_Lord John Townsend._--I have a copy of the _Rolliad_, with the names of
most of the contributors, taken from a copy belonging to Dr. Lawrence,
the editor of the volume, and author of many of the articles. In the
margin of "Jekyll," lines 73. to 100. are stated to be "inserted by
Tickle;" and lines 156. to the end, as "altered and enlarged by Tickle:"
and at the end is the following note:--
"There are two or three other lines in different parts of the
foregoing eclogue, which were altered, or inserted by
Tickle--chiefly in the connecting parts. The first draft (which
was wholly Lord John Townsend's) was a closer parody of Virgil's
18th eclogue; especially in the beginning and conclusion, in the
latter of which only Jekyll was introduced as 'the poet.'
"Tickle changed the plan, and made it what it is. The title (as
indeed the principal subject of the eclogue) was in consequence
altered from 'Lansdown' to 'Jekyll.' The poetry and satire are
certainly enriched by Tickle's touches; but I question whether
the humour was not more terse and classical, and the subject
more just, as the poem originally stood."--_L_.