on to his tragedy was made chiefly by his
parishioners at South Leith, who were strongly opposed to
their minister being in any way connected with the theatre. He
therefore resigned his appointment, and settled in London,
which he never afterwards abandoned, dying there in
1788.--ED.

[62] This admirable little work is entitled "A Dissertation on the
Governments, Manners, and Spirit of Asia; Murray, 1787." It is
anonymous; but the publisher informed me it was written by
Logan. His "Elements of the Philosophy of History" are
valuable. His "Sermons" have been republished.

[63] The finest provinces of Egypt gained from a neglected waste.

[64] An attempt has been made to deprive Logan of the authorship of
this poem. He had edited (very badly) the poems of a deceased
friend, Michael Bruce; and the friends of the latter claimed
this poem as one of them. In the words of one who has examined
the evidence it may be sufficient to say, "his claim is not
only supported by internal evidence, but the charge was never
advanced against him while he was alive to repel it."--ED.

[65] "The Comforts of Life" were written in prison; "The Miseries"
(by Jas. Beresford) necessarily in a drawing-room. The works
of authors are often in contrast with themselves; melancholy
authors are the most jocular, and the most humorous the most
melancholy.

LABORIOUS AUTHORS.

This is one of the groans of old BURTON over his laborious work, when
he is anticipating the reception it is like to meet with, and
personates his objectors. He says:--

"This is a thinge of meere industrie--a collection without wit or
invention--a very toy! So men are valued!--their labours vilified by
fellowes of no worth themselves, as things of nought; who could not
have done as much."

There is, indeed, a class of authors who are liable to forfeit all
claims to genius, whatever their genius may be--these are the
laborious writers of voluminous works; but they are farther subject
to heavier grievances--to be undervalued or neglected by the apathy or
the ingratitude of the public.

Industry is often conceived to betray the absence of intellectual
exertion, and the magnitude of a work is imagined necessarily to shut
out all genius. Yet a laborious work has often had an original growth
and raciness in