XLII.

"What charms th' Historic Muse adorn, from spoils,
"And blood, and tyrants, when she wings her flight,
"To hail the patriot Prince, whose pious toils
"Sacred to science, liberty, and right,

"And peace, through every age divinely bright
"Shall shine the boast and wonder of mankind!
"Sees yonder sun, from his meridian height,
"A lovelier scene, than Virtue thus enshrined

"In power, and man with man for mutual aid combined?

XLIII.

"Hail sacred Polity, by Freedom rear❜d!

"Hail sacred Freedom, when by Law restrain'd! "Without you what were man? A groveling herd "In darkness, wretchedness, and want enchain'd. "Sublimed by you, the Greek and Roman reign'd "In arts unrivall'd: O, to latest days,

"In Albion may your influence unprofaned "To godlike worth the generous bosom raise, "And prompt the Sage's lore, and fire the Poet's lays!

XLIV.

"But now let other themes our care engage.

"For lo, with modest yet majestic grace, "To curb Imagination's lawless rage,

"And from within the cherish'd heart to brace,

Philosophy appears. The gloomy race

"By Indolence and moping Fancy bred,

"Fear, Discontent, Solicitude give place,

"And Hope and Courage brighten in their stead,

"While on the kindling soul her vital beams are shed.

XLV.

"Then waken from long lethargy to life *
"The seeds of happiness, and powers of thought;
"Then jarring appetites forego their strife,

"A strife by ignorance to madness wrought.
"Pleasure by savage man is dearly bought
"With fell revenge, lust that defies controul,
"With gluttony and death. The mind untaught
"Is a dark waste, where fiends and tempests howl;
"As Phœbus to the world, is Science to the soul.

The influence of the Philosophic Spirit, in humanizing the mind, and preparing it for intellectual exertion and delicate pleasure;-in exploring, by the help of geometry,

XLVI.

"And Reason now through Number, Time, and Space,

"Darts the keen lustre of her serious eye,

"And learns, from facts compared, the laws to trace, "Whose long progression leads to Deity.

"Can mortal strength presume to soar so high! "Can mortal sight, so oft bedim'd with tears,

"Such glory bear!—for lo, the shadows fly

"From nature's face; Confusion disappears, "And order charms the eyes, and harmony the ears.

XLVII.

"In the deep windings of the grove, no more
"The hag obscene, and griesly phantom dwell;
"Nor in the fall of mountain-stream, or roar
"Of winds, is heard the angry spirit's yell;
"No wizard mutters the tremendous spell,
"Nor sinks convulsive in prophetic swoon;
"Nor bids the noise of drums and trumpets swell,
"To ease of fancied pangs the labouring moon,

"Or chace the shade that blots the blazing orb of noon.

the system of the universe;-in banishing superstition;-in promoting navigation, agriculture, medicine, and moral and political science from Stanza XLV. to Stanza LV.

XLVIII.

"Many a long-lingering year, in lonely isle, "Stunn'd with th' eternal turbulence of waves, "Lo, with dim eyes, that never learn'd to smile, " And trembling hands, the famish'd native craves "Of Heaven his wretched fare: shivering in caves, "Or scorch'd on rocks, he pines from day to day; "But Science gives the word; and lo, he braves "The surge and tempest, lighted by her ray, "And to a happier land wafts merrily away.

XLIX.

"And even where Nature loads the teeming plain "With the full pomp of vegetable store,

"Her bounty, unimproved, is deadly bane:

1

“Dark woods and rankling wilds, from shore to shore, "Stretch their enormous gloom; which to explore "Even Fancy trembles, in her sprightliest mood;

"For there each eyeball gleams with lust of

gore,

"Nestles each murderous and each monstrous brood,

"C Plague lurks in every shade, and steams from every flood.

L.

" 'Twas from Philosophy man learn'd to tame "The soil by plenty to intemperance fed.

"Lo, from the echoing ax, and thundering flame, "Poison and plague and yelling rage are fled.

"The waters, bursting from their slimy bed, "Bring health and melody to every vale:

"And, from the breezy main, and mountain's head,

"Ceres and Flora, to the sunny dale,

"To fan their glowing charms, invite the fluttering gale.

LI.

"What dire necessities on every hand

"Our art, or strength, our fortitude require! "Of foes intestine what a numerous band

“ Against this little throb of life conspire! "Yet Science can elude their fatal ire

"A while, and turn aside Death's levell'd dart,

"Sooth the sharp pang, allay the fever's fire,

"And brace the nerves once more, and chear the heart,

"And yet a few soft nights and balmy days impart.