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    that he had seen there several sorts of trees , the most part olives and palms , all of stone , and of a blue or rather lead colour . *< That he saw also figures of men in a posture of exercising their different employments ; some holding in their hands staffs , others bread ; every one doing something , even women suckling their children , all of stone . " That he went into the castle by three different gates , tho' there were many more , where he saw a man lying upon a bed , all of stone .

    " That there were guards at the gates , with pikes and javelins in their hands . In short , that he saw in this wonderful city , many sorts of animals , as camels , oxen , horses , asses , sheep and birds , all of stone , and of the colour above-mentioned . "

    This marvellous tale appears to have excited no small portion of public attention , since such a judicious traveller as Dr . Shaw considered it deserving a serious investigation . For this purpose he applied to M . Le Maire , who , when Consul at Tripoli ,

    forty years before , had minutely examined the story " by order of the French Court /* As the result , Dr . Shaw declares , that " the petrified city , with its walls , castles , streets , shops , cattle , inhabitants and their utensils , were all of them at first the mere fables and inventions of the

    Arabs , and afterwards propagated by such persons , who like the Tripoli Ambassador and his friend , " ( the above-mentioned man of credit , ) " were credulous enough to believe them . "

    Dr . Shaw returned to England in 1733 , and first published bis Travels in 1738 . Thomson , probably on such sufficient authority , became dissatisfied with this report of " distant fame , " and sang no more of the petrified city . ' Hie paragraph which now appears , lines 8 i ) 8—938 , will be seen to be an enlargement , with considerable alterations , of the following :

    " Here the greeu Serpent gathers up hitf Train , In Orbs immense , then darting out anew , Progressive , rattles thro' the witherM Brake ; And lolling , frightful , guards the scanty Fount , If Fount there be : or , of diminish d Size , But mighty Mischief , ! an th' unguarded Swain

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    Steals , full of rancour . Here the savage Race Roam , licens'd by the shading Hour of Blood , And foul Misdeed , when the pure Day has shut

    His sacred Eye . The rabid Tyger , then , The fiery Panther , and the whisker'd Pard , BespeckPd fair , the Beauty of the Waste , In dire Divan , surround their shaggy King , Majestic , stalking o ' er the burning Sand , With planted Step ; while an obsequious Crowd

    . Of grinning Forms , at humble Distance wait . These , all together join'd , from darksome Caves , Where , o * er gnaw'd Bones , They slumber * d out the Day ,

    By supreme Hunger smit , and Thirst intense , At once , their mingling Voices raise to Heaven ; And , with imperious , and repeated Roars , Demanding Food , the Wilderness resounds , From Atlas eastward to the frighted Niler

    The parapraphs on storms , lines 959—1051 , are not in the editions 1727 and 1730 . The paragraph describing the plague , lines 1052—1091 , is now much enlarged . The following appear , in 1727 , instead of the present lines 1070—1086 .

    " Empty the Streets , with uncouth Verdure clad , And rang'd , at open Noon , by Beasts ot Prey , And Birds of bloody Beak : while , all Night long , In spotted Troops , the recent Ghosts complain ,

    Demanding but the covering Grave . Mean time , Lock'd is the deaf Door to Distress ; even Friends , And Relatives , endear'd for many a Year , Savag'd by Woe , forget the social Tye , The blest Engagement of the yearning

    Heart ; And sick , in Solitude , successive , die , Untended , and unniourn ' cL " In the edition , 1730 , Thomson discarded " the recent g hosts / ' and substituted after ' bloody beak , " " The sullen door No visit knows , nor hears the wailing voice Of fervent want . Even soul-attracted * friends And relatives , " &c .

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    482 Book-Worm . No . XXVIII .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1822, page 482, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2515/page/26/