IN the year 1730, about six years after he had been in London, he brought a tragedy upon the stage called Sophonisba.. . . Mr. Thomson makes one of his characters address Sophonisba in a line which some critics reckoned the false pathetic:

0! Sophonisba, Sophonisba, oh!

Upon which a smart from the pit cried out,

Oh! Jamey Thomson, Jamey Thomson, oh!