And seeks for good; and finds the good he seeks:
Until abhorrence aud contempt are things
He only knows by name; and, if he hear,
From other mouths, the language which they speak
He is compassionate; and has no thought,
No feeling, which can overcome his love.
And further; by contemplating these Forms
In the relations which they bear to man,
He shall discern, how, through the various means
Which silently they yield, are multiplied
The spiritual presences of absent things.
Trust me, that for the instructed, time will come When they shall meet no object but may teach Some acceptable lesson to their minds,
Of human suffering, or of human joy.
For them shall all things speak of man; they read
Their duties in all forms; and general laws,
And local accidents, shall tend alike
To rouse, to urge; and, with the will, confer
The ability to spread the blessings wide
Of true philanthropy. The light of love
Not failing, perseverance from their steps
Departing not, they shall at length obtain
The glorious habit by which sense is made
Subservient still to moral purposes,
Auxiliar to divine. That change shall clothe
The naked spirit, ceasing to deplore
The burthen of existence. Science then
Shall be a precious visitant; and then,
And only then, be worthy of her name:
For then her heart shall kindle; her dull eye,
Dull and inanimate, no more shall hang
Chained to its object in brute slavery;
But taught with patient interest to watch
The processes of things, and serve the cause
Of order and distinctness, not for this
Shall it forget that its most noble use,
Its most illustrious province, must be found
In furnishing clear guidance, a support
Not treacherous, to the mind's excursive power.
-So build we up the Being that we are;
Thus deeply drinking-in the soul of things,
We shall be wise perforce; and, while inspired
By choice, and conscious that the Will is free,
Unswerving shall we move as if impelled
By strict necessity, along the path
Of order and of good. Whate'er we see,
Whate'er we feel, by agency direct
Or indirect, shall tend to feed and nurse
Our faculties, shall fix in calmer seats
Of moral strength, and raise to loftier heights
Of love divine, our intellectual soul."
Here closed the Sage that eloquent harangue,
Poured forth with fervour in continuous stream,
Such as, remote, mid savage wilderness,
An Indian Chief discharges from his breast
Into the hearing of assembled tribes,
In open circle seated round, and hushed
As the unbreathing air, when not a leaf
Stirs in the mighty woods.-So did he speak :
The words he uttered shall not pass away;
For they sank into me, the bounteous gift
Of one whom time and nature have made wise,
Gracing his language with authority
Which hostile spirits silently allow;
Of one accustomed to desires that feed
On fruitage gathered from the tree of life;
To hopes on knowledge and experience built;
Of one in whom persuasion and belief
Had ripened into faith, and faith become
A passionate intuition; whence the Soul,
Though bound to earth by ties of pity and love,
From all injurious servitude was free.
The Sun, before his place of rest were reached, Had yet to travel far, but unto us,
To us who stood low in that hollow dell,
He had become invisible,-a pomp
Leaving behind of yellow radiance spread
Upon the mountain sides, in contrast bold
With ample shadows, seemingly, no less
Than those resplendent lights, his rich bequest;
A dispensation of his evening power.
-Adown the path which from the glen had led
The funeral train, the Shepherd and his Mate
Were seen descending:-forth in transport ran
Our little Page: the rustic pair approach;
And in the Matron's aspect may be read
A plain assurance that the words which told
How that neglected Pensioner was sent
Before his time into a quiet grave,
Had done to her humanity no wrong;
But we are kindly welcomed-promptly served
With ostentatious zeal.-Along the floor
Of the small Cottage in the lonely Dell
A grateful couch was spread for our repose;
Where, in the guise of mountaineers, we slept,
Stretched upon fragrant heath, and lulled by sound
Of far-off torrents charming the still night,
And, to tired limbs and over-busy thoughts,
Inviting sleep and soft forgetfulness.
Farewell to the Valley-Reflections-Sight of a large and populous Vale-Vale described-The Pastor's Dwelling, and some account of him-Church and Monuments-The Solitary musing, and whereRoused-In the Churchyard the Solitary communicates the thoughts which had recently passed through his mind-Lofty tone of the Wanderer's discourse of yesterday adverted to-Rite of Baptism, and the professions accompanying it, contrasted with the real state of human life-Inconsistency of the best men-Acknowledgment that practice falls far below the injunctions of duty as existing in the mind-General complaint of a falling-off in the value of life after the time of youth-Outward appearances of content and happiness in degree illusive-Pastor approaches-Appeal made to him-His answer-Wanderer in sympathy with him-Suggestion that the least ambitious inquirers may be most free from error-The Pastor is desired to give some portraits of the living or dead from his own observations of life among these mountains-and for what purposePastor consents-Mountain cottage-Excellent qualities of its inhabitants-Solitary expresses his pleasure; but denies the praise of virtue to worth of this kind-Feelings of the Priest before he enters upon his account of persons interred in the Church-yardGraves of unbaptized Infants-Funeral and sepulchral observances, whence-Ecclesiastical Establishments, whence derived-Profession of belief in the doctrine of Immortality.
"FAREWELL, deep Valley, with thy one rude house
And its small lot of life-supporting fields,
And guardian rocks!-With unreverted eyes,
I cannot pass thy bounds, attractive seat!
To the still influx of the morning light
Open, and day's pure cheerfulness, but veiled
From human observation, as if yet
Primeval forest wrapped thee round with dark
Impenetrable shade; once more farewell,
Majestic circuit, beautiful abyss,
By Nature destined from the birth of things
For quietness profound!"
Of that green slope, the outlet of the vale,
Lingering behind my comrades, thus I breathed
A parting tribute to a spot that seemed
Like the fixed centre of a troubled world.
And now pursuing leisurely my way,
How vain, thought I, it is by change of place
To seek that comfort which the mind denies;
Yet trial and temptation oft are shunned
Wisely; and by such tenure do we hold
Frail life's possessions, that even they whose fate
Yields no peculiar reason of complaint,
Might, by the promise that
To steal from active duties, and embrace
Obscurity, and calm forgetfulness.
-Knowledge, methinks, in these disordered times,
Should be allowed a privilege to have
Her anchorites, like piety of old;
Men who, from faction sacred, and unstained
By war, might, if so minded, turn aside
Uncensured, and subsist, a scattered few,
Living to God and nature, and content
With that communion. Consecrated be
The spots where such abide! But happier still
The Man, whom, furthermore, a hope attends
That meditation and research may guide
His privacy to principles and powers
Discovered or invented; or set forth,
Though his acquaintance with the ways of truth,
In lucid order; so that when his course
Is run, some faithful eulogist may say,
He sought not praise, and praise did overlook
His inobtrusive merit; but his life,
Sweet to himself, was exercised in good
That shall survive his name and memory.
Acknowledgments of gratitude sincere
Accompanied these musings; fervent thanks
For my own peaceful lot and happy choice;
A choice that from the passions of the world
Withdrew, and fixed me in a still retreat;
Sheltered, but not to social duties lost;
Secluded, but not buried; and with song
Cheering my days, and with industrious thought;
With the ever-welcome company of books;
By virtuous friendship's soul-sustaining aid,
And with the blessings of domestic love.
Thus occupied in mind I paced along,
Following the rugged road, by sledge or wheel
Worn in the moorland, till I overtook
My two Associates, in the morning sunshine
Halting together on a rocky knoll,
From which the road descended rapidly
To the green meadows of another vale.
Here did our pensive Host put forth his hand
In sign of farewell. "Nay," the old Man said,
"The fragrant air its coolness still retains ;
The herds and flocks are yet abroad to crop
The dewy grass; you cannot leave us now;
We must not part at this inviting hour."
He yielded, though reluctant; for his mind
Instinctively disposed him to retire
To his own covert; as a billow, heaved
Upon the beach, rolls back into the sea.
-So we descend: and winding round a rock
Attain a point that showed the valley-stretched
In length before us; and, not distant far
Upon a rising ground a gray church-tower,
Whose battlements were screened by tufted trees.
And towards a crystal Mere, that lay beyond
Among steep hills and woods embosomed, flowed
A copious stream with boldly-winding course;
Here traceable, there hidden-there again
To sight restored, and glittering in the sun.
On the stream's bank, and everywhere, appeared
Fair dwellings, single, or in social knots;
Some scattered o'er the level, others perched
On the hill's sides, a cheerful quiet scene,
Now in its morning purity arrayed.
"As 'mid some happy valley of the Alps,"
Said I, "once happy ere tyrannic power,
Wantonly breaking in upon the Swiss,
Destroyed this unoffending commonwealth,
A popular equality doth seem,
Here to prevail; and yet a house of state
Stands yonder, one beneath whose roof, methinks,
A rual ford might dwell."-" No feudal pomp,"
Replied our friend, a chronicler who stood
Where'er he moved upon familiar ground,
"Nor feudal power is there; but there abides,
In his allotted home, a genuine Friest,
The shepherd of his flock: or, as a king
Is styled, when most affectionately praised,
The father of his pecple. Such is he;
And rich and poor, and young and old, rejoice
Under his spiritual sway, collected round him
In this sequestered realm. He hath vouchsated
To me some portion of his kind regard;
And something also of his inner mind
Hath he imparted-but I speak of him
As he is known of all.
The calm delights
Of unambitious piety he chose,
And learning's solid dignity; though born
Of knightly race, not wanting powerful friends.
Hither, in prime of manhood, he withdrew
From academic bowers. He loved the spot-
Who does not love his native soil?-he prized
The ancient rural character, composed
Of simple manners, feelings unsupprest
And undisguised, and strong and serious thought; A character reflected in himself,
With such embellishment as well beseems
His rank and sacred function. This deep vale
Is lengthened out by many a winding reach,
Not visible to us; and one of these
A turreted manorial hall adorns,
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