Yet, notwithstanding all that the author has said concerning this external mark of reverence, he is sensible that there is a set of cynical philosophers, who are so far from paying it due regard, that they count it no better than a refined species of idolatry, and an abomination utterly unbecoming so noble and erect a creature as man. Upon these gentlemen it is not to be expected that the best bow which the author or his book could make, would have any effect; and therefore he shall decline that ceremony with them, to take them by the hand in a friendly manner, hoping that they will make some allowance for his having been taught against his own consent to dance, and scribble from his infancy. He is aware likewise that there is another sect of philosophers, whom his ingenious friend Mr. G. author of the Spiritual Quixote, distinguishes by the name of censorious Christians, “who,” as he expresses it, “will not suffer a man to nod in his elbow-chair, or to talk nonsense without contradicting or ridiculing him.”—But as the writer of this admirable work has shown himself so able and successful a casuist in a similar instance of a petulant and over officious zeal, he hopes these gentlemen will, in imitation of Mr. Wildgoose, for the future refrain from a practice so injurious to their neighbours' repose, and so contrary to all the laws of civility and good manners. It is true, some of these literati may be considered under a more formidable character, from their custom of holding a monthly meeting, or office for arraigning the conduct of all whom they suspect of maintaining heretical opinions contrary to their jurisdiction. In this view these good fathers scruple not to put an author upon the rack for the slightest offence, and not content with their claims of inspiration and infallibility, will torture his own words to prove his guilt. In the execution of this office they judge all men by their own standard, and, like the tyrant Procrustes, regardless of the acute pain they inflict at every stroke, will lop off a foot, or any other portion of an author's matter, or lengthen it out, as best suits their purpose, to bring him to their measure. But to the inexpressible comfort of himself, and of every free-born English writer, the author reflects that the competence of such a court cannot be admitted in a protestant country: and to speak the truth, from experience, its power, as exercised amongst us, though still very tremendous, is tempered with a gentleness and moderation unknown to those of Spain and Portugal. But though the author is not without hopes, by his complaisance and condescension, to conciliate the affections of all those various sects of the learned in every part of the world, yet his principal dependence is upon the gentle and humane, whose minds are always open to the feelings of others, as well as to the gratification of their own refined taste and sentiments; and to these he makes his appeal, which he hopes they will accept as a tribute due to their superior merit, and a testimony of the profound respect with which he is their most obedient, humble servant, THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. THE following poem takes its name from a ridge of hills, which is the boundary between the counties of Oxford and Warwick, and remarkable for its beautiful and extensive prospect, of which the latter forms a considerable part. This circumstance afforded the writer an opportunity, very agreeable to him, of paying a tribute to his native country, by exhibiting its beauties to the public in a poetical delineation; divided, by an imaginary line, into a number of distinct scenes, corresponding with the different times of the day, each forming an entire picture, and containing its due proportion of objects and colouring. In the execution of this design, he endeavoured to make it as extensively interesting as he could, by the frequent introduction of general reflections, historical, philosophical, and moral; and to enliven the description by digressions and episodes, naturally arising from the subject. EDGE-HILL. BOOK I. MORNING. ARGUMENT. The subject proposed. Address. Ascent to the hill. General view. Comparison. Philosophical account of the origin and formation of mountains, &c. Morning view, comprehending the southwest part of the scene, interspersed with elements and examples of rural taste; showing, at the same time, its connection with, and dependence upon civil government; and concluding with an historical episode of the Red-horse. BRITA RITANNIA'S rural charms, and tranquil scenes, Far from the circling ocean, where her fleets, Like Eden's nightly guards', majestic ride, I sing; O may the theme and kindred soil Propitious prove, and to th' appointed hill Invite the Muses from their cloister'd shades, With me to rove, and harmonize the strain! Nor shall they, for a time, regret the loss Of their lov'd Isis, and fair Cherwel's stream, While to the north of their own beauteous fields The pictur'd scene they view, where Avon shapes His winding way, enlarging as it flows, Nor hastes to join Sabrina's prouder wave. Like a tall rampart! here the mountain rears Its verdant edge; and, if the tuneful maids Their presence deign, shall with Parnassus vie. Level and smooth the track, which thither leads! Of champaign bold and fair! its adverse side Abrupt and steep! Thanks, Miller 2! to thy paths, That ease our winding steps! Thanks to the fount, 1 Milton. Paradise Lost, book iv. * Sanderson Miller, esq. of Radway. The trees, the flow'rs, imparting to the sense Still let thy friendship, which prepar'd the way, The summit's gain'd! and, from its airy height, The late-trod plain looks like an inland sea, View'd from some promontory's hoary head, With distant shores environ'd; not with face Glassy and uniform, but when its waves Are gently ruffled by the southern gale, And the tall masts i ke waving forests rise. Such is the scene! that, from the terrac'd hill, Displays its graces; intermixture sweet Of lawns and groves, of open and retir'd. Vales, farms, towns, villas. castles, distant spires, And hills on hills, with ambient clouds enrob'd, In long succession court the lab'ring sight, Lost in the bright confusion. Thus the youth, Escap'd from painful drudgery of words, Views the fair fields of science wide display'd; Where Phebus dwelis, and all the tuneful Nine; Perplex'd awhile he stands, and now to this, Now that blest seat of harmony divine Explores his way, with giddy rapture tir'd: Til some sage Mentor, whose experienc'd feet Have trod the mazy path, directs his search, And leads him wond'ring to their bright abodes. Come then, my fr end! guide thou th' advent'rous Muse, And with thy counsel regulate her flight. Yet, ere the sweet excursion she begins, O! listen, while, from sacred records drawn, My daring song unfolds the cause, whence rose This various face of things-of high, of lowOf rough and smooth. For with its parent Earth Coeval not prevail'd what now appears Of hill and dale; nor was its new-form'd shape, Like a smooth polish'd orb, a surface plain, Wanting the sweet variety of change, Concave, convex, the deep, and the sublime: Nor, from old Ocean's watry bed, were scoop'd Its neighb'ring shores; nor were they now depress'd, Now rais'd by sudden shocks; but fashion'd all In perfect harmony by laws divine 4, On passive matter, at its birth impress'd. 3 See Lord Shaftsbury's Judgment of Hercules. ✦ Amongst the many fanciful conceits of writers on the subject, a learned divine, in his Confutation of Dr. Burnett's Theory, supposes that hills and mountains might be occasioned by fermentation, after the manner of leaven in dough; while others have attributed their production to the several different causes mentioned above. The following solution, by the descent of water from the surface of the Earth to the centre, seemed most easy and natural to the author, and is therefore adopted. Vide Warren's Geologiæ, 1698. When now two days, as mortals count their time, Th' Almighty had employ'd on man's abode; To motion rous'd the dead, inactive mass, The dark illumin'd, and the parts terrene Impelling each to each, the circle form'd, Compact and firm, of Earth's stupendous orb, With boundless seas, as with a garment cloth'd, On the third morn he bade the waters flow Down to their place, and let dry land appear; And it was so. Straight to their destin'd bed, From every part, th' obedient waters ran, Shaping their downward course, and, as they found Resistance varying with the varying soil, In their retreat they form'd the gentle slope, Or headlong precipice, or deep-worn dale, Or valley, stretching far its winding maze, As further still their humid train they led, By Heav'n directed to the realms below", Now first was seen the variegated face Then wrath divine unbarr'd Heav'n's watry gates, 'T was to its first chaotic mass reduc'd 7, To prop the skies! and that fam'd Alpine ridge, Or Ararat, on whose emergent top First moor'd that precious bark, whose chosen crew Such is the structure, such the wave-worn face ? According to Mr. Hutchinson and his followers. According to Dr. Burnett's Theory. Confirming, with persuasive eloquence Now, while the Sun its heav'nly radiance sheds So sober sense oft shuns the public view, Hence, o'er the plain, where, strip'd with alleys green, The golden harvest nods, let me your view The Graces reign. Plains, hills, and woods reply "The Graces reign," and Nature smiles applause. Smile op, fair source of beauty, source of bliss! To crown the master's cost, and deck her path Who shares his joy, of gentlest manners join'd ? There are some remarkable traces of the great With manly sense, train'd to the love refin'd event here treated of, in each of these kinds, at Of Nature's charms in Wroxton's beauteous groves 15, Welcombe, near Stratford upon Avon, formerly a Thy neighb'ring villa's ever open gate, seat of the Combe family, the whole scene bearing And festive board, O Walton 16! next invite the strongest marks of some violent conflict of Na- The pleasing toil. Unwilling, who can pay ture, and particularly of the agency of water. To thee the votive strain? For Science here And Candour dwell, prepar'd alike to cheer The stranger-guest, or for the nation's weal To pour the stores mature of wisdom forth, In senatorial councils often prov'd, 10 May not the ebbing and flowing of the sea, to whatever cause it is owing, tend to assist this operation, as the pulsation of the heart accelerates the circulation of the blood in animal bodies? The reader may see this hypothesis very ably supported by Mr. Catcot, in his Essay on the Deluge, second edit., together with many respectable names, ancient and modern, by whom it is patronised. The following passage from Lucretius is quoted by him, as well expressing their general meaning: Partim quod subter per terras diditur omnes. VOL. XVII. the Deluge, are found in every part of the Earth, but chiefly in fens, or bogs, or amongst peat-earth, which is an assemblage of decayed vegetables. See Woodward's Nat. Hist. of the Earth, &c. 12 Upton, the seat of Robert Child, esq. 13 Compton-Winyate, a seat of the right hon. the earl of Northampton, at the foot of Edge-Hill. 14 Compton-Verney, a seat of the right hon. lord Willoughby de Broke. 15 Wroxton, the seat of the right hon. the earl of Guilford, father of lady Willoughby de Broke. 16 Walton, the seat of sir Charles Mordaunt, bart. many years a member of parliament for the county of Warwick. U And, by the public voice attested long, To speed her wealth, lo! the proud bridge 18 extends Of native soil! There Stower exulting pays Of Eatington's 20, and Tolton's " verdant meads, Hail, beauteous Avon, hail! on whose fair banks And thou, whose birth these walls unrival'd boast, That mock'st the rules of the proud Stagyrite, And learning's tedious toil, hail, mighty bard! Thou great magician, hail! Thy piercing thought Unaided saw each movement of the mind, As skilful artists view the small machine, 17 Charlecote, the seat of George Lucy, esq. 18 This bridge was built in the reign of king Henry VII. at the sole cost and charge of sir Hugh Clopton, knt. lord mayor of the city of London, and a native of this place. 19 The seat of James West, esq. 30 The seat of the hon. George Shirley, esq. The secret springs and nice dependencies, Alas! how languid is the labour'd song, I court the genius of thy sportive Muse To Britain's sister isle. Hibernia's sons With loftiest-titled names-The Cecil line, See, how the pillar'd isles and stately dome 23 So called from its situation on the river Alenus, or Alne, and from its being a Roman station on the Ikenild-street. 24 A seat of the right hon. the earl of Hertford.. 25 The right hon. Henry Seymour Conway, esq. one of his majesty's princpal secretaries of state, and brother to the right hon. the earl of Hertford. |