A friend, who knows
"Himself to sing and build the lofty rhyme,"
has given me the following metrical translation of Ross's verses:—
"Wouldst thou in safety trace ethereal ways,
Or plough with daring keel the briny deep;
Shouldst thou earth's wide expanses long to span,
Come hither, make this learned book thine own.
By it, without Dædalian wings, canst fly,
And without Neptune, through the depths canst swim;
By it thou canst subdue the Lybian heat,
And bear the cruel cold of Scythian skies.
On, Thomas! Scotia, whom unto the stars
Thy writings raise, will yet rejoice in thee."
[174] Works, p. 146. N.B.—The attention of professional critics is respectfully directed to the above passage.
CHAPTER V
ΠΑΝΤΟΧΡΟΝΟΧΑΝΟΝ, or The Pedigree
