See nature haftes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incenfe of the breathing spring:
See lofty Lebanon his head advance,

6

See nodding forefts on the mountains dance :
See fpicy clouds from lowly Saron rife,
And Carmel's flow'ry top perfumes the skies!
Hark! a glad voice the lonely defart chears
Prepare the way! a God, a God appears :
A God, a God! the vocal hills reply,
The rocks proclaim th' approaching deity.
Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies!
Sink down ye mountains, and ye vallies rise;
With heads declin'd, ye cedars, homage pay;
Be fmooth ye rocks, ye rapid floods give way !
The Saviour comes! by ancient bards foretold :
Hear him ye deaf, and all ye blind behold!

7

Ver 23. See nature haftes, &c.]

Virg. E. 4. v. 18.

At tibi prima, puer, nullo munufcula cultu,
Errantes hederas paffim cum baccare tellus,
Mixtaque ridenti colocafia fundet acantho-

Ipfa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores.

25

30

35

For thee, O child, fhall the earth without being tilled, produce her early offerings; winding ivy, mixed with baccar, and colocafia with Smiling acanthus. Thy cradle fhall pour forth pleafing flowers about thee.

Ifaiah, chap. xxxv. ver. 1. The wilderness and the folitary place shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rofe. Chap. Ix. ver. 13. The glory of Lebanon fhall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of thy fanctuary.

Ver. 29. Hark! a glad voice, &c.]

Virg. E. 4. v. 46. Aggredere ô magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores.
Cara deûm foboles, magnum jovis incrementum-

Ipfi lætitia voces ad fydera jactant

Intonfi montes, ipfæ jam carmina rupes,

Ipfa fonant arbufta, Deus, deus ille Menalca!
E. 5. ver. 62.

O come and receive the mighty honours: the time draws nigh, O beloved offspring of the Gods, O great encreafe of Jove! The uncultivated mountains fend fhouts of joy to the ftars, the very rocks fing in verse, the very shrubs cry out, A God, a God!

Ifaiah, ch. xl. ver. 3, 4. The voice of him that crieth in the wilder nefs, prepare ye the way of the Lord! make ftrait in the defart a high way for our God! every valley fhall be exalted, and every mountain and bill fhall be made low, and the crooked shall be made ftrait, and the the rough places plain. Chap. iv. ver. 23. Break forth into finging, ye mountains! O foreft, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed 5 Ch. xxxv. ver. 2. 6 Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4. 7 Ch. xlii. ver. 18. Ch, xxxv. ver. 5, 6.

Ifrael.

He from thick films fhall purge the visual ray,
And on the fightless eye-ball pour the day.
'Tis he th' obftructed paths of found fhall clear,
And bid new mufic charm th' unfolding ear:
The dumb fhall fing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap exulting like the bounding roe.
No figh no murmur the wide world shall hear,
From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear.
In adamantine chains shall death be bound,
And Hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good fhepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks freshest pasture and the pureft air,
Explores the loft, the wand'ring sheep directs,
By day o'er fees them, and by night protects,
The tender lambs he raifes in his arms,

9

Feeds from his hand, and in his bofom warms;
Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage,
The promis'd 10 father of the future age.
No more fhall nation against nation rise,
Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes.
Nor fields with gleaming fteel be cover'd o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But ufelefs lances into scythes fhall bend,

40

45

50

55

60

And the broad faulchion in a plowshare end.
Then palaces fhall rife; the joyful 12 fon
Shall finish what his fhort-liv'd fire begun ;

Their vines a fhadow to their race fhall yield,
And the fame hand that fow'd, shall reap the field.

65.

The fwain in barren 13 deferts with furprize

See lillies fpring, and fudden verdure rise;

Ver. 67. The fwain in barren defarts, &c.]

Virg. E. 4. ver. 28. Molli paulatim flavescit campus arista,

Incultifque rubens pendebit fentibus uva,

Et duræ quercus fudabunt roscida mella.

The fields fhall grow yellow with ripen'd ears, and the red grape fhalt bang upon the wild brambles, and the hard oaks fhall diftill boney like

derv.

Ifaiah, ch. xxxv. ver.. The parched ground fhall become a pool, and the thirfly land fprings of water: In the babitations where dragons lay, fhall be grafs, and reeds, and rushes. Ch. lv. ver. 13. Instead of the thorn fhall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar fhall come up the myrtle-tree.

8. Ch. xxv. ver. 8.

ver. 6.

9 Ch. xl. ver. 11.
10 Ch. ix.
12 Ch, lxv. ver. 21, 22.

II Ch. ii. ver. 4.

12 Ch. xxxv. ver. 1, 7.

And starts, amidst the thirsty wilds to hear
New falls of water murm'ring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,

70

The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods.

Waste fandy 14 vallies, once perplex'd with thorn,
The fpiry fir and shapely box adorn;

The leaflefs fhrubs the flow'ry palms fucceed,

75

And od'rous myrtle to the noisom weed.

The 15 lambs with wolves fhall graze the verdant mead,

And with their forked tongue fhall innocently play.

Rife, crown'd with light, imperial 17 Salem rise!
Exalt thy tow'ry head, and lift thy eyes!

85

18

See, a long race thy fpacious courts adorn ;
See future fons, and daughters yet unborn,

Ver. 77. The lambs with wolves, &c.]

Virg. E. 4. v. 21. Ipfæ lacte domum referent diftenta capella

Ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leones---
Occidet & ferpens, et fallax herba veneni

Occidet

The goats fhall bear to the fold their udders diftended with milk: nor fball the herds be afraid of the greatest lions. The ferpent fhall die, and the herb that conceals poifon fhall die.

And the

Ifaiah, ch. xi. ver. 16, &c. The wolf ball dwell with the lamb, and the leopard fhall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together: and a little child fhall lead them lion fhall eat firaw like the ox. And the fucking child fall play on the bole of the afp, and the weaned child fhall put his hand on the den of the

cockatrice.

Ver. 85. Rife, crown'd with light, &c.]

The thoughts of Ifaiab, which compofe the latter part of the poem, are wonderfully elevated, and much above thofe general exclamations of Virgil, which makes the loftieft parts of his Pollie.

Magnus ab integro fæclorum nafcitur ordo !
tota furget gens aurea mundo!

incipient magni procedere menfes !

Afpice, venturo latentur ut omnia fæclo! &c.

The reader need only turn to the paffages of Ifaiah, here cited.

14 Ch. xli. ver. 19, and Ch. Iv. ver. 13.

16 Ch. lxv. ver. 25.

15 Ch. xi. ver. 6, 7, 8,

17 Ch. lx. ver. 1.

18 Ch, lx. ver, 4.

In crouding ranks on ev'ry fide arise,

Demanding life, impatient for the fkies!.

90

See barbarous 19 nations at thy gates attend,

Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend ;

See thy bright altars throng'd with proftrate kings,

And heap'd with products of 20 Saban fprings!

For thee Idume's spicy forefts blow,

95

And feeds of gold in Opbyr's mountains glow.
See heav'n its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day.
No more the rifing 21 fun fhall gild the morn,
Nor ev'ning Cynthia fill her filver horn;
But loft, diffolv'd in thy fuperior rays,
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze
O'erflow thy courts: the light himself fhall fhine
Reveal'd and God's eternal day be thine!
The 22 feas fhall waste, the skies in fmoak decay,
Rocks fall to duft, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd his word, his faving pow'r remains;
Thy realm for ever lafts, thy own Melah reigns!

19 Ch. lx. ver. 3.

100

105

20 Ch. lx. ver. 6... .21 Ch. lx. ver, 20.

22 Ch. li. ver, 6, and Ch. liv. ver. 10

弟弟

TH

CHA P. XII.

Of the EPISTLE.

HIS fpecies of writing, if we are permitted to lay down rules from the examples of our beft poets, admits of great latitude, and folicits ornament and decora tion; yet the poet is ftill to confider that the true character of the Epifle is eafe and elegance; nothing therefore fhould be forced or unnatural, laboured, or affected, but every part of the compofition breathe an eafy, polite, and unconstrained freedom.

It is fuitable to every fubject; for as the Epiftle takes place of difcourfe, and is intended as a fort of diftant converfation, all the affairs of life and researches into nature may be introduced. Those however which are fraught with compliment or condolence, that contain a

defcription of places, or are full of pertinent remarks, and in a familiar and humourous way defcribe the manners, vices, and follies of mankind are the beft; because they are most fuitable to the true character of Epiftolary writing, and (bufinefs fet apart) are the ufual fubjects upon which our letters are employ'd.

All farther rules and directions are unneceffary, for this kind of writing, is better learned by example and practice, than by precept. We fhall therefore in conformity to our plan felect a few Epiftles for the reader's imitation; which, as this method of writing has of late much prevailed, 'may be beft taken perhaps, from our modern poets.

"

The following letter from Mr. Addifon to lord Halifax, contains an elegant description of the curiofities and places about Rome, together with fuch reflections on the ineftimable bleffings of liberty, as muft give pleasure to every Englishman, efpecially when he fees them thus placed in direct oppofition to the baneful influences of flavery and oppreffion which are ever to be seen among the miferable inhabitants of thofe countries.

A Letter from Italy to the Right Honourable Charles Lord Halifax, in the Year 1701. By Mr. ADDISON.

While you, my lord, the rural fhades admire, And from Britannia's public polts retire,

eafe;

Nor longer, her ungrateful fons to please,
For their advantage facrifice your
Me into foreign realms my fate conveys,
Through nations fruitful of immortal lays,
Where the foft feafon and inviting clime
Confpire to trouble your repofe with rhime.

For wherefoe'er I turn my ravish'd eyes,
Gay gilded fcenes and fhining profpects rife,
Poetic fields incompafs me around,
And still I feem to tread on claffic ground;
For here the mufe fo oft her harp has trung,
That not a mountain rears its head unfung,
Renown'd in verfe each fhady thicket grows,
And ev'ry ftream in heav'nly numbers flows.
How am I pleas'd to fearch the hills and woods
For rifing fprings and celebrated floods;