PAGE 3. 1. 3 and 4. Ah! will they leave, &c.

An idea somewhat similar occurs in Ariosto (C. 46. stanza 17) on the subject of the piscatorial poesy of San

PAGE ibid. 1.14. A Ship Boy on the high and giddy Mast!

The passage in Shakespear's Henry the Fourth, act the third, whence this line is taken, is always deeply impressed Seaman's mind:

"Wilt thou, upon the high and giddy Mast,

Seal up the Ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains,
In cradle of the rude imperious surge;
And in the visitation of the Winds,
Who take the ruffian billows by the top

Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them
With deaf'ning clamours in the slip'ry shrouds,
That with the Hurly, DEATH itself awakes?
Canst thou, O partial SLEEP, give thy repose
To the wet Sea-Boy in an hour so rude;
And, in the calmest and the stillest Night,
With all appliances and means to boot,

Deny it to a King? then happy low! lye down;
Uneasie lyes the head, that wears a Crown."

PAGE 4. 1.12. Till o'er her Crew distress and death prevail.

In the eleven lines that succeed, I have followed the second edition: in the third, the Author very inadvertently introduced the following

"Where'er he wandered, thus vindictive Fate
Pursued his weary steps with lasting hate:
Roused by her mandate, Storms of black array
Wintered the morn of life's advancing day;
Relaxed the sinews of the living Lyre,

And quenched the kindling spark of vital fire:
Thus while forgotten, or unknown, he wooes,
What hope to win the coy reluctant Muse?"

These lines strongly savour of Fatalism, and are unworthy of a British Mariner. The minds of our Mariners, I speak from experience, with very few exceptions, always display an high sense of Christianity, and a belief in an overruling Providence: a truth which I have endeavoured to support, throughout the whole of a publication, which the public has honoured with attention, entitled Sermons on the CHARACTER, and professional Duties of Seamen. When Falconer published the third edition, his temper was soured by disappointment; and, in this instance, he forgot the principles of a CHRISTIAN MARINER.

PAGE 5. 1. 1. And lo! the Power that wakes the eventful Song!

I had preferred the following text, as given in the first and second editions; but in deference to a Friend, whose

Poetic Taste has been long approved, I followed the third edition although the repetition of Light, as a rhime, in the fourth, and thirteenth line, has certainly a bad effect. As Mr. Bowles also observes, "the epithet propitious is too tame, it should have been instant light." The passage stood thus originally

"Thee MEMORY! too, the tragic Tale implores
Arise! approach! unlock thy treasured stores!"-
"She comes confest, auspicious to the sight,
O'er all my Soul diffusing sacred light,
Serenely mild her look; around her head
Refulgent wreaths of azure glory spread.
Her radiant wings like IRIS' flaming bow,
With various hues in rich profusion glow;
With these, along th' immensity of space,
She scours the rapid, intellectual race;" &c.

PAGE 5. 1.18. And hoary Time from her fresh youth receives.

The classic ideas of our unfortunate Mariner in many instances resemble those of the Italian Poets: thus Tasso, when speaking of Memory, exclaims (C. 1. st. 36)

"Mente degli anni e dell'oblio nemica,

Delle cose custode, e dispensiera."

F. D.

PAGE 6. 1. 9. Full on my Soul the dreadful scene display.

This, and the following line, were unaccountably omitted in the third edition.

PAGE 10. 1. 1. A Ship from EGYPT, o'er the deep impell'd By guiding winds, her course for Venice held.

FALCONER begins his Narrative with all the simplicity of the great masters, and seems to have had in view the opening of the Æneid:

. Trojæ qui primus ab oris

Italiam, fato profugus, Lavinaque venit
Littora:

I have followed in the first four lines, the third edition; in the second it was thus expressed:

"A Ship from EGYPT, o'er the watery plain

Designed her Course to ADRIA's rich domain;
From fair BRITANNIA's Isle derived her name,

And thence her Crew, the Slaves of Fortune, came."

I was not fond of styling Seamen " the Slaves of Fortune!"

PAGE ibid. 1. 10. Thrice had the Sun, &c.

How admirably, yet naturally, is the whole of what follows in this, and the next page contrived, towards engaging the attention of the reader, and leading it gradually on to the great event of the poem. I have in part preferred the text of the second edition.

PAGE ibid. l. 14, 15.

from Shore to Shore,

Unwearying wafted her commercial store.

The British Merchantmen at the time this Poem was written, and for a considerable time afterwards, remained

trading from Port to Port in the Levant, and Mediterranean, until ordered for England; when they generally loaded with silks at Leghorn.

The length of time to which these Voyages were extended, probably arose from the respect paid to the British flag, and the Mediterranean pass. Any British ship, though worn and crazy, sold for a considerable sum to the Genoese, or other neighbouring states, if the pass could also accompany the ship: this Traffic at last caused some complaints, and is now impracticable. The pass must be returned to the Lords of the Admiralty.

Mr. Eton, in his Survey of the Turkish Empire, treats at large On the state of the British Trade to the Levant (page 448, 3d edit.) and assigns four causes for its gradual decline. 1. The rivalship of other European nations. 2. The diminution of the consumption of our Manufac tures in Turkey, by the impoverished state of the country. 3. Some branches of Trade being got into other channels. 4. The monopoly of the Levant Company in London.

PAGE 12. 1. 2.

CANDIA:

The Haven enter, &c.

The Harbour of CANDIA, though naturally a fine bason, in which Ships were securely sheltered from every wind, is described by Tournefort, in 1718, as capable of receiving nothing but boats. Ships of burden keep under the isle of Dia, or Standia, to the N. E. of Candia; and consequently that was the anchorage to which Falconer alludes. All merchant vessels freighted by the Turks at