Fortune, however poor, was kind.-
All, all from thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Corrector of the mind!
Thus Charles, with justice styl’d the great,*
For valour, piety, and laws;
Resign’d two empires to retreat,
And from a throne to shades withdraws;
In vain (to sooth a monarch's pride)
His yoke the willing Persian bore :
In vain the Saracen complied,
And fierce Northumbrians stain'd with gore.
One Gallic farm his cares confin'd;
And all from thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Composer of the mind!
Observant of the almighty will,
Prescient in faith, and pleas'd with toil.
Abram Chaldea left, to till
The moss-grown Haran's flinty soil :t
Hydras of thorns absorb’d his gain,
The commonwealth of weeds rebellid,
But labour tam’d the’ ungrateful plain,
And famine was by art repell’d;
Patience made churlish nature kind.
All, all from thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Corrector of the mind !
+ Gen. xii. 31. Nehem. ix. 7. Judith v. 7. VOL. XXIX.
li
• The mistress of witchcrafts.
Nahum iii. 4. * Draw near bither, ye sons of the sorceress.”
Isaiah lvii. 3. * According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were
filled, and their heart was exalted : therefore have they for. gotten ME.'
Hosea xiij. 6.
EMPTY, illusory life,
Pregnant with fraud, in mischiefs rife ;
Form’d to' ensnare us, and deceive us:
Nahum's enchantress! which beguiles
With all ber harlotry of wiles!
First she loves, and then she leaves us!
Erring happiness beguiles
The wretch that strays o’er Circe's isles;
All things smile, and all annoy him;
The rose has thorns, the doves can bite ;
Riot is a fatigue till night,
Sleep an opium to destroy him.
Louring in the groves of death
Yew-trees breathe funereal breath
Brambles and thorns perplex the shade :
Asphaltic waters creep and rest ;
Birds, in gaudy plumage dress’d,
Scream unmeaning through the glade.
Earth fallacious herbage* yields,
And deep in grass its influence shields;
Acrid juices, scent annoying;
Corrosive crow-feet choke the plains,
And hemlock, strip'd with lurid stains,
And luscious mandrakes, life destroying.
Gaudy bella-donnat blowing,
Or with glossy berries glowing,
Lures the unwise to tempt their doom :
Love's applet masks the fruit of death ;
Sick henbane murders with her breath,
Acteas with an harlot's bloom.
One plant|| alone is wrapt in shade ;
Few eyes its privacy invade;
Plant of joy, of life, and health!
More than the fabled lotos fam’d,
Which (tasted once) mankind reclaim'd
From parents, country, power, and wealth. I
On yonder Alp I see it rise,
Aspiring to congenial skies,
But cover'd half with ivy-walls ;-
There, where Eusebio* rais'd a shrine,
Snatch'd from the gulf by power divine,
Where Reiga's tumbling torrent falls.t
Compar'd with thee, how dimly shows
Poor Anacreon's lifeless rose ?
What is Homer's planti to thee!
In vain the Mantuan poet tried
To paint Amellus' starrys pride,
Emblem of wit's futility!
Men saw, alas! and knew not thee,
Mystic evangelic tree!
Thou badst no charms for paynim-eyes ;
Till, guided by the lamp of heav'n,
To chaste Urania power was giv'n
To see, to admire, and moralize.
All-beauteous flower, whose centre glows
With studs of gold; thence streaming flows
Ray-like effulgence : next is seen
A rich expanse of varying hue,
Enfring’d with an impurpled blue,
And streak'd with young Pomona's green.
High o'er the pointal, deck'd with gold,
(Emblem mysterious to behold,)
A radiant cross its form expands;
Its opening arms appear to' embrace
The whole collective human race,
Refuge of all men in all lands!
Grant me, kind Heaven, in prosperous hour
To pluck this consecrated flower,
And wear it thankful on my breast;
Then shall my steps securely stray,
No pleasures shall pervert my way,
No joys seduce, no cares molest.
Like Tobit (when the hand, approv'd
By Heaven, the obstructing films remov’d*)
I now see objects as I ought :
Ambition's hideous, pleasure vain,
Avarice is but a blockhead's gain,
Possessing all, bestowing nought.
Passions and frauds surround us all,
Their empire is reciprocal ;
Shun their blandishments and wiles ;
Riches but serve to steel the heart;
Want has its meanness and its art;
Health betrays, and strength beguiles.
In highest stations snares misguide ;
Midst solitude they nurture pride,
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