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Hudsoni sinus aut sublimes altius Arctos,
Qua pelagus petit, et Boreæ lavat ultima regna;
Hic freta, si qua fides, æstu interfusa reducto
Dant aditus nautis, atque ostia recta viarum;
Inde ea Russiaco sese immiscentia ponto,
Mox Asiæ fines, projectaque Kamschadalæ
Littora discurrunt supra, extremosque Curilos.
Inde ergo ingentes terræ, atque expansa paterent
Ante oculos spatia Oceani, et commercia rerum.
Hinc ubi Tartareæ specie jacet undique sæva
Littus arenosum, et tristes longo ordine campi,
Quos contra opposito murorum limite claudit
Dives opum Sina, et varias exculta per artes..
Quid dicam? quam crebra ingens exinde per æquor
Insula se læto nautis ostendat honore

Munera gemmarum et fragrantia aromata jactans?
Usque ubi Ternatem supra, arentemque Tidorem
Innumeras offert ultro tota India merces.
Parte alia magno sese California tractu
Porrigit, unde viæ faciles tranquilla per alta,
Ante oculos donec nimbosa cacumina longe
Attollunt Andes, donec Peruvia circa
Ostentat pulchras urbes, et ditia regna
Argentique frequens rivis, aurique metallo.
At vero hoc frustra multo conamine gentes
Explorare iter, atque aditus recludere cæcos
Aggressæ; usque adeo magnis obsistere cœptis
Tædia longa viæ, et gelidi inclementia ponti:
Ergo ille hunc iterum qui possit adire laborem,
Qui possit duris virtutem opponere rebus,
Ille, decus Britonum, et seri lux inclyta sæcli
Exoritur, quem nec casus, nec fata priorum,
Nec super incumbens prono de cardine mundi
Oppressit bruma, aut angusto limite clausit;
Verum ideo magis obniti, et vi tendere contra,
Impulit æternæ succensa cupidine famæ
Virtus, et dubiis jamdudum assueta periclis.
Ipse etenim faustus molitus jam ante labores
Pacati late lustraverat æquoris undas,
Felicesque habitu terras, qua foedere justo
Hospitii exceptus sibi mitia sæcla virorum
Devinxit, pulchram referens sine sanguine laurum.
Ipse etiam Australem longi spatiatus ad axem,
Extremos veterum cursus processerat ultra,

Gentibus ostendens qui certus denique finis
Terrarum oceanique jacet, qua navibus obstant
Æternæ glacies et non tractabile cœlum.

Ergo illum tantæ sortitum munera laudis
Jampridem, ingentique animo majora moventem,
Ipse pater populi, non unquam passus iniquis
Virtutem in tenebris condi, et sine honore jacere;
Ipse adeo movet auspiciis, et rite secundans
Hortatur studio, neque enim non denique cordi est
Imperium Oceani, et Britonum proferre triumphos.
Ergo alacris patrios portus et littora linquens,
Scilicet haud tantis impar conatibus heros,

Magnum opus aggreditur, jamque æquora nota remensus, Securas sedes, et mollia rura Taïtæ

Devenit, hospitioque iterum lætatur amico.

Mox Kamschadalæ tractus, glacialiaque arva
Propter, Hyperboreum lustrans interritus orbem,
- Extremum penetrare fretum, optatamque laborat
Ire viam, et patriis præpandere classibus æquor.
Jamque illum Catharina sui prope littoris oras
Imperii fines obeuntem, atque ultima regna,
Læta suis opibus, tanti nil invida cœpti,
Adjuvat, atque ultro portu tutatur amico.
Ipsa etiam, hostili quanquam succensa furore,
Gallia suspendit sævi fera munera Martis,
Compescitque odium, studiisque secundat euntem.
Jamque illum ingenti dudum Britannia plausu
Poscebat reducem, ventosque in vota vocabat,
Longum iter increpitans, et tædia iniqua viarum:
Tum vero, ut tardi ulterius longo ordine menses
Transierant, necdum patriis successerat oris
Exoptata rates, dubios quisque inde timores
Spargere in ambiguum, et cunctandi quærere causas:
"Quo nunc sub cœlo? queis demum erraret in undis ?
Quæve adeo fortuna virum, casusve tulisset ?"
Atqui illum interea peregrino in littore longe
Gens hominum effrænis fatali oppresserat ictu.
Heu finem cœpti invisum! temerataque jura
Hospitii! heu pelagi necquicquam erepte periclis!
Hoc illud fuit? Hæc demum te fata manebant?
Nec fas optati metam tetigisse laboris,

Nec patriis iterum incolumem considere terris!
Ergo te Britonum fletus, te publica cura,
VOL. XXIX. Cl. Jl.

NO. LVIII.

2 D

Tantum opus aggressum, et magna inter cœpta cadentem
Condecorant: neque enim non te per sæcula gentis
Indigetes inter, laudumque exempla pricrum,
Anglia in æternum referet, studioque fideli
Rite tibi justos memor instaurabit honores!

Ex Ede Christi, 1780.

WELLESLEY.

AMERICAN CLASSICAL SCHOOLS.

WE have been favored with the Prize compositions at Boston, of which we insert a specimen. In these poems we observe a marked improvement; and we shall hail the progress of that laudable spirit which pervades those establishments.

NARCISSUS.

AUCTORE E. S. DIXWELL.

Aspice, qua tenerum caput ille inclinat ad undas
Flos niveus, veluti lacrymas iofundere fonti
Optans; dum salicis circum protenditur umbra,
Quæ Phœbi radios excludit, et aëris æstum.
Heu! fuit hic quondam Narcissus, imagine formæ
Captus, qui solitus ripas accedere fontis
Hujus, quum noctis tenebras Aurora fugare
Coperat; haud unquam rediens vestigia vertit,
Donec Sol ponto radios absconderat alto.
Ad fontem recubans voces sic fudit inanes;
"Eheu me miserum! cur, Oh placidissime Divûm,
Ol Veneris proles, cur nostros occupat artus
Tam crudelis amor, merui cur talia dira?
Rusticus incultus si captus amore puellæ,

Nec mora, quin vinclis Hymenæus jungeret ambos ;
Ille tamen, toties qui in flammas pectora misit,
Vadere damnatur, nullo miserante, sub Orcum.
Quum vagus huc veni per sylvas sedibus errans
Primum, tunc animi levis, ac intactus amore,
Huic vitreo similis fonti; nunc denique cæcus
Spicula contorsit Deus, et sunt omnia mota.
Hanc Nympham, juro per Divos, semper amabo."
Dixit, et in sylvis Echo respondit "amabo."

Irrita vox, eheu! captas pervenit ad aures,
Spesque levis pectus meditantis falsa revisit.
Nam putat audiri dilectæ mente puellæ

Vocem, ac exclamat, dum gaudens omnia lustrat,
"Oh pueri comites, Nymphæque valete decoræ,
Nam inihi quæ cordi, nunc pignora præbet amoris,
Hicque manens, laudes sylvas resonare docebo."
Sic dicens, palmas duplices submersit in undam,
Ut daret amplexus, et figeret oscula labris,
Forma tamen fugit, percusso fonte, sub undas.
Desine plura loqui, chordas nunc, Musa, coërce;
Hoc satis est: noli miserabile dicere fatum.
Mox vide, Narcissus per tempora maxima cunctans
Quæritur a Nymphis montes ubi nubila tangunt,
Deinde ubi labuntur tacitis in vallibus amines;
Jam voces Dryadum resouant in saltibus atris,
Naiades et sonitum reddunt: "Narcissus ab agris
Decessit: comitem per cunctas quærite terras !"
Aspectum fallit Narcissus, et ipse videtur

Flos niveus vergens ad fontem, nomine scripto
Narcissi; atque canit moeste super aura sepulcrum.

In this poem we scarcely object to any part of the metre, except to nomine scripto; but we might find instances of a similar position in our College prizes. Ac should not be placed before a word beginning with a vowel.

NOTICE OF

JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN ASIA MINOR; with comparative Remarks on the Ancient and Modern Geography of that country. By WILLIAM MARTIN LEAKE, F. R. S. &c. 8vo. Lond. 1824.

IN tracing vestiges of Grecian art amidst that barbarism and desolation which have pervaded the Ottoman empire, a traveller finds peculiar difficulties opposed to his researches in Asia Minor, whilst this region offers a more fertile field of discovery

than any other Turkish province. Having noticed the hatred which Musulmaus generally bear to Christians, our learned author adds:

In Asia Minor, among the impediments to a traveller's success may be especially reckoned, the deserted state of the country, which often puts the common necessaries and conveniences of travelling out of his reach; the continual disputes and wars among the persons in power; the precarious authority of the government of Constantinople, which rendering its protection ineffectual, makes the traveller's success depend upon the personal character of the governor of each district; and the ignorance and the suspicious temper of the Turks, who have no idea of scientific travelling-who cannot imagine any other motive for our visits to that country, than a preparation for hostile invasion, or a search after treasures among the ruins of antiquity-and whose suspicions of this nature are of course most strong in the provinces which, like Asia Minor, are the least frequented by us. If the traveller's prudence or good fortune should obviate all these difficulties, and should protect him from plague, banditti, and other perils of a semi-barbarous state of society, he has still to dread the loss of health, arising from the combined effects of climate, fatigue, and privation, which seldom fails to check his career before he has completed his projected tour. Asia Minor is still in that state in which a disguised dress, an assumption of the medical character, great patience and perseverance, the sacrifice of all European comforts, and the concealment of pecuniary means, are necessary to enable the traveller thoroughly to investigate the country, when otherwise qualified for the task by literary and scientific attainments, and by an intimate knowledge of the language and manners of the people." (Pref. p. iv.)

These remarks were written before the insurrection broke out in Greece: an event which has thrown many additional obstacles in the way of travellers. To Colonel Leake, therefore, our obligations are the greater for having given so much valuable information respecting a country where few will, probably, venture to extend their researches, for a considerable time.

In January, 1800, our author set out from Constantinople, in company with the late General Koehler, Sir Richard Fletcher, Professor Carlyle, and others, well armed and disguised as Tatar couriers, and with servants of different descriptions, forming a caravan of 35 horses. From Iskiodár or Skutári (in Greek Σxovtáplov) they proceeded to Kartal, Pandíkhi (Havrixov), and Ghebse. Near this place they met a Mollah (or Turkish priest) travelling luxuriously in a Taktreván (or covered litter), reclining on soft cushions, smoking the Narghilé (or water-pipe), and accompanied by attendants, mounted on horseback and splendidly dressed his baggage consisted of mattresses and coverings for his sofas; valises containing his clothes; a large assortment of pipes,

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