Page:Babell, a satirical poem (1830).djvu/26

the main subject of the poem, as to lead the author to disregard the minor circumstances of versification. This loose mode of composition, with respect to satirical pieces, is well known to have been common in that age, especially among poets who chiefly rested their poetical fame on the construction of Latin verse.

It will, probably, be objected that an unbecoming coarseness of expression frequently occurs, especially in passages put in the mouths of several reverend members of the Assembly. But it ought to be remembered that a greater freedom of language was allowed to humorous writers in former times, than would now be tolerated; and besides, it may be presumed, that there may have been certain characteristics, in the different speakers pourtrayed in the poem, known only to those existing at the time.

It may be observed, that there are two manuscripts of the poem—one in the possession of Dr. Keith of Edinburgh, and the other contained in a volume of Pasquils, &c. formerly belonging to that indefatigable collector Robert Milne, and now in the library of Dundas of Arniston. These have been carefully collated, in forming the present publication, and where any difference existed between them, it has been noticed in the Various Readings, and marked with the letter A (for Arniston M.S.) or K (for Keith M.S.). The latter manuscript, being the more correct of the two, has been mostly relied on for the readings which have been adopted.

The Notes will, it is hoped, tend to illustrate many passages in the Poem. Much difficulty has been experienced