Attic land; Will from her standard taste refine her own, Correct her pencil to the purest truth Of nature, or, the impassioned shades Foresaking, raise It to the human mind. Oh, If hereafter she with juster hand Shall draw the tragic scene, instruct her thou To mark the varied moments of the heart, What every decent character requires, And every passion speaks! Oh through her strain Breathe the pathetic eloquence, that moulds The attentive senate, charms, persuades, exalts, Of honest zeal the Indignant lightning throws, And shakes corruption on her venal throne. Pitt, of course, succeeded Walpole just five years after the Licensing Act, the ultimate gesture of his oppressive regime, had been passed. Thomson, as I Indicated in Chap­ ter II, fell prey to the licensers when Edward and Eleonora was banned from the stage. The above passage recalls these events through Thomson’s customary use of innuendo. He be- 150 gins by praising Pitt's "standard taste,” implying that his predecessor's was substandard* He then refers to "the tragic scene," which surely is an allusion to his tragedies and particularly to his play which was banned* Thomson ends with an admonition urging Pitt to practice "pathetic elo­ quence" or to plead for benevolent causes, such as the re­ form of the jail system. He also urges him to be "honest" in office, intimating that Pitt must do all in his manager­ ial capacity to purge the government of the corruption of Walpole's term in office. The poet never explicitly refers to Walpole, but his final line makes a forceful implicit allusion to the Min­ ister's methods. Thomson advises Pitt to "^fshake^ corrup­ tion on her venal throne." Although the allusion Is im­ plicit, it was common knowledge that Pitt did succeed Walpole. Thomson translates the succession into personified terms and magnifies Walpole's malice by suggesting that he was "corruption" itself. Interestingly, Thomson makes "corruption" feminines perhaps, by so doing, he wishes to allude to the fact that Queen Caroline was instrumental In retaining Walpole as Prime Minister upon the death of George I; the new king, George II, wanted Sir Spencer Comp­ ton. Thomson, therefore, uses Pitt and the other "patriots" to criticize "non-patriots," Walpole and his cronies, and the effectiveness of the poet's method of attack depends 151 upon our awareness of the external allusiveness of such passages• Both the rhetorics of contrast and external allusion seemingly indicate Thomson's intention to conceal his crlt- * lclsm, if only partially. Thus, the rhetoric of obliquity is another descriptive term we might apply to the poet's critical manner. Several passages in the poem are critical, though they hardly seem so; Thomson either relegates his criticism to a sentence where it does not receive syntac­ tical emphasis or contrives an Intricate reversal of terms to suggest, for example, his critical awareness that man is sometimes more inhuman than animals. One example of the rhetoric of obliquity is in the first book of the poem. After describing spring planting, the poet prays that the heavens may look favorably upon the labors of man and cooperate in providing the proper con­ ditions necessary for a bountiful crop* Be gracious, Heaven, for now laborious man Has done his part. Ye fostering breezes blow; Ye softening dews, ye tender showers, descend; And temper all, Thou world-reviving sun, Into the perfect year. ("Spring,1* 4-8-52) After celebrating the efficacy of the "husbandman's dili­ gence" and the purposefulness of Industry (a favorite vir­ tue of the poet), Thomson recalls that Such themes as these the rural Maro sung To wide-imperial Rone, in the full height Of elegance and taste, by Greece refined. (Spring." 55-57) 152 These two passages are without any suggestion of criticism* any mention of evil. The first describes the "perfect year"* the second, the perfect empire. Couched between these descriptions, however, is Thomson*s indirect criti­ cism of individuals who neither share the industriousness of the former nor the "elegance and taste" of the latter. Thomson addresses them as those "who live/in luxury and ease, in pomp and pride" (5 2-5 3)* He* therefore, relegates his criticism to a relative clause. (The independent clause reads* "Nor . • • think these lost themes unworthy of your ears" <*32,5*47*) Thus the implication that some men and some civilizations are less than perfect is not given the stress which comes either with strategic placement in the verse paragraph or with the syntactical emphasis of the sentence.15 A second example of Thomson’s syntax of oblique crit­ icism appears in his address to Sir Spencer Compton, Lord Wilmington. To thee, the patron of this first essay, The Muse, 0 Wilmington! renews her song. ("Winter," 17-18) Thrice happy, could she fill thy judging ear With bold description and with manly thought! Nor art thou skilled in awful skills alone, And how to make a mighty people thrive * But equal goodness, sound integrity, A firm, unshaken, uncorrupted soul Amid a sliding age, and burning strong, Not vainly blazing, for thy country's weal, A steady spirit, regularly free-- These, each exalting each, the statesman light 153 Into the patriot; These, the public hope And eye to thee converting, bid the muse Record what envy dares not flattery call. ("Winter," 28-40) Throughout the passage, Thomson deals almost exclusively with Sir Spencer's commendable qualities* "manly thought," "awful skills," "equal goodness," "sound integrity," and so forth. One prepositional phrase, however, places the poet's effusiveness in a historical and, in this case, political context. Wilmington possesses as "uncorrupted soul/Amid a sliding age" /my Italics7. The implication bhat civilization is regressing is overshadowed not only by bhe already suggested fact that Thomson's purpose here is not to condemn the age but to praise (perhaps flatter) Sir Spencer but also by an earlier statement that England is populated by a "mighty people." Nevertheless, the adjective "sliding" does cast aspersions on Compton's contemporaries, nowever obliquely. Thomson's description of the stag in "Autumn" provides mother example of the poet's rhetoric of obliquity. As In bhe above two examples, Thomson emphasizes the object of ils sympathy, not his criticism; The stag, too, singled from the herd, where long He ranged the branching monarch of the shades, Before the tempest drives. At first, in speed He sprightly puts his faith, and, roused by fear, Gives all his swift aerial soul to flight. Against the breeze he darts, that way the more To leave the lessening murderous cry behind. •Deception short! Though, fleeter, than the winds Blown o'er the keen-aired mountain by the North, 154 . He bursts the thickets, glances through the glades, And plunges deep into the wildest wood. In slow, yet sure, adhesive to the track Hot-steaming up behind him come again The inhuman rout, and from the shady depth Expel him, circling through his every shift. ("Autumn,” 426-440) * He describes the deer in human terms as a majestic "monarch" (42?) and the perfect Christian, a being of "faith" (429); in fact, the stag is almost immortal, for he "gives all his swift aerial soul to flight" (930). Continuing to empha­ size the stag, the poet describes its other human charac­ teristics « He /the stag7 sweeps the forest oft; and sobbing sees The glades, mild opening to the golden day, Where in kind contest with his butting friends He wont to struggle, or his loves enjoy. Oft in the full-descending flood he tries To lose the scent, and lave his burning sides-- Oft seeks the herd; the watchful herd, alarmed, With selfish care avoid a brother's woe. What shall he do? His once so vivid nerves, So full of buoyant spirit, now no more Inspire the course; but fainting, breathless toil Sick seizes at his heart i he stands at bay-, And puts his last weak refuge in despair. The big round tears rundown his dappled face; He groans in anguish; while the growling pack, Blood-happy, hang at his fair jutting chest, And mark his beauteous chequered sides with gore. ("Autumn," 441-457) Although his sympathies lie with the stag, Thomson's object of attack is man, first introduced only as a sound, a ^murderous cry" (432), signifying nothing but senseless destruction. When man finally appears on the scene, he is described as a representative of the "inhuman rout" (439) 155 Thus, Thomson works chiasmatically In these passages i as the deer becomes more human, man becomes more animal-like* the stag Is depicted in terms of Increasing passivity, while "the growing pack" (44*0, ignorant of beauty and majesty, * and oblivious to compassion, is described collectively as vicious predatory animals. Never in this scene does Thomson make a bald state­ ment concerning man's inhumanity* instead, his criticism is de-emphasized both by his emphatic sentimental treatment of the animal, minimizing the cruelty of man in pursuit of the deer,and by the casual references to the animal's humanity and man's animality, the ironic, but not explicit, reversal of terms. In this forest of archetypal unicorns, neverthe-

4 less, man, revealing his bestial nature, intrudes to dis­ turb the scene* and the entirety of the episode, I believe, stands as criticism to that effect. The description of the stag is also an example of Thomson's analogical technique, his persistent attempt to compare man and animal. Thomson's rhetoric of analogy functions by means of internal and external allusion, to criticize man either generally or particularly. The internal allusiveness of Thomson's analogical habit of mind results from cumulative suggestions of the intrinsic animality of man (or humanity of animals). Such suggestions recur throughout the poem. In "Spring," for 156 sxample, birds are described as "the plumy people" (1 6 5)* tnd sheep are "ye peaceful people" (359)* In "Summer" in- lects "people the blaze" (250); In "Autumn" birds are "the wallow people" (838); and In "Winter" the barnyard birds ire "the household feathery people" (87). These few iso— .ated Instances, I admit, do not appear to be calculated ittacks on the nature of man; however, Thomson constructs iltuations which, by means of Internal allusiveness, sug- ;est that such epithets are to be read critically, If not atlrlcally• The post-hunt party In "Autumn" demonstrates this olnt but necessitates a general discussion of the scene and ther techniques of Thomson's critical manner. The most bvious technique at work here is burlesque, achieved by reating a disparity between lowly subject matter and Its ofty treatment; the poet's use of personification, extended imile.and inverted, convoluted syntax, function ludicrously o give the scene epic stature* The tankards foam; and the strong table groans Beneath the smoking sirloins, stretched immense From side to side . . . * Then sated Hunger bids his brother Thirst Produce the mighty bowl * the mighty bowl Swelled high with fiery Juice, steams liberal round A potent gale, delicious as the breath Of Mala to the love-sick shepherdess On violets diffused, while soft she hears Her canting sheoherd stealing to her arras. (503-505* 511-518) rie comedy of the party is heightened further as Thomson 157 amusingly captures the Inanity of inebriated man by rhythm­ ically relating the very surrealistic illusions he envi­ sions i Ernest brimming bowls Lave every soul, the table floating round, And pavement faithless to the fuddled foot, (535-537) Thomson's burlesque treatment shifts tonally as he moves to the end of this passage. At first, comedy suggests his moral acceptance of the activity in question; eventually, however, the tone becomes ominous, portending the evil that, in Thomson's opinion, accompanies irrational activity. To suggest that man has debased his rational nature, the* poet achieves this darker tone first by analogically referring to the revellers, who "swim in mutual swill" (358), obvious- ly as pigs in a sty, Thomson then concludes an otherwise felicitous passage, reinforcing his criticism of man as the irrational beast he can sometimes be * Confused above, Glasses and bottles, pipes and gazeteers, As if the table even itself was drunk. Lie a wet broken scene* and wide, below, Is heaped the social slaughter--where astride The lubber Power in filthy triumph sits, Slumbrous, inclining still from side to side, And steeps them drenched In potent sleep till morn. Perhaps some doctor of tremendous paunch. Awful and deep, a black abyss of drink, Outlives them all* and, from his burled flock Retiring, full of rumination sad, Laments the weakness of these latter times. ("Autumn," 557-569) The references to "social slaughter," "broken scene," to 156 that "Power," the power of drink which sits in "filthy tri­ umph" indicate the extent of Thomson’s disgust with man who lowers himself to the point that he allows the "lubber Power" to conquer his higher self* * Even the "doctor," or village parson, Thomson sug­ gests, has debased himself* Rather than inspiring his "flock" (and Thomson is intentionally punning on the word) to aspire to a higher life, the parson has succumbed to the animality connected with drunken conduct. The poet de­ scribes him as being "full of rumination sad." The word "rumination," by means of the internal allusiveness of The Seasons, connects the parson with his flock of animals and renders him of their ilk. Thomson uses the word in its various forms throughout the poem, always in reference to the beasts of the field. In "Summer," for example, sheep are seen On the grassy bank/l_7 Some ruminating lie, while others stand Half in the flood and, often bending, sip The circling surface. (486 -4 8 9 ) In "Winter," the cattle are said to "ruminate in the con­ tiguous shade" (86). Thomson’s awareness of the fine line between man and beast gives shape not only to his general criticism but also, by means of Internal and external allusion, to more pointed criticism. (In fact, from the deep structure of The 159 Seasons emerges what could be considered the fabulous ele­ ment of the poem.) The poet's emphasis on, and personifi­ cation of, animals leads him to suggest analogies between the two kingdoms of man and beast* and, at times, the analogy is so precise that the poem seems to work allegor­ ically. Most of Thomson's pointed criticism with respect to his literary adversaries, X maintain* is relegated to ana­ logical (perhaps allegorical) passages. Images of birds, for example, provide him with a fund of analogies, since an obvious relationship exists between the songs of birds and poets. And Thomson, perhaps coincidentally, always refers to birds in terms of the songs they create. In "Spring," for Instance, he Includes a catalogue of bird noises, "the long-forgotten strain" (586), and notes that the birds are singing "in music unconfined" (590). Thom­ son then calculates, in varying degrees, the sweetness of their songs. As convention requires, the thrush, woodlark, and nightingale (Philomela), represent the best of the "creating kind"t The thrush And woodlark, o'er the kind-contending throng Superior heard, run through the sweetest length Of notes, when listening Philomela deigns To let them Joy, and purposes, in thought Elate, to make her night excel their day. ("Spring," 598-603) The poet, of course, always aligns his song with that of 160 the nightingals, claiming, for instance, that "Philomel is ours" ("Summer," 74*0* he thereby establishes the connec­ tion which suggests his analogical intention to continue the equation by finding further correspondences between species of birds and types of poets. It is significant, therefore, for the purpose of Thomson’s criticism, that no other bird possesses the quality of Philomel’s song. The lark is "shrill-voiced and loud" ("Spring," 591)I the "blackbird whistles" (603)* the bullfinch is "mellow" (60*0* the "Jay, the rook, the daw" (610), "each pipe harsh" and are "discordant," when "heard alone" (610-611), Thomson, therefore, may be suggesting, and critically so, that no poet can match the sweetness of his song. Whether or not he is making such a claim, he is def­ initely suggesting that the. "tuneful nations" are populated by human poets. The suggestion is made within the context of the poem* Thomson uses the adjective "tuneful" to de­ scribe both birds and poets. In "Spring" the lark is as­ signed a special state function as it "calls up the tuneful nations" (59*0* similarly, the stockdove, whose voice is "hoarse" (6l6), is heard among the "tuneful race." In each case, Thomson attributes to these animals not only national significance ("nation," "race"), but also literary impor­ tance, since he stresses their tunefulness. In "Winter" he employs words from the same set of adjectives and nouns I 6 l in constructing his periphrases* but, in at least one in­ stance, the "tuneful throng" refers not to birds but di­ rectly to poets. Alluding to the problem of patronage, one of his principal topics of criticism, Thomson asks* Where art thou Hammond? Thou darling pride, The friend and lover of the tuneful throng. (555-556) A similar use of the adjective appears in a letter Thomson wrote to Sir William Bennet in which he begs to be deliv­ ered from the likes of his professional foes, who consti­ tute "the tuneful starving trade.”^^ Thus, internal and external allusiveness allows the reader to complete the circuit of Thomson*s analogical pattern* birds are like poets and poets are like birds* some sing sweetly, while most "pipe harsh." As the letter to Sir William suggests, the criticism inherent in Thomson's rhetoric of analogy is clarified when certain passages of the poem are read in conjunction with material external to them. Other analogical sections, therefore, as might be expected, employ a similar use of external allusion, and the passage in "Spring" dealing with the encagement of birds is a prime example. In wri­ ting this passage, Thomson borrows from a work written by Aaron Hill, the dynamic of which involves his clever manip­ ulation of the correspondences between poets and birds. The Singing Bird raises the question of patronage (which, 162 I repeat, was a crucial Issue In Thomson's professional ethics) and its effects on the purity of the poet's song. Hill's poem, virtually unknown, deserves to he cited in its entirety, since Thomson alludes to It in The Seasons t Pope, in absence of his pain, Easy, negligent, and gay. With the flair, in am'rous vein Lively, as the smiling day Talk'd /sic7f and toy'd the hours away. Tuneful o'er Belinda's chair. Finely cag'd, a linnet hung* Breath'd its little soul In air, Flutt'ring round its mansion sprung* And its carrols sweetly sung. Winding, from the fair one's eye. On her feather'd slave, to gaze* Meant, cry'd Pope, to wing the sky, Yet, a captive, all thy days. How dost thou this music raise Since, a prisoner, thou cans't sing, Sportive, airy, wanton, here. Hadst thou liberty of wing, How thy melody would chear! How transport the list'ning earl No, reply'd the warbling song. Rais'd— articulate, and clear 1 Now, to wish me free, were wrong* Loftier, in my native sphere, But, with fewer friends, than here Tho* with grief, my fate you see. Many a poet's is the same* Aw'd, secluded, and unfree, Humble avarice of fame, Keeps 'em fetter'd, own'd, and tame. To our feeders, they and I, Lent our lives. In narrow bound* Perch'd, within our owner's eye. Gay, we hop, the gilded round, Changing, neither note, nor ground.

* 163 For, should freedom break our chain, Tho' the self-dependent flight Would., to heav'n exalt our strain; Yet unheard, and out of sight, All our praise were forfeit, by't. The poem, a dialogue, first expresses Pope's (presumably Hill's and probably Thomson's) conviction that the linnet (or poet) should be free, for the sweetness of its song is proportional to the degree to which it can naturally ex­ perience liberty. Hill allows Pope to empathize with the "feathered slave," "the captive," the "prisoner," and im­ plies that Pope's experiences have allowed him to realize the connection between captivity and the exercising of one's poetic capabilities. Pope's view, therefore, is to be taken as the norm against which the bird's reply is to be measured. The linnet, of course,, is aware of its dilemma* to be free is to go unprotected; as he suggests, protection implies food and fame, a suggestion rendering his integrity suspect. Since Hill suggests that a poet should be moti­ vated by goals more noble than the "humble avarice of fame," and since the linnet recognizes his plight as having similarity to that of "many a poet," Hill criti­ cizes those writers who refuse to break their fetters in order that their songs may be the sweeter. Although the poet's criticism is principally directed against profes­ sional writers , he also intimates that their problems 16b would not exist If they were not built Into the system; thus, he also Implicates patrons, since they are respon­ sible for the reprehensible, albeit unavoidable, attitude of professional poets.. In alluding to Hill's poem In "Spring,” Thomson echoes Pope's feelings toward the encaged linnet, as well as Hill's feelings toward patrons. Thomson's criticism first bemoans the necessity to surrender one's libertyi Be not the muse ashamed here to bemoan Her /$he white-winged plover*s/ brothers of the grove by tyrant man Inhuman caught, and In the narrow cage From liberty confined, and boundless air. (702-705) Thomson's intrusion and his criticism could be taken simply as indicative of his usual Indignant response to the cruelty to animals. The second part of the verse para­ graph, however, focusses his criticism; he adds that this enthrallment seriously debilitates the natural splendor of the bird's demeanor and song* Dull are the pretty slaves, their plumage dull, Ragged, and all Its brightening lustre lost; Noi^ is the sprightly wilderness in their notes. Which clear and vigorous, warbles from the beech. (706-709) Thomson then urges his readers to "forbear" "this barbarous art" (711 Zmy italics7), a term he uses In his letter to Aaron Hill, when criticizing the present state of letters and adding his support to Kill in curbing the trend toward professional mediocrity* "I may . . . very well live to see all Poetry reduced to Magazine-Miscellla- nies, all plays to mummery entertainments, and, in short, all learning absorb'd into the sink of hireling scurrilous Newspapers, Pardon this supposition in one, who, while he lives, will never suffer it to take placei In the mean time, go on to stem the Torrent of Barbarism /m.v Italics/• I wish you could find an assistant, Tho' never so weak a one in . . • /Tames Thomson/.nl7 And in another letter, interestingly, Thomson refers to himself as a "city-lin- net" * since he was then (1726) in the throes of resisting the temptation to sell his poetic soul to the system, Thomson complains to Mallet* "How wildly you sing, while I, here, warble like a city-linnet in a Cage."1® Thomson, therefore, as this evidence suggests, does not overtly criticize professional writers or their patrons* rather, his criticism assumes Its full meaning only when external evidence, Hill's poem and Thomson's letters, are read In conjunction with the passage. The insect world provides still another fund for Thomson's analogical propensity. Again, he makes his awareness of the Interchangeability between man and insect fairly clear. In "Spring" he personifies insects as "the sacred sons of vengeance" (1 2 5), who, although a "feeble race" (121), acquire strength in numbers, In "armies." When referring to man, Thomson notes that he is at times 166 no more than a "critic fly" ("Summer," 326)* When criti­ cal of "luxurious man" ("Summer," 3^6)» Thomson uses verbs peculiar to the actions of insectsi "Thus they flutter on/ Prom toy to toy, from vanity to vice" (3^8"3^9)• Later he similarly suggests that the villagers "swarm" "o'er the Jovial mead" (352). As this reversal of terms implies, therefore, Thomson purposefully wishes to suggest the ironic movement of God's creatures on the great chaini "ironic," because, contrary to their intrinsic natures, men descend as insects ascend the metaphorical scale. Thomson's ironic observation does not in itself in­ dicate the full force of his critical Judgment* only when this seemingly generalized criticism assumes particularity can its effectiveness be felt fully. To some extent, the poet provides the necessary context for his pointed crit­ icism within the universe of the poem itself; at other times, however, we must go outside the poem to reconstruct the implied information underlying Thomson's critical Judgments• As with his circumspect view of the musical worth of various birds, Thomson does not dismiss all insects with one, fell, hasty condemnatory Judgment. Some insects, he admits, do have good qualities, and the bee, in his estima­ tion, is chief. Thomson appreciates its industry and its talent.to perform intrinsically useful, as well as poten- 167 11-ally. "poetic," tasks. Thus, just as he aligned his song with the nightingale*s, so too he compares his poetic ac­ tivity to that of the bee, when It is in search of "sweet­ ness and light"*

Thou / m u se7# like the harmless bee, mayest freely range From mead to mead bright with exalted flowers, From jasmine grove to grove* may'st thou wander gay Through palmy shades and aromatic hills, And up the more than Alpine mountains waves. ("Summer,” 759-76U-) By means of internal allusion, the poet reinforces the analogy between insects and poets in still another way, when he notes that insects are "to the sun allied," for it is "from him they draw their animating fire" ("Summer," 239-24-0). Images of heat and light recur throughout the second book of The Seasons, and always they have reference to a claim which the poet makes early In "Summer," viz,., that "God is Light Himself"* How shall I then attempt to sing of Him Who, Light Himself, is uncreated Light Invested deep, dwells awfully retired From mortal eye or angels purer ken; Whose single smile has, from the first of time, Filled overflowing all those lamps of heaven That beam forever through the boundless sky; And all the extinguished stars would, loosening, reel Wide from their spheres, and chaos come again. ("Summer," 175-184) •In recognizing God as the Divine Light, the Creator of all, Thomson wishes us to understand that all men engaged in creative endeavors share, however feebly, In His light, 168 His power, the creative power of the "Almighty Poet" ("Sum­ mer," 1727-38 edition, 186). Thus, he establishes within the context of the poem this forceful image (God as Light) and uses degrees of light to calibrate the light of lesser artists. I suspect that Thomson wishes us to connect writers of invectives (pamphleteers or poets) with the more ven­ omous insects of the world. No doubt aware of the aptness of the analogy, Thomson personifies "the villain spider" in terms suggestive o f •Grubbeanst But chief to heedless flies the window proves A constant death* where, gloomily retired, The villain spider lives, cunning and fierce. Mixture abhorred! Amid a mangled heap Of carcasses in eager watch he sits, O*erlooking all his waving snares around. Near the dire cell the dreadless wanderer oft Passes* as oft the ruffian shows his front. The prey at last ensnared, he dreadful darts With rapid glide along the leaning line* And, fixing in the wretch his cruel fangs, Strikes backward grimly pleased1 the fluttering wing And shriller sound declare extreme distress And ask the helping hospitable hand. ("Summer," 268-280) The one verse, implying how this passage is to be read, puns on the word "line," which is suggestive not only of the spider's gossamer thread, but also of the hack's poetic line. Thomson makes the analogy clearer in the didactic passage which follows* here, using the image of light, the poet likens the "villain spider" to the "critic fly" (326) or the Impious railer (318)* 169 • Let no presuming Impious railer tax Creative Wisdom • . • . As if* upon a full-proportioned dome. On swelling columns heaved, the pride of art! A critic fly, whose feeble ray scarce spreads An inch around, with blind presumption bold Should dare to tax the structure of the whole. ("Summer," 318-319; 324— 328) The critic•s"feeble ray" connects him with the light of the "Divine Author," but obviously the talent of the first is inferior to the Creator's— perhaps so abysmally inferior that "with his blind presumption bold," he has virtually no claim upon the Divine Light at all. Material external to the poem provides further evi­ dence of Thomson's intended analogy between the "insect race" and invective writers. Early in "Spring" Thomson connects those "who live/Xn luxury and ease, in pomp and pride " (5 2-5 3) with "insect tribes," which are but the "beings of a Summer's day" (60-61), an analogy he twice repeats in his letters. When he first arrived in London, he wrote to Sir William Bennet, exclaiming* "... the scribbling riming generation (Lord deliver us!) buzz and swarm here like insects on a summer's day . . . • He repeats the image in reference to scurrilous pamphleteers and his poetical foes, when writing to Hill in 1726* "Nothing has appeared in Print here, since your departure, unless it be some mushroom!sh Pamphlets, Beings of a sum­ mer's night! Whose only merit is the violent propension with which they tend into oblivion. Memory abhors them, and their essence is, to die."20 In "Winter" these "insect" writers are set in the confines of "The glittering court" (64-0), where they as­ sume the much detested role of fashionable, foppish gentle- men. Thomson*s technique in this verse paragraph allows him to describe the scene generally, before attacking the particular object of his Indignation. He first uses images which hardly flatter mankind. Thus, the people of the city, "the sons of riot" (632), are as indistinguishable as the various species of insects* "the city swarms in­ tense," with "hums indistinct" (6 3 0, 6 3 2). These "insects" first reveal their Inhumanity at the gaming table, where in one gulf Of total ruin, honour, virtue, peace. Friends, families, fortune headlong sink. (635-637) They then reveal their foolishness as the dance begins, when men, "thick as insects" (6^^, 1730-38), assume the role of fops at court. Thomson provides a sense of the congested atmosphere at court by pointing to the various accoutrements of the great hall where the activity takes place; the humanity of man gives way to the gaudiness of the scene * Up springs the dance along the lighted dome, Mixed and evolved a thousand sprightly ways. The glittering court effuses every pomp; The circle deepens; beamed from gaudy robes. Tapers, and sparkling gems, and radiant eyes, A soft effulgence o'er the palace waves .... (6 3 8-6^3) 171 Thomson then moves from impressionistic description to the lines which end this verse paragraph and isolates the ob­ ject of his satire — "the fop, " who "like a gay insect in his summer shine,/ • • • light-fluttering, spreads his mealy wings” (6^-6if5) • And, again, the fact that Thomson employs light imagery indicates, by means of the internal allusiveness of the poem, that the person in question shares, however imperfectly, in the creative powers of the "Almighty Poet*" Thomson's analogical habit which operates in this verse paragraph, and his expression of animosity toward courtiers, is the subject of one of his letters. In 17^2, writing to "a friend on his travels," Thomson satirizes types he probably encountered during his grand tour. The letter is a sustained fable in which the poet touches upon abuses in the court system as well as the private lies men are prone to living while in its environs. All members of the court, therefore, are likened to dogs. Besides satir­ izing fops as "effeminate Italian lapdogs,” Thomson's crit­ icism extends to court writers. If a timely stop Is not put to this, the gen­ eral breed of our ancient sturdy dogs' will by degrees dwindle and degenerate into Dutch mas­ tiffs, effeminate Italian lapdogs, or tawdry Impertinent French harlequins. All our noble throated guardians of the house and fold will be succeeded by a mean courtly race, that snarl at honest men, flatter rougues, proudly wear . badges of slavery, ribands, collars, etc., and fetch and carry sticks at the lion's court. By 172 the by, my dear marquis, this fetching and carrying of sticks is a diversion you are too much addicted to, and, though a diver­ sion, unbecoming a true independent country dog. There is another dog device that great­ ly prevails among the hungry whelps at court, but you are too well stuffed to fall into that. Vfhat I mean is patting, pouring, soli­ citing, teasing, snapping the morsel out of one another*s mouths, being bitterly envious, and insatiably ravenous, nay sometimes filch­ ing when they safely may.21 The tenor of this letter and the fabulous passages from The Seasons is characteristic of the work of the great satirists. Thomson's tone is finely balanced between the overt denunciation of the invective and the apparent in­ nocence of an Aesopian fable. The objects of Thomson's attack in his magnum opus and his letters, of course, were not new to him, His life was at least partially dedicated to pointing out these problems in men, poets, and politicians, in the hope that criticism would lead to a social awareness, if not correc­ tion, of them. In communicating his vision of man, whom he perceived as less than perfect and more than flawed, Thom­ son used a finely developed strategy to control his crit­ icism. And, I maintain that, although Thomson's criticism is controlled, it is not entirely covert; nor is it any­ thing but principally Augustan. ENDNOTES

* John Chalker, "Thomson's Seasons and Virgil's Georgies * the Problem of Primitivism and Progress," Studla Neoph11ologlea. 35 (1963)* 55-56. ^ All line references to The Seasons are from James Thomsen, Poetical Works, ed, James Logie Robertson (Londoni Oxford University Press, 1 9 6 5)* and will be entered paren­ thetically in the text. 3 See H. N. Fairchild's chapter, "Pope and Thomson," In Religions Trends in English Poetry (New York* Columbia University Press, 1939) * VI, 488-53**• as well as William E. Alderman, "Shaftesbury and the Doctrine of Benevolence in the Eighteenth Century," Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 23 (1931)» 137-159S Alfred 0. Aldridge, "Lord Shaftesbury's Literary Theories," PQ. 24 (1945), 46-64; Robert Marsh, "Shaftesbury's Theory of Poetry* The Importance of 'Inward Colloquy,'" ELH, 28 (1961), 5**-69; C. A. Moore, "Shaftesbury and the Ethical Poets in England, 1?00 to 1760," PMLA, 31 (1916), 264-332. 4 G. W. Cooke, Memoirs of Lord 3ollngbroke (London*/ Richard Bentley, 183 6), II, 297. ^ shall be referrIng to Thomson's connection with the Opposition throughout this chapter. For a fuller discussion of that connection, see Chapters II and V*

^ The Works of Lord Bollngbroke (Philadelphia* Carey and Hart’ll I84l) , II, 120 • ^ See Chapter V. ^ See Chapter V. p For references to Lyttelton, see "Spring," 1. 96ff•1 Pelham, "Summer," 1. 76ff•; Cobham, "Autumn," 1. 1042ff. ^ W. Ernst, Memoirs of the Life of Phillt> Dormer. Fourth Earl of Chesterfleld (London* Swan Sonnenschian and Co., 1893). P. 53. ^ The Early Opposition to Sir Robert Walpole (1720-27) (Lawrence* University of Kansas Press, 1931)* 197- 11 DN3, XVIII, 913.

173 17^ ^ I am quoting from the fifth edition of the pam­ phlet which was printed in Northhampton in 17^8.

^ This passage in "Winter,” I might add once again, is very much in line with the platform of the Opposition, The Craftsman reprinted a speech, made in the reign of King William, by Charles Sidley, and Thomson seems to be echo­ ing its social ethics, ^idley, addressing the Speaker of the House, stated* "We have provided for the Army. We have provided for the Navy; and now at last reckoning is brought upon us. We must likewise provide for the lists. Truly, Mr. Speaker, *tis a sad reflection, that some men should wallow in wealth and places, whilst others pay in taxes the fourth part of their revenue, for the support of the sane government . • . • His Majesty sees no thing but coaches and six, and great tables* and, therefore, cannot imagine the want and misery of the rest of his subjects . . . ." See TC, April 29. 1726. 1^ For a discussion of Stowe and its significance to the Opposition party, see Peter Willis, "Jaaues RIgand's Drawings of Stowe in the Metropolitan Museum of Art," Eighteenth-Century Studies. 6 (1972), 85-98. Willis cites letters from Pope, suggestive of his attachment to Stowe. Thomson* s audience would have understood this criticism directed against those "who live in luxury," in light of the moralistic rhetoric of Opposition politics, as formulated by Bollngbroke and as disseminated by The Craftsman. The dissident Whigs isolated and condemned all manifestations of luxury as indicative of the corruption of Walpole's regime. Bollngbroke, for example, in his Dissertation Upon Parties (Works. II, 107), wrote: "A wise and brave people may cease to be such: they may de­ generate* they may sink into sloth and luxury* they may resign themselves to a treacherous conduct* or abet the enemies of the constitution, under the notion of support­ ing the friends of the government . . . ." And The Crafts­ man (March 1727, #28), in somewhat stronger language, claimed that "When the mind is enervated by luxury, the body soon falls an easy victim to it* for how is it pos­ sible to Imagine that a man can be capable of the great and generous sentiments, which virtue Inspires, whose mind Is filled with soft Ideas, and wanton delicacies that pleasure must Infuse? and were it possible to be warm'd with such notions, could it ever put them In execution? for toils and fatigues would be difficulties unsurmount- able to a soul dissolv'd In ease." 175 ^ A. S. Bell, "Airee New Letters of James Thomson," N&Q (October 1972), p. 3 6 8.

^ James Thomson (1700-17^8)* Letters and Documents, ed. A- D.McIClllop (Lawrences University of Kansas Press, 1958), p. 98. 18 Ibid.. P- 36, 19 Bell, p. 3 6 8. 20 Letters. p. "KIND, WELL-TEMPERED SATIRE” t THE IDENTIFICATION AND BACKGROUND OF THE PARODIC ELEMENTS IN THOMSON#S THE SEASONS

Satire's my weapon, but I'm too discreet To run amuck, and. tilt at all I meet. --Pope, Horace. Bk. II, Sat. I

In discussing The Seasons, critics (with the excep­ tion of Professor Ralph Cohen) Ignore James Thomson's sense of humor. They Interpret the poem In light of the poet's supposed philosophical intentions to propound a Newtonian scientific system or a Shaftesburian ethic* and critics seem to think that neither philosophy would allow a comical spirit decorously to invade its doctrines. As I have tried to suggest, however, The Seasons is much more than a formal philosophical treatise* the poem is a social document bearing testimony to the varied Interests, con­ cerns, and tastes of Thomson's Augustan audience. And the poetry of the early eighteenth century was not exclusively sober* in fact, the prevailing taste as revealed in the literature of the period suggests that burlesque was the *rage. Richmond Bond claims that "the first fifty years of the eighteenth century made burlesque and were made by 176 177 It • . i there was hardly a type of writing more thorough­ ly characteristic,”1 Poets interested in pleasing their audience conformed to the genre in vogue, Thomson was no exception. The burlesque marks not only his early work* * but also The Seasons.^ When used* the technique was prompted by the animosity Thomson felt toward society in general or toward professional poets in particular. Thus, his use of burlesque, as a peculiar mode of "kind, well- tempered satire"("Winter," 6 7 6), must be explored if his place in the Augustan tradition is to be appreciated. Very early in his career, Thomson composed two poems indicative of his talent for burlesque. Both achieve their comic effect by creating a disparity between content and form. "On the Hoop," for example, mocks the exaggerated styles of fashionable eighteenth-century women (as Hogarth does graphically a few years later) by treating the sub­ ject with unwarranted loftiness. The final couplet of the poem But may the hoop adorn Edina's street Till the south pole shall with the northern m e e t . 3 alludes to that pathetic passage in The Aeneld. when the hero says to Dido* In freta dum fluvii current, dum montibus umbrae Lustrabunt conuexa, polus dum sidera pascet Semper honos nomenaue tuum laudesque manebant Quae me cumque vocant terrae "Lisy's Parting with Her Cat," also of Thomson's Juvenilia, 178 achieves its comic effect similarly by amplifying the pathos of Lisy#s cat upon the departure of its mistress. Over-formalizing the diction and syntax used to capture the emotional experience— and humorously so, from the cat’s point of view— Thomson rues* But see where mournful Puss advancing, stood With outstretched tail, casts looks of anxious woe On melting Lisy, in whose eye the tear Stood tremulous, and thus would fain have said, If nature had not tied her struggling tongue t •Unkind, O! who shall now with fattening milk. With flesh, with bread, and fish beloved, and meat, Regale my taste? and at the cheerful fire, Ah, who shall bask me in their downy lap? Who shall invite me to the bed, and throw The bedclothes o ’er me in the winter night, When Eurus roars? Beneath whose soothing hand Soft shall I purr? But now, when Lisy’s gone, What is this dull officious world to me? I loathe the thoughts of life.*5 Both poems indicate Thomson’s proficiency in a comic mode, suggesting not only a fertile imagination and a delicate sense of humor but also a familiarity with burlesque tech­ niques which would later serve him in his career as a social critic. Thomson’s talent for the burlesque, X believe, is evi­ dent not exclusively in his juvenilia. His Seasons. ac­ cording to my reading of the poem, include passages which are parodic in form and are, moreover, pointed attacks upon Whig poets, habitually the objects of the poet’s scorn. The most obvious instances of parody occur in the interpolated episodes of the poem. One tale, for example. 179 is a direct borrowing from Leonard Welsted as he inherited it from Philips and bequeathed It* as I shall explain* to Samual Croxall and Thomas Cooke. Before I discuss the poem and Its parody, I shall provide the reasons for Thomson*s burlesque treatment of Welstedi they are manyi Leonard Welsted was an adverse critic of Pope, Thomson's rival for Dodington's patronage, a Buttonian, a supporter of Philips, Thomson's foe, and a denlgrator of Milton, Thomson's Idol. Welsted showed no mercy In his various attacks on Pope, many of which were occasioned by The Dunelad and other of Pope's satires.^ In one of his Invectives, Welsted's words for Pope were bitter, scurrilous, and li­ belous. He saw fit to condemn Pope's "curs'd translation” of Homer (practically Pope's life's work), thereby align­ ing himself with the Buttonians, who turned out en masse to support Tickell. A sample of Welsted*s verses should adequately suggest both the animosity he showed toward his rival and the animosity returned by Pope and his friends. In his poem entitled "Of Dulness and Scandal Occasioned by the Character of Lord I'imon In Pope's Epistle to Lord Burlington," a satire concerning the prostituting poets of the day who grovelled at the feet of potential patrons in order to beg financial assistance, Welsted re­ fers to Pope as an 'Inglorious Hhimer” and a "low licen- 180 tious slave!" Who blasts the beauteous* and belles the brave* In scurril' verse who robs, and dull essays. Nymphs of their charms, and heroes of their praise* All laws for pique or caprice will forego* The friend of Catiline, and Tully's foe.f Welsted's attack shifts from professional criticism to personal insult as he alludes to Pope's crippled stature to suggest metaphorically a demonic quality inherent in his enemy t Sure, that famed Machiavil, what time he drew The soul's dark workings in the crooked few, The rancour*d spirit, and malignant will, By instinct base, by nature shaped to ill, An unborn demon was inspired to see And in his rapture prophesied of thee.® And the final stroke comes as Welsted attacks Pope for his being Catholic, a Tory, and a reputed enemy of the state* Ordain'd a hated name by guilt to raise * To bless with libel, and to curse with praise! A softling head! That spleeny whims devour* With will to satyr, while deny'd the power! A soul corrupt!- That hireling praise suborns! That hates for genius, and for virtue scorns! A coxcomb's talents, with a pedant's art! A bigot's fury In an atheist's heart! Lewd without lust, and without wit profane! Outragious, and afraid, contemned, and vain! A little monk thou wert by nature made! Wert fashion'd for the Jesuit's gossip trade! A lean church-pandar, to procure, or be! A pimp at altars, or in courts a spy!9 Welsted may have been most exasperated by Pope.and his circle In the 1730*s, but the battle was being waged long before that. The following epigram appeared In the Whitehall Evening Post on March 21, 1728* the poem suggests 181 Welsted.’s proclivity toward invective, which would have made him particularly vulnerable to the social critics of the period. The poem claims that "Len Welsted, by his rhiming knack/Brought many foes upon his back.11 Pope and Swift, according to the epigrammatist, lead the attack* When now, a case must cruel hard! Comes to their /Welsted*s foes*7 aid the Twickenham bard, And at his hand fell sight to meet! A man in black with cloven feet j What murthers hatch’d! What plots between The marraozette and dingy dean! But courage, Len, all true hearts hope Thou’lt scour the Devil and the Pope. If Welsted ever truly "scour/jsd7 the Devil and the Pope"— and I suspect he never did— he certainly did not receive the aid of Thomson. Thomson, apart from his ad­ miration and affection for Pope, had even more personal reasons for despising Welsted— reasons which fit into the general scheme of his struggle for professional existence upon his arrival in the city. Both poets were unable to support themselves solely by their work, although Thomson eventually proved to be a bit more successful as people began subscribing to The Seasons. Both men, therefore, had to seek the aid only a patron could provide. And both turned to George Bubb Dodington. Thomson, of course, ded­ icated his "Summer" to the eminent politician, while Welsted,a few years earlier, celebrated Dodington in "That Illustrious Patron of Poets." Welsted wrote of Dodington 182 that he was "descended from old British sires," and "to kings allied”i he calls him "My patron thou! My laurel's pride•"10 Although both poets competed for Dodington's patron­ age, Thomson fared the better. Welsted defeated himself, actually giving the poet of The Seasons the advantage. He dedicated The Dissembled Wanton, among other projects to "Great Dodington." The play, however, was an overwhelming failure, a fact which did not set very well with the poet's patron. The bad publicity received by the pair jeopardized their relationship * professional ties were further threat­ ened by the facts that James Thomson had recently befriend­ ed Dodington and received acclaim after the publication of "Winter," suggesting to Dodington that Thomson was the better financial risk of the two fledgling poets. Welsted, evidently, felt the pressure of Thomson's presencei Leonard Fineman tells us, for example, that "stories had lately come back to />7elsted7 that in Dodington's opinion, he made a rather poor poetical showing next to Mr. James Thomson• Welsted, who no doubt did all in his power to oppose Thomson's usurpation of his position as Dodington*s favored poet, wrote to his patron on November lAf*, 1730, in an attempt to regain his confidence. The letter offers two excuses, one In reference to "One Epistle" written by 183 Welsted and Hoore-Smithe, which opprobriously alludes to Dr, Young, Dodington*s friend, and a second to the Welsted/ Thomson rivalryi I cannot but be in fear that I do not stand in that degree of favour with you which I had reason to hope X did, and some suspi­ cions have occurred to me on this occasion which gave me inexpressible uneasiness, not to say torment, I must, therefore, beg leave to assure you, Sir, conclude what you please from it, to assure you, on my honour as a gentleman, and by everything sacred, that as I have never mentioned you in conversation but with the highest respect and gratitude, so X have never writ anything that had a view to you, but was perfectly honourable and well intended. There is a line in a late poem— viz.. "The One Epistle," which I presume you may have seen, that carries in it a slight raillery upon Dr. Young* but this was sincerely without my ap­ probation, and I was overborne in it, as a thing of that nature, that could not well give offence to him or anyone else; and as to the first "Ode to Horace," which I had the honour to address to you, I hope it is not in the heart of man to conceive that I foresaw and willfully designed the ridicule, which I found, with grief, followed upon it, or that X could be guilty of such low and wretched disingenuity and impertinence, I am,indeed, utterly incapa­ ble of everything of this sort, and I wish you, Sir, no thing worse than that the whole world may always have the same sentiments of esteem towards you that I have, and when they write in your praise, be more happy in the way of doing it than I was. It concerns me not at all how much lower I may be in your estimation as a writer than Mr. Thomson, or any other person, further than seriously to reflect if I do not deserve to be so, and if you do not judge truer than ether men in that regard* but, whether I may ever be so happy as to receive any mark of your pa­ tronage hereafter or not, nothing has, nothing ever will tempt me to treat ill, or lightly, or with any paltry slyness whatever, a gentleman 184 of your character and quality, and that has laid great obligation upon me . • . ./The ellipsis, I presume, is Welsted* It would be an uncommon satisfaction to me to know if I were really acquainted in your thoughts, and this, Sir, if you will please to exact so severe a thing from me, shall be the last favour I will ever request of you.12 Whether or not Welsted was ever favorably received by his patron Is doubtful* but the letter suggests,more impor­ tantly, that he was forced to correspond with his former patron with the caution and desperation of one at wit's end to please the one man who could financially assist him. Welsted had overstepped his bounds, and he knew that he could not retrieve himself, except possibly by feigning frantic coyness. Thomson, who lived with Dodington at Eastbury at this time, was, no doubt, well aware of the transactions of Dodington and the transgressions of Welsted. Thomson had ample moral reason to exploit the rift between the' minor poet and the patron* after all, Welsted threatened not only Thomson*s subsistence, but also the world of letters, since he engaged exclusively in fulsome panegyrics and personal Invectives• Welsted's alignment with the Little Senate at Button's also contributed toward arousing Thomson's animosity. He had gained in their favor when the group was at the height of Its strength and power in the early 1700's. A contempo- 185 rary writer tells us that Welsted "returned /from the uni­ versity^ to town where he became the darling expectation of all polite writers* Sir Samuel Garth, Mr. Addison, Sir Richard Steele, and Mr. Ambrose Philips. Philips imme­ diately gave him the honour of their friendship and encour­ agement." Evidence suggests that with each passing year, Welsted ingratiated himself more and more with the Addison crowd. In 1717» when he wrote "Ihe Triumvirate, or a Let­ ter in Verse From Palemon to Celia from Bath," attacking Gay, Arbuthnot, and Pope's unsuccessful play Three Hours After Marriage, he made his first public move supporting the Buttonian literary faction. He reinforced that support from 1718 to 1721, when he was "coadjutor of Ambrose Philips, Dr. Boulter, Lord Chancellor west of Ireland, the Rev, Gilbert Burnet, and the Rev. Henry Stevens, In a periodical paper called The Free Thinker.11 *3 His involvement with Philips in this project deserves special attention, since the latter was In great disfavor with Pope, Thomson, and their group. Five of Welsted*s poems, including his "Love Tale," appeared In the paper (the editorial policy of which bore no resemblance to the free-thinking philosophy of Thomson). Philips played his part in encouraging the reception of Welsted*s works the poems were usually printed with a prefatory comment by him. In 1724, for example, Philips was terribly effusive in his 186 pra'Ise Tor the poem Thomson was later to parody* It is an inexpressible satisfaction to a can­ did temper, to be employed in revealing the latent merit of any man* and I am sorry that I have not the frequent opportunities of indul­ ging my heart in this pleasure. This makes me lay hold on the first occasion of this kind with impatience* especially since I hope to please all the lovers of poetry, at the same time that I gratify myself. From this motive, I take the liberty to mention Mr. Welsted for the author of the following poem; a young gen­ tleman not already known by his writings, though he will not long remain without his share of reputation, since (as I am informed) he is now engaged in a translation of Tibullus. This writer is full of tenderness; and I>lr. Wel- sted's present performance shews him to be ad­ mirably qualified to chuse the sentiments of the Roman poet to advantage in the English lan­ guage. I must acquaint my readers, that this poem came Into my hands without a little pre­ fixed to It; therefore I shall recommend it un­ der the general name of "A Love Tale." There appears in it the luxuriancy of a youthful imagination in Ovid; and Indeed the Ovidian manner of writing is manifest in almost every line; so that they, who do not read the poet In the original, will have the satisfaction of seeing here the turn of wit which made him the delight of Rome; and the men of letters will be pleased to see the familiar graces of Ovid in their own countrymen.^ Philips, we might correctly guess, would rally In sup­ port of Welsted,since Welsted supported him in his contro­ versy with Pope. After the printing of The Dunelad. Welsted attacked Pope for "his Indecent images and frequent bad imi­ tations of the classics" In that poem, and added that Pope was "infinitely Inferior to Mr. Philips in pastoral."'1'^ Welsted assumed the role of the critic. Unfortunately for him, however, he criticized the wrong men. 187 In aligning himself with Philips, he felt himself sufficiently expert to make further critical pronouncements which incurred Thomson's anger, When Welsted*s poems were "brought "before the town in 1724, he included a critical preface, an ars poetlca. Despite his youth and his want of sound critical reputation, he made suggestions for improving the state of poetry in the 1720*s. In his ''Dissertation Concerning the Perfections of the English Language, The State of Poetry, Etc•" Welsted attacked poets who went be­ fore him, including the divine Milton, Thomson's idoli Nor does anything, I conceive, require greater skill or delicacy, than to improve a language by introducing foreign treasures into it; the words, so introduced, ought to be such as, in a manner, naturalize themselves; that is, they ought to fall into the idioms, and suit with the genius of the tongue, they are brought into, so luckily, as almost to seem originally of its own growth; otherwise, the attempt will end In nothing but an uncouth and unnatural Jar­ gon; like the phrase and style of Milton /and Thomson/, which is a second Babel, or confu­ sion of all languages; a fault that can never be regretted In that immortal poet, and which if he had wanted, he had wanted a superior. For these several reasons, then, Thomson most certainly meant to parody Welsted*s "Love Tale." The plot of Welsted*s poetic narrative is almost exactly transcribed by Thomson, as I shall show in a moment, In his Damon and Musidora episode ("Summer," 124^-ff.). In Welsted*s version, which runs well over two hundred lines, Lavinia is depicted as a beautiful virgin protected in her 188 Innocence by the solitary life she lives attuned to the splendor of her natural habitat. Her only activity in­ volves her sporting in the woods and fields which are the environs of her home* and her romping through the forest * to a stream where she bathes nude daily. Aeon* her lover, knows of her activity, and, one day, sees her bathing. Of course, the sight arouses him passionately. He Is fully aware of his dilemmas he cannot approach her because she will think that he is trying to abduct her, and yet he cannot quell his desire to have her. He decides, neverthe­ less, to approach Lavinia after she comes out of the water to nap on the bank of the stream. At this time, while she is asleep, Aeon kisses her, only to awaken and frighten her. Meanwhile, she has had a dream in which she imagined she was raped by a person resembling Aeon. When she awakens, therefore, she guesses what the dream had portend­ ed, and she despises Aeon, who she thinks has ravished her. Obviously, Aeon’s problem worsens, and he deliberates a long while before he solves it. Welsted lasciviously says of Aconi Led by his happy guess, and from despair Grown cunning to contrive, and apt to daret His vestments loose he threw, and aim'd so seem Some lustful god, fresh-rising from the stream* Panting and new from flushing Joys he shows, And with dissembled heat his features glow'd.1? Lavinia is torn with hatred for Aeon and grief for his sup­ posed loss of innocence. ^ut with the assistance of "the 189 Cyprian Queen, who gives in love success," Aeon soothes kavinia and "^speaks7 his passion with such tender art" that she receives him with love and with confidence in his honorable intentions. Welsted ends this fantastic story * by saying: Now Aeon, The coy nynrph is wholly thine: Nor will her fame permit her to decline His suit, who saw her, with familiar eyes, Asleep, and only cover'd with the skies. (In the tenth chapter of the Art of Sinking:. I might add, Pope purposely misquoted the last two lines of the "Tale," as an example of paronomasia, or pun. 1 ft °) Thomson almost exactly repeats Welsted's fable of un­ requited love. Furthermore, he, at times, almost exactly reproduces Welsted*s poem. Just after Lavinia makes the plunge, Welsted, in a trickle of similes, extols her charms: A while her watery picture she survey'd, Pleas'd with the fair creation she made; Then, stepping in, defaced the rival shade; Confiding to the stream, around her throng The liquid waves, and bear the nymph along; Her pliant limbs the liquid waves divide, And shine, like polish'd marble through the tide; As lilies closed in crystal, court the sight With a new lustre, and a purer white. Thomson reiterates Welsted's final comparison as I-Iusidora rushes into the "flood":

£ T7he parted flood Its lovely guest with closing waves received* And every beauty softening, every grace Flushing anew, a mellow lustre shed— As shines the lily through the crystal mild, 190 Or as the rose amid, the morning dew, Fresh from Aurora*s hand, more sweetly glows. ("Summer," 1321-27) There can be no doubt, therefore, that Thomson was familiar with Welsted*s poem. More importantly, however, as the revision of Wel­ sted *s lines (cited above) suggest, Thomson made subtle changes in the original, thereby delicately parodying a somber narrative. In the above lines, the poet of The Sea­ sons elevates the loftiness of the scene only to undercut it, in the manner of his early burlesque poems. In de­ scribing Musidora, he first alludes to the Biblical Exodus and to the parting of the Red Sea, when he notes that “the parted flood/its lovely guest with closing waves received.'* This Biblical allusion lends loftiness to Musidora*s plunge. Significantly, however, Thomson does not provide the objective correlative which would warrant the use of an image carrying grave associations of religious freedom and mortal peril. Thus he creates a discrepancy between the material and its treatment, which in turn creates a comic effect, however subtle. Thomson's reference to “Au­ rora” also lends high seriousness to the commonplace, and humorously so by means of a disparity between form and con­ tent • Unfolding the narrative line of Thomsen's episode not only further shows the coincidence of its plot with Wei- sted*s but also further indicates the additional burlesque techniques Thomson uses to suggest that we are to read the fable comically. His principal device is comic irony. He describes the entire scene as "the purest exercise of health" ("Summer," 1257)* punning on the adjective "purest," and echoing Welsted, who refers to the activity in refer­ ence to the cleansing effect of water, but also with ref­ erence to chastity; the second meaning ironically comments on the ensuing events which are marked with explicit sexual references. Damon, like Aeon, pines for his love Musidora, described as a child of innocence and purity; her virtues are those of "bashful coyness" and "maiden pride" (12?8), both exemplary of her goodness. Yet Thomson manneristical- ly undercuts this description not only by straightforward­ ly stating that she "wantoned" "Beneath the wave" (1338) but also by suggesting that she is at least partially aware of Damon*s presence as she undresses before entering the stream* although her eyes, for the most part, remain "downcast," she at times lifts them in "sidelong glances" (1280) (in the same way that Susanah glances toward the approaching elders in the mannerist painting by Bartholo- meus Spanger). And then, "robed in loose array" (hardly the aopeerance of a coy nymph), she undresses in Damon's view, Thomson, with comic understatement, records Damon*s amazement and asks, "What shall he do?" (1293)* Supposedly, 192 Damon realizes that he is witnessing something which his eyes should not see; yet ironically he decides to remain at the spectacle. Thomson tells us that Damon's act is one of "pure ingenuous elegance of soul/A delicate refine­ ment" (1295-96)— like that of a deviate*s at a strip show on Forty-second Street, I suppose! The idyll then assumes its mock-heroic tone, as Musi- dora becomes a fair "nymph" (1300) and Damon is compared to Paris 1 Ah, then, not Paris on the piny top Of Ida panted stronger, when aside The rival goddesses the veil divine Cast unconflned, and gave him all their charms, Than Damon, Thou; as from the snowy leg And slender foot the inverted silk she drew; As the soft touch dissolved the virgin zone; And through the parting robe, the alternate breast With youth wlid-throbbing, on the lawless gaze In full luxuriance rose• (130^-13) When Musidora removes her clothing and stands "fair exposed" (1318)* Damon, "rising again /oblique sexual ref­ erence to his having an erectlon?7 headlong flees" (1 3 3 1)# and works out his sexual frustrations by writing the fol­ lowing verse * Bathe on, my fair, Yet unbeheld save by the sacred eye Of faithful love* I go to guard thy haunt; To keep from thy recess each vagrant foot And licentious eye, (1340-^4 ) Thomson hyperbollcally suggests that his note so overcame Musidora that she "as if to marble struck, devoid of sense/ 193 A stupid moment motionless she stood" (13^4-45)• (Welsted described Lavinia*s limbs as "polished marble.") Still exaggerating (and probably mocking the tender words which Aeon used to soothe and win Lavinia), Thomson remarks that the verse was "matchless" and compares it to "the mingled beauties of* exulting Greece" (13^8). Musidora, whose name in Greek means "gift of the muses," retaliates in verse. The poem she inspires, however, is motivated perhaps by her desire to mitigate Damon's sexual urge but, more prob­ ably, to titillate him all the more. She, therefore, proves herself,by means of comic irony, not to be the coy virgin but rather the seductress, whose actions are calcu­ lated to tease and torment her "catch." Obviously, Welsted*s version, although of two "inno­ cents," is lascivious, if not pornographic, and Thomson's attempt to characterize Damon and Musidora as the rues they are is a comment on Welsted*s technique and moral vision. A nineteenth-century critic wrote of Welsted* "On peut • • • lul reprocher d*avoir ete trop pres de dicence dans ses contes erotiques," a Judgment not only of the "Love Tale" but of many of his poems, like "Thyrsis and Daphne, A Tale: In Imitation of Catullus" and "To Zelin- da," both erotic tales of love and passion.*9 Daniel Fineman, also in response to the "Tale," asks: “Wasn't Welsted skimming rather close to licentiousness, even for 192* 1719? The time was not far off when Pope would tell Spence that ’even In low verses a moral ought to be thrown In by the way.n ' ^ Thomson, whose Seasons has been crit­ icized as being overly didactic, was surely in line with Pope on this issue and burlesqued Welsted’s poem not only for personal reasons but also because Welsted engaged in poetry Thomson felt was tasteless and without lesson* Only one critic, to my knowledge, has recognized the humor which is purposely at work here* Jules Lefevre- Deumier, at the end of the nineteenth century, noted that the episode was "tout a fois somnifere et risible"* he compares the passage to an "opera comique."21 The mock- operatic tone of the passage may have eluded critics be­ cause Thomson, I believe, intentionally subtilized the parody* His criterion in rewriting Welsted’s poem, which clearly he did do, I sxispect, involved Thomson’s ethical principle that "wit /should know7 no sail'* ("Summer," ^*0^) • Thus, although he used Welsted’s plot, he refrained from obvious borrowings from his adversary’s work. In the 1 7 ^ revision of the Damon and Musidora episode, for example, Thomson removed ten lines from the original version (1730- 38). Significantly, they recall the passage in Welsted’s poem whjch referred to the assistance given Aeon by the Cyprian Queen. Thomson cut his reference to the "Cyprian goddess" (1313)1 I repeat, because it was too blatant an 195 allusion to Welsted's poem. Had he kept the passage, he would have opened, himself to the same accusations he levelled at his foes concerning parochialism and abusive­ ness, By subtilizing the tone of the piece and by cam­ ouflaging Its object of attack,therefore, Thomson not only provided laughter for those who had ears to hear the faint echoes of Welsted's poem, but also adhered to his belief that satire, if it is to be the remedy the age much needed must be executed with delicacy and "decent wit" ("Autumn,” 89) . Thomson*s mock-idyll comments on the poetry of three other poets as well* Ambrose Philips, Sanual Croxall, and Thomas Cooke, All three wrote versions of the "Love Tale" Philips, in a short section of one of his pastorals, writ­ ten before Welsted*s* Croxall, in a short poem published in 172*M and Cooke, in a political version of the piece honoring Sir Robert Walpole, Philips* pastoral recounts the sexual exploits of two shepherds, both of whom try to impress each other with the experience they have gained in such matters. Both Hobbinal and Lanquet tell of their voyeurism while lurking by the wooded banks of a country stream* Hobbinol* As karian bath'd, by chance I passed by* She blushed and at me cast a sidelong eye; Then swift beneath the crystal wave she try'd Her beauteous form, but all in vain, to hide. Lanquet* As I, to cool me, bath'd one sultry day, 196 Fond Lydia lurking in the sedges lay. The wanton laughes, and seem'd in haste to flyl Yet often stopped,and often turn'd her e y e .22 Croxall's poem, which his teacher claims he "borrowed from the free-thinking frequenters of Button's," is even more erotic.^3 Croxall's Occasional Poems includes several poems, like the "Naked Truth" and "The Fair Circasion," which X am sure would have met with Thomson's disapproval as a man who seriously considered the ministry before he became a professional author. Croxall's poem, which Thomson might have had in mind when he wrote Damon and Musidora, is entitled "On *lorinda Seen Bathing."^ Again, the plot is standard* the young man remains "shrouded- in the briars," while the woman— in this case Florinda--and her ladies in waiting perform their bathing rite t Florinda, with two sister nymphs, undress Within the channel of the cooly tide, By bathing sought to sooth her virgin breast, Nor could the night her dazzling beauties hide* Her features, glowing with eternal bloom, Parted, like Hesper, Thro' the dusky g l o o m . 25 Croxall's version is most sexually suggestive, since the speaker is the one who had viewed Florinda, and his diction and his images are surely erotic because of the Immediacy of the effects of this sensational scene upon him. The speaker rehearses what he had viewed by saying* Her hair bound backward in a spiral wreath Her upper beauties to my sight betray'd* The happy stream concealing those beneath. 197 And. her waste with circling water played; Who, while the fair one on his bosom sported. Her dainty limbs with liquid kisses courted.26 And Thomson parodies this section by undercutting the seriousness of Croxall*s speaker* As from the snowy leg And slender foot the inverted silk she drew, As the soft touch dissolved the virgin zone; And, through the parting robe, the alternate breast, With youth wild-throbbing, on thy lawless gaze In full luxuriance rose. (1308-13) These statements, as I mentioned above, are part of an epic simile comparing Damon*s plight (or Acon*s, or Hob- binol*s, or Croxall*s speaker*s) to that of Paris, when aside The rival goddesses the veil divine Cast unconfined • • . • (1305-7) The simile is much too lofty to suit the "pornography" of Thomson's foes; the disparity between the gods of mythology and the shepherds of rural England helps to create Thom­ son's intended ironic and comic effect. That effect is further reinforced by Thomson's twice suggesting that Damon's sexuality was potent, but his desires were impo­ tent. The poet tells us that the youth, "wild-throbbing,"

"in full luxuriance rose" (1312—13)$ and later that Damon

"^rose7 again" (1 3 3 1)* but never does he make the neces­ sary advances; this hesitation renders him hopelessly humorous•^ Croxall's collection of poems was criticized by other 198 Scotsmen besides Thomson, who also perceived its licen­ tiousness, In his life of Dr. Croxall, T. Cibber states* "Some years after it was published, Mr. Cragg, one of the ministers of the city of Edinburgh, gave the world a small volume of spiritual poems, in one of which he takes occa­ sion to complain of the prostitution of genius, and that few poets have ever turned their thoughts towards reli­ gious subjects; and mentions the author of the 'Circassion' with great indignation,for having prosituted the muse for the purposes of lewdness, in converting the song of Solomon into an amorous dialogue between a king and his mis­ tress , "28 Thomas Cooke*s poem, "Bath* A Tale," may be still another source for Thomson's Damon and Musidora episode; Thomson's reasons for burlesquing Cooke's poem stem from his political and professional biases. Cooke's poem ap­ peared Just one year before the publication of "Summer,"- and It celebrates George II's revival of the Order of Bath. Interestingly, Robert Walpole was responsible for per­ suading the king to revive the Order, and he himself was invested on May 27, 1?25- Walpole convinced George that the possibility of investiture would motivate Englishmen to act favorably toward his regime. The minister depicted the Order as "an artful bank of thirty-six ribands to sup­ ply a fund of favours."^ Thus, to those who knew the 199 ways of4 Walpole, the Order represented still another occa­ sion for Walpole to Indulge his talent for bribery. The new Order of* Bath was a political ploy, and men of integri­ ty recognized it for what it was. From Thomson*s point of view, Cooke not only favored the wrong party but the wrong poets as well. In 1725 Cooke * s "Battle of the Poets'* appeared , in which he favor­ ably mentions Philips, Welsted, Beckingham, and a host of lesser poets, and satirizes Pope, Gay and their circle. After allowing these two factions to engage in battle, Cooke ends his poem antlclimatically* the god of verse warns Welsted to flee the field and forfeit the chaplet, the coveted prize signifying artistic merit, and promises him "equal honors" in the future; Pope is protected from Philips and Is carried off to the grotto of the nymphs of Windsor’s Plain; thus, Cooke leaves Philips alone to

"/bear^ the laurel crown a w a y ."30 Besides Insulting Pope In the "Battle,” Cooke attacks him later in the decade, goading him to retaliate In The -Duneiad. ^ (And Thomson included Cooke in the famous list of his private dunces.^) Cooke paid Welsted high praise In the "Battle of the Poets" and referred to Welsted’s poem involving Lavinia and Aeon* Welsted to war a youthful army led, Born on Parnassus bred; Himself a Godlike chief, derived from Jove, Whom much Apollo, and the Muses, Love. 200 • Upon his helm the Homan swan appears, And Horace shining thro* a length of years. Upon his shield's the happy grove below. Where all that sing like him are sure to go. And there Lavinia by her dream betrayed, And Aeon smiling on the ravished maid.33 The reference, obviously, indicates Cooke's familiarity with Welsted*s work and suggests the source for Cooke's "Bath s A Tale." In focusing on Cooke's version of the "Love Tale," however, I wish to stress the fact that, in borrowing the plot from Welsted and in manipulating it, Cooke gave the story political significance. The basic story, reworked by Cooke to suggest the origin of the Order of Bath, was a calculated attempt to gain Walpole's favor. And Thomson, as we have seen could not tolerate such overt political and literary maneuverings. Cooke's poem honors Matilda's virtue and recounts Carvillior's fame; the parallel exists, therefore, between Welsted's Lavinia and Aeon, and Thomson's Musldora and Damon. Cooke, as I have suggested, embellishes the basic bathing plot with additional Information. Matilda is still the innocent virgin of Welsted*s tale, and her beauties and virtues are still as highly exalted, but her status has changed, and she is not the solitary she was in the earlier versions. Referring to Matilda and her father, Cingetorix, Cooke writes; 201 Only one daughter was this Prince's care, Chaste as Diana, and as Venus fair; When in the woods the nymphs delight to rove, Matilda walks the Dian of the grove ; Oris the regal dane the maid's resort, Matilda shines the Venus of the courts If in the grove, .or in the court, she moves, She's still attended by a thousand loves* Each from her eyes a thousand arrows darts, . And leads In triumph each a thousand h e a r t s . Matilda, who is pursued by several suitors, reserves her affection for Carvillior, who has the misfortune of being poor, and therefore, according to Matilda's father, is unworthy to marry the princess, Cingetorix banishes Carvillior from court and exiles him to roam the "lonely groves" and "bleak plains," never, supposedly, to see Matilda again. One day, however, while he is brooding "on the margin of a murmuring stream," Matilda and her maids come to bathe. Echoing Welsted*s poem, Cooke records the event as follows* At a small distance from the palace stood, For sweet retirement, a convenient woods There would the Princess, with her maids remove. To shun the concourse of detested love. And now the damsels crop the woodland flowers. Now tell her tender tales in fragrant bow'rs. Now to the inmost woods recess they go, Where a cool riv'let's silver currents flow; In which divested of the veil of dress, Whene'er she blaz'd in modest nakedness, The sun Inamoured, as traditions say, Would, gazing on her charms, prolong the day.35 Two Roman lords, the villains, "who long had borne/ The frown of Fortune In Matilda's scorn," appear and at­ tempt to abduct the princess. And in poeticizing the 202 passion of these lords, Cooke erotically draws attention to Matilda's "private parts"* Behind a thicket they concealed remain And view the Goddess with her virgin train; Her iv'ry arms, and snowy breasts, explore The waves forbid it, they can see no more.36 The virgins try to flee upon seeing the Homans approach; Carvillior hears the screaming and saves i'^atilda and her maids by killing one Homan and frightening the other away. The old king, upon hearing of Carvillior*s courage, reali­ zes that he had too harshly condemned him;and, generously receiving him at court, gives Carvillior consent to marry the princess. At the end of the poem, Cooke provides the moral* And that the tale might e'er be told on earth, And such a pattern of heroic worth, To future ages might be handed down, He thrice twelve gallant youths of high renown Selected souls, of all the land the flow'r, Appointed to adorn the bridal hour. And thus,my lord, the Knights of Bath began In honor to the brave, and Godlike man; An order, even to Carvillior*s fame, Which from the virgins bathing took the name.^r This basic tale, then, as it was reworked by three authors before it reappeared in the Seasons, provided Thom­ son with an opportunity to dismiss three Buttonians in one fell swoop. Thomson's ironic treatment of the love tale comments critically on the verse of three of his foes and, perhaps, also on his principal political enemy, Walpole. The Damon and Musldora episode is, as far as I know, the 203 most pointed Instance of parody in The Seasons. Philips, Croxall, and Cooke come into the jurisdiction of Thomson's criticism by the very fact that they, with Welsted, chose to share ideas for poetic trifles, I suspect, however, that Thomson's criticism was meant to burlesque Welsted's work primarily, Welsted, after all, was Thomson's most publicly avowed enemy. Furthermore, in The Seasons, Thom­ son comments on Welsted's work in still another way. Dis­ satisfied with his work and angry with him, Thomson pro­ vides Welsted with an object lesson in what constitutes genuine poetry. The lesson, an example• of one-upmanship, involves the fable of Palemon and Lavinia, Two critics have noticed that Thomson borrowed from Welsted in creating the episode of Falemon and Lavinia. In 1787 John Nichols noted that "Thomson was indebted for more than accidental hints in his beautiful episode of Palemon and Lavinia. The names were evidently suggested from a sight of 'Palemon and Celia* and 'Aeon and Lavinia'; and even Acasto seems to have given rise from Aeon." Nichols, of course was referring to poems written by Thomson's rival. Nichols further states that the resemblance between the names of the characters in the works of the two poets "might have passed for accidental had not many internal marks confirmed the conjecture. Not to multiply instances, which those who think it worth while will easily discover 204 for themselves, I shall only remark that the limbs of Wel­ sted #s Lavinia are ’unveiled*« She boasts more envy*d graces unadorned ■ •••itatit* • •••••••• As lilies, clos’d in crystal, court the sight, With a new luster, and a purer white• The *polished * limbs of Thomson’s Lavinia are Veiled in a simple robe, their best attire, Beyond the pomp of dress* for loveliness Needs not the foreign aid of ornament. But is, when unadorned, adorned the most. Her form . . . unstained and pure, As is the lily on the mountain snow,"3o And Leon Morel, Thomson's first major biographer, concurs with Nichol’s observation that Thomson had borrowed from Welsted, But Nichols and Morel ignore two related questions in suggesting Thomson's indebtedness to Welsted* why would Thomson go to the work of a man he scorned* would that not suggest Thomson's implicit appreciation for, and commenda­ tion of, Welsted and his poetry? The answer, I suspect, lies in an awareness of what Thomson was attempting to ac­ complish in the Lavinia and Palemon eplsode--that is, in what the episode was meant to teach. The story of Palemon and Lavinia is clearly didactic* it serves as an exemplum, communicating Thomson's (and Shaftesbury's) belief that goodness is rewarded and that generosity is virtuous. The story of Lavinia, in fact, is strikingly comparable to the Biblical account of Ruth. Both women are the sole support 205 of their widowed mothers (in the case of Ruth, a widowed mother-in-law)* both stories tell of hard times, which re­ quire the women to go off to glean in a nearby field. Lavinia and Ruth, both virtuous, are received by wealthy landowners * Boaz in the story of Ruth, Palemon in the story of Lavinia. The Lavinia/Ruth parallels are more obvious than the similarities between Thomson and Welsted*s Lavinias. Al­ though he did draw from Welsted’s poem, as Nichols pointed out, Thomson made his Lavinia all that Welsted*s was not. The Lavinia in "Autumn" is Innocent (180), modest (18 5 )# virtuous (1 8 7)* Welsted*s Lavinia is sensuous, provocative, and cunning. In other words, Thomson provides the reader with a Lavinia who Is truly commendable, a Lavinia to beat all Lavinia*s, and especially Welsted’s. "Lavinia I" (Welsted*s) was said to by coy and yet seductively engaged In her striptease; reputedly modest, she bared her beau­ ties to her "lover." "Lavinia II" (Thomson’s) attracts Acasto, but her methods are far from devious. Her beauty and her charms are concealed by her "simple robe" (203)# as her very habitat symbolically hides her beauty from the world 1 Thoughtless of beauty, she was beauty’s self. Recluse amid the close-embowering woods, As in the hollow breast of Apennine, Beneath the shelter of encircling hills, A myrtle rises, far from human eye, And breathes its balmy fragrance o ’er the wild, 206 So flourished blooming, and unseen by all, The sweet Lavinia. (207- 21*0 The courtier in Welsted’s poem saw his Lavinia who con­ cealed nothing from him* Acasto "saw not half/The charms * her downcast modesty concealed" (2 3 0). The form Thomson utilizes in reworking Welsted’s poem might be called "parody in reverse." Thomson’s epi­ sode is lofty, elegant, and purposely didactic. Indirect­ ly, however, Thomson implicates Welsted. In effect Thom­ son's tale of the perfect Lavinia draws attention to Wel­ sted’s tale of the Imperfect Lavinia we recognize her to be when we see her, as Thomson wishes us to, in relation to his Lavinia. Thomson’s critical Impulse, therefore, pur­ posely allows him to assume the role of one-upmanship. He purposely Invites comparison between the two Lavinia’s so that the disparity between the supposed virtue of the two would reveal Welsted’s to be a Lavinia manoue. And in so doing, he contributes his support to Pope, who condemned the immorality of modern verse, and to Aaron Hill, who held the same belief* Loosely the moderns live, and loosely write, And woo their muse, as mistress, for delight. Thick, in their lays, obscenities abound, As weeds spring plenteous. In the rankest ground* All, who write verse, to taint a^guiltless heart, Are profaners of the sacred art. ° Although the Palemon and Lavinia episode Is different from the D.amon and Musidora narrative, other parodic sec- 20? fcions can be found In The Seasons, sections which attest to the poet*s talent fox* humor and which comment critically on the works of Grub Street hacks. Ralph Cohen isolates one such passage, the fishing episode in "Spring"j Cohen, however, rather than perceiving the possible satirical dimension of the episode, feels that it functions merely as "a comic description of an action Ironically commenting on 'pure perfection* (376).” He further explains that* As a 'digression,* It represents a typical spring, and this was Thomson's justification for Inserting it. But by inserting It here, the poet creates the characteristic relation between heaven and earth, ascent and descent, in order to deal, playfully, with the limita­ tions of man. The preceding Pythagorean verse paragraph concludes with the lines about the vital scale ascending? the digression opens with a description of the purified stream descending (581-82). The transition leads to a sport that is not quite Innocent, so that even in man's simple pleasures, he is not without his imperfections.^2 Other evidence,however, suggests a more pointed rea­ son for Thomson's manner of handling the "digression." The fishing episode was added to "Spring" in 1?^, some sixteen years after that book first appeared. And the episode closely resembles a work by Moses Browne, entitled FIseatory Ecologues. first printed in 1735* Like Thomson, Browne enjoyed the figure of periphrasis. (Browne, I sus­ pect, felt that it lent majesty to the line* Thomson felt that It helped create the disparity between a lofty form and low subject, which produced his Intended comic effect.) 208 Thomson, for example, refers to fish as the "finny race" (395)! while Browne, who Is a bit more effusive, makes reference to the "watery race," "fishy train," "scaly stores," "finny brood," "watery tribe," "amphibeous throng," e tc.^ At times, the similarities between the two works seem more than merely coincidental. Thomson, for instance, ends his angling passage with the phrase, "Thus pass the temper­ ate hours^* (^*+3)* Browne ends his with the couplet i "Happy the fisher when in sportive hours/Ko droughts pre­ vent him, nor intemperate show*rs."^ Similarly Browne, whose diction is sometimes less than poetic, uses words which Thomson repeats. Browne, for example, allows his an­ glers to encounter difficulty when their prey swims into the murkier sections of the stream, "where the clear Avon forms her oozy ^my italic§7 bed"s he then has Aquadlne (which, I suppose, is an appropriate name for a fisherman) say* "Help friend, my tackle, and my prey I lose;/See

* tls unhook’d, and flound’ring in the ooze /jny italicJ7« Thomson rehearses the same angling problem, and he sounds much like Browne in doing sot referring to the “monarch of the brook" (4*24-), the big one that got away, the poet ex­ citedly states* At once he darts along, Deep-struck, and runs out all the lengthened line* He seeks the farthest ooze. the sheltering weed. The caverned bank, his old secure abode, 209 Both poets also claim that the sport is an art# Browne introduces a catalogue of fish in which he assigns the "finny people" such curious epithets as "the greedy trout and glutless eel"* he has Linus challenge Aquadine to recite the inhabitants of the "liquid place"* Linus* Since thou so skillful in the fisher's art, And verse can with such flowing grace impart, And since occasion prompts thy strife ’ * lose The names,and numbers, of the fishy Thomson, likewise, admonishes the fishers in his audience to resort to craft if they are to lead their "unresisting prize" (*^2)* But, should you lure From his dark haunt beneath tangled roots Of pendent trees the monarch of the brook, Behoves you then to ply your finest art* (422-^25) The similarities (and I have only noted a few) sug­ gest that Thomson was'certainly aware of Browne's work. Thomson's version, as Professor Cohen points out, is comic, and in that sense differs from Browne's* Cohen's analysis of the comic devices in this episode is thorough* he dis­ cerns various techniques of playfulness in this passage, including "deliberate— even extreme— distortion of sen­ tence structure, extravagant, violent, mock-heroic, even burlesque language of sentimental exaggeration ('the weak helpless uncomplaining wretch' /T.e.. , the wormyO» and serious terms placed in a light or gay context."^ But, in addition to these consciously used comic devices, Cohen 210 claims that Thomson's "unconscious" manipulation of the

l a n g u a g e sometimes reverts to parody« Thomson*s language, with its allusiveness and multiple references, often possesses unexpected, probably unintended, internal associations that support and extend the implications of a passage, though some­ times they can parody the effect needed. Thus the poet writes that now is the time •to tempt the trout* (384) and the trout •attempts to seize* (427) the fly. The principle of reciprocal action, moving from the fisherman to the trout, is devel­ oped by the * tempt•/•attempts * relation. The temptation is carried on by a rod •with elastic spring* (385) and when the fisherman throws his line he marks the fish, the ’springing game* (410)--where the literal spring quality of the rod by which the fish is caught is seen to pos­ sess the same quality as the fish itself . . • .48 Cohen says, therefore, that "Thomson achieves a sense of the comic by what might be called 'illusive allusion,*" a term the critic borrows from John E s p e y . 4 9 But his con­ cern remains new critical, so he does not work outside the poem to determine the socio-historical reasons for Thom­ son's Journey into the world of comedy and parody, and Instead assumes that it is probably unintended. As I have tried to suggest, however, Thomson may have intended to parody the Piscatory Ecologues of Moses Browne, and the reasons for his wanting to do so are several. Browne, we know, made advances to George Bubb Dodington and the Countess of Hertford, both Thomson’s patrons, and, therefore, threatened Thomson's subsistence. In the 1?29< 211 edition of his works, Browne addressed both potential

patronst Free Dodlngton, polite in ev'ry art! O my Maecenas, and my sure reward. . • • Far removed From hateful flattery, with low submlss, To sue to empty title, and debase Her steady principles for sordid praise Of the great vulgari Kappy to persist Unvarying only to the foremost names, Devoted Greenwich, Chesterfield's, and yours. And Hertford's, loved by ev'ry gentle muse•50 Such advances might have gone unnoticed by Thomson had it not been for Browne's arrogance in assuming that his mode of writing superseded, in quality, the pastorals of his contemporaries, Brovrne * s criticism was both general and pointed. In typical Augustan fashion, for example, he criticizes the state of poetry in the late 1720's, Thom­ son, no doubt, would have conceded that Browne's following judgments were valid * O haste the noble work that waits thy hand! The muse's sons, a gen'rous, suffering race, Loyal to courts and kings* be these thy care, To succour from an ill requiting age; But far away by the leud rout repell'd Of trading poetasters, pest'ring swarms! Who ever at the gates of palaces, With their loose fashion'd rhimes perpetually throng, Offensive, and the liberal hand restrain From merit, equally expos'd. But the Implications of his criticism may have become too particular for Thomson, when Browne accused Dodlngton of being "too indulgent of poetic worth," implying that he was 212 too ready to overlook the faults and fallings of the poets (Thomson, for example) whom he supported. Browne*s critical leanings, likewise, suggest rea­ sons for his not being favorably regarded by Thomson. Al- * though Thomson Joined the ranks of pastoral poets with the publication of his "Winter," and although that poem was "universally admired," as Thomson's first biographer tells us,Browne ignored Thomson's status in the world of lettersj the oversight, if it were merely that, came In Browne's Essay in Defense of Piscatory Eclogue. Furthermore, Browne acknowledged Philips as having made a greater contribution to that tradition than Pope, who received Thomson's sup­ port in the pastoral controversy. Browne begins his Essay by saying * The criticks make a nice comparison between the success of heroic and pastoral poetry; for as they scarce allow above three who have attempted the former with any tolerable ad­ vantage ; so they fix the same number to the latter, notwithstanding the performers in both kinds have been various and many. I cannot discern any great justice or compli­ ment in this critical distinction* for be­ sides Theocritus, Virgil, and Spencer, the three pitch'd to have truly understood pas­ toral, Mr. Philips, 1411 ton, and Congreve, deserve as much praise for what they have given us of this kind as any of the former. <5* We also know that Browne was not included among Pope's select circle of friends; nor did Pope recognize whatever talent Browne may have had. Lennart Carlson notes that Browne was a member of Edward Cave's literary club, a group 213 which was not entirely sympathetic toward Pope or his work#-*2 A letter exists, which though circumstantially, alludes to the rift between the two factions* Mallet, Pope, and probably Thomson, on the one hand, and Cave,s coterie, on the other; I say "circumstantially," because the events recorded in this letter took place after Pope's death# The question for consideration, then, involves whether or not the feelings expressed toward Pope in this document were long-standing. Thomas Marryat, a member of the club, in writing to Hr. Ralph Griffiths remarked* In the years 1?^7* 8, and 9* I belonged to a poetical club • . • who met at the Robin Hood • • • • Each member brought a piece of poetry which was corrected, and if ap­ proved of, thrown into the treasury, from which the wants of Mr. Cave were always supplied, and the rest of the pieces dis­ posed of according to the unanimous suf­ frage of the club# The time before supper was spent in criticism of our own, or the production of others. I was told Mr. Mal­ let left the club • • • on account of some severities,which, however just, made the gall'd horse wince and run away. The cor­ rect Pope, who would shew no mercy to an empty line, we did not spare for suffering such an one to pass muster In his Odyssey as 'He clung adherent, and suspended hung#1 A pretty picture of Ulysses who clung clinging, and hung hanging to the rock# Could the little gentleman have stept out of purgatory and heard our animadversions on this and two or three more of his lines, he had certainly made some addenda to his t)unc lad. In the same letter Marryat alludes to dealings between Pope and Moses Browne. The reference concerns Pope's role 21^ as Judge or a poetry contest sponsored by the Gentleman* s Magazine In the 1730*s. Browne won the contest, but not with Pope *s support. Marryat tells Dr. Grlf±iths of the eventi "Moses Browne, pen-oaker, afterwards parson, tho* a Presbyterian also. A man of fine poetical talent, tho* of no education. When Cave gave 50^ for the first poem on life, death, Judgmenth Heaven and Hell— which poems formed a magazine extraordinary for July, 1735• no* vii, Mr. B*s poem, the poem was adjudg*d to and received by him, abnu- ente Pope, but the majority of the Judges, (I think all but Pope) decided (I think del. /all but Pope, that is7) in his favor•"^ Two additional facts serve as possible reasons for Thomson's wanting to burlesque the Piscatory Eclogues. As Marryat noted, Browne was a parson,and not of Thomson's freethinking persuasion. In fact Browne wrote sermons critical of men with such beliefs. In one paper, for exam­ ple, he stated* It is, I hope, with the spirit of meekness I have given my opinion with an unconcerned resolute freedom, but no passion, or pro­ voking intentions on those leading things which have seemed to me to be the proper es­ sential employments and designment of a gos­ pel ministry. I am sorry I have occasion to remark that these are not so much the fashion­ able preaching of the present day, as it wished they were, by those who desire to learn the whole of their religion in the rev­ elation of their Bibles, and not from refined - wit and reasonings of human pride, and the prejudiced conceits of late and novel sys- 215 terns: which has almost subverted primitive, reformed, established truths j and have been the real occasion of all that Ignorance, wickedness, and infidelity (complained of on all hands, while its true cause is dissembled or over-looked) too evident in the church and nation at this day,55 And, ironically, the sincerity shown here could be under­ cut, as it was, by Brownefs reverting to an old trick of Joseph Mitchell to procure funds. Browne, I am sure to the overwhelming disapprobation of the better writers in town, freethinkers or not, wrote elegies, commemorating deaths of people he hardly knew. Marryat tells us that Browne re­ ceived six guineas for a piece he had written for a cer­ tain gentleman’s son* Marryat cites the following six lines from Browne’s poem: Thee would I mention with paternal tears, Sweet boy, late summon’d In thy youthful years % Permit, at least,this short suspence to grieve, For one soft tear to flow, one sigh to heave, While thy dear memory av;akes my hopeless smart, And thy fresh Image wrings my aching heart.-5° Thus, the comic treatment which Thomson lends to his fish­ ing episode may reflect the feelings he had toward Moses Browne,whose politics and poetics were departures from Thomson’s and, therefore, deservedly, if only indirectly, mocked. Xf Thomson’s provocations from these several poets seem minimal, we should remember that in the 1720’s and 1730*s poets metamorphosed Insignificant insults Into major satires. Thomson’s role in literary and political 216 controversies, as I have attempted to suggest, was pro­ nounced, Such activities determined the character of his dayi and in constructing his long poem, Thomson intended to reflect the emotional., political, religious, and poeti­ cal tenor of his times. Since burlesque poetry was in vogue, Thomson gave his audience burlesque passages. Some, like the hunting episode in "Autumn," are overt in the techniques of burlesque. (Thomson himself in the argument to "Autumn" refers to this section of the poem as "a ludi­ crous account of foxhunting” ^p. 1327* and George Lyttle- ton, coexecutor of Thomson's es;ate, published that pas­ sage separately and entitled it "A Burlesque Poem on Hunt- ing.”) But at least three of Thomson's interpolated epi­ sodes exhibit the same poetic techniques as are in evidence in the ludicrous foxhunting scene and his early burlesque lyrics. And these episodes are closely connected in nar- rative line to the works of Thomson's adversaries. It seems more than likely, therefore, that the humor at work in these passages was meant to rebuff, however gently, Philips, Welsted, Croxall, Cooke, and Browne• Thomson's covert, toothless satire reflects the con­ cern he had for "thawing the wintry world of letters,” as he says in his Preface to Winter. He felt that satire was a "remedy the age much wants," but that it should be ex­ ecuted tastefully and morally•57 Kis feelings, like those 2 1 7 of Pope, who professed that Horace not Juvenal was his model (though sometimes I doubt the validity of that claim), were neatly summarized by Thomson*s colleague, Aaron Hill, in an epigram, "To a Satirical Young Lady"i Forbear, loud thing! to live in laugh and jest, Wit is like love— the softest is the best.58 And I am certain Thomson would have agreed with Hill, since he praises Chesterfield's work as "kind, well-tempered satire, smoothly keen,/^which[7 Steals through the soul and without pain corrects" ("V/ inter," 6 7 6-6 7 7)* and since he attempted the same correct balance of tone and technique in his own. ENDNOTES

* English Burlesque Poetry. 1700-17*30 (Cambridge! Harvard University Press, 1932;, ix• 2 The Castle of Indolence, of course, is Thomson's greatest burlesque poem. I am not including a discussion of it in my study, since The Castle was published in 174-8 and my investigation encompasses the works of the 1720's and 1730's only. 3 James Thomson, Poetical Works, ed. J. Logie Robert­ son (Londoni Oxford University Press, 19^5)* PP* 508-509, hereafter referred to as Works. ^ P. Vergili I-Iaronl, Ooera (Oxoniii e. typo. Claren- doniano, NCMCXIX), 3k. I, 11. 607-610. ^ Works■ pp. 511-512. The poet's sense of the ridic­ ulous is also everywhere in evidence in his letters, which are replete with indications of Thomson's potential for satire. As early as 1724 he exhibits a talent for laugh­ ing at himself as well as gently mocking the social devi- ancy of the times. Shortly after his arrival to London, he writes to Wil?lam Cranstoun: "If nature had thrown me into a more soft and indolent mood, had made me a Shapely or a Sr. Fopling flutter, if fortune had filled my pockets (I suppose my head Is empty enough as It is), had I been taught to cut a caper, to hum a tune, to take a pinch and lisp nonsense with all the grace of fashionable stupidity, then I could— what could I have done?— hardly write." Similarly, he could appreciate the playhouse as "a very fine entertainment" and was not embarrassed to admit that he could be more captivated by the role of the grave-digger than by Hamlet himself. Throughout his letters he contin­ uously indulges In jokes, some of which were hardly of the sort that an almost Presbyterian minister would be expected to make. He once commented, for example, that Hrs. Old­ field "acts very well in comedy but best of all, I suppose, In bed." See James Thomson (1700-1748): Letters and Docu­ ments » ed. A. Dl MeKillop (Lawrence: Univers 1 ty of 'Kansas Press, 1 9 5 8 ), pp. 1, 7. 218 219 ^ See Dunelad. Bk. II, 1729 ed., 1* 197 ff • » and 293 ff.l Bk. Ill, 1729. L. 170. 7 Leonard Welsfced, Of Dulness and Scandal . . . (Lon­ don, 1732), pp. ^-5* 8 Ibid., p. 6. 9 Ibid.. pp. 6-7. 10 Cited by Daniel A. FIneiaan, "Leonard Welsted* Gen­ tleman Poet of the Augustan Age" (Dissertation* University of Pennsylvania, 1950), p. 156 , 11 Ibid., p. 197. 12 George Bubb Dodington, "Correspondence and Papers,” Historical MSS Commission: fieport on MSS in Various Col­ lections. Frcri the HSS Belonging to Miss H. Byre Mate ham (Dublin, 1909)• VI, 9- *3 The Works in Verse and Prose of Leonard Welsted. Intro, and notes by John Nichols (London, 1?87)* xxiii, hereafter referred to as Works. 1^ Works. xliv. *•■5 Works. "One Epistle to Hr. A. Pope," pp. 186-187* ^ Works. "A Dissertation Concerning the Perfection of the English Language, The State of Poetry, etc.," p. 122.

1 7 Works. p. 5 0 - 1 8 "Art of Sinking," The Works of Alexander Pooe. ed. W. Elwin and W. J. Courthope (London, 1886), x"i 37&• 10 ? Cited by D. Fineman, p. 99* The quotation is from M. Parlsot, Biographle Unlverselle, XL, ^6 7 .

20 Ibid.. p. 99. 2^ Celebrltes Anglalse:An______Essais et Etudes Biographlaues et Lltteraires (Paris. 1 8 9 5 ), 33• 22 The Poems of Ambrose Philips, ed. Mary G. Segar (Oxford* Kemp Hall Press, 1937). Percy Beprlnts. no. 1^, P. 35. 220 ^ Samuel Croxall, Occasional Poems (London, 1720), "Preface," n. p* Cibber, "The Hevd. Dr, femuel Croxall," Lives of the Poets (London, 1753)» V* Cibber cites the poem in full, pp. 29^-297. Ibid., 295. 26 Ibid., 295* 2? It cannot be denied, I think, that Thomson used Ovid*s tale of Salmacis (who was metahorphosed Into Her- maphrodltusj see Metamorphoses» "3k. IV") as an analogue to his episode in The Seasons. 3oth Salmacis and Damon, after all, were the victims of scheming, aggressive women, and both were emasculated while "Innocently" bathing. The fact that Thomson echoes Ovid, with slight variations, gives his tale further classical resonances and adds to the operatic tenor of the piece,thereby augmenting its hilarity• 28 Cibber, p. 295- ^ Horace Walpole, Rerolniscenses. cxiv, as cited by I. S. L., "Walpole," DN3~ XX, 6^7• See also Gulliver* s Travels. ed. Herbert Davis (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1965)* I, Chapt. Ill, p. 39* as well as Chesterfield's ballad, which I discuss in Chapt. III. 30 Cooke, The Battle of the Poets: An Heroic Poem (London, 1725)* P« 20. 31 See The Letters of Attlcus as Printed in the London Journal in the Years 1729 and 1730. On Various Subjects (London, 1731) • Attic us wsT s C ooke * s p"s e ud onym; the letter of 29 March 1729*which is "an examination into the contro­ versy betwixt the poets and Hr. Pope," Is particularly vicious In the accusations levelled against Pope. See pp. 33-336. Thomas Cooke also brought out anti-Pope satires under the pseudonym of Quartus Scriblerus; see, for exam­ ple, The Bays Miscellany, or Colley Triumphant (London, 1730). 32 see Letters. note p. 77* and Appendix A of this dissertation• 33 "Battle of the Poets," p. 8.

^ Cooke, Bath 1 A Tale (Dublin, 1726), p. 3« 221 35 ibid., p. 3 * 36 ibid.t p. 6 .

37 Ibid., pp. 7 -8 . 38 The Works of Leonard Welsted (London, 178?), xxili. QQ J James Thomson a Sa Vie et Ses Oeuvres (Paris, 1895)* p. 381. ZtO "Writ on a Blank Leaf of an Obscene Poem, 11 The Works of the Late Aaron Hill (London, 175*0 * H I , 51* **1 The Unfolding of the Seasons (Johns Hopkins Press* Baltimore^ 1970), pT 3 6 • Ibid., pp. 36-37. ^■3 An Essay to Introduce New Rules and New Characters into Pastoral (London. 1 7 2 9 ) , p p . 3 6 , 3 7 , 3 8 , 3 8 , *kT, 50 • ^ Ibid. , p. 4*0 . ^3 ibid.. p. 4 5 - 4 6 . Ibid., p. 4?. ^ 7 Unfolding. p. 3 8 . Ibid., p. 3 8 . Ibid., p. 39.

5® Browne, A n Essay to Introduce New Hules• • ., n.p. 51 Ibid., pp. 1 -2 .

52 "Edward Cave's Club and Its Project For A Literary Review." PQ. 17 (1938), 115-130. 53 Cited by Carlson, from Bodlean Add. MSS, C89«* p . 116•

Ibid., pp. 1 1 7 -1 1 8 . 55 Browne, Sunday Thoughts (London, 1764; second edition), pp. 1 8 -1 9 - 222 Carlson* p. 118. *57 Letters. p. 3 6. Aaron Hill, Works (London, 1754), p. 12. "THE WHOLESOME WINDS OP OPPOSITION"! THE INFLUENCE OP DISSIDENT WHIG THOUGHT ON JAKES THOMSON'S EDITORIAL TRAGEDIES

/*E7he wholesome winds Or opposition hence began to blow* And often since have lent the country life* Before their breath corruption's insect-bllghts, The darkening clouds of evil counsel, flyi Or, should they sounding swell, a putrid court, A pestilential ministry, they purge. And ventilated states renew their bloom, --Liberty. Part IV When you censure the age. Be cautious and sage, Lest the courtiers offended should bei If you mention vice or bribe, *Tis so pat to all the tribe. Each cries--that was level'd at me- — The Craftsman

The parodlc episodes in The Seasons- the burlesque poem on Isaac Hawkins Browne ("The Smoker Smok'd"), and the mock-epic poem celebrating the pains of venereal dis­ ease In which Thomson names his personal, literary adver­ saries, represent the operation of his critical genius at work in a comic mode- Many of Thomson's works, however, although socially critical, are hardly humorous. Thomson' five tragedies, his masque.and Liberty- represent the phi- losopher-teacher, rather than the philosopher-Jester, 223 zzh pointing to the delinquency of his day. Interestingly, the poet produced the bulk of this material in the 1730*s, a decade of Incredible political confusion, when Walpole gained in power, and opposition to him gained In numbers, when Jingoism replaced Journalism, when antI-government riots were as easily incited as new tax laws were easily established, and when England saw an end to Walpolevs peace-at-any price policy as she, after much provocation, Joined her continental neighbors In their perennial civil and international wars* Thomson, of course, was not deaf to the moral outrage of some of London*s more vocal critics during this period. After his grand tour as tutor to Lord Talbot*s son, an op­ portunity for him to amass notes toward his great poem on the rise and fall of civilizations, he was readily ac­ cepted Into the circle of "patriots," as they called them­ selves; they gathered at Lord Cobham*s estate at Richmond, in the vicinity of Pope and Bolingbroke's homes, and at St. James', the court of Frederick, who was seriously disen­ chanted with the corruption of his father's government. This Intellectual and political climate nurtured Thomson's righteous Indignation and provided him with a fund of opin­ ions, which were anti-government and, more specifically, with an idiom with which he might criticize Walpole. Thom­ son's works of this period can be read, therefore, as doc- 225 uments espousing the principles of the dissident Whigsj they reflect hoth the editorial policies of The Craftsman, the principal organ of the Opposition Party from the late 1720*s through the 1730*s * as well as the political phi­ losophy of Bolingbroke, the leader of the Patriotst whose oreed Inspired and activated his followers.1 Before I can discuss Thomson's tragedies and point out their Inherent anti-government criticism, however, X will attempt to recreate the historical context necessary for a recognition and appreciation of his editorial, or critical, opinions. I will look briefly, therefore, first at some of the outstanding terms used by the Opposition with reference to themselves and their enemies, the Whigs in powerj then, at the key issues of the Dissident Whig campaigns finally, at the method of attack employed by the Opposition in its journalistic responses to Walpole's regime• The campaign waged against the government involved certain key terms, charged with emotive connotations. Ref­ erences to liberty, patriotism, and trade recur throughout the issues of The Craftsman and Bolingbroke•s works. Such positively connotative words were often set against the vices operant in George's reigni tyranny. self-interest. and luxury, to name but a few. The Opposition propaganda employed this charged vocabulary to emphasize what they 226 considered the crucially Important principles of the con­ stitution and the Revolution of 1 6 8 8, and to maximize the political precariousness of taxes and treaties, as X shall later more fully explain. Such terms and references to the virtues and vices of government are as ubiquitous in the political writings of the 1730*s as wit and Its antonym dullness are in the writings of the 1720*s, and are impor­ tant because their usage indicates the bias of the Jour­ nalistic and literary writers of the decadei by their words ye shall know them. The introduction to the first collected volumes of The Craftsman makes clear the reason for Its appearance by reiterating some of the perenially cited evils of the gov­ ernment in power t The Craftsman preference to Caleb D'anvers, the putative editor of the paper7 made his appearance In the publick on the fifth of December, 1726, about a year and a half af­ ter the Treaty of Hanover was signed, and when the effects of It began to discover themselves* We apprehended, and our appre­ hensions have proved too Just, that the close conJunction,which this treaty cement­ ed between Great Britain and France, in op­ position to the Emperor and Spain, would be attended by bad consequences from a state of perfect tranquility at home, and peace with all powers abroad? we found ourselves, all on a sudden, negotiated into a state of dif­ ficulty, danger and confusion,without being able to discover how the interests of Great Britain were concerned in the squabble. We saw our trade Interrupted with impunity by the Spaniards, not only In the West Indies but in Europe, though we had a large squad­ ron of ships, at that time in those parts of 22? the world .... Our domestic affairs kept an even pace with our affairs abroad* To carry on these negotiations, to sup­ port these engagements, and to extricate ourselves out of the difficulties, in which we were thus unaccountably involv'd• it was thought necessary to raise great sums of money upon the people at that time, when they were least able to bear, and had the least reason to expect, any extraordinary burthens* What added to our apprehensions, and aggravated our calamity, were the meth­ ods made use of to facilitate these designs, and the doctrines advanced by some court writers, to Impose on the people, by en­ deavoring to persuade them that they were in a flourishing condition,in the midst of poverty • • . • We Judged it necessary to awaken them from that lethargy, which they had suffered to creep upon them, and to re­ vive that ancient spirit, which is the pal­ ladium of our constitution * . • « The general principles of liberty have been the foundation of all our arguments, and the interest of Great Britain the sole object of them*2 It should be noted that many of these sentiments were aired In the market place some eight years before Thomson completed Liberty (the very title of which indicates that the poem was in line with Opposition propaganda)* It should also be noted that the paper enjoyed a wide circu­ lation, suggestive of the fact that its Influence reached many and that it was instrumental In forming anti-govern­ ment public opinion* Charles H. Tlmperly claims that "as many as 12,000 copies /were7 sold in one day*"3 These facts, however, cannot concretize the effect that the paper had on readers like Thomson as readily as a sampling of the intensity of its battles might. 228 The various taxes levelled on the people by Walpole were depicted as the greatest violation of individual lib­ erty* thus, the most relentless campaign undertaken by Caleb D'anvers (Nicholas Amhurst, the editor of the paper) involved anti-excise measures. The controversy, of course, arose when Walpole, determined to remove the burden of taxation from the landed gentry, announced his plan to tax merchants and traders, the friends of the Opposition. In his parliamentary speech of February 9* 1732, Walpole moved the revival of the salt duties* "I have . . . with the deepest concerns,11 he said, "observed how heavy and unequal a burthen has long been borne by the landed gentry of this kingdom. I have long had it in my view to procure them some ease."** The Opposition saw the salt tax differently, howeveri not as an equitable maneuver but as a prelude to increased taxation. "This tax upon salt . . . is one step towards a general excise," exclaimed Sir William Wyndham.^ The excise measures,needless to say, became the talk of the town* Arbuthnot told Swift, for example, that "as for news, there is nothing here talked of but the new scheme of ex­ cise • The symbolic importance attached to the excise loomed larger, and somehow more significant, than the few pence per year the merchants would have been expected to pay had the tax gone into effect* and Walpole, naturally, was 229 viewed as the villain behind the scheme* "The excise," H. D. Traill and J. S. Mann explain, "was loathed as a foreign mode of taxation . • . • It was supposed to mean summary powers of jurisdiction, inspection, and search of every Englishman*s house • • . • "? Even the Earl of Eg- mont, one of Walpole*s personal friends and compatriots, remarked that "it were Indeed fit that all things were eased of the excise lawst all men's houses, from, the great­ est to the least, are liable to be entered, and the excise Is more immediately under the powers of the minister than the Customs."® The common people, therefore, were threat­ ened by the impending bill and their cries became "No slavery. No Excise, No Wooden Shoes," and "Liberty, Prop­ erty, No Excise.For these reasons, as the Earl of Eg— mont noted in his Diary. "Sir Robert Walpole for inventing and pressing it /the excise7 was burnt £ X n effigj^*"1® The Craftsman was more than merely Instrumental in arousing the excise mania. The editors of the paper de­ voted issue after issue to a discussion of the horrors of the scheme. In one of their first anti-excise papers, for example, the staff printed the following poem by Andrew Marvel as the epigraph to their haranguei the poem ade­ quately demonstrates the exaggerated vituperation of the party * Excise, a monster worse than e'er before Frighted the midwife, and mother tore. 230 A thousand hands she hath, a thousand eyes, Breaks Into shops and cellars pries; With one hundred rows of* teeth the shark exceeds, And on all trades, like Casawar, she feedsi Chops off the piece, where e'er she close the jaw, Else swallows all down her Indented maw. She stalks all day In the streets, conceal*d from sight, And flies, like bats, with leathern wings by night; She wastes the country and on cities preys; Heir of a female harpy. In dog days. Black bitch, of all the earth-born race most hot. And most rapacious, like himself begot; And of his brat enamour'd, as shfIncreased. Hevel'd In Incest with the mongrel beast.I* Such political sentiments were echoed, likewise, in The Grub-Street Journal, and understandably so, since the Scrlblerlans were of the Opposition Party. The logic undeiw lying their animosity toward Walpole's bill usually in­ volved the suggestion that the excise represented the min­ ister's Increased power (or "tyranny," as they chose to designate It) and that it resulted In, or would have re­ sulted In, a devastation of mercantile expansion and a usurpation of Individual freedom. (The Patriots claimed, In other words, that Increased trade was the answer to slavaging the national debt and that the excise not only compounded the problem but violated the constitution in so doing.) The Gentleman's Magazine reprinted an excise ballad from The Grub-Street Journal, which made clear the effects the bill was supposed to have had on the new­ found rights which accrued to the people after the Glo­ rious Revolution; the poem Is entitled "The Constitution 231 Clapp'd," and the first stanza suggests the tenor of* the piece i Come listen to me, of excises 1 sing. Which, like a disease, you all know sirs, The tody politic to achings must bringt And this is now what we will show, sirs. For excise, like a clap, Deem'd a trivial mishap, First caught by old Noll's revolution. When general grown. Like a pox in the bone, Must ruin the constitution* Fal a-lal • . . The excise bill, of course, was not the only tax to excite the heated wrath of the dissident Whigsi Walpole, throughout the 1730's, saw that the fire was well fueled. Besides the salt tax, the nation complained of the tobacco tax, the gin tax, the molasses tax, and the land tax, the second most notorious of the decade's major taxes. The Gentleman's Magazine. in its section on "Parliamentary Proceedings" for November, 1736# announced that "the fol­ lowing motion was made, and agreed to without any debate

/ m y italics/, viz. that it be 'resolved that towards rais­ ing the supply granted to His Majesty, the sum of two shillings in the pound, and no more, be raised in the year 1736# upon lands, tenements, hereditaments, pensions, of­ fices and personal estates, in that part of Great Britain called England, in Wales, and in the town of Berwich upon Tweedi and that proportionable cess • • • should be laid upon that part of Great Britain called Scotland.*" The 232 land tax had Ions been the bane of middle-class gentry, who filled the ranks of the Opposition* The tax pressed hard on all families whose Income was less than one thousand pounds per year* Walpole himself Is reputed to have said of the tax that "It has ruined and undone many*"*3 The taxes, therefore, portended financial enthrall­ ment* The people recognized their oppressed state, and parliament, under Walpole*s control, refused to alleviate the problem* Egmont, although a Whig-ln-power, was moved to askt "Gan we answer It to our country, to meet /In parliamentary session/ only to continue only the most op­ pressive taxes and laws upon them, and not give them even a faint hope of redressing them?"1** The campaign against these various taxes, however, did not prove totally effec­ tive, despite the fact that the excise bill was defeated by the indefatigable work of Nicholas Amhurst and others, whose strategy helped to swell the ranks of the Opposi­ tion. *5 The dissident Whigs worked not only for the de­ feat of the bill but also, and more importantly, for a reclamation of parliament by non-Walpole statesmen In the election of 173**« Walpole, however, proved to be too strong for them* According to The London Evening Post for

June 2 9 9 173^« "308 members of the court and 251 members for the country gave Walpole a majority of 57 members*" Pulteney summarized the amazement and concern of his party 233 in a letter to Swift# The English must be "slaves," he wrote, otherwise how "would it have been possible for the same minister who had projected the excise scheme, before the heats it had occasioned with the nation were well laid, to have chosen a new parliament exactly to his mind, and though perhaps not altogether so strong in numbers, yet as well disposed In general to his purposes as he could wish. Walpole's excessive taxation, however, was not the only reason for the Opposition's declaiming against him. Dissident Whigs charged that the Prime Minister had fur­ ther violated the principles of the Glorious Revolution with his insistence on control of the stage, the chief vehicle for anti-government entertainment. Walpole's desire to regulate the dramatic literature of the period stems, almost exclusively, from his understandable aver­ sion to personal criticism. Hervey, in reference to Polly, tells us, for example, that **Slr Robert Walpole was re­ solved, rather than suffer himself to be produced for thirty nights together on the stage in the person of a highwayman, to make use of the authority of his friend the Duke of Grafton as Lord Chamberlain to put a stop to the representation of it."1? The town, as could be expected, was fully aware of the criticism inherent in the anti-Walpole productions. 23*f The Earl or Egmont* to cite one source* wrote the follow­ ing with respect to a minor production of the periods At the Ball or Masquerade in the Haymarket Tuesday was . • . an incident that has made a good deal of noise• After the King had been there some tine • • . there came in a Harlequin and Punchinello, followed by divers others . . . with bundles of printed play­ bills • • • all throwing down their papers Zthey7 disappeared. The King read the bill* which was as follows* 'By permission* this Is to give notice to all gentlemen and la­ dles and others that at the Opera House in Haymarket this present evening will be pre­ sented the Comical and Diverting Humors of Punch* and on Thursday Next by the Norfolk Company . . . a comical . . . play . • • * called Court and Country in which will be revived the entertaining scene of the Blun­ dering Brothers* with the cheats of Rabbi Robin. Prime Minister to King Soloman. The whole being concluded with a Grand Masque called The Downfall of SeJanus* or The Statesman's Overthrow . • • •' Those who know the times know the satire of this.I® And in 1737 Egmont tells of another pointed attack on the Prime Minister, while mentioning the appearance of Fred­ erick, titular leader of the dissident Whigs, at the the­ ater and his reaction to the Opposition slogan," Liberty* No Excise . • ."t '1 dined at home* and then went to the Haymarket Playhouse* where a farce was acted called Eurldlce First, an allegory on the loss of the excise bill. The whole was a satire on Sir Robert Walpole* and X ob­ served that when any strong passage fell, the Prince, who was there, clapped especially when In favour of Liberty."19 Walpole's struggle against such satires was long 235 fought— some seven years, In fact. During that period several plays took the minister to task, Including Fielding*s Fasauln. his Historical Register. Mallet*s Mustauha. Brooke's Gustavus Vasa. Hlll*s Caesar, and count­ less others, including Thomson's plays, one of whichr Edward and Eleonora, was banned from the stage after the Licensing Act was finally made law In 1737* The Prime Minister had begun this campaign as early as 1730 when "Odell*s new theatre in Ayliffe Street, Good­ man's Field, was closed."20 Scouten, In his history of the London Stage, cites a second Intervention during the summer of 1731» "when the Daily Adviser /reported^ that the play­ ers acting the Fall of Mortimer at the new theatre in the Haymarket were arrested and the play banned. This time the individual players rather than the management were dealt wlth."^ Other evidence of a parliamentary attempt to censure the theater appears in a letter dated May 24, 1733, from Charles Howard to Lord Carlisles " . . . A bill to regulate the Playhouse read the first time, a debate of about two hours upon it, but no division."22 Walpole tried to divert attention from his ulterior motive (desiring the plays to be licensed) by claiming that he wished to protect the public from the lascivious­ ness of stage entertainment. But when the several peti­ tions were brought before the House of Commons, Walpole's 236 motives were soon realized, and animosity toward him In­ creased* One document* dated April 10, 173^* took Issue with the Prime Minister, Insuring the House that the stage was Indeed a "lawful and honest profession"* A petition of the several persons, whose names are subscribed, in behalf of them­ selves, and the rest of His Majesty's com­ panies of comedians of the theatres fioyal in Drury-Lane, and Covent-Garden, • * . was readi setting forth, that the Petition­ ers have been brought up, and wholly em­ ployed in the business of the stage, which, they conceive, is a lawful and honest pro­ fession; and that they are by law, and of natural right, intitled to the exercise thereof for the maintenance of themselves and families * • • *23 In the same year a petition was submitted to the House by "several eminent merchants, shopkeepers, sllkmen, weavers, pochers, dyers, factors, and other tradesmen and inhabi­ tants of the city of London, and of Goodman's Fields, Spittle Fields, and parts adjacent" proving that the the­ ater was an Impetus to morality* The petition commended "the management of the theatre of Goodman's Fields, the diversions thereof not beginning till the labour of day is done, not interfering with the house of business, as bil- llard-tables, skittle grounds, and bowling allies, do, which have been discouraged since the opening of this theatre," and it set forth that "the evil apprehended to arise by apprentices, or servants, frequenting a Play­ house contrary to their master's intentions, would not be 237 removed by suppressing this playhouse in particular

Host Londoners, therefore, were appalled at Walpole's increased power as symbolized by his licensing victory* they did not, however, remain silent. Even The Gentleman * s Magazine■ a relatively non-partisan Journal, saw the act as a threat to civil liberty. Edward Cave, the editor, printed several articles and poems criticizing Walpole9s actions throughout the crisis. As early as 1732, the fol­ lowing anti-licensing poem appeared in the magazinei In good Queen Anna's day when tories reign'd, And the Just liberty of press restrain'd, Sad whigs complain'd In doleful notes and sundry, 0 Liberty, O Virtue, 0 my country! But when themselves had reach'd the day of grace, They chang'd their principles, as well as place. From messengers secure no printer lies, They take composters, press-men, devils, flies. What means this change? The sum of all the story's, Tories deprest are whigs, and whigs In power ^ are tories.2-* When Brooke's play was refused its license in 1739» the Journal printed an even harsher statement directed toward the Prime Minister. The poem "Verses Upon Hearing that a License was Befused to a Play, Entitled Gustavus Vasa, the Deliverer of his country," reads as follows* While the rank vices of a tainted age. Thro' courts and senates, caught the mimick stage, While lust, broad-fronted, own'd unblushing shame. And private malice kindled party flame* 1 sigh'd, unbrlb'd by power, unstrung by hate, An equal subject of this free-born state* In silent grief I trac'd those happy days, With Henry's wreaths when Shakespear twin'd his bays * 238 For one great end, when Britons dar’d unite, Her heroes combat,and her poets write. I wish’d— the wish succeeds! my ravish’d eyes Behold the good, the brave Gustavus rise, A Briton now confess’d; but ah! in vain; Here ruder foes avenge the conquer’d danet Here falls the best support of freedom’s cause, Ye gods! and can he fail by Britain’s laws! Shall tyrant-policy and slavish fear. To freedom’s sweetest tale shut Britain's ear? Shall her brave sons the patriot-chief disclaim? Her Infants should be taught to lisp his name. When such the theme, let heaven and earth rejoice! Perish the wretch who dares refuse his voice! Perish the slave who dares the tale apply, And mark in Britain Banish Tyranny!26 Without doubt, however, the most unrelenting efforts against Walpole’s tyranny were exerted by The Craftsman. As with the excise campaign, Amhurst devoted Innumerable Issues to a discussion of the right to freedom of the press. In fact, the first such article appeared in the second issue of the paper (perhaps Indicating that the Op­ position sensed a real threat to editorial writing, in any form of literature, as early as 1726); and, interestingly, the Journalist, in his definition of a free press, avows that a certain Journalistic Integrity, or responsibility, must accompany any exercise of liberty. "By the liberty of the press," he says, "I mean . . . an unreserved, dis­ cretionary power for every man to publish his thoughts on any subject, and in any manner, which is not forbidden by the laws of the land, without being obliged to apply for a licence or privilege for so doing."2? Employing one of the tactics of The Craftsman’s strategy for critical com- 239 mentary, the writer first looks to history and to the years when licensing was a government function and then looks to the future, implicating Walpole by concluding thats "We ought, therefore, to esteem the abolition of this office as one of our greatest acqui sitlons in the cause of liberty* and use our utmost endeavours to prevent its being ever revived among us* for which purpose, we should keep a constant eye upon those who are suspected to be no good wishers of it, and look upon it as a certain sign of a bad government, when any minister attempts to pO destroy the liberty of the press." But only the members of the Opposition recognized, and approved of, the potential effect that honest Journalism could have on government. Bolingbroke, for example., in A Dissertation Upon Parties, which he ironically dedicated to Walpole, wrote i "All /dissenting literature/ • • • may be called fair war* and whoever prevails in the Judgment of the public, the public will reap information from the contest, and will have reason to be pleased with these ap­ peals, which present an image of the customs that obtained in the ancient commonwealths of Greece and Rome, where the greatest interests of the state were debated, and the great­ est men in those governments were accused and defended in public harrangues, and before the whole people."29 in the same document he specifically defends The C r a f t s m a n by 2 4 0 claiming that "the cause of the British constitution hath heen pleaded throughout the whole course of those papers* every danger to it hath been pointed out* every security,

or improvement of it, hath been explained and p r e s s e d . "30 Thomson, no doubt, was much Influenced by these anti­ government campaigns, since he was In league with the Dis­ sident Whig Party. Interestingly, he expressed his ap­ probation of the party and its principles as early as 1731» when he was with Lord Talbot#s son on the continent. At that time, he wrote to Dodlngton and exclaimed in the idiom of the Oppositions "In England . . . I hope that we will never lose the substantial necessary and vital arts of life, such as depend on liberty . . . ."31 And Lord Tal­ bot* s son, who shared Thomson*s sentiments, wrote from Paris In the same year, saying of his tutors "His rough English love for liberty, disdains the embroidered slavery, that glitters In that trifling court."32 Without doubt, however, Thomson*s "Preface" to Milton*s Areopagltlca exists as his greatest, most forthright, contribution to the cause of the Opposition, although all Thomson's work from this decade, as I shall show, reflect these same con- cerns. 33 Not only did Thomson adopt the Opposition's political ideas, he likewise was influenced by the techniques of their political criticism. The manner In which dissident 2*4-1 Whig literature was written reflects on Walpole's antl- free-speech policy. Since the minister penalized those who straightforwardly criticized his regime, the writers of Bollngbroke•s party concealed their criticism by using the techniques of irony, innuendo, political allegory, allusion, and fable. Amhurst said that this manner of criticism was based upon the "principle of self-preserva­ tion"* he noted, similarly, that "as . . . this allegorical way of writing is certainly the most learned, as well as the most ancient, so I hold it likewise to be the safest in all modern performances* especially if an author is, in any wise, addicted to writing on political subjects."^ The Craftsman first noted and exploited the possibil­ ities inherent in this form of criticism* often their journalists would review a play from a preceding histori­ cal period, showing its relevance to the political situa­ tion of the 1730's by means of fairly obvious, perhaps even heavy-handed, innuendo. In one such review. The Craftsman discussed Shakespeare*s Henry VIII. with a par­ ticularly keen eye to the wicked minister, Uolsey, whom the Opposition saw as a prototype to Walpolet I went the other night to a play called The Life of King Henry VIII, written by Shake­ speare, designing not only to treat my eyes with a corronation in miniature, and see away my three shillings, but to improve my under­ standing, by beholding my countrymen, who have been near two centuries In ashes, revive again, and act and talk in the same manner as 2^2 they did* Such a representation as this* given us by so great a master, throws one's eyes back upon our ancestorst and, while I am present at the action* I lieving myself a real spectator and contem­ porary with our old Huff-blpff English mon­ arch* Henry VIII, Such much does the useful delusion of a well-written play delight and instruct us beyond the cold|narration of a dry Historian, But the principal figure and that* which stood fullest o^it to me, was the great minister. There you see an ambitious* proud* bad man of parts in the possession of a wise and brave prince* amassing wealth* taxing the griev'd commons, and abusing his trust and powers to support his vanity and luxury. As it is usual with this sort of great man Zmy italicsi this I phrase was Fielding's epithet for Walpole7, all the er­ rors he commits are his master's, and every­ thing, that may be praise-worthy, his own,35 The review continues in the same allusive manner, crit­ icizing Wolsey (Walpole) for "heavy taxes" and a discour- agement of "woolen manufacture" and "trade *" the latter of which were both dear to the heart of the Opposition. The reviewer ends by forcefully drawing attention to the na- ture of his extended parallels "Thus, I have thrown together some outlines* by which the character of this am­ bitious* wealthy* bad minister is described in the very words of Shakespeare, Reflecting people may observe from this picture how like human nature Is her workings at all 36 times," Several plays were revived with scheming minis­ ters as the principal character The machinations of Wolsey, SeJanus, and Buckingham were seen as similar to Walpole* and Thomson's Eglsthus, in Agamemnon. is also in 2*0 this category* Bolingbroke, once again, was not only the Intellect behind the strategy of The Craftsman* but also behind Thom­ son's choice of dramatic material, particularly In so far as that strategy called for a recognition of the cyclic nature of history* Bollngbroke was convinced of the phil­ osophical purpose of history In teaching us both the glories and flascoes of the past so that the present and the future might emulate the former and avoid the latter. In his Letters on the Study and Use of History* he sayst "I think that history Is philosophy teaching by examples*

We need but to cast ours Zs 1q7 eyes on the world, and we shall soon discover why example has this force*"37 The emphasis, therefore. Is not on the study. but on the use of hlstoryt It Is not meant as an exercise for the contem­ plative spirit, although contemplation Is essential, but as a guide to translating Ideas Into action* "'-fhe study of history,1* he says later In the same work, "will pre­ pare us for action and observation* History Is the ancient author) experience Is the modern language. We form our taste on the first, we translate the sense and reason, we transfuse the spirit and the force) but we may Imitate only the particular graces of the original) we Imitate them only according to the Idiom of our own tongue* That Is, we substitute often equivalents In the lieu of them, and are 244 far from affecting them servilely. To conclude, as ex­ perience Is conversant about the present, and the present

enables us to guess at the futurei so history is conver­ sant about the past# and by knowing the things that we have been, we become better able to Judge of the things that are • **«38 And in his Remarks On the History of England. Boling- broke does not shirk from passing Judgment on the present by focussing on the past* As might be expected, he re­ hearses the Oppositions feelings toward scheming ministers* taxation, and all forms of Mslavery”(that ls» any govern­ mental action which usurps the peoples* natural right to liberty)• His criticism can also be heard, if only oblique­ ly. when he celebrates his personal, historical heroes, since they are, men who acted, for the most part, contrary to the actions of Bolingbroke*s political adversaries* His heroes Include, for example. King Alfred and the Edwards of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries) it Is significant, therefore, that both Alfred and Edward 1 have leading roles In two of Thomson's dramatic productions and figure generally as saints of the Opposition*39 In his Dissertation Upon Parties* Bolingbroke ex­ plains his reason for honoring the Edwardst MIf we look back as far as the close of the Fourteenth Century,w he says, we will find "an era pretty near to that when par- 245 llaments received their present form • • • . w**0 The Op­ position. It should be remembered, emphasized the Impor­ tance of a limited monarchy as the most desirable form of governments ideally, the king and his ministers would rule coequally with parliament. Walpole's rule, however, was so strong that he was almost totally in control of parliaments so much so. In fact, that Opposition litera­ ture constantly accused him of being the primary corrupt­ ing influence over the houses, principally because of his notorious reputation for graft and bribery. Bolingbroke elsewhere further specifies the nature of Edward's heroism, while his Opposition bias forces him to see his heroes as defenders of freedom in all its legit­ imate manifestations, who will "sacrifice everything, ex­ cept liberty." Edward III, for example, ", • • freed himself from the guardianship, or rather subjection, of the Queen and Mortimer, who had long oppressed the nation," unlike George II who tacitly allowed Caroline and Walpole to rule while he reigned (or while he cavorted with his mistresses at Hanover). Edward, again unlike his German successor, prevented his purveyors from unduly taxing the people. "The taxes laid in his time, were laid for visi­ ble and important services, wherein the honor at least of the nation was concerned.There were no excise or land taxes in Edward's day, for he realized, like the dissident 246 Whigs of the 1730's, that trade could replenish the nation al treasury. To this effect, Bolingbroke states* If he drained away some of the natural wealth by taxes, he restored it very amply again, by the great care he took of ex­ tending and improving trade t by which he opened much new mines of treasures} and, for a few temporary contributions, en­ riched his people to future generations. A prince, who adds to the national stock, has a right to share the advantage he pro­ cures and may demand supplies from his peo­ ple without blushing. But a prince who leaves a rent-charge on the nation he governs, who sits on his throne, like a monstrous drone in the middle of a hive, draining all the combs of their honey, and neither making nor assisting the indus­ trious bees to make anyi such a prince, I say, ought to blush at every grant he re­ ceives from a people, who never received any benefit from hlm.M‘*2 George II, needless to say, was such a drone, whose ex­ travagance precipitated much anti-monarch criticism. "I am privately told," gossips Egmont, "that the King direct­ ed one yacht to be finely furnished for his mistress ^Ehe Duchess of Kendal~7. who Insisted to be on the foot of the Duohess of Portsmouth ^also George's mistress7, that is, to have one thousand pounds weekly allowance," more money than the Prince himself received from his father But while the Opposition saw George II as dissimilar to Edward, they claimed that Frederick resembled his four­ teenth-century predecessor. The most striking parallel, of course, involved Frederick's arrival in England during the winter of 1728, an event reminiscent of Edward I's 24-7 arrival in his homeland* upon foresaklng the Crusades after the death of* his father. When Edward arrived, as Professor Goldwin Smith tells us, "he began an extensive series of enactments designed to satisfy the strict re­ quirements of his passion for efficiency and order. Most of this legislation was not done by means of royal or­ dinance in council but usually with the assent of the great council or of full parliaments."^ The connection between Frederick and Edward was cur­ rent in the late 1720*s and early 1730*s, appearing pri­ marily, but not exclusively, in Opposition literature, And usually, although not always, the connection was ex­ tended to include William of Orange, likewise a hero given the results of the Revolution of November, 1688 (a holiday for the Whigs out of power). On the anniversary of the Glorious Revolution, The London Journal carried an article entitled "On the Blessings of the Revolution"! the writer stated that "this being the month in which the Prince of Orange landed in England to save us from destruction, we will dedicate this paper . . . to liberty and revolution! for men are so apt to forget their blessings, that ftis absolutely necessary to remind them what the revolution deliverfd us from. It deliverfd us from murders in the form of lawsi from the establishment of popish courts and convents, surrendering and betraying of charters, perver­ 248 sion or the whole course of Justice* and professedly lay­ ing the whole foundation of perpetual popery and sla­ very • "**5 In the same month The Gentleman*s Magazine Included a poem called *'0n the Fourth of November," a prologue to a dramatic production staged at Goodman's Fields* the site of the first playhouse censured by Walpole• The poem is of the genre celebrating Edward* William* and Frederick* the latter of whom, we know from a footnote to the text* is referred to as Britain "illustrious heir." The poem reads as followsi Oft as the sun returns the circling year, This day shall be to every Briton dear. Who can the Brunswick progeny survey, And not transported hail this glorious day? This happy day for mirth and triumph spare * Which gave to Briton her Illustrious heir. Who glows not with exquisite delight At the blest scene which opens to our sight? When liberty the beauteous prospect bringsi And gives us heroes in a race of kings} What grateful breast feels not a gen'rous beat? Whilst we this annual aera thus adorn* Transmuting bliss to ages yet unborn. Propitious Nassau from his radiant seat* Gladly surveys his Briton's Joys compleat, With pleasing gratitude three kingdoms come To pay their yearly tribute at his tomb} Glorious deliverer from the chains of Home, He came to finish Heaven's supreme decree* To succour the lnslaved, and the injur'd freei Tyrants to curb, and give oppressor's lawi Such was our Edward* such the great Nassau. Let haughty Home no more her Julil boast* They're in the mighty Brunswick lineage lost. But whilst this heavenly bounty we possess* And view this royal family's increase* Long may the giver in our triumph share His king provision, his eternal care* 2^9 Let glorious gratitude consign to fame, Th*immortal memory of great William’s name.4*6 Thomson, aware of the then current connection, ex­ ploits that parallel in an occasional poem to the Prince which appeared in The Whitehall Evening Post and The Lon­ don Evening Post for September, 1737* Thomson most ex­ plicitly refers to the Prince, in the second stanza of the "ode," as the "new Edward," the friend of libertyi Can ought from fair Augusta*s gentle blood, And thine, thou friend of liberty! be born— Can ought save what is lovely, generous, good— What will at once defend us and adorn? Prom thence prophetic Joy new Edward's eye, New Henries, Annas, and Elizas rise*^7 It is Interesting to note that Thomson wanted this partic­ ular poem to apnear in either The Craftsman or Common Sense, the two organs of the Opposition, indicating not only awareness of the poem as a dissident Whig panegyric but also his approbation of, and support for, the cause of these Journals, In 1737 Thomson wrote to Andrew Millart "Thank you for getting my ode printed"i then, concerning the final line of the poem which criticizes Walpole for his failure to act against the transgressions of France and Spain in the new world, Thomson added* "In the mean­ time, who was so very cautious as to advise France and Spain being printed with a dash. You, I dare say, it is not— You have superior spirit to that* I wish you had got or would get it into the Craftsman or Common Sense*" 250 Thomson's most sustained tribute to the Prince of Wales, however, Is couched, although hardly concealed, In his tragedy, Edward and Eleonora. In which the Prince Is treated as the reincarnation of Edward. The plot focusses on the accession of Prince Edward to the British throne and the heroism of his dutiful wife, Eleonora, who saves her husband's life by sucking poison from a wound Inflict­ ed on him by an enemy in the Holy Land. In the play, Thom son does not dally in providing critical comment on the situation of the 1730*s. The production opens with a plea from Gloster to Edward to return to England? this partic­ ular declamation urges Edward on in terms which the Op­ position, no doubt, put to Frederick. The speech alludes to the evils of "ministerial rapine," to "endless taxes," and to corruption and luxury in court, obvious references to Walpole's rule? the references to liberty are, similar­ ly, in the best tradition of the moralistic rhetoric of the Opposition Party. The tone of the passage, therefore, reflects Thomson's indignation and deserves to be cited fully t You know, my lord, I never was a friend To this Crusado. My unchang'd advice Is strenuous then for peace. Nor this, alone, From your deserted circumstance I urge, But from the state of our unhappy country. Behold her, Edward, with a felial eye, And say, is this a time for these adventures? Behold her still with deep commotion shook. Beneath a false delusive face of quieti Behold her bleeding still from civil war. 251 Exhausted, sunki draln#d by one thousand arts Or ministerial rapine, endless taxes. Ill-managed expeditions, strangers, legates, Italian leeches, and Insatiate Bornet That never rag'd before with such gross insult, With such abandon'd avaricet besides, Who knows what evil counce11ors, again, Are gathered round the throne. In times like these, Disturb'd, and lowing with unsettled freedom, One step to lawless Home, one old attempt Benew'd, the least infringement on our charters, Would lure the giddy nation Into tempt. Return, my Prince. You have already sav'd Your father from his foes, from haughty Leistert Now save him from his ministers, from those Who hold him captive in the worst of chains. **9 Gloster hardly minces words as he further tells Edward to return and save his father "from the snares of low corrupt,

insinuating traitors," who are "alien to his ^father's"J int'rest" and who "make a property, a market of his honor" (I, i, 217-218). Thomson's criticism, therefore, is prin­ cipally directed against Walpole, who resembles the self- aggrandising ministers of Henry's court. Edward, unlike his father, is not deluded by minis­ terial intrigue. The prince reveals the perspicuity of a superlative ruler after hearing of his father's death. The speech Is noteworthy since it exhibits Thomson's cau­ tiousness in dealing with the abrasive relationship exist­ ing between George and Frederick. He allows Edward to recognize the weakness of his father, whose principal fault was his passivitys the burden of criticism, however, falls not on Henry but on his ministers, who actively cor­ rupted the King. After Gloster Informs Edward of his 252 father#s death, the Prince exclaimsi Alas! my royal father is no more! The gentlest of mankind, the most abus'd Of gracious nature, a fit soil for virtues, •Till there his creatures sow'd their flattering lies. And made him--No, not all their cursed arts Could ever make him insolent or crueli 0 my deluded father! little Joy Had*st thou in life, led from thy real good, And genuine glory, from thy people's love, That noblest aim of kings, by smiling traitors. Is there a curse on human kind to sell. So pestilent, at once, to Prince and people. As the base servile vermin at court, Corrupt, corrupting ministers and favourites?^° Thomson,in depicting the Prince as a man of sensitivity, intelligence, and integrity, desired mainly to educate his patron. Thomson was working,therefore, from the same mo­ tives— and writing in the same manner— as Bolingbroke, whose treatise The Idea of a Patriot King appeared one year prior to Thomson's play.51 Of course, knowing that he must engage the Prince be­ fore he could entice him to accept his political philos­ ophy, Thomson saw fit to flatter the Prince and his royal consort and thereby suggest the ideal to which they should aspire. Thomson, therefore, dedicated the play to the Princess of Wales, and in his characterization of Eleonora can be read, as Thomson no doubt expected it would be, an idealized description of the royal pairs "In the character of Eleonora I have endeavored to represent, however faint­ ly, a princess distinguished for all the virtues that 253 render greatness amiable* I have aimed* particularly* to do Justice to her inviolable affection and generous ten­ derness for a Prince, who was the darling of a great and free p e o p l e . ”52 Thomson's addresses to Frederick, which can be read as implied criticism of George II, are even more obvious in their relevance to the Prince in the kingly role the nation thought he was soon to assumei George II, after all, was in his sixties when the play appeared. Gloster, the senex figure in the play who embodies a straightline Op­ position philosophy, honors and instructs Edward when he learns of his imminent coronation! Thy subjects claim their king* thy troops their chief * The masses of thy ancestors consign Their long-descended glory to thy hands* And thy dejected country calls upon thee To save her, raise her, to restore her honour, To spread her sure dominion o'er the deep. And bid her yet arise the scourge of France. Angels themselves might envy thee the Joy, That waits thy will, of doing general good* Of spreading virtue, chearing lonely worth* Of dashing down the proud* of guarding arts. The sacred rights of industry and freedom* Of making a whole generous people happy. (IV , T il , 259) This speech challenges the Prince to rise to the occasion by flattering his capacity to do so. The implications of Gloster*s remarks are several! Frederick has the poten­ tial to body forth the Ideal of the Patriot King, whereas his predecessor did not, failing as he did to actualize 25** the principles of libertyt the Prince, due to the trans­ gressions of his father, must rebuild a devastated coun­ try, exercising the strength his father did not possess and the generosity his father lacked* Thus Thomson*s Edward and Eleonora criticizes the Walpole regime, flatters Frederick, and admonishes him, however, indirectly, that, if change and correction are to be made political realities, a true patriot king must be cognizant of the evils that the monarchlal system is heir to* Thomson could hardly have paid a more fitting tribute to the Prince In celebration of his return to England, al­ though Edward and Eleonora was not the only dramatic en­ terprise to commemorate that event* Thomson*s masque, Alfred* written in collaboration with David Mallet, also concerns the return of a redeemer/ prince to his native soil, in this case, to reclaim it from the barbaric Danes. The masque was performed before Frederick and his family in the garden of Clifden in l?4oI and the Prince, always receptive to praise and publicity, wanted the masque to go before the public. James Hammond made this fact known in October of that year when he wrote to Mallett "I have taken an opportunity of mentioning to the Prince that you intend to bring Alfred upon the stage this winter, he approves of it mightily• Professor McKlllop, in the only critical article dls- 255 cussing Alfred, notes that the choice of hero* like Thom- son's choice of Edward, derives from Opposition Party politics. He mentions that "Alfred had already taken his place as the first good English monarch In the stock his­ torical allusions of the Opposition • • and adds, In­ terestingly, that "/Xlfred*§7 statue stood In the garden

of the Prince's town h o u s e . "5** McKlllop, citing the Coun­ tess of Hertford, also notes that the public recognized the masque for what it was, a production with "several party hints,"55 The parallels between Alfred and Frederick are many and are sometimes obvious. The Earl of Devon tells us, for example, that Alfred, "a prince," is "England's last hope," and that his reign will activate "the sacred cause of l i b e r t y . "5^ Alfred was the hope of his people, as Frederick was the hope of Bolingbroke's partyi thus, Thom­ son has Alfred rehearse the appropriate party sentiments, Alfred, in different speeches, promises that he will act to "restore a ruin'd state" and that he will "redeem Z^is country7, this sinful land, this tomb of its inhabitants • . • from fell oppression" (19» 23). Alfred, whose per­ ceptiveness much resembles Gloster*s in Edward and Eleo­ nora . is as aware of the corrupting influences upon courts as was Frederick! Alfred, In demonstrating this awareness, isolates "the syren-voice of flattery" as the source from 256 which all court vices originate, calling it "the harlot form of vice/Who spreads in every court, their silken snares"(4*0 • The masque, like many of Thomson's drama-tic produc­ tions and especially those dedicated to the Prince after 1737* is not, however, a sustained critical commentary on the political situation of the 1730's, and understandably so. Aware of the Licensing Act, Thomson must have realized that to write even a consistent historical allegory rel­ evant to that decade was to invite censorship. He, there­ fore, selected dramatic subjects which only allusively were applicable to his period. Thus, although A1fred oc­ casionally speaks pointedly about George's reign, it more often looks suggestively to Frederick's. Thomson focusses upon the England that will be, and the overriding message of the play involves the recreation of an Eden in Albion, a return to political innocence. So, by intimating that when Frederick is king "a better age .^will be7 born" (52), he implicates and criticizes the reign of George 11, a post-lapsarian era* and this is the dynamic of all his dramatic,critical productions. Unlike Thomson's later plays which were subtle in their criticism, Agamemnon, written Just before the pas­ sage of the Licensing Act, is more directly critical of Walpole, The prologue, besides reflecting Thomson's aware­ 257 ness of the threat of ministerial censorship, also echoes Bolingbroke•s disapprobation of parties (factions), which he viewed as manifestations of self-interest and indica­ tions of governmental corruption.57 Ending with a plea to judge Thomson's dramatic enterprise without bias of party, the prologue notes that the only legitimate licensers can be, and should be, an audience aware of artistic, not polit­ ical, significances As such our fair attempt, we hope to see Our judges here— here at least— from Influence free * One place— unbiased yet by party rage— Where only honour votes— the British stage. We ask for justice, for Indulgence sue* Our last best licence must proceed from y o u . 58 Reverend D. C. Tovey, in his edition of Thomson's works, recognized some of the contemporary parallels at work in this play. He suggests, and rightly so I think, that Agamemnon clearly represents George II, that Egisthus, the wicked minister, is meant as a prototype of Walpole, and that Mellsander, hated and banished by Egisthus, might be Bolingbroke himself who likewise suffered e x i l e . 59 un­ fortunately, Rev. Mr. Tovey's nineteenth-century Insights have been long Ignored in evaluations of Thomson's career as a social critic. Thomson's Agamemnon is depicted as a weak man whose absence from Greece precipitates the problems his kingdom falls prey to. Not only does his wife, Clytemnestra, 258 subconsciously offer this as the excuse for her having an adulterous affair with Egisthus# but Agamemnon later in the play realizes that his absence has made him a stranger In his own country, rendering him incapable of managing the state intelligently* In my dominions, I am a stranger. Areasj ten full years, Or even a day, is absence for a king Without some mighty reason, much too long* (III, ii. 37) Several topical allusions are connected with this dramatic information. George II, a German-British monarch and a "stranger” to the language and customs of his people, was severely criticized for his perennial sojourns at Hanover* Thomson himself apparently took interest in the King's holidaysi in a letter to Cranstoun, he says* "There are no news here. The King is expected this week," the third week of October, 1 7 3 Reaction against these trips Increased with the passage of time* Egmont devotes a few entries in his Diary to this matter. For November, 1736, he writes* "More popular reports come to my ears occa­ sioned by the King's long absence at Hanover * * *Hi and, shortly after that, he notes that "the people continue to manifest their indignation at the King's absence. Some say that he has already drawn away from England 200,000^, others double that sum, in so much that the pensions can't 6l be paid • • • •" And it was also at this time that the 259 following broadside was found stuck upon the gate of the palacei "Lost or strayed out of this house, a man who has left his wife and six children on the parish. Whoever will give any tidings of him to the chureh-wardens . . . so as he may be got again, shall receive four shillings and six pence reward. Nota Bene * This reward will not be increased, nobody Judging him to be worth a crown. The Opposition exploited the fact of George's absence to suggest his irresponsibllty and his love for Hanover over his understanding of, and interest In, England. Like­ wise, they publicized the fact that Walpole and Caroline assumed the leadership of the realm during the King's absencest thus, some of the billingsgate literature of the period suggests that their relationship during these periodic "holidays was more than merely professional. Eg- mont, for example, after Caroline's death, may be al­ luding to this when he writes* "A Joke runs about the town that In the late new vault prepared for the Queen the third place therein Is designed by his Majesty for Sir Robert Walpole i so that when both the latter die there will lie together King, Queen, and Knave.(And it cannot be overlooked that Queen Caroline was responsible for George II*s retaining of Walpole in 1727* upon the death of George I. George II wanted Sir Spencer Compton, but Caroline Insisted that Walpole was the better man.) 260 Thomson perhaps casts aspersions on the relationship between the Queen and the first minister, by intimating that it may have been sexual as in the affair of Clytem- nestra and Egisthus* but he certainly casts aspersions on the government by alluding to George’s recognition that Walpole had taken advantage of him and usurped his power, only because Caroline had persuaded him to trust his father’s friend. After Areas tells Agamemnon that Egis­ thus desires the crown, Agamemnon, in a wonderfully allu­ sive speech, says of his ministeri That creature of my power! That Insect! Rais’d By the warm beam of my mistaken bounty! Whom, when my father’s vengeance raz’d his race, I sav’d, train’d up, with favours, honours heap'd* And trusted in his hands at last a Jewel, Too precious for the faithless heart of man— O gross blindness— half my kingly power. (Ill, li, 3 9) Like all of Thomson's opposition plays, Agamemnon, therefore, is principally an anti-ministerial productions throughout the piece, Thomson editorializes on the nature of wicked ministers. In an early scene rich In dramatic irony, Agamemnon, confiding in Egisthus, defends Kelisan- der against the minister’s charge. The irony, of course, resides in the fact that Agamemnon’s defense of Melisander could provide reasons for his distrust of Egisthus* but, at this point in the play, Agamemnon is not aware of the deceptiveness of the man. Agamemnon ignorantly claims that Melisander 261 was no civil russlan* none of* those Who lye with twisted looks, betray with shrugs-- I was too warm— But he was none of those, Is none of those dust-llking, reptile, close, Insinuating, speckled, smooth, court-serpents That make It so unsafe, chiefly for kings. To walk this weedy world . . . • (II. v, 25) Little does Agamemnon suspect that Egisthus Is, even at this time, plotting the Klng*s assassination. Other char­ acters, of course, see Egisthus for what he Is. Areas, for example, knows that the minister's villainy will prove Itself to be treasonous* and Melisander agrees that the minister Is a flatterer and a traitor (III, 1 3 6). Even Egisthus himself recognizes his villainy, admitting that "scruples are foolish" and block ambition (II, v, 27)• One further reference to the political situation of the 1730*s is at work in Agamemnon In passages relating to the disadvantages of a peace-at-any-prlce policy. Agamem­ non himself refers to "the more dangerous calm/0f peace, by long continuance grown corrupt" (II, v, 23-24)* later he rationalizes, and his thinking Is suspect, that It equal courage oft demands, To quell Injustice, riot, factious rage. Dark-working cabals and bold disorder, As to confront the rigid face of war. (Ill, ii, 37) His thinking Is suspect, since he earlier admitted that absence from his klngdon caused Its fall Into a pattern of "injustice, riot, and factious rage," Areas, however, speaking for Thomson, accurately describes the effects of 262 Egisthus* policyt we rot in weedy peace, In slothful riot, luxury, profusion And every meanness to repair that waste • • • . (Ill, ii, 38) Areas functions as the agent who makes Agamemnon realize his misJudgment of Egisthus, and who forces him to admit that the Prine Minister*s corruption is integrally con­ nected to the fact that he "n'er saw the glorious front of war/Was nothing famous but corrupting peace” (III, 11, *K)). Walpole, like Egisthus, regarded peace as more advan­ tageous to the welfare of the nation than war. The policy, although seemingly sound and certainly attractive, was differently.regarded by the dissident Whigs of the period. The Opposition, with no strong cause against Walpole since the repeal of the excise tax,fought Walpole primarily, I suspect, because he was Walpolei and secondarily because Spain attacked British ships with impunity* Walpole*s In­ action, therefore, suggested that he was more concerned over the protection of his peace plan than England's mer­ cantile integrity. The late Sir Winston Churchill held a similar point of view* he said of the period after the excise (1733) and before the war (1738) that ”the country was bored. It rejected a squalid, peaceful prosperity. Commercial wealth advanced rapidly. Trade figures swelled. Still the nation was dissatisfied. There was something 263 lackingi something which was certainly not Jacobite, but was certainly deeper than the discontent of ambitious, un­ employed Whig politicians. All that was keen and adven­ turous in the English character writhed under this sordid, sleepy government. Sometimes whole sessions of the House of Commons rolled by without division. All that was need­ ed to destroy the mechanism of Walpole's was an issue that would stir the country, and which in its turn stampede the quiescent, half-squared members of Parliament into a hos­ tile vote against the minister. The crack came from a series of Incidents in Spanish America.”6 k Walpole's Whigs, naturally, saw the maneuvers of the Opposition in even less favorable light. An article ap­ pearing in The D^ilv Courant. the Journalistic organ of the Walpole regime, attacked Thomson's party in the same terms as the Opposition employed to attack the government* The gentlemen at the helm have for many years considered peace agreeable to this representation ^I.e., peace is good* war, evii^, and made it the rule of their con­ duct, even at the expence of their own quiet. On the other hand, the sons of faction, who stile themselves patriots and enemies of the ministry, have taken advan­ tage of the natural Inconsistency of man­ kind, growing wanton with ease, and ex­ travagant with liberty, to rouse their passions, and set them madding with the desire of change* for this purpose they have taken opportunities to scatter the seeds of discontent abroad* they have made use of falsehoods, rumours, Jealousies, and Intail confusion on their country. They attend the revolutions of national affairs, like Ate, Z 6 b in one of Shakespear's choruses* hot for hell, eager to cry havock, and let slip the dogs of w a r * 65 Thomson, unfortunately, was among these "dogs of war" and had been since the publication of "Britannia," in which he attempted to arouse England's martial spirit in defense of her mercantile rights abroad* Thomson, fur­ thermore, remains a war-monger throughout the 1730's with two exceptions* first, when George wanted to become em­ broiled in the War of Polish Succession; second, after Walpole had finally conceded that England should war with Spain and the Opposition then decided that their anti- Walpole strategy should Include a campaign against his handling of the war*00 As for the second oocasion, it was a simple matter primarily of wanting the minister removed from office; all tactics, regardless of their philosophi­ cal or ethical bases (or the contradiction of their prem­ ises), were employed to achieve that end* The editorializing in Thomson's plays shifts with party feelings* Agamemnon can be read as a pro-war play; whereas, his next two, Tancred and Slglsmunda and Corlola- nus, although still treating such themes as liberty (or its converse, tyranny) and.patriotism, are anti-war plays* Galesus, the senex figure and Thomson's spokesman, for example, expresses such sentiments* I glory, Tullus, To own myself an advocate of Peace. 265 Peace is the happy natural state of m a m War his corruption, his disgrace. (IV. li)67 Despite his apparent vacillation, Thomson*s editor­ ializing held fast, even in these later plays, with re­ spect to the manner in which Walpole maintained the peace* Thomson felt that war was a necessary fact of life in safe-guarding England's national self-image and that the gesture occasionally had to be made in order to assure Spain, Prance, or Holland that she would not be bullied or insulted unduly. Thomson, therefore, disapproved of Wal­ pole's pusillanimous dealings with these nations and par­ ticularly with the minister's insistence upon treaties as providing the surest way to maintain peace. The play­ wright makes vocal these feelings on the matter when he has Tullus say in no uncertain terms that It is a vain attempt To build th'ambitious and unjust by treaties. These they elude a thousand specious waysi Or If they cannot find a fair pretext, They blush not in the face of Heaven to break them. (IV, ii, 3 8) Thomson's opinion directly coincided with the editor­ ial position of The Craftsman which ran endless papers critical of the several treaties of the early eighteenth centuryi Aix La Chapelle, Ryswyc, Gertrudenberg, Utrecht, Hanover, Madrid, Seville, and Vienna. In the early years of the 1730's, for example, Amhurst unequivocally wrotei I cannot approve the modern practice of 2 66 treaty-making * by which some profound politicians have endeavored to immortalize themselves. What volumes of treaties, con­ ventions and negotiations, hath the compass of a few years produc'd* and yet how very little have they contributed towards estab­ lishing the peace and tranquility of Eu­ rope? No sooner hath one been sign'd and ratify'd in form, than it required another to explain and confirm it, which hath like­ wise signify'd as little as the former. Thus have they gone on, year after year, and almost month after month, in a continual round of peace-making, and peace-breaking; treaties are made with a view only of ser­ ving some present turn, and without any re­ gard to the general interest of Europe, or the particular interest of those, who be­ come parties of them.6 8 Even the Earl of Egmont confirms this opinion, saying* "It is now certain that the King of Spain has declared by a manifesto to our court that he will be bound no longer by the Seville Treaty and that he has concluded a new treaty with the Emperor. We had Just concluded an alli­ ance with the Emperor in which Holland and Prussia were Joined, but upon the ministry of Hanover, insisting that something should be done in particular for Hanover, the Emperor had renounced his treaty, a matter that I much de- 6q plore, and which will exceeding endanger the ministry." ^ This treaty phenomenon is still further explained by a poem inscribed to Pope t Hence the long train of never-ending Jars Of warful peaces, and of peaceful wars, Each mystic treaty of the mighty store, Which to explain, demands ten treaties more. • • .70 The frivolousness of this poem nicely complements the 26 ? seriousness of Thomson*s allusive play— and, for that mat­ ter, the seriousness of all his plays and Liberty, the sum of his literary activity in the 1730*s. This body of material, and the criticism inherent in it, similarly complements Thomson"s burlesque poetry of his early (1720*s) and later (17^0"s) career. The tragedies and Liberty, which might be read as the tragedy of great civilizations, written when opposition to Walpole was at its peak, show the influence of Opposition thought upon Thomson, indicat­ ing the source of his anti-government ideas. This material also suggests the poet's awareness that the moral impulse underlying social criticism does not always permit a wri­ ter to see the humor in man's political delinquency or to use ridicule as the appropriate weapon to fight it. And it was politics which concerned Thomson in the 1730"s. The next eight years, the last years of his life, moved him or.ce again toward the burlesque with the writing of "The Castle of Indolence," a work somewhat unlike his socially critical poetry and plays. But we might suspect that "The Castle of Indolence" would be different! Wal­ pole was voted out of office in 1 7 ^ » and Pope died in 17^2. Thus, two decades of literary and political contro­ versies had become history and Thomson could luxuriate in the castle, since he had done his part and,I submit, had done it well, persistently and discreetly. END NOTES

1 G. W. Cooke, in Memoirs of Lord Bolingbroke (Lon­ don i Bichard Bentley, 1836), claims that Bolingbroke was Thomson's patron (p. 277)» although I have not been able to confirm that fact or discover the degree to which Bolingbroke financially assisted him* Thomson, nonethe­ less, was very much a part of the circle which Bolingbroke befriended and probably derived his ideas from Bolingbroke either through personal contact or through a familiarity with his works* Cooke tells us, for example, that Pope "had in his possession an edition of 1 5 * 0 0 0 copies of /Patriot Klng7" (p. 215)* and prints Bolingbroke•s will, which states that all his "MS books, papers, and writings" were left to David Mallet (p* ****8)t both Pope and Mallet, of course, were friends of Thomson* ^ The Craftsman (London* printed for R* Franklin, 1731). "Dedication," ii-v* ^ From*A Dictionary of Printing and Printers (1839)* p* 633* cited by T. C. Fan, "Chinese Fables and Anti- Walpole Journalism," RES, 25 (19^9)* P* 145. If, See Richard Chandler, The History and Proceedings of the House of Commons From the Restoration to the Pre sent Time (London. 17^1-4-V), VII, 60 •

5 Common's Debates. VIJ^-'l60* 6 Correspondence of Jonathan Swift* ed* F* E. Ball (Londons G* Bell and Sons, 1914), IV, 379• ? Social England (Londons Cassell and Co., 190*0, V, 162 * ® Dlarv of the First Earl of Egmont (Viscount Per- clval) 1734-38. Historical MSS Comm. (London* 1923)» Feb• 4, 1733. II* 20. ^ Social England, pp. 163-164. "A generation later," Traill and Mann note, "in the sturdy prejudices of Dr. 268 269 Johnson, excise was still *a hateful tax levied upon com­ modities, and adjudged by wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid,*** p. 1 6 6.

10 30 April 1737. II. 396. H The Craftsman. 29 August 1730, #217, 286. See papers published in the early 1 7 3 0#s, and particularly 1 7 3 2-3 3. for additional anti-excise propaganda.

12 January, 1733. II. ^1• *3 Cited in Social England. V# 280.

l/f Diary. 4 February 1733. II. 2 0. A ballad printed in The Gentleman*s Magazine. July 1 7 3 5. V, 3 8 0, suggests that the taxes of the period caused several Whigs to turn anti-courtiers A veteran Whig, Who ever was big, In maintaining the good old cause, Was rais'd in the tax, By those that go snacks, In upholding lucrative laws. They now rogues are dubb'd. Who formerly clubb'd. In giving him some remission, No better than fools. For being made tools, To execute such a commission. Thus damns he his friends, For so many fiends, That nothing but money regard 1 For liberty*s flown. And properly gone, •Fore George, this damnable land. Ye whlgs then beware, How the vessel you steer, For if on your friends you run foul* You*ll ruin the cause, By stretching the laws, A buzzard should favour an owl.

Swift, Correspondence. V, 280. *7 From Some Materials . . ., p. 98j cited by Dorothy Marshall, Eighteenth Century England (New York t David 270 McKay and Co., 1962), p. l6l.

18 Diary. 27 Jan. 1735. II. 1 ^5-1 ^6. *9 ibid., p. 3 9 0. 20 Arthur H. Scouten, The London Stage. 1660-1800 (Carbondale* Southern Illinois Press, 1961), Part III* 1729-^7. xlvlii. 2^ 16Id.. xlix. Carlisle MS. Hist. MSS Comm.. Fifteenth Report (London, 1897). VI, 1 1 5 . 23 Journals of the House of Commons. XXII, 4-55-**’56. 2** Ibid.. p. *#-53» Several petitions were presented throughout this period and were all ordered "to lie upon the table." For a further discussion of Walpole's attempt to censure the theater, see P. J. Green, "The Stage Li­ cencing Act of 1737. 11 MP. 35 (1937-38), 239-255. 2 5 Oct. 1732, II, 1025. 26 March 1739. IX, 1 5 6. 2<^ The Craftsman. Dec. 1726, #2, 8 . 28 Ibid.. p. 9. 29 The Works of Lord Bollngbroke (Philadelphia: Carey and Hartl 18^1), II, 1 5. Hereafter referred to as Works.

3 James Thomson (1700-1748) Letters and Documents, ed* Alan D. McKillop (Laurence: University of Kansas Press, 1958), p. 78. Hereafter referred to as Letters. 32 Ibid., from Rundle-Sandys Correspondence. II, 16^1 see note, p. 7 8. 33 See chapter II for a full discussion and summary of Thomson's preface to Areopagltlca. Craftsman. Dec. 1?27» #75* 2?3« 35 Ibid.. Nov. 1727. 202ff. 271 Ibid.t p. 206. ^ "Letter II,” Works, p. 177* 3® "Letter III," Ibid., p. 19**, ^ See, for example, "An Extract from the Freehol­ der* s Political Catechism," Gent * s. Mag.. 22 Sept 1733* the tract provides questions and answers relating to the basic tenets of the Opposition Party. In answer to the question, "Who are the English monarchs, most indulgent to the lib­ erties of the people," the writer cites Alfred and Edward 1 "The great King Alfred, who declared that the English na­ tion was as free as the thoughts of mani Edward I, Edward III, . . . who would not let his people swear to him till he had an opportunity of swearing to them, at his corona­ tion . . . X^7 8)." Dissertation Upon Parties, p. 323*

Ibid.

21,3 Diary. Nov. 1736, 3 1 0. ^ A History of England (New York* Charles Scribner’s, 1957), P. 109. **■5 London Journal. 18 Nov. 1732, #699* Gentleman*s Magazine. Nov. 1732, II, 1075* See also "The Genius of Liberty, A Poem Occasioned by the De­ parture of the Prince and Princess of Orange, written In the Year 173^" by Richard Savage, in GM, June 1738* VIII, 315-316. ^7 "To His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales," James Thomson* Poetical Works, ed. J. Logie Robertson (London t Oxford University Press, 1965)* P* ^6 5* Thomson also mentions the heroes of the Opposition In The Seasons, when he rehearses England's "patriots," and gives Edward and Alfred special recognition* The sons of glory many! Alfred thine, In whom the splendor of heroic war. And more heroic peace, when governed well, Combine 1 whose hallowed name the Virtues saint, And his own muses love 1 the best of Kings! With him thy Edwards and thy Henrys shine, 272 Names dear to famej the first who deep impressed On haughty Gaul the terror of thy arms. That awes her genius still. In statesmen thou, And patriots fertile. (“Sumer," 1479-88) And in Liberty he reiterates his admiration for themi But when an Edward, and a Henry breathed • Through the charmed whole one all-exerting soul* Drawn sympathetic from his dark retreat, When wide-attracted merit round them glowed* When counsels just, extensive, generous, firm, Amid the maze of state, determined kept Some ruling point In viewi when, on the stock Of public good and glory grafted, spread Their palms, their laurels— or, if thence they strayed, Swift to return, and patient of restraint* When regal state, pre-eminence of place. They scorned to deem pre-eminence of ease, To be luxurious drones, that only rob The busy hive* as In distinction, power, Indulgence, honour, and advantage first-- When they too claimed In virtue, danger, toil Superior rank, with equal hand prepared To guard the subject and to quell the foei When such with me their vital influence shed, No muttered grievance, hopeless sigh was heard* No foul distrust through wary senates ran, Confined their bounty, and their ardor quenched* On aid unquestioned, liberal aid was given* What kings supported by almighty love And people fired with liberty can do. (Part IV, 840-867) In each Instance, it would not be improbable that Thomson had Frederick In mind while writing these passages. By celebrating the patriots of England*s past, who had been likened to the Prince of Wales, Thomson compliments her future king, and obliquely, by excluding allusions to the officials in power, condemns Walpole and his forces. Letters. p. 114. Professor McKIllop, in a note to this letter, adds that "the principal Walpole organ. The Dally Gazetteer. October 6, attacks the poem at great length and advises Thomson *to attempt no more to appear In char­ acter so very unsuitable to him, as those of a poet and courtier.•” 273 Evidence of* Thomson*s connection with the editorial staff* of The Craftsman can also be seen in their recogni­ tion of "Liberty" as a dissident Whig panegyric, a case which X need not belabor since A. D.McKillop more than adequately discusses the poem in its proper political con­ text* see The Background of Thomson*s Liberty. Rice Insti­ tute Pamphlet. 38 (1951), #2, as well as "Ethics and Po­ litical History in Thomson's Liberty," in Pope and His Contemporaries■ e d . Clifford and Landa (Oxford* Clarendon Press, 1949), pp. 215-229. McKlllop notes that "five months after Part III of Liberty had appeared, The Crafts­ man Z3-6 Aug 1735* #4767 devoted a leading essay to the poem, beginning by quoting from the first edition, Part 1, 3 5 7 - 3 6 3 (p. 97)"1 the citation, of course, was used as the epigraph to a paper discussing liberty of the press. The paper, in part, was later reprinted in the GM, Dec. 1735, V , 4 7 6. **9 Edward and Eleonora, in The Works of James Thom­ son (London, 1788) v T", ii j 216-217. Most references to this play will be from this text; further notes to the plays will include information regarding act, scene, and page numbers,and will be entered parenthetically. 5° E & E (London, 1739), IV, viii, 49. Unlike the 1788 edition, the first complete edition of Thomson's dramatic works (see above note, #49), the 1739 edition prints the play in its uncensored form. The final four lines of the speech, therefore, are absent In the less indignant, less political, less allusive version. Just cited with text. ^ A comparison of Thomson's plays and Bolingbroke*s treatise could be fruitful In revealing the extent of Bolingbroke•s influence on Thomson. Both writers deal with tenets from the Opposition's creed, spending much time, for example, on the concept of liberty and the ab­ solute supremacy of the constitution, what Thomson in E and E (I, 1) refers to as "the charters." 52 E and E . 1739, II, iv. Letters. p. 131* Professor McKlllop in "The Early History of Alfred," P£, 4l (162), p. 313, notes that Aaron Hill suspected that a public production of the play was delayed by the licensers who realized its political allu­ siveness. McKlllop claims that Hill's suspicion was ap­ parently without foundation in fact. 54 «Early Hist, of Alfred," p. 312. McKlllop cites 27^ The Craftsman. XIV, 10*f, as evidence to this effect. 55 McKillop is quoting from The Correspondence Be­ tween Frances. Countess of Hertford, and Henrietta Louisa. Countess of Pomfret (London. 1805)» H i 126• 56 Alfred, p. 13* 19* Further references to this edition will be entered parenthetically in my text. 57 See Bolingbrokefs letters to Sir William Wyndham, June 1737* in Works. 91 ff. Bolingbroke, I should men­ tion, did not consider the dissident Whigs as "party,” since they were motivated primarily by a philosophy of social welfare. Agamemnon. A Tragedy (London, 1 7 3 8), prologue, n.p.

59 The Poetical Works of James Thomson (London1 George Bell and Sons, 1897)* Ixi• Hereafter referred to as Tovey• Letters. p. 101. 61 Diary, pp. 307-308. ^ Tovey, lx. 63 Diary. 20 Jan. 1738, J^6l. 6U Churchill, The Age of Revolution (New Yorki Dodd, Head, and Co., 1 9 6 7)* ppT 119-120. 65 As cited in GM, Nov. 173^# IV, 6 1 2. 66 For further discussion of this strategy, see W. £• Lunt, History of England (New Yorki Harper and fiow, 1957), p. 315.

^ Thomson, Corlolanus. A Tragedy (Londont printed for A. Millar, 17^9). p. 37. 00 The Craftsman. 7 Feb. 1730, #188, ^3. 69 Diary. Feb. 1730, p. 129. 70 "Characters from State Dunces," GM, June 1733, III, 317. EPILOGUE

Make each day a critic on the last. — Pope, Essay on Criticism

I have attempted to correct the limited critical conceptions of James Thomson as the Insouciant naif, the Newtonian and the Shaftesburian, and to rescue him from the perhaps flattering, though surely reductive, charge of critics who view him anachronistlcally • I trust I have not been too myopic in my presentation of the poet as an Augustan critic and satirist; If I have been, however, I wish to emphasize and repeat that, in my opinion, Thom­ son's temperament was neither perpetually indignant, nor his work exclusively critical, although the complexity of the poet and his writing allow for, and exhibit, a crit­ ical-satirical dimension. Although the evidence conclusively suggests that Thomson was both aware of the fallings of postlapsarlan man and motivated to retrieve him from himself and the depths to which he is capable of sinking, I must raise certain related questions regarding the Intensity of his concern (and its expression), which have troubled me since

275 276 I first put down my Pope and picked up my Thomson. Why, for example, if Thomson was Pope * s personal friend and professional colleague, does the poet of The Seasons not write exactly like the poet of The Dunelad? Why, if their literary, political, and social convictions were coinci­ dental, do their works differ tonally? Why, if they both agreed that satire was a remedy the age much needed, is Thomson*s method of criticism unlike Pope’s? In answering these questions, I would like to entertain a range of prac­ tical and philosophical probabilities. Thomson, first of all, was less financially secure than Pope. Although he enjoyed a reasonably comfortable life after The Seasons began to sell in the 1730*3 (and the poem was third only to the Bible and Pilgrim’s Progress during this period), he began his career with few con­ tacts and less money. Unlike Pope, therefore, whose Homer made him financially secure early in his career, Thomson had to proceed with calculated caution, fearful not to offend people who might, in some way, advance his career. Thus his principles and his idealism had to give way, if only slightly, to the more crucial concerns of money and the freedom it would provide him, at some later time, to express the convictions he harbored. Thomson’s cautiousness not only served him well fi­ nancially, but it also assisted him professionally. Un- 277 like Pope, who one post-Dunciad pamphleteer suggested was hated by everyone in London, including God and the devil, Thomson encountered relatively few enemies during the first ten years of his career# Even when he met with ad­ verse criticism, he either responded privately, as in his transactions with Mitchell, or anonymously, as in the publishing of "The Smoaker Smok'd#” Thus, he Insulated himself from skirmishes which could have impaired his career and delayed his mission# These practical matters, although they partially answer the questions I raise, represent only one end of a spectrum of probable answers# On the other end of this spectrum are the more serious philosophical, linguistic, and aesthetic differences which distinguish Thomson from Pope • Thomson's free-thinking persuasion might be construed as the principal liability in his attempt to write hard­ core satire# As a free-thinker, he recognized the com­ plexities of moral issues# His philosophy compelled him to weigh all possible alternatives to determine the right­ ness or wrongness of an action. Because Thomson's philos­ ophy moved him to question.the absolutes which only or­ ganized religious dogma provides and because it placed the burden of responsibility upon a personal decision-making process, Thomson, I believe, necessarily faltered in 2?8 making categorical judgments. Thus, the forcefulness his criticism could have had was tempered by his recognition that he too was fallible and not always separate from the objects of his attack. Pope, unlike Thomson, although 1 am certain he too was aware of his personal fallibility, never suggests in his satires that he Is anything short of perfection it­ self, He adopts a mask, which Thomson could never comfor­ tably wear, of the savior of his land whose morality Is unimpeachable. Thus, unlike Thomson, he could unflinch­ ingly and vigorously condemn the transgressions of his contemporaries, Thomson’s need to adopt the stance of a non-omni- scient, fallible observer is reflected In certain verbal patterns which recur throughout his works. That he, at times, acknowledges his limited comprehension of what should be results in an apparent linguistic inadequacy. In ’•Summer,** for example, he asksi **How shall I then at­ tempt to sing of Him/Who, /is7 Light Himself . , (i?6- 177)• And In Liberty. In awe of the glories of Home, Thomson claims* “But language falls/To paint this sun, this centre of mankind" (Part I, 103-104). I realize that these statements, and others like them, might be taken to express the poet's hyperbolic humility before the Deity and great moments In history. However, at times, Thom- 279 son's knowledge of his Ignorance or his verbal inadequa­ cies becomes a definite handicap for him in his role as critic and satirist* In "Winter,” for instance, he must petition the "Father of Light and life" (217) to "teach

/film/ what is good" and to "feed /fils/ soul/With knowledge • • •" (221-222)* That Thomson must make such a request, I maintain, not only explains his reticence to make the necessary Judgments of the satirist, but also to state them as explicitly as possible* Thomson does neither, though Pope does both. The differences between Pope and Thomson may be aesthetic as well as philosophical and linguistic* Al­ though the two authors acknowledged the importance of satire, each, because of his peculiar personality and cir­ cumstances, sustained the level of intensity he thought most appropriate to the subject matter of his work* Thom­ son's aesthetic moved him to attempt the sublime, to reach for the infinite moment when he could "lose" himself "in light Ineffable" and when "expressive Silence" could "muse" the wonders of God ("A Hymn on the Seasons," 116— 118)* Pope, although cognizant of the poetic value of the sublime, was less distracted by reaching for it than Thomsons Pope's social causes guided his poetical genius* Thus, whereas Pope's critical eye was focussed always on man, Thomson's was more often turned upward to God and, 280 as I have already suggested, only occasionally cast down­ ward upon imperfect man, who, when seen, was criticized for all his imperfection, Thomson indicates his priori­ ties, which I believe mark the entirety of his canon, in the concluding lines of "Summer"* as always, he subordi­ nates his awareness of man's imperfection to his appre­ ciation of God*s perfection* Enough for us to know that this dark state, In wayward passions lost and vain pursuits. This Infancy of being, cannot prove The final issue of the works of God, By boundless love and perfect wisdom formed, And ever rising with the rising mind. (1800-05) APPENDIX A

BY THOMSON THE POET

(Copied f^rom the Original In His Hand) Axict Oe yavi ouo itiaaes axpovy av6 xAeap, Iotovs c u l t s $e oiSoAeaoye oyoaxtvy poy ts neyo puBtxdvfi, av6 aAe 0e Atx\>t6 c&cp 6paous* ao aoueex, ao nope, Ov ©e q>oA poae$u6 axav6s Auot6 6eu. Not ao Se oupctx

BX THOMSON THE POET (Copied from the Original in His Hand)

Happy the mant who pisses strong and clear, Joyous emits the wholesome smoking flood. Him nor /cordes7* afflict, nor urine sharp. ^Hight/ pins and needless but at morn he lies, When wanton dreams have stirred his inmost soul, 5 And from his pego rubicund, and hale The liquid ether draws; so sweet, so pure, On the full rosebud stands the liquid dew. Not so the wretch from whose priapus swol.*n To fiery red as is the comet"s glare, 10 When o"er the heavens he pours his flaming tail The tickling venom oozes all day long; Nor ends with day, but thro" the weary night Still oozing on, his fever"d slumbers break With twinges keen, or roused by visions lewd 15 With rushing hell. At length the morning comes j/The7 morn and physick; horror on the pill Sits plumed, and in the liquid draught disgust Infuses all his gall, the gripes succeed, /Hambllngs7 and hurlothrumbos In the guts 20 Torrents abhorr'd, ull7 burst, with endless waste Of More, Ralph, Theobalds, WeIsted, Mitchell, Cook, And all the gilded volumes against Pope, Even not the pleasures of a horse are his By sages pissing deem'd ....

* I have bracketed words I was uncertain how to transliterate.

282 283

Corrigenda» from the original leaf* verso*

Nor cease then, but thro* the midnight hour 13 fhorrid twanges ^ ^ With ^ceaseless plssingj ineffectual all 15 As to wash the sable Ethlop white He blacker grows, and more Inflamed pours A larger tide. At length the morning comes , . • , APPENDIX C

The Temple of modern Virtue, In Ruins* Opposite to It Is The Temple of antlent Virtue, In a very flourishing condition} the Building Is a Rotunda of the Ionic Order by Mr* Kenti on the Outside over each Door Is this Mottoi Priscae Vlrtutl* To antient Virtue• And In four Niches within, standing at full Length, are the following Statues, viz* 1* Epaminondas, Cujus a vlrtute, prudentia, verecundia, Thebanorum respublica Libertatem simul & lmperlum, Dlsclpllnam be111cam, civilem & domesticam Accepiti Eoque amisso, perdidit. Whose Courage, Prudence, and Moderation, gave Liberty and Empire, an happy Establishment, as well civil as mili­ tary, to the Theban Commonwealth! but whose Death snatched from It the Enjoyment of these Blessings*

2• Lycurgus, Qui summo cum consilio inventIs leglbus, Omnemque contra corruptelam munitis optlme, Pater patriae Libertatem firmissImam Et mores sanctissimos, Expulsa cum divitils avaritia, luxuria, libidlne,

284- 285 In multa secula Civibus suls instltuit. Having planned with the greatest Wisdom a political Constitution, secured by the most prudent means against every Inroad of Corruption, this great Father of his Coun­ try bequeathed to his Citizens the most lasting Liberty, and the severest Morals* the Gratification of every inor­ dinate Desire being forbid by the Disuse of Wealth,

3, Socrates, Qui corruptissima in civitate lnnocens. Bonorurn hortator, unici cultor DEI, Ab inutlli otio, & vanis dlsputatlonibus, Ad offlcia vitae , & socle tat is commoda Philosophiam avocavlt, Homlnum sapientisslmus* Whose Innocence of Life, and true Notions in Morality and Religion, withstood the Corruptions of a licentious State* and whose Wisdom and Just Manner of thinking, deliv­ ered Philosophy from an idle and disputative scholastick Life, and introduced her into Society to amend Mankind,

4• Homerus, Qui poetarum princeps, idem & maximus, Virtutis prse co, & immortalitatis largitor Divlno carmine, Ad pulcre audendum, & patiendum fortiter, Omnibus notus gentlbus, omnes incitat. The first as well as best of Poetst Whose great and almost peculiar Excellence it was, that he made his Genius entirely subservient to the Cause of Virtue, and her Ad­ herents* instructing Mankind, by the Help of a Language universally known, in the godlike Arts of daring nobly, and suffering heroically.

Over one Door is this Inscriptioni Charum esse civem, bene de republics mereri, laudari, coll, dlllgl, gloriosum est* metui vero, & in odio esse lnvidlosum, destabile, imbecilium, caducum. 286

To be dear to our Country, to deserve well of the State, to be honoured, reverenced, and loved Is truly glorious; but to be dreaded and hated of Mankind Is not only base and detestable, but highly Impolitick likewise, and hazardous. And over the other« Justltlam cole & pletatem, quae cum alt magna In parentlbus & proplnquls, turn In patria maxima est. Ea vita via est In caelum, & In hunc cee turn eorurn qui jam vixerunt• Above all Things cultivate an honest Disposition, and the benevolent, social Affections* which confined within the small Circle of our Friends and Relations, are Indeed highly laudable, but can then only be called truly virtu­ ous and exalted, when they extend themselves wide enough to take in every Individual of the Society we are Members of, A Life so regulated is the direct Road to the Regions of Happiness, and to the Illustrious Assembly of those, who have thus benefited Mankind before us.

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