resided in France, after which he returned home and studied law, but abandoned the bar to try his fortune at court. There he is said to have been disgusted with the preference shewn to a poetical rival, Montgomery, with whom he exchanged flytings, (or invectives) in verse, and who boasts of having "driven Polwart from the chimney nook." He then went into the church, and was appointed rector or minister of Logic; the names of ecclesiastical offices in Scotland then floating between presbytery and prelacy. In the clerical profession he continued till his death. Hume lived at a period when the spirit of Calvinism in Scotland was at its gloomiest pitch, and when a reformation, fostered by the poetry of Lyndsay, and by the learning of Buchanan, had begun to grow hostile to elegant literature. Though the drama, rude as it was, had been no mean engine in the hands of Lyndsay against popery, yet the Scottish reformers of this latter period even anticipated the zeal of the English puritans against dramatic and romantic poetry, which they regarded as emanations from hell. Hume had imbibed so far the spirit of his times as to publish an exhortation to the youth of Scotland to forego the admiration of all classical heroes, and to read no other books on the subject of love than the Song of Solomon. But Calvinism itself could not entirely eradicate the

This once gloomy influence of Calvinism on the literary character of the Scottish churchmen, forms a contrast with more recent times, that needs scarcely to be suggested to those ac

beauty of Hume's fancy, and left him still the higfi fountain of Hebrew poetry to refresh it. In the following specimen of his poetry, describing the successive appearances of nature during a summer's day, there is a train of images that seem peculiarly pleasing and unborrowed-the pictures of a poetical mind, humble but genuine in its cast..

THANKS FOR A SUMMER'S DAY.

O PERFECT light which shaid' away
The darkness from the light,

And set a ruler o'er the day,
Another o'er the night.

Thy glory, when the day forth flies,

More vively does appear,

Nor at midday unto our eyes

The shining sun is clear.

The shadow of the earth anon

Removes and drawis by,

Synes in the east, when it is gone,
Appears a clearer sky.

quainted with Scotland. In extending the classical fame, no less
than in establishing the moral reputation of their country, the Scot-
tish clergy have exerted a primary influence; and whatever Pres
byterian eloquence might once be, the voice of enlightened prin-
ciples and universal charity is no where to be heard more dis-
tinctly than at the present hour from their pulpits.

1 For shaded.-2 Scotticè for than.-3 Then.

Whilk' soon perceive the little larks,,
The lapwing, and the snipe,

And tune their song like Nature's clerks,
O'er meadow, muir, and stripe.

No longer may abide,

They hie away both maist and least 2,

Themselves in house to hide.

The golden globe incontinent

Sets up his shining head,

And o'er the earth and firmament
Displays his beams abread3.

For joy the birds with boulden* throats,

Against his visage sheen,

Take up their kindly music notes
In woods and gardens green.

6

Upbraids the careful husbandman,

His corn and vines to see,

And every timeous artisan

In booths works busily.

The pastor quits the slothful sleep,

And passes forth with speed,

Which.- -2 Largest and smallest.-3 Abroad.-4 Emboldened.

-5 Shining.-6 Uprises.-7 Early.

VOL. I.

R

The misty reek3, the clouds of rain
From tops of mountains skails*,
Clear are the highest hills and plain,
The vapours take the vales.

7

Begaired is the sapphire pend
With spraings of scarlet hue;
And preciously from end to end,
Damasked white and blue.

The ample heaven, of fabric sure,
In clearness does surpass

The crystal and the silver, pure
As clearest polish'd glass.

The time so tranquil is and clear,
That no where shall ye find,
Save on a high and barren hill,

The air of passing wind.

1 Flat-nosed.-2 Lowing kine.-3 Fog. -4 Pours off.-5 Drest out.-6 Arch.-7 Streaks.

All trees and simples, great and small,

That balmy leaf do bear,

Than they were painted on a wall,

No more they move or steir1.

The rivers fresh, the callour2 streams,
O'er rocks can swiftly rin3,

The water clear like crystal beams,
And makes a pleasant din.

4

The waves, that woltering wont to be,
Are stable like the land.

So silent is the cessile air,

That every cry and call,

The hills and dales, and forest fair,

Again repeats them all.

The clogged busy humming bees,

That never think to drown 5,

On flowers and flourishes of trees,
Collect their liquor brown.

The sun most like a speedy post
With ardent course ascends;

1 Stir. Cool.-3 Run.-4 Tumbling.-5 To drone, or to be idle.