Yet ev'n those bones from infult to protect With uncouth rhymes and shapelefs fculpture deck'd Their name, their years, fpelt by the unletter'd Mufe, And many a holy text around the ftrews, For who to dumb Forgetfulnefs a prey, On fome fond breast the parting foul reliës, For thee, who mindful of th' unhonour'd Dead Haply fome hoary-headed fwain may fay, There at the foot of yonder nodding beach Hard by yon wood, now fmiling as in fcorn, • One morn I mifs'd him on the custom'd hill, The next with dirges due in fad array, Slow through the church-way path we faw him born, • Grav'd on the ftone beneath yon aged thorn.' HERE refs his head upon the lap of Earth, Large was his bounty, and his foul fincere, He gain'd from Heav'n ('twas all he wifh'd) a friend. No farther feek his merits to difclofe, Or draw his frailties from their dread abode X 3 4 A N E LE G Y ON CAPTAIN COOK. BY MISS SEWA R D. ORROWING, the Nine beneath yon blafted yew. SOR Mute are their tuneful tongues, extin&t their fires; Ye, who ere while for Cook's illuftrious brow 1 In fad proceffion wander round the fhrine, Say firft, what Pow'r infpir'd his dauntless breast And twines, 'mid wintry snows, her roseate bow'rs ? What Pow'r infpir'd his dauntless breast to brave The fcorch'd Equator, and th' Antarctic wave? Climes, where fierce funs in cloudless ardors fhine, And pour the dazzling deluge round the Line; The realms of frost, where icy mountains rife, 'Mid the pale fummer of the polar fkies?IT WAS HUMANITY!-on coafts unknown, The fhiv'ring natives of the frozen zone, And the fwart Indian, as he faintly trays "Where Cancer reddens in the folar blaze." She bade him feek; -on each inclement fhore Plant the rich feeds of her exhaustless store; Unite the favage hearts, and hoftile hands, In the firm compact of her gentle bands; Strew her foft comforts o'er the barren plain, Sing her fweet lays, and confecrate her fane. IT WAS HUMANITY!-O Nymph divine ! I fee thy light ftep print the burning Line! There thy bright eye the dubious pilot guides, The faint oar ftruggling with the fcalding tides.On as thou lead'ft the bold, the glorious prow, Mild, and more mild, the floping fun-beams glow; Now weak and pale the leffen'd luftres play, As round th' horizon rolls the timid day; |