themselves than they did, it is very probable that the easy couch and plentiful board would have destroyed the inspiration which gave birth to their finest productions.

But to our author. He had by this time seen enough of the world to despise its follies, and he had witnessed too many of the bad effects of mis-government in this country to feel any affection for them, when directed against the country of which he was about to become a citizen. Dr. Franklin could not therefore have selected a man more likely to repay his kindness in vindicating the cause of the people, by whom he was deputed ambassador to England. Our author sailed from this country towards the end of the year 1774, and arrived at Philadelphia about two months afterwards.

From this period to the day of his death, the abilities of Paine never lay dormant. Very shortly after his arrival in Philadelphia he became acquainted with Mr. Aitkin, a respectable bookseller of that town. In January, 1775, Mr. Aitkin commenced the publication of the Pennsylvania Magazine, of which Paine became the editor. Many of the pieces in this publication are truly elegant. In these, as in most of his other writings, he is singularly happy in clothing an original boldness of thought, with a

peculiar beauty of diction. The article in which he treats of the hidden riches of the earth, and the diligence with which we ought to search after them, is a fine specimen of this rare combination. The well known song on the death of General Wolfe, appeared in an early number of this magazine, and it is unquestionably one of the most beautiful productions of the sort in the English language. The ideas would have done honour to any of the poets of old, and the poetry is an example of the most polished versification. As this little piece is still much admired, even by those who disapprove of its author's political and religious notions, I here insert it, as transcribed from an original 22 at the end.

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SONG

ON THE DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE.

In a mouldering cave, where the wretched retreat,
Britannia sat wasted with care;

She mourn'd for her Wolfe, and exclaim'd against fate,

And gave herself up to despair.

The walls of her cell she had sculptured around
With the feats of her favourite son,

And even the dust, as it lay on the ground,

Was engraved with some deeds he had done.

volume.

The sire of the gods, from his crystalline throne,
Beheld the disconsolate dame,

And, moved with her tears, he sent Mercury down,

And these were the tidings that came : Britannia, forbear, not a sigh, or a tear,

For thy Wolfe, so deservedly loved;

Your tears shall be changed into triumphs of joy, .
For thy Wolfe is not dead but removed.

The sons of the east, the proud giants of old,
Have crept from their darksome abodes,
And this is the news, as in heaven it was told,
They were marching to war with the gods.
A council was held in the chambers of Jove,
And this was their final decree,

That Wolfe should be call'd to the armies above,
And the charge was intrusted to me.

To the plains of Quebec with the orders I flew,
He begg'd for a moment's delay;

He cry'd, "Oh forbear, let me victory hear,
"And then thy commands I'll obey."

With a darksome thick film I encompass'd his eyes,
And bore him away in an urn ;

Lest the fondness he bore to his own native shore

Should induce him again to return.

In addition to the above, he wrote several other articles for the Pennsylvania Magazine, of considerable literary merit. These principally consist of a letter to the publisher on the utility of magazines in general;-Useful and enter

taining hints on the internal riches of the Colonies;-Reflections on the Death of Lord Clive, and New Anecdotes of Alexander the Great. The Reflections on the Death of Lord Clive I have not seen, though I have been at considerable pains to procure them; but I have been informed that they contain much originality of thought, and that they caused the work to be sought after with great avidity. He likewise wrote for the same publication an elegant little piece in the form of a poetical dialogue, between a Snow Drop and a Critic, in which the former is made to describe the variety and pleasure intended to be conveyed to the public through the medium of the new work, in opposition to the cavilling objections of the latter. These productions are already in the possession of the public, and they serve to shew the versatility of our author's disposition.

According to the account given by Paine in one of his late publications he had no relish for politics during the early part of his life. The probability is that he saw the total impracticability of doing any good under the influence of such a system as the English Government; that the contests between the ministerial and opposition

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parties were carried on with no other object in view than the acquirement of authority and emolument, and perceiving, as he must, the ease with which the people had so repeatedly become the prey of their leaders, he shunned the study of politics as an agitated sea where no good could be gained, and where reputation was sure to be lost. There was at the time we are speaking of no such thing as real interest in favour of the people; the struggle was entirely confined to a couple of court cabals, who, however violently they might be opposed to each other, were equally opposed to the welfare of the country. It is not, therefore, surprising that Paine should at this period look upon politics as a "species of jockeyship." But however he might feel on the subject of party politics, it is a well authenticated fact that he had imbibed his anti-monarchical notions before his departure from this country. An anecdote is related of him which places this in a clear point of view. He happened one day to be playing at bowls with some friends at Lewes; after they had finished playing, they went to a neighbouring house to drink some punch by way of refreshment. Mr. Verral, one of the bowlers, observed,