Or disregard our follies, or that fit
Amus'd spectators of this bustling Atage.
Thee we reject, unable to abide
Thy purity, till pure as thou art pare ;
Made fuch by thee, we love thee for that cause
For which we fhunn'd and hated thee before.
Then we are free. Then liberty, like day,
Breaks on the soul, and by a flash from heav'n
Fires all the faculties with glorious joy.
A voice is heard that mortal ears hear not
Till thou haft touch'd them; 'tis the voice of song-
A loud hosanna fent from all thy works;
Which he that hears it with a shout repeats,
And adds his rapture to the gen'ral praise.
In that blest moment Nature, throwing wide
Her veil opaque, discloses with a smile
The author of her beauties, who, retir'd
Behind his own creation, works unseen
By the impure, and hears his pow'r denied.
Thou art the source and centre of all minds,
Their only point of rest, eternal Word!
From thee departing, they are loft, and rove
At random, without honour, hope, or peace.
From thee is all that sooths the life of man,

His high endeavour, and his glad success,
His ftrength to suffer, and his will to serve.
But oh thou bounteous giver of all good,
Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown!
Give what thou canst, without thee we are poor;
And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away.

ARGUMENT OF THE SIXTH BOOK.

Bells at a distance. Their effe&. A fine noon in

winter.--A sheltered walk.-Meditation better than books. -Our familiarity with the course of nature makes it appear less wonderful than it is.The transformation that spring effects in a shrubbery described.-d mistake concerning the course of nature corrected, --God maintains it by an unremitted act.—The amusements fashionable at this hour of the day reproved.- Animals happy, a delightful fight.- Origin of cruelty to animals.—That it is a great crime proved from scripture.—That proof illustrated by a tale.--A line drawn between the lawful and unlawful deftrudion of them.Their good and useful properties infifted on.Apology for the encomiums bestowed by the author on animals.

Instances of man's extravagant praise of man. -The groans of the creation Mall have an end. A view taken of the restoration of all things. -An invocation and an invitation of him who Mall bring it to pass.—The retired man vindicated from the charge of uselesness.- Conclufion.

14

THE

TAS K.

BOOK VI.

THE WINTER WALK AT NOON.

THERE is in fouls a sympathy with sounds;
And, as the mind is pitch'd, the ear is pleas'd
With melting airs, or martial, brisk, or grave:
Some chord in unison with what we hear
Is touch'd within us, and the heart replies.
How soft the music of those village bells,
Falling at intervals upon the ear
In cadence sweet, now dying all away,
Now pealing loud again, and louder still,
Clear and sonorous, as the gale comes on!
With easy force it opens all the cells
Where mem'ry Nept. Wherever I have heard
A kindred melody, the scene recurs,