318 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
copy. The Poem was divided into three parts ; the first, “ A Description of the
Methods used to procure Slaves on the Guinea Coast ;” the second, “ Of their
Treatment on the Middle Passage ;” and the third, ‘‘ Of their Situation in the
West Indies.” It began appropriately with an address to the ‘‘ British fair :”-
-- “ In that warm clime alone
Does love’s electric fire shoot through no vein,
Rapid, resistless, hurrying on the blood,
As its elastic channels it would burst 1
Of cruel absence finds no lover there
The sadd‘ning influence 1 Can he, in his heart,
That void insufferable never feel, .
Thou oft, fair maid, hast felt ; a void so great,
A world, without the object: loved, to fill,
Is far too little 1
To him his dusky mistress is as fair
As thou art to thy lover.”
He hath felt it too. .
The description of Zelia displays considerable poetical talent :-
‘‘ Behold that maid possess’d of every charm
That nature boasts, if regular lineaments
And faultless symmetry contribute aught
To beauty’s form ; if in the various eye
It beams or languishes, commands or pleads,
With rhetoric resistless ; in the mouth
If e’er it smiles, or spreads the toils of love
In playful dimples ; if at once it awes
And captivates the heart in every look
And motion ; if its subtle essence lies
In framing to the comparative eye
Th’ exterrial image of a lovely soul,
Pure, noble, piteous, and benevolent,
Harmonious with itself and human kind.
Yes-notwithstanding her dark hue, she’s fair ;
If beauty floats not lightly on the skin,
Nature’s mean rind, her garment outermost,
(To fence the finer teguments designed). ”
While resident at Forfar, the name 0; Dr. Jamieson was distinguished by
the publication of several other works, of which the most important were a
“Reply to Dr. Priestley’s History of Early Opinions,” 2 vols. 8vo; and the
“.Use of Sacred History,” also in 2 vols. 8vo.
On the death of the Rev. Adam Gib, of the Associate Congregation, Nicolson
Street, in 1788, Dr. Jamieson was invited to the charge; but it was not till
1797, when the church again became vacant, that he was induced to leave his
affectionate congregation in Angusshire. To a man of his tastes and acquirements,
much as he might regret the breaking up of old ties, his translation to
Edinburgh must have opened up to him many new sources of gratification.
Among the extended circle of literary acquaintance, to whom his learning and
talents were a ready passport, it is probably worth mentioning that he was on
