_"Could we with ink," &c._ (Vol. viii. _passim_).--Perhaps one more
communication may find admission on the above interesting lines. I received
from a clerical friend, many years ago, a version of them, which differs
considerably from that given in "N. & Q.," Vol. viii., p. 127. The
variations I have marked by Italics:
"Could _you_ with ink the ocean fill,
_Were the whole world_ of parchment made,
Were every _single stick_ a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God _alone_,
Would drain the ocean dry,
Nor could the _earth_ contain the _scroll_,
Though stretch'd from sky to sky."
My friend did not profess to know who wrote these lines; but he understood
that they were an attempt to render in English verse a sublime passage of
the great St. Augustin. It is highly probable that this eminent Father was
the original author of the passage. It is extremely like one of his grand
conceptions; but I have hitherto searched his voluminous works for it in
vain.