"Grace, grandeur, and utility combin'd;

"Restore those tranquil days that saw me still "Well pleas'd with all, but most with human-kind; "When Fancy roam'd thro' Nature's works at will, "Uncheck'd by cold distrust, and uninform'd of ill."

"Wouldst thou," the Sage replied, "in peace return, "To the gay dreams of fond romantic youth, "Leave me to hide, in this remote sojourn, "From every gentle ear the dreadful truth: "For if my desultory strain with ruth

"And indignation make thine eyes o'erflow, "Alas! what comfort could thy anguish sooth, "Should'st thou the extent of human folly know? "Be ignorance thy choice, where knowledge leads to

Wo.

"But let untender thoughts afar be driven;
"Nor venture to arraign the dread decree:
"For know, to man, as candidate for heaven,
"The voice of The Eternal said, Be free;
"And this divine prerogative to thee
"Does virtue, happiness, and heaven convey;
"For virtue is the child of liberty,

"And happiness of virtue; nor can they

"Be free to keep the path who are not free to stray.

"Yet leave me not. I would allay that grief, "Which else might thy young virtue overpower; "And in thy converse I shall find relief,

"When the dark shades of melancholy lower;

"For solitude has many a dreary hour,

"Even when exempt from grief, remorse, and pain: "Come often then; for, haply, in my bower, "Amusement, knowledge, wisdom, thou may'st gain. "If I one soul improve I have not liv'd in vain."

And now, at length, to Edwin's ardent gaze
The Muse of history unrolls her page.
But few, alas! the scenes her art displays,
To charm his fancy, or his heart engage.

Here chiefs their thirst of power in blood assuage;
And straight their flames with tenfold fierceness burn!
Here smiling Virtue prompts the patriot's rage,
But, lo! ere long, is left alone to mourn,

And languish in the dust, and clasp the abandon'd urn.

"Ah! what avails," he said, "to trace the springs "That whirl of empire, the stupendous wheel! "Ah! what have I to do with conquering kings, "Hands drench'd in blood, and breasts begirt with steel!

"To those, whom Nature taught to think and feel, "Heroes, alas! are things of small concern.

"Could History man's secret heart reveal,

"And what imports a heaven-born mind to learn, "Her transcripts to explore what bosom would not yearn!

"This praise, O Cheronean Sage,* is thine.
("Why should this praise to thee alone belong!)

* Plutarch.

"All else from Nature's moral path decline, "Lur'd by the toys that captivate the throng; "To herd in cabinets and camps, among "Spoil, carnage, and the cruel pomp of pride; "Or chant of heraldry the drowsy song, "How tyrant blood, o'er many a region wide, "Rolls to a thousand thrones its execrable tide.

"O who of man the story will unfold, "Ere victory and empire wrought annoy, "In that Elysian age, (misnam'd of gold,) "The age of love, and innocence, and joy, "When all were great and free! man's sole employ "To deck the bosom of his parent earth;

"Or toward his bower the murmuring stream decoy, "To aid the floweret's long-expected birth,

"And lull the bed of peace, and crown the board of mirth.

"Sweet were your shades, O ye primeval groves, "Whose boughs to man his food and shelter lent, "Pure in his pleasures, happy in his loves, "His eye still smiling, and his heart content; [went. “Then, hand in hand Health, Sport, and Labour "Nature supplied the wish she taught to crave. "None prowl'd for prey, none watch'd to circum

vent;

"To all an equal lot Heavn's bounty gave: "No vassal fear'd his lord, no tyrant fear'd his slave.

But, ah! th' Historic Muse has never dar'd [beam To pierce those hallow'd bowers; tis Fancy's

"Pour'd on the vision of th' enraptur'd Bard, "That paints the charms of that delicious theme. "Then hail, sweet Fancy's ray! and hail the dream "That weans the weary soul from guilt and wo! "Careless what others of my choice may deem, "I long where Love and Fancy lead to go,

"And meditate on Heaven; enough of earth I know.”

"I cannot blame thy choice," the Sage replied, "For soft and smooth are Fancy's flowery ways. "And yet even there, if left without a guide, "The young adventurer unsafely plays. "Eyes dazzled long by Fiction's gaudy rays, "In modest Truth no light nor beauty find.

"And who, my child, would trust the meteor-blaze, "That soon must fail, and leave the wanderer blind, "More dark and helpless far, than if it ne'er had shin'd?

"Fancy enervates, while it sooths, the heart; "And while it dazzles, wounds the mental sight: "To joy each heightening charm it can impart, "But wraps the hour of wo in tenfold night : "And often, where no real ills affright,

"Its visionary fiends, an endless train,

"Assail with equal or superior might,

"And thro' the throbbing heart, and dizzy brain, "And shivering nerves, shoot stings of more than mortal pain.

"And yet, alas! the real ills of life

"Claim the full vigour of a mind prepar'd,—

"Prepar❜d for patient, long, laborious strife, "Its guide Experience, and Truth its guard. "We fare on earth as other men have far'd: "Were they successful? Let not us despair. "Was disappointment oft their sole reward? "Yet shall their tale instruct, if it declare "How they have borne the load ourselves are doom'd to bear.

"What charms the 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 enshrin'd "In power, and man with man for mutual aid combin'd?

"Hail, sacred Polity, by Freedom rear❜d!

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

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

"But now let other themes our care engage, "For, lo! with modest yet majestic grace,