away the object, in which all his affections seem to have concentered; and had well nigh completed the prostration of a mind, which appears to have been more than sufficiently prone, by nature, to melancholy and dejection. He sought relief by travelling abroad. He passed through Germany, France, and Italy; visited the most celebrated foreign universities; and though, after an absence of eight years, spent chiefly in Rome and Paris, he returned somewhat relieved of his despondency, it was only to be plunged into new difficulties of a political and religious nature. King James himself was a Drummond. Our poet, therefore, became enthusiastically attached to the cause of his house; and, as his 'cloak and cincture' were hardly sufficient 'to keep out the storm,' he retired to the seat of his brother-in-law, Sir John Scott, of Scotstraval, in Fifeshire. It was here, as is supposed, that he wrote the History of the Five Jameses, and the macaronic poem of PolemoMiddinia.

According to the writer of his life, published in 1711, he presented to the University of Edinburgh a valuable collection of rare books and manuscripts, which he procured in his foreign travels; and of which a catalogue was printed in 1627, with a preface in ornate Latin, written by himself, about the advantage and honour of libraries.' In 1630, he married Elizabeth, grand-daughter of Sir Robert Logan, of Rastelrig; who led him captive in his fortieth year, in consequence of the likeness she bore to his former mistress. When Charles I. came to Edinburgh, in 1633, Drummond wrote the speeches of the allegorical characters, who performed the Regeant; and, though he never took arms in the cause of that unfortunate prince, he was ever ready to afford him the aid of his pen. His 'verses and discourses,' against the Covenanters, made him an object of persecution; and he was frequently summoned, as a malignant, before the 'circular ta

bles' of the prevailing party. But what most galled him, was, that they obliged him to assist in raising forces against the very king, whose cause he had so warmly espoused; and, the situation of his estate in three different shires making him liable only for the half or quarter of a man in each, he wrote to his majesty the following impromptu on the subject:

Of all these forces raised against the king,

'Tis my strange hap not one whole man to bring
From divers parishes; yet divers men,

But all in halves and quarters. Great King, then,
In halves and quarters, if they come 'gainst thee,
In halves and quarters send them back to me.

In spite of all his verses, however, the church and monarchy were at length cast down; and, although, according to one biographer, he foretold the result at the beginning of the troubles, the same person tells us, that it had an evident effect in abridging his days. He died on the 4th of December, 1649; and was buried in his own aisle of the church of Lasswade. He had lived, since his marriage, at his paternal seat of Hawthorndon; which, as late as 1795, was still possessed by a representative of the family.

The poetry of Drummond is not characterized by any thing strikingly original or peculiar; and, when we mention him as a follower of Petrarch, we have said enough, perhaps, to give the reader an idea of his performances. Like Petrarch, he sonnetted his mistress, both before and after death; and, like Petrarch, he too frequently seems to be more intent upon the sonnet than the subject. Perhaps he has less affectation, however, than any other follower of the Italian school; and, though his poems sufficiently indicate the elaboration which produced them, they are, after all, more like epigrams than conceits. Gray's elegy upon the death of West is an imitation

of Drummond's ode to Spring; and the following parallel lines will show how attentively his writings were perused by Pope.

The grief was common, common were the cries.

The crime was common, common be the pain.

To virgins, flowers, to sun-burnt earth, the rain,
To mariners, fair winds amidst the wain,
Cool shades to pilgrims, whom hot glances burn,
Are not so pleasing as thy blest return.

Not bubbling fountains to the thirsty swain,
Not balmy sleep to lab'rers faint with pain,
Not showers to larks, or sunshine to the bee,
Are half so charming as thy sight to me.

Drum.

Pope.

Drum.

Pope.

Drummond was also a favourite of Milton; and, in the subjoined specimens from each poet, the resemblance will speak for itself.

The sun is fair when he with crimson crown,
And flaming rubies, leaves his eastern bed;
Fair is Thaumantias in her crystal gown,

When clouds engemm'd, show azure, green, and red.
To western worlds when wearied day goes down,
And from Heaven's windows each star shows her head,
Earth's silent daughter, Night, is fair though brown;
Fair is the Moon, though in Love's livery clad.
The Spring is fair when it doth paint April,
Fair are the meads, the woods, the floods are fair;
Fair looketh Ceres with her yellow hair,
And Apple's queen when rose-cheek'd she doth smile.
That Heaven, and earth, and seas are fair, is true,
Yet true, that all not please so much as you.

Sweet is the breath of Morn, her rising sweet,
With charm of earliest birds; pleasant the sun,
When first on this delightful land he spreads

Drum.

His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,
Glistering with dew; fragrant the fertile earth
After soft showers; and sweet the coming on
Of grateful Evening mild; then silent Night,
With this her solemn bird, and this fair moon,
And these the gems of Heaven, her starry train:
But neither breath of Morn, when she ascends.
With charm of earliest birds; nor rising sun
On this delightful land; nor herb, fruit, flower,
Glistering with dew; nor fragrance after showers;
Nor grateful Evening mild; nor silent Night,
With this her solemn bird, nor walk by moon,
Or glittering star light, without thee, is sweet.

Milton.