And, leaning where yon oak expands her arms, Heard these rude cliffs thine awful voice rebound, (For in thy fpeech I recognise the found.)

• You mourn'd for ruin'd man, and virtue loft,
And feem'd to feel of keen remorse the wound,
Pondering on former days, by guilt engrofs'd,
Or in the giddy ftorm of diffipation tofs d.

XXVIII.

But fay, in courtly life can craft be learn'd, 'Where knowledge opens, and exalts the foul; 'Where fortune lavishes her gifts unearn'd, • Can felfishness the liberal art control? Is glory there atchiev'd by arts, as foul As those which felons, fiends, and furies plan ? Spiders enfnare, fnakes poifon, tygers prowl; Love is the godlike attribute of man. O teach a fimple youth this mystery to fcan.

XXIX.

Or elfe the lamentable ftrain difclaim,

And give me back the calm, contented mind; Which, late, exulting, view'd in Nature's frame, Goodness untainted, wisdom unconfined,

'Grace, grandeur, and utility combine.

Rettore thofe tranquil days, that faw me ftill Well-pleafed with all, but most with humankind; When Fancy roam'd through Nature's works at will, Uncheck'd by cold diftruft, and uninform'd of ill.'

XXX.

• Would thou (the Sage replied) in peace return To the gay dreams of fond romantic youth,

Leave me to hide. in this remote fojourn,
From every gentle ear the dreadful truth :
For if my defultory ftrain with ruth

And indignation make thine eyes o'erflow,
Alas! what comfort could thy anguish footh,
Should't thou th' extent of human folly know.
Be ignorance thy choice, where knowledge leads to wo.

XXXI.

But let untender thoughts afar be driven
Nor venture to arraign the dread decree:
For know, to man, a candidate for heaven,
The voice of The Eternal faid, Be free:
And this divine prerogative to thee
• Does virtue, happiness, and heaven convey;
For virtue is the child of liberty,

And happiness of virtue; nor can they
Be free to keep the path who are not free to ftray.

XXXII.

Yet leave me not. I would allay that grief,
• Which elfe might thy young virtue overpower;
And in thy converfe I fhall find relief,

When the dark fhades of melancholy lower ;
For folitude has many a dreary hour,

Even when exempt from grief, remorse, and pain:
Come often then; for, haply, in my bower,

• Amusement, knowledge, wifdom thou may'st gain: If I one foul improve, I have not lived in vain."

XXXIII.

And now, at length, to Edwin's ardent gaze
The Mufe of history unrolls her page.
But few alas! the fcenes her art difplays,
To charm his fancy, or his heart engage.

Her Chiefs their thirft of power in blood affwage,
And ftraight their flames with tenfold fiercenefs burn:
Here fmiling Virtue prompts the patriot's rage,
But lo, ere long, is left alone to mourn,

And languish in the duft, and clafp the abandon'd urn.

XXXIV.

Ah, what avails (he faid) to trace the fprings That whirl of empire the ftupendous wheel! Ah, what have I to do with conquering kings, • Hands drench'd in blood, and breafts begirt with • fteel!

To thofe, whom Nature taught to think and feck,
Heroes, alas! are things of fmall concern.

• Could History man's fecret heart reveal,

And what imports a heaven-born mind to learn, Her transcripts to explore, what bofom would not yearn!

XXXV.

This praife, O Chero can Sage*, is thine.
(Why fhould this praise to thee alone belong !)
All elfe from Nature's moral path decline,

• Lured by the toys that captivate the throng;
To herd in cabinets and camps, among
Spoil, carnage, and the cruel pomp of pride;
Or chaunt of heraldry the drowsy fong,
How tyrant blood, o'er many a region wide,
Rolls to a thousand thrones its execrable tide.
XXXVI.

O who of man the story will unfold,
Ere victory and empire wrought annoy,
In that Elyfian age (mifnamed of gold)
The age of love, and innocence, and joy,
When all were great and free! man's fole employ
To deck the bofom of his parent earth;

Or towards his bower the murmuring ftream decoy,
To aid the floweret's long-expected birth,
And luil the bed of peace, and crown the board of mirth.
XXXVII.

< Sweet were your fhades, O ye primeval groves, Whose boughs to man his food and fhelter lent, Pure in his pleasures, happy in his loves, His eyes ftill fmiling, and his heart content. Then, hand in hand, Health,Sport, and Labour went. • Nature fupplied the wifh fhe taught to crave. None prowled for prey, none watch'd to circumvent. To all an equal lot Heaven's bounty gave: No vassal fear'd his lord, no tyrant fear'd his flave.

D 3

* PLUTARCH.

XXXVIII.

But ah! th' Hiftorick Mufe has never dared To pierce thofe hallow'd bowers: 'tis Fancy's beam Pour'd on the vifion of th' enraptured Bard, That paints the charms of that delicious theme. Then hail fweet fancy's ray! and hail the dream That weans the weary foul from guilt and woe! Careless what others of my choice may deem, I long where Love and Fancy lead to go, And meditate on heaven; enough of earth I know.'

.

XXXIX.

I cannot blame thy choice (the Sage replied)
For foft and fmooth are Fancy's flowery ways.
And yet, even there, if left without a guide,
The young adventurer unfafely plays.

Eyes dazzled long by Fiction's gaudy rays

In modeft Truth no light nor beauty find.

And who, my child, would trust the meteor-blaze, • That foon muft fail, and leave the wanderer blind, 'More dark and helpless far, than if it ne'er had shined?

XL.

Fancy enervates, while it fooths the heart,

And, while it dazzles, wounds the mental fight:
To joy each heightening charm it can impart,
But wraps the hour of woe in tenfold night.
And often, where no real ills affright,

Its vifionary fiends, an endless train,

Affail with equal or fuperior might,

And through the throbbing heart, and dizzy brain, And shivering nerves, fhoot ftings of more than mortal

'pain.

XLI.

And yet, alas the real ills of life

Claim the full vigour of a mind prepared,
Prepared for patient, long, laborious ftrife,
Its guide Experience, and Truth its guard.

• We fare on earth as other men have fared?
Were they fuccefsful? Let not us defpair.
Was difappointment oft their fole reward?
Yet fhall their tale inftruct, if it declare,

• How they have born the load ourselves are doom'd to bear.

XLII.

What charms th' Hiftoric Mufe adorn, from spoils,
And blood, and tyrants, when the wings her flight,
To hail the patriot Prince, whofe pious toils
Sacred to science, liberty, and right,

And peace, through every age divinely bright
Shall thine the boat and wonder of mankind!
Sees yonder fun from his meridian height.
A lovelier fcene, than Virtue thus infhrined
In power, and man with man for mutual aid combined.

XLIII.

Hail facred Polity, by Freedom rear'd!
Hail facred Freedom, when by Law rettrain'd!
Without you what were man? A groveling herd
In darkness, wretchednefs, and want enchain'd.
Sublimed by you, the Greek and Roman reign'd
In arts unrival'd : O, to latest days,

In Albion may your influence unprofaned

To godlike worth the generous bosom raise, And prompt the Sage's lore, and fire the poet's lays.

XLIV.

But now let other themes our care engage.
For lo, with modeft yet majestic grace,

To curb Imagination's lawless rage,

⚫ And from within the cherish'd heart to brace,
Philofophy appears. The gloomy race
By Indolence and moping Fancy bred,
Fear, Difcontent, Solicitude'give place,

And hope and Courage brighten in their ftead, While on the kindling foul her vital beams are shed.