Good L-d, what is man? for simple as he looks, Do but try to develop his hooks and his crooks, With his depths and his shallows, his good and his evil,

All in all, he's a problem must puzzle the devil.

On his one ruling passion Sir Pope hugely labors, That, like th' old Hebrew walking-stick, eats up its neighbors;

Mankind are his show-box a friend, would you know him?

Pull the string- ruling passion the picture will show him.

What pity, in rearing so beauteous a system,

One trifling particular, truth, should have miss'd him' For, spite of his fine theoretic positions,

Mankind is a science defies definitions !

Some sort all our qualities, each to its tribe, And think human nature they truly describe:

Have you found this or t'other? there's more in the wind,

As by one drunken fellow his comrades you'll find.
But such is the flaw, or the depth of the plan,
In the make of that wonderful creature, call'd Man,
No two virtues, whatever relation they claim,
Nor even two different shades of the same,
Though like as was ever twin brother to brother,
Possessing the one shall imply you've the other

32*

INSCRIPTION

FOR AN ALTAR TO INDEPENDENCE, AT KERROUGHTRY THE SEAT OF MR. HERON, WRITTEN IN SUMMER, 1795.

THOU of an independent mind,

With soul resolv'd, with soul resign'd;
Prepar'd Pow'r's proudest frown to brave,
Who wilt not be, nor have a slave;

Virtue alone who dost revere,

Thy own reproach alone dost fear,

Approach this shrine, and worship here..

ADDRESS TO EDINBURGH.

I.

EDINA! Scotia's darling seat!

All hail thy palaces and tow'rs,
Where once, beneath a monarch's feet,
Sat legislation's sov'reign pow'rs!
From marking wildly-scatter'd flow'rs,
As on the banks of Ayr I stray'd,
And singing, lone, the ling'ring hours,
I shelter in thy honor'd shade.

II.

Here, Wealth still swells the golden tide,
As busy Trade his labors plies;
There, Architecture's noble pride
Bids elegance and splendor rise;
Here, Justice, from her native skies,
High wields her balance and her rod
There, Learning, with his eagle eyes,
Seeks Science in her coy abode.

III.

Thy sons, Edina, social, kind,

With open arms the stranger hail! Their views enlarg'd, their libʼral mind Above the narrow rural vale; Attentive still to Sorrow's wail,

Or modest Merit's silent claim; And never may their sources fail! And never Envy blot their name.

IV.

Thy daughters bright thy walks adorn
Gay as the gilded summer sky,
Sweet as the dewy, milk-white thorn,
Dear as the raptur'd thrill of joy!
Fair B strikes the adoring eye!
Heav'n's beauties on my fancy shine,

I see the Sire of love on high,
And own his work indeed divine!

There, watching high the least alarms, Thy rough, rude fortress gleams afar;

Like some bold vet'ran, gray in arms,
And mark'd with many a seamy scar;
The pond'rous wall and massy bar,
Grim-rising o'er the rugged rock,
Have oft withstood assailing war,
And oft repell'd the invader's shock.

VI.

With awe-struck thought, and pitying tears,
I view that noble, stately dome,

Where Scotia's kings, of other years,
Fam'd heroes! had their royal home:
Alas! how chang'd the times to come;
Their royal name low in the dust!
Their hapless race wild-wand'ring roam!
Tho' rigid law cries out, "Twas just.

VII.

Wild beats my heart to trace your steps,
Whose ancestors. in days of yore,
Thro' hostile ranks, and ruin'd gaps,
Old Scotia's bloody lion bore:

Ev'n I, who sing in rustic lore,

Haply my sires have left their shed, And fac'd grim Danger's loudest roar, Bold following where your fathers led!

VIII.

Edina! Scotia's darling seat!

All hail thy palaces and tow'rs, Where, once beneath a monarch's feet, Sat legislation's sov'reign pow'rs!

From marking wildly-scatter'd flow'rs, As on the banks of Ayr I stray'd, And singing, lone, the ling'ring hours, I shelter in thy honor'd shade.