Of ignorance, and cafe, and wanton play,
Soft ha bingers of vice and premature decay.
A few, alas! how few! by Heaven's high will
With fubtle fpirits endow'd and finews ftrong,
Albe fore mated + by the tempefts thrill
That bellow'd fierce and rife the rocks among,
By their own native vigour borne along,
Cut brifkly thro' the waves, and forces new
Gath'ring from toil, and ardor from the throng
Of rival youths, outstript the lab'ring crew,
And to the true Parnaffe and heaven-throng'd
glory flew.
Dire was the tumult! and from ev'ry fhore
Difcordant echoes ftruck the deafen'd ear,
Heart-thrilling cries, with fobs and fingults § fore
Short-interrupted, the imploring tear,
And furious ftripes and angry threats fevere,
Confus'dly mingled with the jarring found
Of all the various fpeeches that whilere ||
On Shinar's widespread champaign did astound
High Babel's builders vain, and their proud works
Much was the knight empaffion'd at the scene;
But more his blooming fon, whofe tender breast
Empierced deep with fympathizing teen
On his pale cheek the figns of drad imprefs'd,
And fill'd his eyes with tears which fore diftrefs'd;
Up to his fire he rais'd in mournful wife,
Who with fweet imiles paternal foon redrefs'd
His troublous thoughts, and clear'd cach fad fur-
mife;
Then turns his ready fteed, and on his journey hies.
But far he had not march'd ere he was stay'd
By a rude voice, that like th' united found
Of fhouting myriads thro' the valley bray'd,
And fhook the groves, the floods, and folid ground;
The diftant hills rebellow'd all around.
"Arreft, Sir Knight," it cried, "thy fond career,
"Nor with prefumptuous disobedience wound
"That awful majefty which all revere !
"In my commands, Sir Knight, the voice of
"nations hear."
Quick turn'd the knight, and faw upon the plain
Advancing tow'rds him, with impetuous gait,
And vifage all inflam'd with fierce difdain,
A monstrous giant, on whofe brow elate
Shone the bright enfign of imperial state;
Albeit lawful kingdom he had none,
But laws and kingdoms wont he oft create,
And oft times over both ere&t his throne,
While fenates, pricfts, and kings, his fovran
fceptre own.
Cuftom he hight, and aye in ev'ry land
Ufurp'd dominion with defpotic fway
O'er all he holds, and to his high command
Conftrains ev'n ftubborn Nature to obey,
Whom difpoffeffing oft he doth affay
To govern in her right; and with a pace
So foft and gentle doth he win his way,
That the unwares is caught in his embrace;
And tho' deflour'd and thrall'd nought feels her
foul difgrace.
For nurt'ring even from their tenderest age.
The docile fons of men withouten pain,
By difciplines and rules to ev'ry stage
of life accommodate, he doth them train
Infenfibly to wear and hug his chain :
Als his behefts or gentle or fevere,
Or good or noxious, rational or vain,
He craftily perfuades them to revere
As inftitutions fage and venerable lear.
Protector therefore of that forked hill,
And mighty patron of thofe Sifters Nine,
Who there enthron'd with many a copious rill,
Feed the full ftreams that thro' the valley thine,
He deemed was, and aye with rites divine,
Like thofe which Sparta's hardy race of yore
Were wont perform at full Diana's fhrine,
He doth constrain his vaffals to adore,
Perforce their facred names, and learn their fa
cred lore.
And to the Fairy knight now drawing near
With voice territic and imperious mien
(All was he wont lefs dreadful to appear
When known and practis'd than at distance feen)
And kingly ftretching forth his fceptre sheen,
Him he commandeth upon threaten'd pain
Of his difpleasure high and vengeance keen,
From his rebellious purpose to refrain,
And all duchonourspayto Learning'srev'rendtrain.
So faying, and foreftalling all reply,.
His peremptory hand without delay,
As one who little car'd to justify
His princely will, long us'd to boundless sway,
Upon the Fairy youth with great difinay
In ev'ry quaking limb convuls'd he lay'd,
And proudly ftalking o'er the verdant lay ++,
Him to thofe fcientific ftreams convev'd,
With many his young compeers, therein to be
embay'd‡‡.
The knight his tender fon's diftressful stour §§
Perceiving, fwift to his affiftauce flew,
Ne vainly ftay'd to deprecate that pow'r
Which from fubmiftion aye more haughty grew:
For that proud giant's force he wifely knew
Not to be meanly dreaded, nor defied
With rath prefumption; and with courage true,
Rather than ftep from virtue's paths afide,
Oft had he fingly fcorn'd his all-difmaying pride.
Mated, amazed, scared.
Whilere, formerly.
Parnaffe, Parnaffus.
Sovran, for fovereign.
The Lacedemonians, in order to make their children hardy, and endure pain with conftancy and courage, were accustomed to caufe them to be fcourged very feverely. "And I myself," fays Plutarch, in his Life of Lycurgus, "have feen feveral of them endure whipping to death at the foot of the altar of Diara, furStour, trouble, misfortune, &c. And
++ Lay, mead. + Embay'd, bathed, dipt.
And now, difdaining parle, his courfer hot
He fiercely prick'd, and couch'd his vengeful fpear,
Wherewith the giant he fo rudely imot,
That him perforce conftrain'd to wend ̈arrear;
Who much abash'd at fuch rebuke fevere,
Yet his accuftom'd pride recov'ring foon,
Forthwith his maffy fceptre 'gan uprear,
For other warlike weapon he had none,
They when their bleeding king they did behold,
And faw an armed knight him standing near,
Attended by that palmer fage and bold,
Whole vent rous fearch of devious truth whilere
Spread thro' the realms of learning horrours drear,
Yicized were at firft with teriors great,
And in their boding hearts began to fear
Diffenfion factious, controverfial hate,
Ne other him behov'd to quell his boldeft fone †. And innovations ftrange, in cuftom's peaceful state.
With that enormous mace the Fairy knight
So fore he bet that all his armour bray'd §,
To pieces well nigh riv'n with the might
Of fo rempestuous strokes; but he was stay'd,
And ever with delib'rate valour weigh'd
The fudden changes of the doubtful fray,
From cautious prudence oft deriving aid,
When force unequal did him hard affay;
So lightly from his fteed he leap'd upon the lay.
Then fwiftly drawing forth his trenchant | blade,
High o'er his head he held his fenceful shield,
And warily forecasting to evade
The giant's furious arm about him wheel'd,
With reftlefs fteps aye traverfing the field,
And ever as his foe's intemperate pride
Thro' rage defenceless mote advantage yield,
With his fharp fword fo oft he did him gride ¶,
That his gold fandal'd feet in crimson floods were
dy'd.
His bafer parts he maim'd with many a wound;
But far above his utmost reach were pight
The forts of life, ne never to confound
With utter ruin, and abolish quite
A pow'r fo puiffant, by his fingle might
Did he prefume to hope: himfelf alone
From lawless force to free in bloody fight
He stood, content to bow to cufiom's throne,
So reafon mote not blufh his fovran rule to own.
So well he warded and fo fiercely prest
His foe, that weary wex'd he of the fray.
Yet nould he algates ++lower his haughty creft,
But making in contempt his fore difmay,
Difdainfully releas'd the trembling prey
As one unworthy of his princely care;
Then proudly cafting on the warlike Fay ‡‡
A fimile of fcorn and pity, thro' the air
'Gan blow his fhrilling horn; the blaft was heard
afar.
Eftfoons aftonish'd at th' alarming found,
The fignal of diftrefs and hoftile wrong,
Confus'uly trooping from all quarters round,
Came pouring o'er the plain a num'rous throng
Of ev'ry fex and order, old and young,
The vaffals of great cuftom's wide domain,
Who to his lore inur'd by ufage long
His ev'ry fummons heard with pleasure fain,
And felt his ev'ry wound with fympathetic pain.
* Wend arrear, move backwards.
But when they faw the knight his fauchion fheathe,
And climbing to his fteed march thence away
With all his hoftile train, they 'gan to breathe
With freer fpirit, and with afpec gay
Soon chac'd the gath'ring clouds of black afray:
Als their great monarch, cheered with the view
Of myriads who confefs his fovran sway,
His ruffled pride began to plume anew,
And on his bugle clear a strain of triumph blew
Thereat the multitude that ftood around
Sent up at once a univerfal roar
Of boilt'rous joy: the fudden-bursting found,
Like the explofion of a warlike ftere
Of nitrous grain, th' afflicted welkin §§ tore:
Then turning tow'rds the knight with fcoffings
Heart-piercing infults and revilings fore, [lewd,
Loud burfts of laughter vain, and hiffes rude,
As thro' the throng he pafs'd his parting steps
purfued.
Als from that forked hill, the boafted feat
Of ftudious Peace and mild Philofophy,
Indignant murmurs mote be heard to threat,
Muft'ring their rage; eke baleful Infamy,
Rous'd from her den of bafe obfcurity
By those fame Maidens Nine, began to found
Her brazen trump of black ning obloquy,
While Satire with dark clouds encompass'd round
Sharp fecret arrows fhot, and aim'd his back to
wound.
But the brave Fairy knight, no whit difinay'd,
Held on his peaceful journey o'er the plain,
With curious eye obferving, as he ftray'd
Thro' the wide provinces of Cuftom's reign,
What mote afreth admonish him remain
Faft by his virtuous purpose; all around
So many objects mov'd his just difdain
Him feem'd that nothing ferious, nothing found,
In city, village, bow'r, or caftle, mote be found.
In village, city, caftle, bow'r, and hall,
Each fex, cach age, cach order and degree,
To vice and idle sport abandon'd all,
Kept one perpetual gen'ral jubilee,
Ne fuffer'd ought difturb their merry glee;
Ne fenfe of private lofs, ne public woes,
Reftraint of law, religion's drad decree,
Inteftine defolation, foreign foes, [vulfive throes.
Nor Heaven's tempeftous threats, nor earth's con-
++ Nould he algates, would not by any means,
Bet, beat. ** Pight, placed.
But chiefly they whom Heaven's difpofing hand
Had feated high on Fortune's upper ftage,
And plac'd within their call the facred band
That waits on Nurture and Inftruction fage,
If haply their wife heftsmote them engage
To climb thro' knowledge to more noble praife,
And, as they mount, enlighten ev'ry age
With the bright influence of fair virtue's rays,
Which from the awful heights of grandeur
brighter blaze:-
They, O perverfe and bafe ingratitude!
Defpifing the great ends of Providence,
For which above their mates they were endued
With wealth, authority, and eminence,
To the low fervices of brutal fenfe
Abus'd the means of pleatures more refin'a,
Of knowledge, virtuc, and beneficence,
And, fett'ring on her throne th' immortal Mind,
The guidance of her realm to paflions wild refign'd.
Hence, thoughtless, shamelefs, reckless, fpiritlefs,
Nought worthy of their kind did they effay,
But or benumb'd with pallied idlenet's
In merely living, loiter'd life away,
Or by falie tafte of pleasure led aftray,
For ever wand'ring in the fenfual bow'rs
Of feverish Debauch and luftful Play,
Spent on ignoble toils their active pow'rs,
And with untimely blafts difcas'd their vernal
E'en they to whom kind Nature did accord
A frame more delicate and purer mind,
Tho' the foul brothel and the wine-ftain'd board
Of beaftly Comus loathing they declin'd,
Yet their foft hearts to idle joys refign'd;
Like painted infects thro' the fummer air
With random flight aye ranging unconfin'd,
And tafting ev'ry flow'r and bloffom fair
Withouten any choice, withouten any care.
For choice them needed none who only fought
With vain amufements to beguile the day;
And wherefore thould they take or care or thought
Whom Nature prompts and Fortune calls to play
"Lords of the earth, be happy as ye nay!"
So learn'd, fo taught, the leaders of mankind
Th'unreafoning vulgar willingly obey,
And, leaving toil and poverty behind,
Ran forth by diffrent ways the blifsful boon to
Nor tedious was the fearch; for ev'ry where,
As nigh great Cullom's royal tow'rs the knight
Pafs'd thro' th'adjoining hamlets, mote he hear
The merry voice of feftival delight
Saluting the return of morning bright
With matin revels by the mid-day hours
Scarce ended, and again with dewy night
In cover'd theatres or leafy bow'rs,
Of ring her ev'ning vows to Pleafure's joyous
And ever on the way mote he efpy
Men, women, children, a promifcuous throng
Or rich, poor, wife and fimple, low and high,
By land, by water, paffing ave along
With muriners, anticks, mufic, dance and fong,
* Hefts, beheds, precepts, commands.
To Pleafure's num'rous temples, that befide The glift'ning ftreams, or tufted groves among, To ev'ry idle foot flood open wide,
And ev'ry gay defire with various joys fupplied.
For there each earth with diverse charms to move
The fly enchantrefs fummon'd all her train;
Alluring Venus, queen of vagrant love,
And tricking Hermes, god of fraudful gain,
The boon companion Bacchus, loud and vain,
Who when blind Fortune throws directs the dic,
And Phabus, tuning his foft Lydian ftrain
To wanton motions and the lover's figh,
And thought-beguiling fhew and making revelry.
Unmeet affociates thefe for noble youth
Who to true honour meaneth to afpire,
And for the works of virtue, faith and truth,
The which avizing well the cautious fire
Would keep his manly faculties entire,
From that foft Siren land of pleafaunce vain
With timely hafte was minded to retire,
Or ere the fweet contagion mote attain
His fon's unpractis'd heart, yet free from vicious
So turning from that beaten road afide,
Thro' many a devious path at length he pac'd,
As that experienc'd palmer did him guide,
Till to a mountain hoare they came at last,
Majeftically frown'd upon the plain,
Whofe high-rais'd brows, with fylvan honours
[grac'd,
And over all an awful horror caft;
Seem'd as thofe villas gay it did difdain, [train.
Which fpangled all the vale like Flora's painted
The hill afcended straight, crewhile they came
To a tall grove, whofe thick embow'ring shade,
Impervious to the fun's meridian flame,
F'en at mid-noon a dubious twilight made,
Like to that fober light which, difarray'd
Of all its gorgeous robe, with bhinted beams
Thro' windows dim with holy acts pourtray'd
Along fome cloifter'd abbey faintly gleams,
Abtracting the rapt thought from vain carth
inuting themes.
Beneath this high o'erarching canopy
Of cluft'ring oaks, a fylvan colonnade,
Ave litt ning to the native melody
Of birds fweet echoing thro' the lonely fhade,
On to the centre of the grove they stray'd;
Which in a fpacious circle op'ning round
Within its helt ring arms fecurely laid,
Difclos'd to fudden view a vale profound,
With Nature's artlefs fmiles and tranquil beau-
ties crown'd.
There, on the basis of an ancient pile,
Whole crois-furmounted fpite o'erlcok'd thewood,
A venerable matron they crewhile
Difcover'd have befide a murm'ring flood,
Reclining in right fad and penfive mood:
Retir'd within her own abftracted breaft,
She feem'd o'er various woes by turns to brood,
The which her changing cheer by turns exprefs'd,
Now glowing with difdain, with grief now over-
keft t.
4 Overkeft, for overcaft.
Her thus immers'd in anxious thoughts profound" Ev'n Wit and Genius with their learned train
"Of Arts and Mufes, tho' from heav'n above
"Defcended, when their talents they profane
"To varnish folly, kindle wanton love,
"And aid eccentric iceptic pride to rove
"Beyond celeftial truth's attractive sphere,
"This moral system's central fun, aye prove
"To their fond votaries a curse severe,
"And only make mankind more obstinately err.
Whenas the knight perceiv'd, he nearer drew, To weet what bitter bale did her astound, And whence th' occafion of her anguish grew; For that right noble matron well he knew, And many perils huge and labours fore Had for her fake endur'd, her vassal true, Train'd in her love, and practis'd evermore Her honour to refpect, and reverence her lore. "O'dearest Drad!" he cried, "fair Inland Queen!" And ftand my fons herein from cenfure clear? "Mother of heroes! Emprefs of the main ! "Have they confider'd well and understood "What means that ftormy brow of troublous" The ufe and import of thofe bleffings dear [train" Which the great Lord of Nature hath bestow'd “Sith heaven-born Peace, with all her smiling "Of sciences and arts, adorns thy reign "As well to prove as to reward the good? "Whence are these torrents then, these billowy "With wealth and knowledge, fplendour and " Of vice, in which as in his proper flood [feas [plain!" The fell Leviathan licentious plays, "Each port how throng'd! how fruitful ev'ry" And upon fhipwreck'd Faith and sinking Vir"How blithe the country! and how gay the [boon!"' "While Liberty fecures and heightens ev'ry Awaken'd from her trance of penfive wo By these fair flatt'ring words, the rais'd her head, And bending on the knight her frowning brow, "Mock'st thou my forrows, Fairy Son?" The faid; "Or is thy judgment by thy heart misled "To deem that certain which thy hopes fuggeft" "To deem them full of life and luftihead + "Whose cheeks in Hebe's vivid tints are drefs'd, "And with joy's carclefs mien and dimpled "fmiles imprefs'd !
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Thy unfufpecting heart how nobly good
I know, how fanguine in thy country's caufe,
And mark'd thy virtue fingly how it stood
Th' affaults of mighty custom, which o'erawes
The faint and tim rous mind, and oft withdraws
From Reafon's lore th' ambitious and the vain,
By the fweet lure of popular applause,
"Against their better knowledge to maintain
"To you, ye noble, opulent, and great!
"With friendly voice I call and honeft zeal;
"Upon your vital influences wait
The health and sickness of the common weal:
In vain to the unthinking harden'd crowd
"The maladies you cause yourselves must heal.
"Will truth and reafon make their just appeal,
In vain will facred wifdom cry aloud, [blood.
"And juftice drench invain her vengeful fword in
"With you must reformation firft take place:
"You are the head, the intellectual mind
"Of this vaft body politic, whose base
All the rich ftores of fcience have refign'd
And vulgar limbs to drudgery confign'd,
The fea-worn mariner and fweating hind,
"To you, that by the craftsman's various toil,
In peace and affluence maintain'd, the while
You for yourfulves and them may drefs the
"The lawless throne of Vice or Folly's childish" Bethink you then, my children! of the trust
"How vaft his influence, how wide his fway,
"Thyfelf erewhile by proof didft understand,
"And faw'ft, as thro' his realms thou took'st thy
66 way,
"How vice and folly had o'erspread the land:
"And canft thou then, O Fairy Son! demand
"The reafon of my wo? or hope to eafe
"The throbbings of my heart with fpeeches bland,
"And words more apt my forrows to increase,
"The once-dear names of wealth, and liberty,
"Peace, wealth, and liberty, that noblest boon,
Are bleffings only to the wife and good;
To weak and vicious minds their worth un-
"known,
"In you repos'd; ne let your heaven-born mind
"Confume in pleafure or unactive rust,
“But nobly roufe you to the task affign'd,
"The godlike talk, to teach and mend markind!
"Learn, that ye may inftruct: to virtue lead
"Yourselves the way; the herd will crowd be-
"hind,
"And gather precepts from each worthy deed:
"Example is a leffan that all men can read.
"But if (to all or moft I do not (peak)
"In vain and fenfual habits now grown old
The ftrong Circean charm you carnot break, "Nor reaffume at will your native mould ‡, "Yet envy not the flate you could not hold, "And take compaffion on the rifing age; "In them redeem your errors manifold, "And thence abus'd, but ferve to furnish food "And by due difcipline and nurture f "For riot and debauch, and fire the blood "In virtue's lore betimes your docile fons engage. "With high-fpiced luxury, whence strife, debate. "You chiefly who like me in fecret mourn "Ambition, envy, Faction's vip'rous blood, "The prevalence of custom lewd and vain, "Contempt of order, manners profligate, [ftate." And you who tho' by the rude torrent borne "The fymptoms of a foul, difeas'd and bloated" Urwillingly along, you yield with pain
Luftihead, ftrong health, vigour.
To his behefts, and act what you disdain, "Yet nourish in your hearts the gen'rous love "Ofety and truth, no more restrain
The manly zeal, but all your fiews move The prefent to reclaim, the future race im06 prove.
Eftfoons by your joint efforts fhall be quell'd "Yon haughty giant, who fo proudly fways "A fceptre by repute alone upheld,
"Who where he cannot dictate straight obeys : "Accustom'd to conform his flatt'ring phrafe "To numbers and hight-plac'd authority "Your party he will join, your maxims praise, And, drawing after all his menial fry, "Soon teach the gen'ral voice your act to ratify. Ne for th' atchievement of this great emprize The want of means or counfel may ye dread; From my twin-daughters fruitful wombs fhall A race of letter'd fages deeply reaď [rife In learning's yarious writ, by whom yled "Thro' each well-cultur'd plot, cach beauteous 66 grove,
"Where antic wifdom whilom wont to tread, "With mingled glee and profit may ye rove, "And cull each virtuous plant, each tree of knowledge prove.
On this prime fcience, as the final end "Of all her difcipline and nurt'ring care, "Her cye Pædia fixing, ave fhall bend
Her ev'ry thought and effort to prepare Her tender pupils for the various war Which vice and folly thall upon them wage "As on the perilous march of life they fare,
With prudert lore fore-arming ev'ry age "'Gainft Pleafure's treach'rous joys and Pain's "embattled rage.
"Then fhall my youthful fons, to wisdom led "By fair example and ingenuous praise,
With willing feet the paths of duty tread, Thro' the world's intricate or rugged ways, Conducted by Religion's facred rays,
"Whofe foul-invigorating influence
"Shall purge their minds from all impure allays "Of fordid felfifhnefs, and brutal fente; [lence. "And fwell th' ennobled heart with bleft benevo"Then alfo fhall this emblematic pile, "By magic whikom fram'd to fympathife "With all the fortunes of this changeful ifle, "Still as my fons in fame and virtue rife, [fkics "Grow with their growth, and to th'applauding "Its radiant crofs uplift; the while to grace "The multiplying niches freth fupplics "Of worthies fhall fucceed, with equal pace Aye following their fires in virtue's glorious
Fir'd with th' idea of her future fame,
She rofe majeftic from her lowly ftead,
While from her vivid eyes a fparkling flame
Outbeaming, with unwonted light o'erfpread
That monumental pike, and, as her head
To ev'ry front the turn'd, difcover'd round
The venerable forms of heroes dead,
Who for their various merit, eft renown'd,
In this bright fane of glory fhrines of honour found.
On thefe that royal dame her ravifh'd eyes
Would often feat; and ever as the fpied [rife,
Forth from the ground the length'ning ftructure
With new-plac'd ftatues deck'd on ev'ry file,
Her parent breaft would fwell with gen'rous pride.
And now with her in that fequefter'd plain
The knight a while conftraining to abide,
She to the Fairy youth with pleature fain
Thofe fculptur'd chiefs did fhew, and their great
lives explain.
$53. A Birth-Day Thought.
CANI, all gracious Providence!
Can I deferve thy care?
Ah! no: I've not the leaft pretence
To bounties which I thare.
Have I not been defended still
From dangers and from death;
Been fafe preferv'd from ev'ry ill
E'er fince thou gave me breath! I live once more, to fee the day
That brought me first to light; O' teach my willing heart the way
To take thy mercies right.
Tho' dazzling fplendor, pomp, and shew,
My fortune has denied;
Yet more than grandeur can bestow
Content hath well fupplied.
No ftrife has e'er difturb'd my peace,
No mis'ries have I known;
And, that I'm blefs'd with health and cafe,
With humble thanks I own.
I envy no one's birth or fame,
Their titles, train, or drefs;
Nor has my pride e'er ftretch'd its aim
Beyond what I poffels.
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