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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Lea cartas, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent 6tre filmis A des taux da rMuction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul ciichd, il est filmA d partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas. en prenant le nombra d'imagas ndcessaira. Les diagrammas suivants illustrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 SP] WIT "Oi Back Ip]e Hold Ingei Swe( THE SPRING OF LIFE: A DIDACTIC POEM, IN FOUR HOOKS, WITH HISTORICAL AND ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES. BY J. G. WARD. "O thou, whom, borno on fancy's eager wing Back^to the season of life's happy spring, I pleased remembor, and while memory yet Holds fast her office here can ne'er forget; Ingenious dreamer, in whose well-told tale Sweet fiction and sweet truth alike prevail." COWPER. MONTREAL : PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 1834. fi j. t. W VI! n I'l-iut r, coriu i " w.u «J V.'C.iU 1*1 '■'f- PREFACE. Had tliu pucm bc>un publii^liuil in KnglaDJ, where llic larger portion of it was wiilten, it would liavo required but a bitort preface. In a country wire the mnjorily of the population i» ill educated and literatuic is divided into two languages; where the press does not produce annually a tithe of the reprints including school books, nor more original works, than a provincialtownof twenty •fivi' or ihiity thousand inhabitants of the mother country ; and where I believe was never before cfFered to the public a poem of the like lenglii and of the same kind, I feel that I ought not only to explain its nature, but to advocate and advance tlie causeof llleiaturein general and poetry in particular to the utmost of my power. The quiet pursuits and pleasurable recreations of literature, froui a view ot its state on this continent, one would think are in(;onipatible with tl.e noi.ie of business and the buslle of toiunierciiil enlerpriHc-. As air is the medium of light and the vehicle of harmony, go is literature the medium of know- ledgf and tliu vehicle ol civilization. That is the food of the body, lliis ol ihe soul ; tliwt is the breath cf mortal life, this of immoiial fame. Lileralun; is a beneficial relaxation from the toils of active life, and is as necessary to refrcslien and iuvigoralo the weuiiul mind as sleep is the fatigued body. Literature Ins over received the most encouragement from a commercial peojjle. ainong whom it has always most vigorously flourished. Venice, when the matt of all the luxuries and merchandizes of tlie east, was one of tlie first cities at which the press was established, and which was most famed for the neatness of its productions. When lluUaud could dispute the cmjiire of the ocean with (Jreal iv PR K FACE. lUilain, itho poured so rich a itruam of claiiic work* through- out Kurope, that to thi« day we cannot look at the tide of a Vir|{il or Horace without m'eing on it the name of one of her once great and wealthy citiex. Nor in iihe Icsm famed for her coninuiice th.xn for her having hevn thd uurie of literature, art*, and (cie icos. In Franco, I'ruKxia, Germany, and the whole of cuMghlened Europe, a man oi geniuH, a man of knowledge, i« a rccogni'/od power; to him the moit dia- tioguiahcd courteiici are paid, to him tho highest honora are awarded, liu difTuHeii intelligence, intelligoncj ia power, and power cieatos property. Ho only can control tho moat powerful and available engine for tho deatruction of ignorance and prevention of its conaequent physical inconveoiencies and moral cvila. The newspaper ii the literature of America; at once the map of busy lifo and almanac of the closing year. The circulation of periodical publications of vaiious kinds ia p'cally and buneficially enlarging. They are the germs of historical details ; they catch oventrt as they rise and note them down with strict fidelity and truth, from which they cannot deviate without immediate detection or refutation from cotemporaries. They are epitomies of the Heiles Lettres of the duy ; in which tiic real merit of authors is displayed by a juit, liberal, and enlightened criticism ; promoting a lively lolish of their beauties, distinguishing from them what is t.iultj, and teaching tocen-iuro and commend with judgment, K"wd .-ense, and refined taste. They are the mirrors of the arts and sciences of the age; Ihey reflect the newest dis- covfciics and inventions and freely discuss their nieiits; in them are seen every new theory and new position, by which every step in il-e march of science is minutely investigated and its truth or fdllacy is permanently established. The jdurality of the subjects which they embrace and the variety of the discussions \tIuc1i they contain render them universally riir.F.uj; ptiractivr. rr„r;i tl.tigjilt •»?'ii a j.ri;!^ ,ur„ ii.it ,jj„ „f ,1 m.Ktani'Bi, I um cf opliiLti, ilicy M r.L.iu U hJJ in ui.y touutfi. l'» iV, I'liiul 'i')»v tlie iliiii-t Hir ill tl .9 tisumatiun In; wliicfi StuU« ihcir lOUgll f rf^i-I.nJiriiillu.Itm of tLtiriiU 'y. ^p.orwJor. I»«ri„.i:,MN n.u.t lan.u^!, ; nj ^i;, ,«lc.- tin y a.o cotmnuullv n«uri,I.H| »,.,l f, ,1 L^ .H-i,,,, ,.„.,,,,;,„.. i^'nro il.cM nun.cro.i. ,e|.rit„4 .,f Kuroj^cn uor),.. f,om l^l"^!' l!<7 s.t!.t.r .1 < ,r .id, 1,u,vcm« of i..ulltctu«l fuoU I.'.t. I nn. .;f opinio.,, il,at t|,u.j ..'xoiic U.nv,,u u„.J ,atl,er '" 'li'muiil. than i.inenso the grouili „f lU n .tivu suil. Who «'..« Lb ft. J will, the Mj,o„ia„eoui fruits of the euth. o, l.y fho l.I»onofoi!K„. i,no, liUly to duar the fo.eni hi,„.dfa.,a •-' !.II nn.l M,w th« pouu.l fur hi. ^u,vort. ,Uu„Lin.I gene- •■'Hy au. ,K,l .0 lomi of i.l.or . „r..| „.o.t ..,,,1 , ,,,, ,, „,,;,„ •■'"•'" '» act.on. The .uhj....t of the n.u.t n,an.ro;i. lU.h of •n^iuul vvri.i„i;, of ih. Unit.,! S.u.u. „ KJuc.ti.n. vJ.ich <''!ii.'o.s tlccM-iry Lo.U f„r \oulh. Theolr.y hoVU a c-^|t.«;,ic„ou.s i,Iua,. ui:.J i.s „ca I, np .ll.J |.y I]„,.,ry a.„l l'-«r..,hy. Wo,I,*on I.rvar.! .Moilciu.. bc-ur a (a. ,„o. ;-;;< N. u « it:, ,!,.M,lh.r l„-.u.-hes of li,..utur. ..„] 8(W. ; h.t iMc.K.u,,, I!!,,..y f.d \Vo,!.sofA:i..,l lu,.,jln Mi., u.o I.tl i!;. , ' '•""'•^^^ •'"'•- l":"l^i'<.yii.!,)j;tIoi,. A»i;. the -..ite.l ^'>i^'. "-"■^-.■.'.«'l^il..lKind,a:v.:.i.iculMuaIuu,of '•'^' ' ■'>'^^<1''^. ivuy j.l.cc .f any .uto ia th. sisu,- i,.o.l«,.« •'^i- ■'• j"->K,! ; i,:u. I huicf. J.c hu. a... at ,;ro....t a mu^Iu l-''i>-'<'a'. \Vc.ct:.erou:i,Uiui:v.uu:i.b„uf,l.«j,.j,,l,,Lu "' '"'I'' i'-vlncos rcioi.lorul. J,uucr rui...L vvod.l l>^ ,;mc|. '-•'"i'.'n.. I„,;l, a. t... .!„.,,.„!,.. a;.J the ciiru! .:;,.,. tf if,, l''^i'^' • '•■'! "• l^'^- I'oviiuf l.y i;.r ihe I h-.t .,uni.Ki of the ',""'';;''^''.>-""^'';"«';f "•^i'-^u.tof.:,:c.ri.,r.. speuUhc .;c or f.:'.:r journals. ,,)i', tiu .1. v.U. I. !?;>.■ -lit K K'- I iu:i'Aci:. frim* liu (UttMr |iutti«)n tti« newn'mptir prtii mtivc* pnliapj it;iirr (•nct.ur;<;'r.r(iit aittl |>atrt)ii u;** l'>'*n f*"") *("/ 'il^v MMiiftir^l iimlv iutyw'liiirc. Iliii* |irt;vii)t'g liu« ItitiJ at varioua > ' ; lioilicnl or two, whtcli It n}>riu,i(« io iily« long •Mi(iviivtiiii(.(| III luppiirt. Tlitt !in|>iiiftincu of cJucation nnti llit rnnH'|itii.t ini;>or« fiuicit III' litrtr.5iiir»' u'«! hero 4!.»i!y miUiii,' flr-cju'r ^(^('►ionui'itiiii^' tlowno*! ami npitliy wliicli I cmnot cuintrxiiid. 'I'liu tew <*ri){iout wuiki uliicli hiivti btft*!! Iiriu |)iiijli- ilroni.{«.')ii rvail, rtinl arc rufijiilttn. Tlioiigli tlivy Im «>f u iiii'diiiciity of 11 < well bt-ing of sociiity, ond i« 10 clostily ronnected with (l)t> good goverrunvnt of it* mcmborfi, that nil civili/i'd naliomt Imvu taken (>i>[)efial caro to clierUli and nilvnnc« itnrtiiri),', Io oonfer &nd extuiid the blt>8!(itig« of oihicaliuii. Tlii* \a tliu tuliject uliicli engroMC^ the filtentioii iif til'; must niimtruu?! cIum uf writers in the United Stattf, am! this is tlio aubjict, in an enlarged son-e, uf the following work. A* pictiii't't were the origin uf written language no wan poitry tlio origin of prosa. I'oelry i* the linf^uage cf pat^ion or enlivened inui(,'inat)un. It i.^ an iirjiiniive art, uhicli copies natiiie and life, paints the forms oi mat'er, and repre* sents thu operations of intellect. Its aim is to plenne, to mnvei and to instruct; therefore it aJdres-icd the passion.-* and mils ima'jjination to the help of reason. It siupplies lil'u with its highest intellectual plt.vuiLs; it e1e\ ylcs liie fancy, enlarges the compieliension, and imprti-s^ the mind with just sentiments and illustrious exam pLs, 1 have liuaid some men say they did not like poetry; but such men have no Koonlcdge of what they do not like. As the man lu. I par.FACK. vti iMollaro'Kplajf, pi.,|,a|,« il.ry .pvak pro«« nnl ia nul knew \t ; If Ihcy (Jo anil if ihey ten I tito Scii|>luri!j, |>f..!mhly they ,,t,\ "fid like |irt«lry an.l ilo nut kti'iw il. " l|«nc«," lay* Dr. I'liiir, •• nriKH a njo-t invinfibio ar^fiinirrit in hon-jur of i'>i'try. \o f>ur*.n can Imagino tlutt to bu n frivolou* nnil i'cnt«,:rnjlilil« mt which Ita* Ijwin nnp|.iyi..| by wiiiuit under -'iviiiQ in-plrntidn, nnd li..a been chwen a« n pioiwr chunnil lor fofivi^in}; to iIiq world iho knowledge of divine Irudi." J'otI Hud prothc'twcro uncUn'ly mmrly synonymoui. J ho Song.* of AJo-ifS Dctiorali, nod Il.mnah. Job. Ibo INalm*. J'rovoib», Kixlfcuiaaioi, Song of Solomon, l,«niuntation«, and all tliottu bookH calkd the l'rophuli» ate all poutical composi- tions of vnriouA kindn, di^tinguiilud by ihn hi^htst beauties of •Iron^ and concin.;. bold and figurative exprk»«ion. Though ver*e bo it« uiunl dres^, and by which souio persons divtin- «ui«h it from pioMu, ytt vcriu i^ not eiienti;il to jiocliy. From the analogy of ihu Ihibrew and KnuliHh luiguayei, our vfr-ion of thesu conipo.*iiions. liiouuh in pro»»e, ktill rctnins much of Iho poftif al niyla of the original. '1 horo itt every rja^on, howiver. tu bclitve, that they aru written in vci»e or •om.! kind of med>ttroi| nunbtio; wlioso movement, ai in our own language, probably .li-jiciidod iij;on tome peruliaiity in the pronunciation of I Itbrewubich i^ uow lost. 'Iho iiio#t remuikablo and prominent fe.ituro of Hebrew pootry mi. lit be called Antithesis, which is tho contrast or op|>osilt, o of two oi.ju( u that each of them may apiier.r in a stioii;^er li^ht. The (Jhinesc hav? a similar kind of pnclry, and such m said to bo the copiousness of their languacje, lli;U tl^ey cun an easily contrast v^ords an we can rhyme them, lienrc ihcy liavo long poems written with continue*! Antithcb;!. In the Cim member of the period a sonlimunt is e«piB«se*J, ii:; I in t'lf* ni!xt the same sentiment is ampliH .d or conlra.k I with m opposite. Numerous examples cuii'd be gircn, for we need I a!y to open the. Scriptures; thusj will ^uHioe:^" Tcfr^vu H flii i»fM,\rK. I'wrry h«« htn, in «»»iry a;«, *'uMv|f. d unj «.Ufli» e.I l.y Anc.fran UA'.'^n La* h:4 »^nj{*, tUu th\uum il.r n . i vocU . f »ll I u.«.)r»u.^.. ttr.l I'.B At.tH are ,..i,| t.. h.»v(i m- ;« poctni idiif. nil JlwMn.M M'W., il. . ,,„w u. « „ ,m..„.r..| lu wiitf uniivr .tivinu irsHurne..., i?ie p.n.m of , p,,^, „,„ ^y ,„^ny , ,• «!.• «i.il«nl rajioiM Jiod.^a McroJ. Ciw-nhs ih« fasulfy o» invtnlou, U rl.,,i powur »»hicli now con«i!tuiM • po«t. I >ii,i«i nation it tlu inv«niivc or CM-uiv« f.auUy ofll.o liutnofi iniii.I. JMinca it i» i ii:;ijifMlion flial prodnr-i ^.u,.u. ; tl.o uthar i>it«ll«ciuul f.tctiltiti lull] ll.^.ir^«^iilancB ii itir ili..o(r*|.ring ofima. 'nation lo n.m-iriiy. With .u» t;oniiu,l)oil» j)«nur.uiin; an.l «ol.d, juU^nunl m r.»l.| and knowlutlgn i:)«rt. Wltboul Juilfe-nKof. im.ini.imiori woul.l tu »^iM „,k1 i-xiravagini j and «:tho.il iirMgiiriii.,n. j-M^-imnt cuuM iu,t Ic .iiipllul *ltli n.al(fi,.U on v>WwU it i, to work. Tluro n.u.t bv 4 jja-nt O;;itilio:i of n.li..J fu itivcitl iiiU 10 i.l.ii,r, a iji.a' tj|n «■• 1 t.i ju-!-» mid coirecf; onu tut ut Hit* M-ne tiii.D mum lv.\t both tiI..«Mnn. and fnii;. If .» ,.,«„ .I.c^* l„v,.„t «,,, ,u, i„t. 1!. . tual (Ufi.t. 1.1* i.io,lui-i;..i> n;..y Uiia> tan forf it l.U , Lii.i t.i ^vntMi. A i.,i.;,i ,.,„j »i^„(,iii« im >;ii,iiii(.n hIi!, u .iimLmiw jud;;mint will p.o.l'icu ««'"» '*. v* IM ui d uii,l„ci,,ii..td it may •<•. I''.«f t!tc Pipot j tl,minl uiilicut imag-imtlou cannot U*row a spaik of -Hiiu^. (iuu.l »im... iinj good ta.'f may ti;all() u man to pKictlvu in otlit,' jtoductioiis all ihiir -The luior ;j(,r,_l{i.seofsont-ly. ■143_I{isenrarU ami sciences. 47S_ iMluciition ofll.c ancients; coufaining moral maxims. &c. fiom their laws nml w.ilings. 54,5_lnclu(ling Fgypf. Mf, —China. 611-lVrsia. b'-.a—Judea, 675— Gteece, 769— limuv, fi0.9_Ci.n(.liision. ■I THE SPRING OF MFi; A DIDACTIC POKM. BOOK L TiiR SpuiNo oi' Livv., the season of our jov-, Our friends' support and parents' cures employ-,, Tlie smiling babe, li.e ever-playful ch.ld, The teenless boy with sports and b ,oks beuniled, The rising yonth some art or trade is tauLiht, To know himself and study man is broi.-ht ; Then ends the Spring of Life, and all onr Jures ^nd all our joys roll on with rollin- years. Of childhood first, then youth, and then of man I si"g: Oh God of Truth! aid me to s(;ar, ]0 Their virtues, vices, failings of their heart, The education which their friends impart, With maxims just to guide their feeble days. To glow thtir bosoms with thy love and praise! f:^ lui TIIK SPRING OF LIFE. Give me to quart' some yet untastcd aprir.^, Aloft through new-discovered skies to wing. The secret paths of genius to explore, To cull fresh wreatha where none was culled before. Oh thou! who didst a Jesse's son inspire, Who touchedst blest Isaiah's lips with fire, 20 No Aonian maid of fabled shade or brook,' Thy aid alone, Great Spirit! I invoke; Awake my ravished soul and bless my strain, In faith I ask, then shall I ask in vain ? See I sweetly smiling on his mother's breast. The tender pledge of love— the heir caressed; His dimpled cheek and curling mouth invite Thy glowing lips, that press them with delight; His beaming eyes and lovely countenance Clothed with the lily robe of innocence ; 30 His hands outstretched implore protecting care, Couldst thou refuse had he no mother near? Nature, alike in every breast, ordains That she her offspring nurtures and sustains, Not she alone all creatures on the earth Cherish the young to whom they gave their birth ; Can woman trust to others' fostering hands Those tender duties nature's self commands? Extatic joy her feeling heart ne'er throbs. Herself of his endearing smiles she robs, 40 II TIIK SPUING OF U¥K. 5 Weans \m attection and neglects his school, Then sees him reared a cripple or a fool. Rome pious claims that charitable desif,'n, Founded with pood intent by Constaiitiue, Where in the dark the helpless babe is thrown, To live confined, uncherished, and unknown; To veil her shame its cruel mother feij^ns, Her paler blots o'ershades with darker stains. But you, maternal love! supply each want, From every danger shield the tender plant; 50 You guide its early course as slow it grows. Cheered with fresh beauties as each blossom blows, Culture with kindness, with correctness prune. Too fondly-nurlured plants oft wither soon : You rock the cradle when thy cherub sleeps. While watch with o'erspread wing an ant,'el keeps ; Or in thy arms his head slow rose and fell, To thy glad palpitating bosom's swell, If pain or sickness droops thy infant's head, In sadness sit and tears of sorrow shed; 60 When blooming health her wonted sway resu mes, Joy thrills thy breast, thy beaming eye illumes; By such fond cares thy youth and bloom decay. Thy buoyant spirits steal unmarked away. Parental love! that every bosom warms, Endears to life— from death his sting disarms. ;/ 6 THE SPRING OP MPE. Extends to every child an equal share, Not favors this, from that restricts its care. Directs to virtue and reh'gion's plan, Informs the duties both to God and man, 70 To fit for life's affairs in various states, By wise preceptors early educates; Obedience taught, with modesty regard, Credit with truth, with gratitude reward; With emulation fame, with prudence wealth, Strength with diversion, temperance with health, Knowledge with power, with learning diligence, Content with peace, with labor competence ; Hope with reliance and with fear repent, Charity with love and faith with argument ; 80 With education and religion blessed. Active in life, in death eternal rest. The love of parents equal warmth retains, Lives without end, without a rival reigns ; Its power divided with unweakened force. Its ardor constant from exhaustless source. Though ever wandering ever fixed its care, Like the sun's rays diffused from sphere to sphere; Secret their joys, their sorrows they conceal, Those cannot utter, these will not reveal ; 90 Oft are their troubles, many are their fears. For children sweeten life, increase its cares. am THE SPUING or LIFE. to 80 90 Blitliesomo fair Hygeia trips the village green, Grace in her steps and beauty in her mien. Smiles curl her lips, her cheeks with roses glow. Around her feet her simple garments flow, Sprightly she moves and skims the daisied plain, To ease the toil and bless the laboring swain, Or hastens home to cheer his humble cot, 91) Where, like the heather flower, she blooms forgot. Mothers! to her your child I would commend, And may she ever on his steps attend; Practice her rules and follow her advice, Nor let affection from her ways entice; Nurse thy own offspring at thy balmy breast. But cuckoos leave them in another's nest. Pelicans feed them with their bosom's blood, The tender turtle rears and loves her brood : Ne'er give thy milk by angry passions boiled. The ruffled current may convulse the child. 1 10 Some, hot or cold, unvaried clothing wear. While others shift each season of the year. Avoid extremes, in early age begin. Not thick in winter, nor in summer thin; All free and easy, unconfined the chest. Nature alone will fashion as is best. Inure to heat and cold, a/id wet and fine, Scythia and Afric's sons in yours combine; In winter wash with heaven's strengthening rain, Cold as it drops; in summer swim the main ; 120 'lil ^ ■ V h THE SPUING OF LIFf;. I • \j Tluu was tl.o Htuidy Uliun race of old Nerved in the Htreau, und hardened in tho cold, rhuH I.rin hulhcH her «on» in ihino nnd freeze y\nd SooihuuJ-H heroes daily wnnl, their knee.: VVho ride, the bdiosv and henculh it dives, Muy save his own and rescue other's lives «omefeed their children with hi^h-sea.oned meats J^ome please their palates with nice drink, and •wecta, Ijoth these a,.d those their tender frames impair ilence sm.ple, plain, and fleshless be their fare; Abstam from spirits and intemperate wine; 131 On ripe and stoneless fruit in season dine, Beware of sudden chantjc in usual food Fast not with rigor nor with n.eals o'erload. On downy couch the child of Ju.xuiy lies, Untired at night, at morninjj loth to rise • Un»oft the child oflabor rests his head. IJp with the lark and with the lamb abed • VVlule night o'erspreads her sable pinions wide l.red innocence absorbs the cordial tide, m 1 Iiat rolls its opiate essence through each vein, l-reshens his body and relieves its pain. And o'er his mind invigorating glows, ' While he like a youn^- verdant olive grows. These are maternal duties infants need For which through youth blithe Ilygeia will plead; THI SPRING OP LIFE. hi Imprcsicd at early ago they will at leng;tb Grow with hin growth and strengthen with hit strength. IfHlow neglect attend infantile yean, ISO The golden grain in choked with noxious tares; Then oft are set prolific seeds of vice, That from the laws of God and man entice; Would you reap virtue seeds of virtue sow. For few good cpmliiies Hpontancous grow. But early customs, whether good or ill, O'ercomc our nature and reverse our will, Settled to habits rarely arc erased, By good exalted and by bad debased : By these in summer's heat or winter's blast 149 On some high rock the anchorite's life was passed * The Bonze or Bramin bleeds with penance just ; The bla/ing pile unites the married dust; While at the stake the van(|ui3hed warrior roasts, DeficH his foes, of battle's glory boasts; The Arab welcomes all to homely cheer, His friends and foes alike partake his tare; The drunkard drains his oft-replenished can ; The glutted cormorant embrules the man. Since habits, therefore, nature can subdue, With only good the spotless mind imbue; 160 They turn it pliant in what course you will, E'en the most difficult with ease fulfil ; Fix but one ill it galls all life's concerns; This nature banished soon again returns. :l 10 VNiimiNci or i.iti', .^i^ S««.,(,i|,lhnMfp,,„f„,„.„,,l,„p,,..,,„.. ?;.""".'"•"""'■"'•.... I,,., ,(,nr,,„r„.li., I •nrrn'r''""'''*''"''"^''-" -•'"""> • ""."m„-. „.iU u,,., „,,„„.. „,,,,,„. • 1 l'y...»n„„..ki„ „„„„;„„„„ |„^^,„,.^^ ^ ;:':"" "7?""""'''"" ''-"-"'■..•■no., '7 '-""'y '■"'"f'^^'"" no (,m,rc ,mi„. • %«|.orlivcUl<.ofl„vc«„„„„o,|,ehc„r, •>nr. fallow, r,.,, and „„i,,, ,„„„^„, , • "7 :","'y ''"I-' ""J «i,l,orc.l „ll .ifv fe,„ ;" *•''•"— «y-""li.Ml,™„«l,,l,ed.v I'.»cl,v„„„Ueenccun<.|,ur„,,Wall.,cs,„,' No pleasure, cloy lor all .renew ,„, he. ? ■ W. |. touerins „o,,.yo„,, lay. „,„„„„. ^„^^ I >hyfo,„|„,o,|,cr,|„„,,, .,,„,,, „^., ler ,olc dolijl,. ,0 „„,,, ,,„ ,,|„,.^^^j /J "• 111 nature's mhiialuie print to trace Tl.c manly lincamcul, of 1,1, father', face- T le ,en,h,a„, feature, elai,„ her sweet behalf She ,„„lc,_hegi.o.,syn,pa,|,etic laugh '|!)« An, turns „„ her hi V Mue roll ., eye,. S»U a, the dove .,„. orient Msun,„,er,kie,. — ••— •^'■^.^^at^. Tirp «|'IIINU UK MKB. II Tl.«ii ,|owi, lie upririK-. «nd tike a liarn ho l„,„n.|, H0 li^Hr* hm i{ruiiac(i Hf holds hirt HnRor nnd li««lde lilm waIIcs. In.|tiin'p< hilt hrnihh mid Hi„i,,|y pralling tiilk* ■ >riowH \m walkiriff-Mtallund o'ar it itridQi Th €ti roiiu d th he room in utiUt'ly Iriiiiiiph ridimong enlightened men, deprived this boon, Obscured by light like candles burnt at noon. Sinks in the crowd, or others him advance Pushed from below a8 in a country dance; ;m To rise in life some luck or chance it c.,11, But six to one the die will highest fall, Ab art loads dice so knowledge guides'the mind. Re this to cheat, who sees can cheat the blin.l • Though some of wealth obtain their equal .hare ' The watchful tortoise may o'ertake the hare ; Though some high difficulties escalade, The backward crabs advance though re'trograde Some education deem for peer or priest, The lowest may high, the greatest least'; .310 The brightest silver worthless ores conceal, But clashing flints electric fire reveal, As the unpolished gem so humble worth Needs the kind hand to strike its lustre forth. As the mechanic tool displays each stain, Each cloud and variegated curling vein, ' Inherent in the dull misshapen mass. Or carves colossal statues to address, Like the eteri-al Being whom we serve. So education, training every nerve, 3^0 With virtue's never-fading charms endues, With veins of wisdom noble minds imbues', Reveals the latent beauties of morality, And fits the mortal for immortality. J 16 THE SPRING OP LIFE. |i lb whom shall youth their education owe ? Perchance it best might from a parent flow, If he have leisure and in one ^an blend The father, the preceptor, and the friend ; But great the love a doating parent feels, S29 Through every vein quick-spreading fondness steals Which thrills the mother's breast and oft misleads, Nor his instructions nor her own succeeds ; The wedded tutor dotage must endure. Paternal love maternal fondness cure. Pity the child whose mother's weakness spoils. Whose manners vex and disposition foils, Debased his parts and all his sense confined. Subtle his heart and unimproved his mind ; For ever kissing and for ever kissed ; This moment rightly chid the next caressed ; 340 For this he cries while that he throws away, When called to peace then only noise and play. She coaxingly entreats, but he replies With pouting lips and mimic tearful eyes. She then commands, affecting angry mood. But soon relents with " kiss me and be good ;" At morn no maid can clean or dress him right, None but herself can put to bed at night. Tuck him up warm and give th' expected kiss, Instead of prayers with senseless jargon bless: Without just discipline the favorite child 351 Grows up headstrong, lascivious, and wild ; THE SPRING OF LIFE. fj Vicious in habits, wasteful in expense, Unixuown ail pleasures saving those of sense. A father oft, too busy to attend A tutor's duties, seeks a well-bred friend. Prepared with morals, learnin^?, and address, To form his son and light his happiness. Beneath his father's roof and by his side, In paths of virtue, truth, and wisdom guide. 360 If far removed, parental love may waste, Filial afFection from his mind be rased, These godlike passions, nature's sacred ties, Every religion claims, no laws despise; These families unite and nations bind, Now and of yore, the savage and refined. But mostly youth to public schools resort, Of able masters and approved report. Indeed! too oft some hungry beast of prey Sets up a school, whom trades have cast away. Exceeding anxious that his boys attain 37 1 Intelligence that ne'er fatigued his brain; Vouching no care shall fail, no labour tire, An usher for himself and youth shall hire;' Boasting for letters and for morals zeal, Their genuine worth best in his palm can feel; In long vacations left to run at large. His charge forget their studies he his charge. m 1 . j 1 18 THE SPRING OP LIFE. i\ j The youth when bearded, worse than if untaught. His mind a wilderness, devoid of thought, 380 Regards with scorn the pedantry of schools, His parents' money waste, his masters fools, Learns o'er his cups the craft of priests and kings, Clear comprehensive views of men and things ; No gambling practise is to him unknown, Nor one distempered strumpet of the town ; Cunning in business if not quite a knave. Knows how to spend but never learned to save. Not so the man professionally skilled, His arduous task and faithful trust fulfilled ; 390 Who, not remote from their parental eyes, On youth the force of education tries, For parents his endeavours should promove. Censure nescience, proficiency approve. Betimes true notions of a God he learns, Author of more than human eye discerns. To love with fear, with reverence to obey, At morn and night with pious fervor pray. Religion's sacred truth in Scripture reads. The prophet's wisdom and the Saviour's deeds; The woes of vice, the bliss of virtue knows, iOX But this alone within his bosom glows ; Scorns to equivocate, detests to lie, Conscious of wrong nor palliates reply ; Nor boasts his knowledge, nor at merit winks, Not meanly of himself or others thinks ; "*^'t;lB>i(r>"iii.<«MfcM THE SPRING OF LIFE. 10 Respects superiors and the poor relieves, Generously gives and ^rratefully receives ; To sweeten study's toils his master's sway Controls his pleasure, regulates his play, 410 That oft condusive to improvement turns. Unbends his mind and from amusement learns ; A noble emulation warms his heart To know from others and to them impart; His morals undefiled, informed his mind. Polite his manners, and his taste refined, Skilful in arts, in sciences profound, Quick in invention, and in judgment sound : Then when no Mentor longer by his side. Just maxims and true principles his guide, 420 To some profession ably he attends. By all respected and esteemed by friends ; Right in accounts and honest in his deeds, Deals without cunning, without craft sue- ceeds ; His leisure hours no pastimes vain entice. For idleness is food for every vice, But manly recreations he pursues, The useful studies of his youth renews, Or mazy dance, that sportive pairs can please, Graces the carriage and gives motion ease , 430 Or magic pencil, or soft-sighing flute, Some useful or accomplished pursuit. iA Mr m 80 THE SPRING OF LIFE. 1! I I l! ' Ir When Saturn reigned and Astrwa dwelled on earth, A godlike progeny received their birth, Their manners simple and their livoi unstained, Whose length ofgolden years high Hi^aven ordained Mnknown refined or savage arts of life, Nor luxury and ease, nor war and strife; Nature their tutor and their only guide, Can she alone for human weal provide? 440 Like autumn's sun she lost her power apace, For soon base ore allayed the golden race; Then riot, feast, and luxury began. To sensual pleasures sank degenerate man; Then brethren vilely sought each others breath, And parents ceased to mourn their children's death. With virtue, truth, and love the Nme inspire The savage breast ; Apollo's trembling lyre Meekens the horrid heart and charms the soul. The wolf and lamb listen, streams cease to roll, The mountains nod, the satyrs dance around, The ivyed forest fluctuates to the sound ; 452 Then sports amuse the sylvan maid and swain. The smiles and graces wanton in their train; They cull laborious sweets each passing day. At ere the shepherd breathes his amorous lay, At morn they rise, awoke by crowing cocks, Attend their lowing herds and bleating flocks ; THE SPRING OF LIFE- 81 Or rouse the echoing forest with their yell, Pursue the bounding hind oer hill and dell. 4(J0 Whizzing through air th' unerring arrow flies, Pierces his throbbing side, he fulls— he dies. Now groans the ox beneath the brightening share, Which Ceres taught and g.ive the fruitful yeiir To labouring man— for labour all oercomes ; Which bounteous earth repays in tenfold sums: The golden field and smiling meadow grow, Rich milk and honey from her bosom flow; Blossoms and fruits of gay enamelled hue, Flowers wide spreading odoriferous dew; 470 Th' expanded acorn, cedar, fir, and pine. Aromatic groves and thick-ciustering vine Forth flourish; whose juice, root, or loaf gives health. While Egypt joys beneath the watery wealth Of fertilizing Nile, the careful swain. When it retires, commensurates his plain : An thou the parent of sciences and arts, Egypt I or rearedst the fruit of foreign parts? By these thy twenty thousand cities rise, Thy towering pyramids o'erreach the skies, 480 Majestic temples where thy gods reside, Gorgeous palaces filled with pomp and pride; Thy rallies float with grain, fleets crowd thy ports, And foreign genius to thy fanes resorts. U 22 THE 8I4UN0 OF MPK. ITw, by deirrecii, the various arts revealed, 'i hJH fnuiflu thp fcwiiin to plunK'h imil tow the field. From veins of Hint to rjanh tlui iaUitit tpork; Then tirst the river towed the hollow hark j Then pilots luuned and told eve's sfarry train, The Pleiades, Ilyudes, and hrijrht Charles' wain; Then •portsmon aought wild boast and biidH to ■nare, ^y, Thoiigh forests chased with dogs the bounding deer; Some caught their prey from streams and some from iieas, Those with their lines, with nets wide-spreading those ; Some softened iron forged, while others chose To carve the yielding wood ; then arts arose : Letters and fitrures now the mind endue, Each day improves old arts, discovers new. These nerve the judgment and enlarge the mind, Soften the manners, socialize mankind, 500 Ennoble vulgar birth, enhance the high, The want of power and want of wealth supply, These sweeten life, life's brightest jewels these, Solace in age, in youth instruct and please. Inform in action, polish in success, Delight in ease, and comfort in distress: Direct the will, the springs of motion sway. Restrain the passions, and the motives weigh. TJIK Sl'UINO OK LIKE. 93 Scu! ihouc who guide the bright mechanic Um\, The jnir.ed huw, decp-scionctnl ».,„u.e, and rule, The chiHel. pencd. shuttle, plough, uud prcs<; Monarch!.! bo these your care iwid rieV-r distrow Nor limit them; they nre Hrimnnia's dower, Th'cfluHive source of »rcodom, wealth, and power, And commerce ploughs the broad irriguous plain! Th'operative hand feeds prince and swai.i! 80 in the hive the laboring bees are seen, Faithful to laws and loyal to their queen ; All blended tmu, no jarring interests reign. Each knows his rights and knowing dures main- tain, gj^y Each docs hi8 duly, dignifies his cares, Builds ncclarod cells, an.l riiiug ofispring rears; From dewy morn till vesper bell has tolled Industriously hordes ambrosial gold. Happy are they instruction can delight, Whom useful arts and sciences invite; iMore happy they who virtue's path have trod, Who live to live eternally with (;od Omnipotent; Him whose word from chaos dark Struck forthwith the world-illuminn.g spark. 530 And aery-whirling spheres self-balanccd hung At His first fiai ; by which order sprung From uproar wild and vast, anrl all things move in the sweet harmony of heavenly love. r < ii / 94 TiiK 8IMIIN0 or Lirt li To Thee f ohOo««venlyhoiUhi.rpprttinciublime, My orUoiiii on willinjf knee I rniae; AikI thy |)fopiti(»UH ajd my early InyR Invoke; Thou I who di.Ut ^uido my feeble youth, Now ferd my «oul with lenrninff, virtue, truth j And, oh, Thyself! loach me to love and know. In churity to live with all b«low, III peace to die, in hf v ^i with Thee rei^n; To this hi Lnowledge tend, all ehe is vain. Where frecborn Arts their graceful skill diiplay, Sciences, whom angelic light array, Like Jacob's ladder, gradually rise, Their to>)t on earth, their summit in the skiei; Where Genius, mid the sylvan shades reclined, Pour, his sweet influence o'er the ihought-throned mind, 55^j And studious Industry unwearied strives To spread our bliss and meliorate our lives; Where Meditation .:> lone quiet walks; Friendship udenviously informing talks; There Kducjtion's sacred fanes appear, To which all ages and all climes repair' Seeking her aid; with smiles and outstretched hands, Her coming votaries she commends ! ' THE si'HiNG or Lirr. M UflitliiUtory ; by her tUfi^Q Dmrij.linc, Whoic lank and tilvcry lock* and lo<)k« divine SOU B«tpMk exiwriencc, in whow meek «yc, ft weft ipccch, and smite aro lovo and dignity, Cureitea goodne«« and ingenuous worth And givci the meed of praise; but stubborn sloth And frowardneMg. with frown and «ye severe, Darting rebuke, he checked mid their career; Thus wiuH ihcm to his will, or thus oerawet Till his lost favors penitence restore! j Around her stand Hope, Fear, Kmidation, Shame. IJy whom to honor, excellence, and fame, 670 To virtue, wisdom, piety, and truth, She faithful leads all her attentive youth. Prono at her sacred shrine, in ancient times, Wer.« various nations from remotest climes, Of whom, from record lapsed ages rase, A half-glimpsed image gray traditions trace. Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome repaired To Egypt's templed realm, where columns reared Their mouldering heights of mystery and lore, Whose wafted dust has reached our distant shore: The broken sculpture that bestrews her plains. Hieroglyphic painting that contains 582 Th' illustrious deed and memorable name, Fameless in undeciphered marks, proclaim Here an enlightened polished nation dwelled. Here flourished arts, and navies' canvass swelled, f 'I H ; .1 J '2(1 TIIK SPHINU OF LIFE. <|i And gardens bloomed, now non -ht but desert sand, The sceptre has departed her base land. Sat^jes of old their youth with fables taught, With moral and instructive lessons fraught, 590 The rules of life in maxims short confined, To fix them easier on the infant mind : Whence Solomon his thousand proverbs knew, .lesus in parables his doctrines shew. Behold, my son, God's image in your sire. Let love and fear your youthful breast inspire, Thy parents' prayers propitiously He hears. Blessings descend on him who them reveres ; When age appears rise reverent from your seat Resign the wall and bow whene'er you meet ; 600 Let gratitude within thy bosom glow, Like fertile lands more than received bestow, To God give freely nor from man exclude, What ingrate wretch e'er owned ingratitude ? Respect all callings for they ne'er degrade. Improve with practice your paternal trade ; Be just to all, at worship always seen, Simple in manners and sedate in mein ; Pry not in nature nor unveil the skies, Foi dust thou art be humble and be wise. 610 Thus Egypt taught her sons: now China's laws That trained hei youth and bound her conquerors : THE SPIUNO 01 1.1 KK. ;:7 t sand, . 590 ew. ire, » seat ; 600 > 3 610 mas iror$ : The prince who governs with parenial sway Honor with fear, with loyalty obey, He loves the laws, withiii their limits kreps. Protects the innocent, for guilt he wcpps, A noble prize to merit he ordains, Rewards each virtue and each vice restrains; The arts improve, the sciences extend, While plenty, peace, and wealth flow through his land ; (joq One God he serves, all sects he tolerates, Religion and piety adorn his states ; But education, is a sacred thing. Revealed in Syau-hyo and Hyau-king ; Like vernal showers and balmy zephyr's bree/e Wafting abroad the seeds of plants and trees, Their growth promoting ; not like hasty rains And lashing storms, wide laying waste ihe plains, Each careful parent teaches and corrects. To law responsible for his children's acts ; 630 First to the Heaven supreme devoutly bow Author of all, whence all our blessings flow ; Honor thy parents and thy friends revere. Their manes respected and their memories dear, Thy injuries forget, thy foes forgive ; As were this life's last hour so always live ; Assist thy neighbor and regard thy friend ; Reprove with gentleness, with truth commend ; m i I i 28 THK SPRING OF MFE. Virtue for vice nor truth for lies exchange ; Kindness for kindness give, no wrong revenge ; 640 Ail human weal and woe do thou make thine, Knowledge is good and good diffused divine :' Such are the maxims Chinese morals grace, Which good Confucius taught her ancient race; Whose laws sublimely beauteous speak her fame, Whose life divinely spent exalts her name, To turn corruption's torrent rage devoted, Virtue in loveliest colors decked promoted, Hideous vice expelled ; the patriot sage Within his bosom glowed ; he lashed his age, 650 Rife with id latry and nobly strove One God supreme, omniscient to prove. Far famed was Persia for that tender care. Which offspring need, and whom she sought to rear In Zoroaster's and her Magi's laws ; In scales of equity the great First Cause Weighs good and evil deeds, he who does well In heaven shall live, who ill shall writhe in hell ; Consider well your actions e'er you do. Defer the doubtful and the good pursue ; 660 Thy hand, thy tongue, thy thought from sin be clear ; Praise God in health, thy sickness patient bear; To worth thy gifts diffuse with liberal hand, Relieve the poor and the oppressed defend ; . ..sa»K£S«»car^ THE SPRING OF LIFE. 2" .|?ht only merit should advance in state, But martial virtue be entitled i^reat ; One common hall displays their frugal cheer, Fatigue and hunger seasoning their fare, Nor festive boards, nor golden goblets smilo, Vice these enthrone and virtue those exile. Youth's education was this legislator's care! 750 E'en m the womb were mothers taught to rear An offspring blessed with beauty, strength, and health, For these alone give nations power and wealth : For tender age no choice of drink or meat ; Naked they fought and ran with shoeless feet ; Or plunged amid Eurotas' icy wave. Sporting when calm, when angry boldly brave ; Nor friend nor foe, nor light noi darkness fear ; Nor change their clothing with a change of year; One third of life a rigid discipline. Fatigues and labours bear, at nought repine ; 760 To action prompt, short pithy in reply, For state and liberty were born to die I \\ THE SPRIVG OF LIFE. 33 An active, b.ave, and noble-minded race, In war at ease, but more austere in peare', Were Sparta's sons; from whom take power and war, What is there excellent in any law ? Now, rival Athens ' reared by Cecrops' hand, Lauded by fame, while freedom walked her land ; Freedom, interest, and glory were her love, Yet oft ambition and caprice would move 170 To acts ignoble and degenerate. Which, corruption joined, enslaved her state. For hardened crime or unintended ill, Draco decreed, with san^juinary quill, Base death, who thought that guilt had no de- gree, Though blessed with wisdom, mercy, piety ; All wrongs attoned with death, like blood for blood. Is justice tomb, too ghastly to be good ; Nor gave reprieve, nor sought he to reclaim. But wielded Justice sword with slaughtering aim ; ^^Q This Athens saw, and to revise his laws, With legislative rights she then empowers Solon, the patriot sage, the poor man's friend. The best of those styled fathers of their land ;' Taught by Minerva and the Muses' song To circumscribe the bounds of right and^wrong, l'\ t\\ I n- 84 THE SPRING OF LIFE. I m t Raise grievous wnnt, and cruel wealth depress, Such laws, more to observe, than to transgress It would be her interest, for her he framed. The best she could receive ; which were so famed 790 That Rome transcribed a part to rule the world. Science and liberal arts were then unfurled To every mind ambitious to excel ; A host of sages rose, who, to impel The vigorous youth to climb the toilsome heights, Where beauteous virtue dwells and fame invites, Their godlike lives gratuitously spent: Foremost, in a corrupted state, intent To urge the pliant step in virtue's track, From vice's tempting path to turn it back, 800 Was Socrates, the wisest of mankind ! Grave Plato and the Stagorite combined To shew his truths by reason's glimmering ray, Fair nature's never-fading charms display, His words to prove by deeds, his life to scan, To teach to youth what they should do when men. Of rougher front were Latium's heroic race. Who boldest virtues and their birth would trace From ancestors divine ; by Ilia's son Famed Rome's aspiring walls were first begun, 810 The arts of peace the stratagems of arms, He taught the sons of Sabines' ravished charms; THE SPllINO OF LIFE. 35 800 A senate he convoked crude laws to frame, Hi8 empire spread by terror of his name 1 Numa WBH pious, just, and moderate, Virtue to love, the gods to venerate, And harmony to reign, with him were law, By arts of peace more potent than by war. Brutus, revenger of chaste beauty's cause. Relentless doomed his offspring to the laws; 620 Camillus' arms a second Troy soon bowed, -And Cincinnatus' " fields were left unploughed." Fabricious, nobly poor and sternly bold. His honor prized, and virtue more than gold. lb arts of peace and war, brave Scipio joined A noble genius with a philosophic mind. Maternal love and care a verse demand ; Cornelia, noblest of her native land. Gave this reply to her proud friend's request— " The brightest jewels that e'er decked my breast 830 Are these my sons !" the patriotic pair VVere victims of a factious senate's fear. Cesar at her own breast Aurelia showed, Rome's foes he tamed, her patriots he subdued; Lavish to friends and placable to foes, Liberty fell as the Dictator rose : Nor power nor wealth allays the thirst of fame; Nor heaven nor earth can quench ambition's flame. ^ i 30 JiiE snuNo or i.ije. i AiigiiHtui, to whom Altia gnvo birth, A|»|»i'«suil Kotnc'n civil broiU lo rule the earth 740 I'atioii of loiter* uiid of arts a fiieiul, •Subtle his licurt, but liberul hiH iuuui ; Ho ruled with justice, and in peace he reij(ncd, Tlu) monarch was adored, the empire churned I Now Sutuin reigns and Aslra-a returns, Nor crimes remain, nor Janus' altar burns; The wilds and deserts as a rose shall bloom, The oak yield honoy and the pine perfume ; The flocks with wolves the hordn with lions lie, The poisoned herb:iand speckled serpents die , 750 Swords into scythes and spears to hooks i.hall bend, And Earth, untilled, her golden harvests send; Kcho, ye rocks ! ye joyful hills rebound I A God I A God appears I through earth re- sound; The Messiah lives ! ye nations, hear his voice ; See hitu ye blitid ; ye who were dumb rejoice ; He calm ye storms; take up your beds ye sick ; Be fed ye hungry ; and ye dead be quick ; Pardon to all, who shall his words Lel'eve, And EvKRLASTiNo LitE they shall receive; 7G0 A Pardon- bought with blood, for sins most foul, That load enormous that bows thy guilty soul, TIIK SPUINO or LIPE. Not thine alone I but tliy whole rebel race! This him, by faith, do yo, oh Karth, embrace! Thi« boon which Chriit, thy Saviour, hai assured: For this ho lived blasphemed ; a death endured, Shamefully accursti a death? the gorged tomb, O'er Him no victor, bursts its marble womb, Dclivereu of the dead ; the sky divides As high on cloudt. the Kino of Glohy rides! 870 The mists of hcathoii error now disperse; No more shall Homer's gods in Virgil's vers* Be taught by freedmen as most sacred truth; No more shall they attend the Roman youth To school with codex, calculi, and slt/ie ; Nor laws nor camps their early years beguile. Now shines the sun of truth from east to west ; Though darkening clouds his noon-day beami invest, Yet with increasing splendor he appears. Spreading his glory through both hemispheres I 880 Letters and figures British youth are taught, Sciences sublime expand their tender thought, Facturos and arts their riper age employ j A Christian Education they enjoy. ■fi ef ni mi ■iv ■m dat Ifl bit the lui the the wiie who then Grei ■V of lliey •ex; coun offtw NOTES. ■001 I. NoU I, v«r. it— M. Alrhotiph it m»y not hwome t Chn.nta to iB»«k« ii.« „4 of llexhrn fabiilniiii cliviniiiti.. ulhtrwi«« ihau uodti lh« name of Mu.« to pray the g-oiu. of po.t.y, I n.u.l I., p.r- tiHtud to think an Invocnion in(Ji.p.n«ably ntctwtry f«r •ev«ral rvtwni. Th« poet owi>< to hi* r««(j«ri tui h aa «■. •mpl, of pifty iind rdigion. which ought to b« thi. .oU fouB. Haiion of thfl mornlity and initructioni conveyed in hit fdble If the heathen. llo.i.«r, fI„iod. Mu-n-m, and even Ovid ia hit Metamorphoses, omitted not thia piece of dt-voiiop. •• Christianity." laya the learned and pioua Walla. •• to muck the more oblige, ui by the precepu of Scripture to invoke the •aautanre of the true God in all our laboura of the mind for the improvement of our^elve, and oll.efi."-Improven.ant of the Mind, chap, l.tic. xvi. Note 2, v€r. 43—48. The Hospital of S.n Spirjio. noai St. Peter'., at Rome where natural children are aenl at night by their mother., who unwilling to own thera might be tempted to destroy them. Such Hospital, were unded by Con.tantine the r.real. 1 bene .ix line, and note the author had .on.e tliounht. of.uppre«.,lng. fearing, though they allude to the abandoned. they might be deemed .evere and indelicate by the female •ex; but being auured there ia auch an Institution in ihi. country. I.« ha. retained them, without wi.hiug to conv«y ©ffeoc* but rathei moral reflection. ( !^ I I 40 THE SPRING OP LIFE. Notes, ver. 111—144. The reader will bearinmind that the greater portion of this Poem was written in England, and to preserve uniformity, what has been done in this has been adapted to that country. It is therefore probable that some of these precepts may not be applicable to the Canadas, altiiough they appeared whea written sufficiently general for all temperate climates. Note 4, ver. 116. Nature alone will fashion as is best. This the great philosopher Locke emphatically enjoins. He says, " Let your son's clothes be never made straight, especially about the breast. Let nature have scope to fashion the body as she thinks best. She works of herself a greal deal better and exacter than we can direct her." Again, " I have seen so many instances of children receiving great harm from straight lacing, that I cannot but conclude there are other creatures, as well as monkeys, who, little wiser than they, destroy their young ones by senseless fondness and too much tmbracing. Narrow breasts, siiort and stinking breath, ill lungs, and crokednessare the natural effects of hard bodice and tlctheg that pinch."— Thoughts concerning Education, seel I Note 6, ver. 121—126. Thus was the sturdy Latian race of old Nerved in tho stream and hardened in the cold. Virgil represents Numanus speaking of th« Rutulians, « Ttry ancient people of Italy, thus .— Natos ad fiutnina primitra Offfsrimn*, ssevoque gelu duramus et undis lib. Ix. 004, Onr new-born children in the stream we Iitb, Amd harden ia thA rigid icy wave. Anil Turong, a king of the same people, is made to escape from bis aneuiieii by (winnaing the river " omnibus arnai** u n o it is ai of in dc .«sa THE SPHINO OP LIFE. 41 with all Ills arms. The Romans thought iwimnilng «o neees- •ary a part of education that they ranked it with letteri. It was a common eayinor among them to mark an illiterate person, " Nee literas didicit nee natare," he had neither learned to read nor to swim. In a well -watered country like Canada, it is surprising there are so few opportunities for youth to acquire an art which is during the heat of summer so conducive to health, and h often the menns of preserving life. It is well known how much Dr. Franklin esteemed and re- commended this art. Lord Bjron, who tested the truth of the classic story of Hero and Leander by swimming across tha Hellespont, thus beautifully describes lii« own dexterity and skill. How many a time have I Cloren with arm still lustier, heart more d irinR, Tlie wave all roughen 'd ; with a swimnier's stroke Flinging the billows back from my |e of wood On the death of two princes of the same country •n 1717. thirteen wives of one and seventeen of the other' devoted themselves to a similar death. This unnatural ,„d 4S THE SPRING or LIFE. J nil i mil eruel custom was practised mncli more ^imong the higher thaa the lower casts, because of the beatific glory annexeil to it by the Brahmins, who derived from it a lucrative profit. Happily this custom is now nearly or wholly abolished. !fi Note 8, vcr. 271—272. If Christian truths their infancy endow Will Indian hordes to fabled lirahma bow ? The answer to this as well as to the other questions is lefk for the decision of the reader; who, though he undoubtedly knows of the abject idolatry of the Brahmins, may not be ac- quainted with the ground on which it was opposed by their learned countryman Tlammohum Roy. In the sketch of his life written by himself a short time previous to his decease, he says, " The ground which I took in all my controversies, was not that of opposition to Brahmanism, but the perversion of it; and I endeavoured to shew that the idolatry of the Brahmins was contrary to tiie practice of their ancestors, and the principal of the ancient books and authorities which they profess to revere and obey." That this ground was tenable appears from the translations made by this erudite Brahmia from their ancient books. I submit au extract from each of the four Oopunishuds of the Vedant : — " By him who knows all things collectively and distinctly, whose knowledge and will are the only means of his actions, Brahma, name, and form, and all that vegetates, are produced." — Mooduc, c. i. sect. 1. •• God is eternal among all the parishable universe; and is the source of sensation among all animate existences, and he alone assigns to so many objects their respective pur- poses." — Kuthu, c. V. " Hence no vision can approach him, no language can describe him, no intellectual power can compass or determine him ; we know nothing how the supreme Being should be explained."— Kenopunishuds, v. 3. Where rniy be foind a clearer and more simple and at the same utm »are Ribiinie idea of Deity than the f jllowing? " He THK SPRING OF LIFE 43 overspreads all creatures, !• merely spiiii without the form either of a minute bodyor of an extended one, which is liable to impression or organization. He is pure, perfect, omni- ■cicnt, the ruler of the intellect, omnipresent, and self- existent. He has from eternity been assigning to all creatures their respective purposes."- Tshopunishud. The following is quoted as a curious specimen of the figurative language of the Vedant, speaking of which Rammohun Roy says, " It also represents God sometimes in a manner familiar to the vulgar, •Heaven is his head, and the sun and moon are his eyes- ipaceishis ear.,' &c.-_[VIooduk, c.7, sec. I. After reading' «uch language from books deemed sacred, it is scarcely credible that the Brahmins should more than any other people on earth need «' a beacon set upon a hill to warn them from idolatry," more than any other people on earth need and are susceptible of receiving the important truths of Christianity. What will the reader, unacquainted with Hindoo literature, now think of the following passage from the same learned Hindoo Christian professor, advocate, and controversialist? " Debased and despicable as is the belief of the Hindoos in THREE nuNDHED AND TUuiTx MiM.roNs OF GODS, they pretend to reconcile this persuasion with the doctrine of the unity of God ; alledging that the three hundred and thirty millions of gods, whom theyENrMERATE. aiesubordinate agents, assuming various offices in preserving the harmony of the universe under one Godhead, as innumerable rays issue from one sun."— Appeal 10 the Christian Public in Defence of the Precepts of Jesus. The Veds, it appears from the same learned writer, is the most ancient and most sacred book among the Hindoos; the Vedam, from which the above extracts are made, is an abridgement, or as il is called a resolution of all the Veds, and is said to have been compiled about a century before the Christian era. The Ezour- Vedam or Commentary on the Vedam, was composed by Choumontou much later. The Education of the p«opIe has for two Ihouaaod ye-.ii f LP 44 THE SPRING OF LIFE. past formed a prominent part of the political system of Hindoo g ivernment. A certain portion of the pro'luce uf tlie land is ■jiproprialeJ to the support of a schoolmaster; whose mode of teaching is said to bo similar to that adopted under Dr. Hell's system. The Hindoos, like the Chinese, regard edu- cation with a sort of religiaus veneration, and their children are presented to the schoolmaster with as much solemnity and ceremony as ours are to a clergyman to be baptised. They have perhaps a larger proportion of their innumerous population educated in their manne.' than any of tlie most ealightened nalioas. ,r M Note 9, ver. 365, 366. These families unite and nations bind. Now and of yore, the savage and refined. Many a father has to blame himself for not having early cherished the affections of his offspring. Engrossed with the business or pleasures of life, he keeps them, not untrequently under the plea of education, three-fourths of their early life at a distance from home ; and when they have arrived at man- hood, a mere sense of duty attaches, instead of that influence which, more secret and "'^werful tlian the m:ignet, attracts and binds heart to heart. The most endearing familiarity and the most unreserved communion should ever subsist amoaj all the members of a family. I would have every soa truly and feelingly say with Fenelon's Telemachus, " J'aime mieux obeir i mon pere Ulysse et consoler ma m^re Penelope, que de regner sur tuus les peuples de I'uuiverse." I would rather obey my father Ulysses and console my mother Penelope, than reign over all the people of the world. Note 10, ver. 589-594. As parables and fables were anciently used by wise men to convey some moral lesson to the infant mind, so were the great rules of life contracted into short sentences that they might be THE SPRING OF LIFE. 4» •coner Imprened on the memory and the more eauily he re- men.bered. The learning of these fables and sentenceg. and the practise of the virtue and morality which they incuU cated. were the chief employment of tlie children of the «ncient3. Hence, among the Chinese, one of the works of Confucius on Education is merely a collection of short sen- tences ; among the Hindooj, the celebrated woik, entiiled CunAL, writlenlin Tamul poetry by riruvalluvan. is simply oo ethicsj they are both numbered among ibesacred booksof tiiese nations, and aie more in use by them for the purpose of sduca- tion, than is by us the Proverbs of Solomon.which wore likewise written to give " to the young man kuowledge and discretion." Even now, notwithstanding the extensive progress of know- ledge, as Dr. Johnson says. " He may be justly numbered amongst the benefactors of mankind, who contracts the great rules of life into short sentences, that may be easily impressed on iJie memory and taught by frequent recollection to recur habiiunlly to the mind." These reasons have induced me to insert moral maxims from the laws and writings of the ancienl«, selecting those which appeared most to characteriie the natiorl to whom they were taught, and at the lame time be not inap. phcable to our own ethics. I huve not sought to embellish ihem with the language of poetry, but have endeavoured to express them in a clear and perspicuous style and in •mooth and correct versification. Note II, ver. 696— 606. Herrdofus says, •• The Egyptians surpass all the Greeks, the Lacedaemonians excepted, in the reverence which they pay to age: if a young person meet his senior, he instantly turns aside to make way for him ; if a senior enter an apart- ment, the youth always rise from their seats. When the Egyptians meet they do mt speak, but make a profound re- verence, bowing with the hand down to the knee." "The great virlue of the Egyptians, and wherein they pre. tended to excel all mankind, was gratitude; which they 46 THE SPKINO OP LIFE. ,ii i ' I If n > e«teemed to be of the greatest kervice in life, a« the only encourugemenl to beneficeal actioiw."— Universal Ancient History, vol. i. p. 48b. In ancient Kgypt, no profession nor trade, however mean, was thought ignoble; husbandmen and those who fed cattle in particular were much considered. The lawg of Kgypt obliged the son to follow his father's vocation, witiiout ap- plying himself to any other; and that he might be uselul to •ociety by being proficient iu his paternal art, he began very early to receive instruction from his father or some near relation.—Uoiversal Ancient Hintory, vol. i. c. 3. Note 12, ver. 616. Prefects the innocent, for guilt he weeps. The Chinese emperor has the power of life and death not only over all his subjects, but even over all the princes of the blood. In repealing a law which involved the innocent relations in the punishment of the criminal, the celebrated emperor Kano-iii made the following beautiful remarii: — " These wise princes, the ancient (Chinese) emperors, often descended from the majesty of their throne to bewail and weep over tiie guilty. How unreasonable is it to include, in the punishment of a malefactor, his father, his mother, his wife, and children.'-— Universal Modern History, vol. viii. p. 16C. Note 13, ver. 618. Rewards each virtue and each vice restrains. Tho Chinese is perhaps the only nation in the world that has instituted prizes for virtue, the laws of all others only punish vice. Note 14, ver. 621, 622. One God he serves, all sects he tolerates, Keligion and piety adorn his states. If we may believe the modern writers of tiie history of the »acient Chinese, they neither deified their kings and heroes THE SPRING or LIFK. 47 ■•r pr»fli«e,J annatural ritM or ! THE SPRING OF I.IFE.' 40 XXX —It ii certain God laid to Zoroa»tei, He wtioaball be ill doubt whether an aciioa he good or bad, let him out do It. XXXIII.— Let great liberalities be poured on the moit wo.thy ; what it entrusted to the undeiervin loit. XXXV.-But 01 to what it neceiaary, when thou eateal, give dogs also nomething to eat. I.X V 1 1.— Ltt no lie ever come from thee, that is Infamous, even thoui,'h tiie lie might be beneficial. I.X XII.— Thy hand, thy tongue, and thy thought shall be clear from all sin ; ia tiiy atlliciion* offer to Gr.« thy patience, and in prosperity pay him thankHgivingi. Note 17, vcr. 670, 671. Teach no*, thy children mysteries and talcs, One woid of truth o'er thousand lies prevails. The Persians are commended by Xenophon forthe prudent education of their children, whom they would not permit to learn amorou* stories and irnn>t form* hi« mint! to Initli iim) jiiatic* \ llto ihirj iiKirntU liiiu I" ItK fipi", ntiii lo »iibilue Im pi^mn* ; miil (lit l4»t ri'iirln'4 lii'ii III ilfiiiiite i|.«ri>{i'i« arid ili-nli ; (or if 4 km^ ■hniilii ltt> IVsufii Mm Willi 1)1 hecninn a «lavo. \Vlii:re»« yim, Al('il)itule«, hnve [men broiiKht up bv ti vil« I liriffiiin «liv«, who wnn good U>t iiu diIu-i- i)llii't;, b"c.niiitt ul lii« extiVHi* oiil U|;«i," Nota 18, v«r. r'?'}. Frnm whom »nke jiower nnil w ir, What u ihero exct'lleut in any lawl Th'^ rennuro, oltlimij^h in my opinion jiiit, ii not mine. Spoalcin^ of tliuliiwsof i.y('iir|i(U4, AriitotlesnyM. " Inprni«in){ the govi'rnmcnt nf the l^nceihi'moniiinA, iome comnicrul tlia deoign ot llio lawgiver, bucauiie the whole cttnlili^iuiiunt tendrd til power ami wiir; which may be oaiiiy confuted by n-ason, and is now conluled by fact." — INilit. vii. c. 14. Hut bcfoio Aristotle, Kuripideo, in Andromaclu', had observed, Tnkn from tho Hpiutims Klory, sword, niiil war And nothing excellent poHsoDii they mom. Note 19. ver. 802— 806. fn his Dialogue, entitled Theages or Wisdom, which Ire its ot the Kdncation of ciuldren as the foundation of I'hiloioplu , Plato makes Soi raten »,iy, •• Advice is aaacred thing j fad if It IS giicred on all otlit r occasions of liio, how mucli more so in tl>is>i for of all tilings on which a man can ask u.ivico, thtre i« nothing mor»; divine ihuu that winch rejiaida the vducalion ot hi* children." ! ^ :f I Note 20, ver. R19 Brutu-;, rcvcngor of chante beauty'* cause. Dnwiiior thp poniard reeking from her boiom and liftini; it ip :.irt^hl« lii«ju«n. Mrutu*. who had been coniiidwrea •• an a^ TIIR SPniNCi op t IFF.. 51 ifliol. friwi— •• n> wifiifM, yo goiN, ti.u, f,../in tliii momvnf. I priM'Uim mv»#|f the nvi-nsf r of ih« <«liii«iB i.uriflinS miKc ; from till* rnoiiirnt, 1 ^ifn(t>»n invi«>ll iho rninny of Tiiit|iiir» anil hi« liHllnl tioiun i ftiim lipriroffirih ilii. lift., white iii^ rnri. Iinui'*, •hnti l>p pn»|)lov»-i| m o|iposiiiiin li> fvtinny utid lur the happineiM ami Uwtimu of my much-luvo.l cDtiiHiy." Nolo 21, vcr, ma. To nrf« of war and p»'nrfl, hravj> Soipio joiiii'd, A Hdble Keiinii witli .i philu^cphio mimJ. Scipio Africanii*. urjilirnj couraKo with Mml»'rit#«M, wm •iip«rior to llannihal ii tho arl« of peace, nw) mil niitrh hi< Infi'iior ill iho.oof war. (Jornelia wa* hi^ dviRhtor, the \«if« off. S. Giacchui, and the mother of the two (iracchi. Note 22, ver. fl27— 83J). In 1 woik aurribed to Qiiin ilian, these ctdefirnfod anrierit Roman rnalro--.* are thus mentioned.—'* Sic Corneliom Crarchoiur. ; sic Aiireli^im Cmsaris ; sic Alliam AuKu«-li matrem pru-fuisso educationibun, ac pioduxisse printi[H'< libeios at'ccpimiig." \Vc Hud that rornelia, the nioihn .,f the Oracrhi; Aurclia, of Cenar ; and Altia, of Augugtu^t, undertooic their children's education and produrioR lli«-se brave prince*. The same writer telN us, that the ancient Hoinans renied their children in the lip and bosom of their mother, whose chief praise was to keep her house and utiend tu her maternal duties. If a nurhc was employed, nlie would neither peimit her charge to apeak ill language nor to do ill action.* ; her care was directed an well to their diver*ioni a» to their exercises and employments. Note 23, ver. 875. To school with codex, calculi, and style. It is generally believed that there were no public school, at Home till three centuries after its foundaltou , paienis < / I'll 59 TMUPUINO or MFK. fMeMnj ihclr rMl.lrtn (h« liitio ,|„y k„,^. ^fu, |h« tMal,l.,l,m,„| 01 .ehooU (I., u^cli.r. *»fro K«nrr«lly ,|.v.., or r,..J,M,„; „„| ,.„„ ,,^,y, ,cc«m,,a.urd ihu bo« of »«nk i«»f h««l. carrjfin„ • l.oi cuni.ining l,o«k.. |hij,.r. nbl.n. ••Id mu»,mnx, f,„ ».,i„„g. ih. p.„„,o« of i„„pl« »•„ common plutr. for .d.ooU. il.t ubitu w«,« ,„„«lly it.in •liCM ofwouil. fwi.,,,.,! io>{i-il.«r an.l (or.ning ., book. nll«d CoDBx from iu roiemblaHc« lo t|i« uunk ut a lrv« cul inio plinki. Tli«,«ylo wusmadeof melul, muy, or bont . aod »u UM'd f.)r writing ; one erxi ««a* pointed and (he ..ili«r •mooth for ibe purpose of arating. lu calculi, or counter., w«r« us«d for aiilhmiiic. THE END OF BOOK I. \ i THE SPRING OF LIFE, A DIDACTIC POKAI. BOOK II. k I AIUaiMKNT. ' 11 lnlr«»liu'iion--Thp villn|{n trIioolmiitlrfM, vor. 7 ; lirr «>li«. rttotitr, J7~Slipii,lrti,'rt mrtluul of finii'liiiiK '•'« •l|»linl»ot KtlviRPtl, :il— I'iikt I0iu1iii){ mill NprlliiiK l«'ii*i»i** •\7—\»- fantilo ninntoiiirnti, wlinnco llio iligir^sioii a( a wulk in a Rurtlttn, ftJ»w-Uuo inul |>roKiv«N of wnllcii liiiiKiit||«t, Ur.— T\\t> Knjjli«l» lunuiinup, witli lotniirkA on iin nl|tliitliifllin«. Iho |.i.'i)nr«ioiy liooki* rcitftiitcil ,w<\ oilioin piii- |>«i«pil, '2^4 ; lort.lnnj. i« now univoiitiilly pniNuml, ;i;i;i ; ltook« |.io|wr for rluMirn. Nr. -J'.'H -|'io«o ronipooiliotm »'on«iiUi«.,l; im-lmlin^ lliMory, 4H7 ; nml » (trior itkcUli of K.n«liili luoloiy tinii limtoii.iim, .'»()'. -("Ii.onolony nnil Bfonuphy an ntupMiuy u, himory, «i •;. Kminont plnlo. •opiiical wiilom, wiili nn invilnlion to llu- «luay of homui of lh« l.r«nohM of pluUwopl.y, Uil\~.\ ,,rov«l cIum of fiiMilioui lutiory con.urcil. 712 -Apolo,.y for (i. lion. in. olu.liug mylhoIoKy. 7a4--'nip ii.y. li! MOM li Tim Sf»lUNr, OF LiFi;;, A DIDACTIC i»nr;M, :i:i:i; »>OOK II. How Nwoot Iho pictmo of our to(Milcsa yoars, TIml momory paints ; hii^;|,i ,ollin^r ,iy.,„.„ ^.1,^^.^, Tlu) (lay-H|»iiiii;- "• o>«r cloiid-oncircltul lile ; I'alc willioied oiuo, und worldly \fot«.s and stiiCd, IJuliciinl, unknown ; u cliorub Imin of joys, 111 vuncd ease, sofi.g;lidiMg time eniploys. In yonder wlulo-washcd cot, embowered by trees, Well-sKilled to rule und knowinj,' well to please, A villajio nuvtrou dwells, whose tender cares, In alphabetic lore, instruct younj^ years ; 10 Oontio iu heart and inodesl in her niein, Rustic her garl), yet whole and nicely clean; Rnthroued iu elbow chair, with cushion bi^, Her hnud eusceptred with u birchen twig, ii ^ 56 Tin: SI'IUNG OF LIFK. Whose uueful shake strikes leiror in the breast Of each unruly wight; but she caressed The ph^dding pattern to some riper ajje, When true he hsped the hirge-Iettered page; Il.ght well she knows the seeds of vice loVsc. The proud to check, and the submiss to grace, 'r>0 The obstinate correct, the tractile raise, The idle blame, and th' industrious praise; Een all their rogish pranks, when absent played. By little whispering bird to her conveyed. She chides with good advise ; but ne'er J'erawed With threats of goblins and old men abroad : To steal forgiving kiss when e'er she scolds Affeciion's little arm her neck infolds. -And pleased would rise, when she should mildly ask. If yet prepared to say his morning task ? SO From opened leaf, in lucent horn confined, She fixed the letters on his tender mind : The six long vowels first, as now improved, All ranked in scrde or scheme one note removed, She taught him to prolong; three vowels short,' Just utterance to give, biit less import ; In nineteen consonants with vowels prefixed Six mutes and thirteen semivowels are mixed. Those pure and impure sounds he can't prolong, These vocal and breathing like vowels long, 40 TfIR SPRING OF UKF. ,',7 F.nch consonant from difForcnt orrrans flows. The lips, the teeth, the palate, or the nose ; liyfevv'ul li/7-!, fotir labials he exprospps; The hrciith and tooth, gainst whit/i his tongue's C(/(/c pre.we.?, Form eight; four sounds his pnlate gravely iiia/;cs ; In mming three nasals, more care he takes. Now little words of similar sounds he s[.( the skies ; So alphabets complete all notes express, Conveying vocal thought in native dress ; V30 From letters words, from words the sentence flows. Its own peculiar note each letter shows; Several of ours with more we modulate, A, with full three, we all articulate, Four other vowels have at least each three, But some unlike in shape in note agree ; In single vowels dipthong sounds unite, Yet here deceitful pairs mislead the sight ; Why two your ear offend— of mulish kind, Vowels and consonants, or dipthjngs, joined 240 rt, (I irned 220 It TIIK spRixr. OF r IKF. lotei iSO ows. 240 fl5 The ledn.ed dispute; hut these uI.m.c reijin, Or rij^ht or wronjf. ih' tff,ui„n« oj'oui brain. By these aloih: explore oi.r lab rinj,' youih. The Hehls of science and the tracks of truth ; Uy these alone his followtnon potMnide, JItisband in commerce, and d.reci in t.'adei By llu-«e alone, a life of CaSe employ, Pleasures of taMe and rolls of time enjoy , By these alone difluse a brighipi.inff ray, 240 Convex'd with more. !iil,uH, li;;h.8'our d..y. .Since these the keys oi knowled; > of all kind* Possess youiselvcsof them and stu.e your minds VV»fh all her treasures rich as eaMern king's, Walk in her groves . :.d drink Pierian springs. Elaborate task to sow the mind with thought For wiih defective Looks the child is taught ; Long ranks in alpl.ubetic Older stiiiKJ, ^Vnh « abbot' thcybt-in, with ' ^^aJy* end, There vowels long and short are intc-rmixcd, With u'isals first and labials Ust putixed ; ' 2f.() There dipthwngi UUc ,,ih dipihongs -uised u , fbuud Confusion halts ! for iiabel tongues resound. When these are learn. J, w use the schoolboy's phruze, Broad piio of polysyllable^ amaza : i 60 Till II'UINCJ OK LU'K. Wiilioirt rci^ardinjf whrro ilio noccnt fulU. Or whellitT each loiijy word ri tlioii.;ht rcculU; Then (lid lonury wonU, with nu•onin^'n bright, Defining * right not wronjj' and • wrong not right,' Ai coniM)nnnts ar« dunth and vowt-U blind, Directing apccch its chimny typo is joined. 270 Here ah'truct t>»rm» nnd obsolrtes will pofto, Concluding wiih hard propc^r namei in rows. I'loni thin riidc slock tlui chihl iiHMorts tho Hood«, Pregnant with plant!! conunixcd with worlhlesi w(?pd«, From which his elementary IcnnwIedRO shoots : Then leaves hin school to follow life's puranits, With splendid i;j;n()iance an anifile store, Rich in bip words, but in ideas poor. Our tongue defective and our prinimers all, Are old complaints which passing years r«. call : 280 Our learned have strove to cleanse these barba- rous stains, Much has been done, much to be done remnint ; Their track let me successfully pursue, Spreading fresh light, display a brighter view. I follow then the genius of our speech. Describe the book from which preceptors teach ; Supposing that ihc alphaiiet is known, F int learning vowels long, as elsewhere shown. TIIK MI'UINd or LlfB 67 not 270 r.ach lahial, tlcnliil, ami each pulatine, Hucce«'«ively to ihom in onliT join, $00 Throutfhoiit the prirntniT ; nirh rutniliiir nnm«', Werv. t\i\)i\u>nu'* f'*'"'' an«l vowtU mo the mini^, TogethiT rhm ; while h•nrnin^r thone by n»i««, Shew to the chihl the thirign thru they dcriott' : Now „ Tlir- SPTUNC OK i.ifK, 71 From 8« anninp: nmrf. and trafficked wharf or c,„ay, The active rne.rhant, cuptain iaie from sea, And .«ons of conunt'ire hasten to peruse, The market prices and the daily nnvs; ' Tradesmen at evenintr hour, to tavern's led, In weekly journal polities well read, ' 890 With senatorial (lif^r„ity debate. On peace and war, distress and weal of state; While words and smoak voluminously roll, Th-y banish care and quaff the genial bowl. But see the statesman's breakfast table sp.oad With papers, pamphlets, and his daily bread ; Rea.Is while he eats and while he drinks dictates, Rcdects on last, p.cpares for next d. bates; Wise, strenuous, and firm, he grasps the helm. Stearini,' to happy port his sea-laved realm; .100 I.oyal and patrioiic, ho commands The sail exiend, the plouj;h enrich our hnds. Slow and dejected industry ho cheers Kxalts the peasant, the mechanic rears; rreservinjr pure, those blessiugs we possess, H"iig-ion, Liberty, and llaf)piues,; While o'er the globe our slate triumphant rei^n> Powerful in arms, iu arts and fertile plains. ~ Unskilled in lau.l, devoid of honi,',| tongue, Fain would my plain and moJest muse' h,,v^ f '1 t ImS^CMX 72 Till': SI'IUNG or LIFE. 'I'lin sliidiods labour-" and the irksome cures Of Clnircli and state, our much luved Monarch hears ; Whf n eve:y hand is hii and ev.ry breast, \Vil!i heart, Hiin us our oak, the mountain's crest And ocean's sceptre, can a virtuous muse To him the tribute of a verse refuse? V\ hen diverse millions cease to own him kin;:. And all the climes iheir bounteous produce bring; inn wealth shall cease to flt w from every stream, And justice, bribed, shall hold th' unequal beam, 420 When nrta shall sink, and idleness shall rise. And British factures forei^'n nuirts despise; When for.^ii foes shall light on Briton's shore, Ih-r thunders and then' lions vainly roar; When iMcedom'ssons in gulling- chains shall groan, r use then our isle a rmelph to enthrone; For people thus degenerate and base Should ne'er be ruled by sucls a virtuous race. Diverse the growth of reading's fertile field , Here spots religion's fruits immortal yield; 430 Here hardy broad-stemmed plants of science bloom; More flowers of fancy breath their rare perfume; Here nrdent youth may wonder unconfiued, Cull tastclul pleasures, gratify the mind. 'I THE SrillNG OF LIFK. 7S But first the book, that teach the infant age Pluedrus or ALsoi^, with a pictured page ; ' Or easy lessons, and instructive tales Where vice or folly shames, or truth prevails; With artless piety the bosom glow, The mind with seeds of noble actions sow. 4,iO Up the first steps of histoiy gently lead, From tyrant's crimes, intrigues, and slaughter freed- Prom error pruned, with useful knowledge frought* Be learning, pleasure, and amusement sought ' Praise those who shew with biographic truth How men, self-taught and eminent, their youth J'-mployed ; exciting emulous pride, disclose Hew Newton, Ferguson, or HerscJ Jl rose; How some for pastime sweat m folly's mine*- Some rest from labors vast at wisdom's shrine; 450 Nome n.e by vice and some by virtue fall Tiiat a just God will mete rewards to an.' An infant tongue invoking him to hear Is sweeter music fo His listening ear Than hymning Seraphim; his Holy page, Piopiriously is lisped by early age, Not long genealogies nor Israel's wars, Not mysteries, prophecies, nor Moses" laws, Nor first to end p'omiscnous to read Nor choke the mind with principle and creed ; 460 A^ hy should a child be subject to rebuke i'ecause unknown his dog's-eared Pentateuch? H 74 JHi; SIMUNO OF LIFE. Select such ilicmes as are wiiliin his reach, <'hrisi's holy life, his prayer, his sermon teach ; 'Ihe kin;j*saij{l patriarch's lives that God approved, Their words and deeds, exemplars to be loved. Maturer age must starch the bonk alone Serious to learn and know, invok ing prone Heaven to illume his soul ; read and revere I Thy Goj) hiMi'self here speaks and bends his ear 471 Listening propitious; read aiid believe! I'anlon and everlasting life receive: Faith it enlightens, wakens dormant zeal, The cure of woe, the source of human weal ; Hope it enlivens, in charity uniles, In life's panged hours, it comforts and delights: Fleie rest thy soul, here build thy faith secure, Immortal life and endless joys ensure. Then for its style— each pa-e, each line admired ; Historic, moral, poetic, and inspired, 480 Transcendent all; no tongue, no age compared. By wisdom, virtue — folly, vice revered I Then for its scope— to turn corruption's tide In paths of virtue, truth, and honor guide; Like Horeb's bush, each leaf divinely bright, A lion to know, and knowing- worship right. The sun of truth and polar star of life Is History's page ; or dusk with vice and »lrire :. ^1, iSv:-^ tmmmmm^* TIIK SJ'RINO OF IWK, Ih ud, IS 71 r1; 30 <>r I)iifr|,t with ponce, Willi arts wil!i viit tl'XIS names, Slie f, rms the heart, th tamos ; Wisdom Cloiiths th nijmits at all niankind hc.id miiidy passions < exjX'iHe, tc i>o is^teti hc.id with trrey cxp..riGiic.'; Man, agos passed, states »„uk aod raised! t! diaws, With manners, customs, governments, and la-vs; Builds monumenrs to fully, genius, an 1 birth. Contemplates heaven, commemorates the eaifli; She shows great commonwealths preserved, uiid thence By laws immutable rules Providence. Drink at the fountain head, some knowing say, But hi-h the brim a:.d difKcult the way ; 500 Truth is the truth, in Greek or En-li^h dress, Truth but pursu", the useful but impress; How needless then to waste improving- hours, In climbing iiills when vales abound with Hovvers. Barbaric staf.es, in fabulous years emollcd, And dubious lore, leave critics lo unl, !d ; Study th'enhghtened days of Gieece and Rome, Hove round the ancient world, then journey home To walk with thoughful sires, with glori.s crowned, For wisdom, virtue, valor, worth, lenowned, flj With genius and substantial knowledge blessed; Hail! brightest gem impealcd on ocean's breast i k ( 76 THE SPRING OF LIFE. Britannia's happy isle I thy daughters fair, Thy sons who love to breathe their native air; Great Alfred thine, who tamed the warlike Danes; Devout in learning and religion's fanes, Bright with the glories of the battle field, Brighter in peace, his country's sword and shield ; Ho with impartial twelve delinquents tried; His kingdom, cares, and God full occupied. 620 Worthies of Norman and of Saxon line, With bold Plantagenets and Tudors thine: Of them thy conquering William first enroll Tyrannic ruler with heroic soul; Thy Henry first the seeds of freedom sowed; Him scourged and at the tomb in penance bowed, Weak Lackland held with trembling hand the helm Chartered with liberties his vassalled reilm; Thy Edward and his son with sable shield. Laden with trophies reaped from Crescy's field, 530 Thy bravery on haughty Gaul impressed; Fair morn, dark eve, thy Richard's reign invest ; Three Henry's next, the first usurped the crown. Great Gaulic battles gave his son renown; While Margaret ruled her husband and the state Intrigues and civil broils depopulate; As factions rose or fell each seized the throne, While Cesar's turrets heard the nightly groan ; THE SPRING OF 1,1 FF 77 ties; ielcl ; >20 ved, the cy s 530 est; vn, ate Thy Richard utrodo through kindred itifunt blood To liosworth's field, but heaven upholds the good : 540 Thy roses red and white together twined And in one son their regal rights combined ; Jle threw corrupt religion's bulwarks down Fixed on his brow the mitre with the crown, The faith he plead renounced for lust, or gold Its worldling shepherds spoiled and fleeced their fold; Veil the misdoings of thy bigoi. queen, But be the glories of thy Virgin seen, The armada named * Invincible' in vain 549 Dashed on her rocky coast, and leagued Spain Submissive; prosperous her arts and trade. While learning, justice, peace, her realm pervade. Thy James, in plaid, from theologic school, In every science skilled but how to rule; Weep martyr Charles, wise but unfortunate ; Hypocrisy's vile self enslaved the state ; The Stuart blood restored and gaily reigned; The abdicated crown great Nassau gained, In youth for danger formed, in manhood brave, Forgave his foes and freed the injured slave ; 560 Thy Ann succeeds; and then the Brunswick race, Whom warlike and pacific virtues grace; The Third's long reign, as good as it was long Already lives in many a deathless song. ■ 7t TJIE gPrUNO OP MKK. fiattici well fought, an Nil« or Waterloo, Whence peace and couunerce, arts and factm new; In peace or war, thy sons no labor ceaio, In war prepare for war, reform in peace; Hence now our code of wide-mo»h lawi com. pressed Some rights bestowed, some grievances re- dressed ; ^ijQ No n\0! of office tc%u and (Jatholic claims, Unfettered every mind that nobly aims. To verse celestial rayn thy virnies give. Immortal that in which thy patriots live ; Philosophy's sure guides, reli;j;ion'8 guards, Thy awful sages and thy revered bards. Thy Camden'sMiind, with various learning stored The obsc ire cavern of the/;as^ explored ; With Britain's ancient truths his pages shine Dug e'en from grey Tradition's drossy mine : 580 Thy Raleigh, victim of a coward reign. Whose active muid no fetters could restrain, A universe, impartially to record. Sharped his learned quill, when foes had shcalhed his sword. A Clarenden is thine, though party led, With probity and dignity he plead : A Burnet too, perspicuous and bold ; Nor from Rtpin his well-earned praise withhold. TIIIIPIMNO OF LIFE. 79 3tUi com. I rc- 570 ored 580 hud Id. The cftndid pngo of Lyttcllon eiteem, Whuie IVccdom, Truth, und Putiiuti»m i ^am. JO Crncttu Hy\G and Hpocioiis in dispute, iiiHloric tUNto in liigli repute, li II Mrrf>«, ,ajjg work>, with every art rcfintd And noxious charms to ciipiivf\to the mind. The well-turned period, llu; harmonious lino, fiwcct elocpionco and guiit-ful iirl oombine, To runk thy (;il)b()n with \m (iaulic friends. Whose style he copies, and whoso creed dofendi. A ^ ')crt8on, \>lio human nature knew, 599 Each character's sli^nq foutuies masterly drew, Though tfrave, no' sullen, temperate, not austere. Learned without pomp, and without zeal sincere. Contemporary reigns of nei^jhboring natio"* leain. Compare with thine exactly to discern The intrinsic praise ofeuc'); let patriot zeal, Arresting sense, no other's worth conceal, IJut like Rapin discharge your curious trust he to all nations and all merit just. As buoys and beacons point the cliannelled way, As by the moon at night, or sun at day, 610 The sons of Neptune latitude the sphere, Compass directed, to their harbors steer, Chronology thus, the historian's guide. Fixes each fact in age's fluctuating tide; 4 I ! It ^'■'i'rl-iJi' IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 4K^ ♦&* %^ 1.0 I.I ^1^ 1^ 2.2 IL25 III 1.4 2.0 1.6 <^ /i ^3 ^>:^^ ^^^> riiuujgiiipiuC Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 97^-4503 ,\ £ o Wb"" '«!^'17 & $ mm^ 60 THE SPRING OF LIFE. Contains the current buoying mighly states, O'erwhelming nations with their potentates; Points when the great and famed first saw the light, Bright in their orbs as stars in winter night ; Detects the fraud though artfully designed, Arranges matter fitter for the mind. 620 With time's continuous course the historian blends The aid that geographic wisdom lends ; For place well-known the scene of action lights, Widens our view, difFuses fresh delights; Hence when imperial Xerxes' sumless shields O'erspread Salamis' and Platsea's fields, We see Thermopylse's immortal plain Red with the gore of Sparta's glorious slain ; When Grecian valor Persian hosts defeat, We trace well-pleased a Xenophon's retreat. 630 What ruin this, what scite that city crowns. Towns raised to cities, cities sunk to towns, We read then twirl the artificial sphere; Old Memphis, Carthage, Babylon appear. By crumbling dust revealed; where Neva flows Immortal Peter's hut a palace rose. Where Penn with barbarous tribes his charter gains Migrating man with cities plant the plains; timtm THE SPRING Of LIFE." 81 w the 620 itorian ghts, h i; t. 630 0W8 barter Byzantium old is now the Moslem's throne Round which are many Grecian teniples strown, But lo! o'er Greece fair Freedom's banner waves, Though low her cities and her sona were slaves, Yet dawns the n'ra when they shall anew. With civic virtues and with wisdom true. Embrace the busy family of arts, Soften their manners, meliorate their hearts : When smiling graces and inspiring charms Shall bind more brows with olives, bays, and palms. Genius of ancient Greece ! whose steps have led To fame's high temple, whose immortal dead, 650 Live in their hearts and teach her sons new-born The arms of all tyrannic lords to scorn. Exalt their minds v/ith deeds of heroic sires, And glow their bosoms with the muses' fires. Sages of yore ! descend benign on earth, Revisit Greece, the spot that gave you birth ; There Socrates thy god-like spirit wing, From heaven thy philosophic wisdom bring. To teach man knowledge human and divine: Tutored by thee, let Plato's pages shine 660 With conversations real, in beauteous dress, Where stubborn minds convinced great truths confess And change a vicious course. Celestial light Beams from the volumes of the Stagorice, i ■iM i I 82 Tlir SPRING OF MFR. Who solemn walks Lyceum's «tncJioiis shades, Who;e thouirhtf.il eye all nature's works pervades Catching a clear and comprehensive "ie^v, With ont! bold stroke pourtrays each image true. An equal lustre T-dly's writin-s shed, Graced wiih the sweetest eloquence e'er plead, 670 Harmoniously diffuse his periods roll, rrought with the essence of his vigorous soul. i:ach grace in these kind nature's hand combined In one fine die to cast a Bacon's mind ; Who waked from lethargy the powers of thou-ht From wrangling schools and monkful clois"ters brought Philosophy divine, at large to rove On myrtle margin, or in olive grove Converse with either sex. With him a Boyle All nature searched with well-rewarded toil,' 680 From her veiled face confusion disappeared, Her beauty shone, her secret workings cleared ; He her abhorrent vacuum designed, From base alloy the chymic art refined. And truths in unembellished style expressed, Like beauteous virgins carelessly ill-dressed ; ' Not thus sage Locke's, perspicuous and chaste. The model of a philosophic taste. Who the whole universe of mind surveyed. Matter and spirit in real forms pourtrayed.' 690 rfMMMa THE SI-rUNG OF LIFE. 83 MS 690 The brilliant lu-'ties of thecihereal bow, Spanning the earth, to me more pleasing glow, Smce Newton's finger pointed out the ways The trickling shower relleets the solar rays ; And while they strike in diverse lines the gaze, His watery prism, from onewhi:e miu-ling maze, Uubraids the twine of colours to the view, From the deep rose to the pale violet's hue. Wilt thou with him thy god-like mind exalt, Who scanned the wonders of the azure vault, 700 Mid clustering worlds and countless systems soared Sunk with amaze and Nature's God adored ? Or wilt thou dart through number, lane, and space An eye inquisitive ? or upward trace, From fact to fact, the world-producing cause? Or urge ihy heart tj practice virtue's laws? Or aid thy eiring head with logic's art, Thy knowledge to extend or to impart ? Or wilt thou twine, in sweet instructive lay, A Plato's olive with a Homer's bay ? 710 Or deemest thou inglorious rest thy lot, To live unusoful and to die forgot ? Heedless of sleep, with Fiction's figment frouj^ht, Love, murder, rape, and marriage sickening thought, I 1 ! I i r^ 84 THE SPUING OF MFK. Piono o'er tl.o mi(lnitr|,t Ininp the virgin pule Pursues the labyrinths of the mnrvelluus tale, Now ilreams, unmindful of hor waning; charms, I'-ach jrallant knifrht will lanp:ui.sh in her arms, While tondor passions thrill her sofienint,' soul Pinca an enamoured youth; now terrors roll 720 Around the gory bed their fiery balls, The spectre {;rim or dag:ger-hand appals, Victim^j of love or gold ; her throbbing heart I'^'en at its own pulsations fearfully start: Now leaps the fleece-clad wolf o'er virtue's fence Courts like a lamb to ravish innocence; That man in angel's form should woo for 'ust Incredible to her; hence, seemingjust, One beauteous pair, adventurous in their love, Unveil the njysteries of the Idalian grove ; 730 ]Cn raptured now she gives the book a kiss, Rests on her back, and dreams Hymeneal bliss. Such works waste time, the passions vitiate, Deprave tl^e heart, the mind efFominate. Not that ingenious fiction basely 'ms She prompts each virtue and each vice reclaims, With microscopic eye the truth she views ; Larger than lite and robed in dazzling hues Manneis and passions draws; and she contents, With heroic deeds, astonishing events, 740 ;! ill TIIK smiNG OF MFE. 85 More aplondid, good, nnd just tlmn truth o'er told ; The niirul to ph-nse, iiiumine, and unfold. I'iction beyond this habitation wings She soars above the natural course of things; Favored of Heaven I and Pierian Nine I With lancy bland and Harmony divine, C:reates new worlds; or with her magic hand She animates the air, the sea, the land. Aurora, hence, fair daughter of the dawn. Scatters with rosy light the dewy lawn, ' 750 From Thetis' bosom wakes the King of day. Whose steeds and golden car the Hours array ; O er purpling hills he springs, then downwa'rd lides. When Luna chaste in eilver chariot rides With bright Hesperus and his glittering train : If Neptune's placid brow shoots through the main The wmds he caverns, warring waves he calms, Floats stranded fleets, wiih hope their seamen arms ; With joy the opening tide his car propels, While Syrens singandTritonstunelheirshells;7G0 Zephyr with Flora paint the enamelled ground ; The golden field enCringed with verdant mound Was first by Ceres tilled; when Bacchus smiles, He glads our hearts, our steeping cares beguiles: Pan's fattened flocks a plenteous feast afford, Fomona desserts our autumnal board. 4 I /I 1 M TIM; SI'HINCi OK IIFK I':«ii to ita bu,, the heaven of uniorou» ij<»I», <|lytii|.iM tixM ,o« whoii tho tl.ui.derer nods, Cnnfiimiiig lii» ' .cmp.; on cillier Jmad Tlif yoddt-sscs Mi.njortal bt'autiej*, maud : 77.) Ilfic yoiitldui llcbu Willi ut-r nectur wuiU; line Ihon's fall, hnplurnbiy dtbulcs, On ^'.)ldt•n throne, the awter-wifc- of Jove; niaiitiousiu when she charmed to sleep and love. On llovveiy bed ot idu's cloud-capped peaks, The sire of go Is, while Neptune led the (irceks. Ho.e in the n.uhi the lau^Miinir Cyprian ipieon And her arch son with cpiivered bow are seen, Hor wuvin • hair ambrosial sweetness breathes, Down o'er her breast in cjraceful rin-lets wreaths, Her neck inclined wiih charms celestial glows. Around her feet her radient garment flows, 782 The sports and graces wanton in her zone. And all the goddess in her inanueis shone. Here modest, noble, grave Minerva stand, Her »»'gid raised, her brilliant lance in hand ; Her locks around her casijue the air perfume, I'lesh on her cheeks the rose and lily bloom, Soil as a bird she treads the peopied skies, ('elestial sweetness lights her u/:ure eyes, 790 Her strong melodious voice persuades the mind, And o'er her mail her mantle falls behind. Daughters of Jove ! who guide the many song, To whom all science, arts, and arms belong; TIIF. .Sl»IU\(i OK I.I Ft:. •7 iiudii, 1 : 77i) and love, cuks, (irc'cksi. Iiieuii Keen, uthen, wreaths, l;1ows, s, 782 i, nd ; mne, uin, 790 t luiiKj, I. song, siiii-r 1 » WImmc polished forfihcadK wicuths of pr\!;n on. twino, Wh iHo lyres enchant with hnrniony divino, With living' colors let my versos ijlow, With nrtfiil onno my «wi!otost niimlxTH How, Dwell ill my breusi, inspire my youihluj lays. While, sacrnd f homo ! I ntrive to siii^,^ thy praise, SOO Sweet Mnses! tenehcrs of my life's short spring, Hour me, propitious, while thy praise I »in;,^ As passion's or imaginotion's toni^ue Spoke measured prose or sweetest numbers The savage hrrust a wild enthusiasm tired, He joyed, or wept, or prayed its it inspiu-d: Ye tati^lit hiui, Muse! to solten war's diie voice, To praise his god and in his works rejoice ; At festive sports, with heroic deeds ('hit", His own exploits, or country's, oelehrate ; HIO Then tamed his cruel heart, informed his mind; To rural life and manners le;id m n ciiid. Then cities rose wjiere social man retired, ^ Hut when his mind, that pastoral scenes ad- k mired, Looked back on nature innocent and gay. Ye drew her charms in short and simple lay; When stained with selfish aims, ye poured in somx. From Solon's lips, the bounds of right and wrong : I 1 i rilK SPIUNa OP LIFK. m When fiicruJj«h(p, frcc«l(>m, peace, and civil rij;l»t Choo«, and etirtli, oiul hfavcn, niul liell unvollcti, Hebolliuuii ticruN that mtn otnl (Jon OMniled, The lo«« of i:don, tho forbidden tree, McMinh** triiimpli, terrorntruck we see; Min plan no \n%i in mnjesty arrayed, Hi* lofty thoiinhf* in nptcM wordM conveyed, Iliii niimbcM aiiitcd lo hj;* daring; fli^rht, Awo Iho propbano and tbc devout invite t Hold and subbnio be •iin}; a tbcmc diviiio Wbero Virgil* tasto wilb Homor'i ^'oniun join. In lofler »train< nnd numbers sweet and sniootb, ICIcgant iuid [rny a Waller's vrrsci nooib ; bb'2 But correct Dillon, ^cnbam'i nervous lnyi, Cowlcy'H and Uutler's wit exacts tby praise; (Icniusj tbcir guide, tbcsc curly poets sbone, Unskilled in art, tbc critic's l,uvs unknown, Till Drydcn taugbt wilb taste to criticise, I'lucb fault to censure and eacb beauty prize { Kxubcran». wit and wild conceit to prune, RcHno our lauguaj^o and our numbers tune, 800 In buppy words our sentiments condense, Tbat bave tbcir sounds a comment on their sense. To make their movenient with our thoughts accord, To rire the mind and o'er tho passions lord, To varied pauses rhymes exact provide ; Himself a model and a faithful guide. Tutored by him, a Prior's writings please, IJy correct lines and unaftecled case, s\ 'ilii': gpiiiNo ov iirR. 01 li uovimIimI, tailed, eycJ, * no III* join. I sinootli, 1 1 ; hb'4 liito; one, WJI, t ■» )rizG ; '» ne, 800 J, eir sense, 8 accord, U'll l'oj.o Itin works ndiniied, hi* rules imbibed j lli< itrtaifit beau|i«s to hii own Iranscribcd j Uy cqiiijl judgment and Hiirptiitsin^ poins, 001 With every graoo appear his poiitliod ttrain^ ; His Blowing thotightN are vigoroiuly comprcssod, In clej^anl nnd oven sfyle expressed; •• Than the sniooiji stream his uuinbors smootlier Ukt gold and jewels strung aUcrnato glow; •• Dietsod with u taste exact," a wit refined. '• A knowl«!dge boih ofhooks and human kind." Then Thomnun came, who made ilm rolling year All beauty to the cyu and muHic to the ear, {)ia neaHin^' as Spring, as gay ns Summer's bloom, Ah Autumn calm, or dread os Winter's gloom. To tastofid pleasures Akensido invites; VVhate'er in art the poet's eyo delights, VVhate'or in nature painter's hand pourtrays, VVhatu'er in both the ingenious mind surveys. With beauteous imitations copied thcnco, A luscious feast, he gialdies the sense. The native wit and stylo of IJums wo piaisc; Listen Ueattie's "Minstrel's" artful lays; 9'20 To moral rules and sacred truths attend, When Young or Cooper is our bosom friend. But pious Watts, in high seraphic strain, Taught man and boy their native skies to gain. I 1 I m "-*""-f I 92 THK SPRIXO OF LIFR. ► His lyric notes the soul devout enfiitme, To sing her maker's praise, adore his name. From Mason's hand receive a garland gay ; A Pindar'.< fire eonimend in classic Gray. Thee, gentle Goldsmith! saw the swain oppressed Fear steelied thy pen and pity swelled thy breast; Resolved against his foes fierce war to wage, 931 Tlie tyrant crush, in virtue's cause engage, Aid slighted truth with thy persuasive strain, The sad historian of the pensive plain. Scott, fancy's favorite son, while yet a child '• Nurtured in many a bard's traditions wild." Who knew so well o'er past events to throw His noble spirit's ** wild romantic glow," The fields of truth and regions of romance Skilfully blend wiih fiction's magic glance; 940 Life, color, beauty, shape new worlds derive, Decked with fresh charms creation's old revive. Byron, an heir to riches, rank, and fame, Yet not content with ancestoiial name, To high Parnassus' loftiest top aspired ; Nature with kindling breath his busom fired, Gave inward melody, a thirst for praise. All that a soul, refine, expand, and raise; He swept his harp, all nations heard amazed, 949 On his high flights the prostrate critics gazed; Like rapid Lawrence swelled by melting snow, Exhaustless, deep, and smooth his numbers flow ; < THE SPRING OF LIFE. 9S Nature by his own eyes alone surveys, Nature from his own self alone pourtrays; Proud, sullen, dark, no symnatliy iniparts, Nor can an echo find in "iituous hearts, The mind revolts from noblest poisoned strains, From brightest beauties hiding darkest stains. By generous Soulhey'a, noble Byron's aid, Soars to imnurtal fame thy martyr shad.', 960 Oh White I your death now fills my tearful eyes, Why not the sting of keen neglect despise? Oenius' favorites, wo and penury, brave, " To gain the meed of praise, when mouldering in the grave." Nor, White, like thee, am I with studious rest, Unbroken thought, or meditation blessed. Save what is wrung from toil ; but why repine ? Or tax God's providence or will divine ? Though clouds o'ershade, buoy up and onward steer. If dull to-day, to-morrow may be clear ; f]70 The checkered past cannot my mind depress, It ran not out in sleepy idleness; Through my short life unwearied I have striven, la virtue's path, to urge my steps to iieaven ; In God I trust, who blessed the checkered past, Neither with hope elate nor fear downcast; Though by each lettered muse I die forgot, No sculptured m;'rble marks my resting spot, I) ','i .tJH^H^£si^i!*; ::]l ll 04 Till-: srMUNG Ol I.I|."K. ► A life uiihlcmisliod and nn lioncst name Supply llio place of elet;y "nd lame. Who asks ot man liis monument to raise, 081 Ah {renins prompts or else the lust, of praise, Shall envy, wo, and |)enury be the price, And comfort, health, and life the sacrifice? If keen noji^li^ct. or disap|)ointment slings Hest on the solid truths relij,non brin;is, Hise, like a IMiu-nix, from your dust erect, Superior to disappointment or neglect; The love of fame to noble deeds has pressed, That heavenly breath that glows in every brensf. Spurs on the patriot, nerves the hero's arni, {)0l Calls merit forth, and gives to toil n charm. ^-ihs;- ' ^^^^SiSJtZ'y *"; ■ ■^ ■♦ f-*'**!*-.-^ %*. '«•«-. n, 081 lise, V, CO ? ;.s et, ?SC(1, y Ijicasf, im, {)01 rrn . N T E S. IU)()K II. Nolu 1, ver. !2fi. Milt no'or oViawed With llireala of goWinH and old men iibroail. The gfnerul growth of knowlod^o and t'luconscqiKint decay ofsiipeiHlilion Imvu nearly exploded the belief of ghost.i and a|)|iaiilions of persons dejiarled. Credulous Hervniiu and if^noiunt old woiurn pvon now loofreipiently awe cliiMren and keep them inted with the hi'lief of the immediate piesence ofan all-seein.; and jxoteetinjj I'rovidencc, on whom it should havo the fimie j reliance, the imagination, haunted with strange visions and phantoms that weie excited in tender af.e, makes many men, myself of the nuniher, who were fri^'htened when youofj and whose matured reason has corrected all such wronij impres. sions, start unreasonably at their own shadows and listen fearfully to the echoes of their own footsteps. Reason and philosophy can well account for all the marvellous and seemingly well-autheulicaled tales of supcirstitious ami igno- rant ages. Grief for a departed fiiend, love to a faithful wiff, remorse for a wronged testator, as well asm-ilar and more poweiful passions, bearing relation to some person %: 'J J- 9(» J in: siMiLXCj OF lite. .11 Note 2, ver. 31— 4(i. " N'otliinj reliirtis tlic |)rot;rrssof .■liildipn somiicli in tliiMr cndDiivoiirs to iirlicul.irc, as tin; i)if><»ent moilo of tuacliins; tlio iiipli lUet ill ll.iit conluscd order into which clianro \\i\d ori-,'i- iiiilly liiiown tho Icltorn; for many conti{,Miou9 loiters, as ihey now lie, iiru purfoiiiH'i! in such (lillcreiit scats, ami with such ilillerent cxoi tioin of tho or^'ans as for a long time to hame all the efforts of tlie noviciate tongue. Whereas if we follow the onlerof nature, bcf^inning with the labials, and so proceeding lliroutjh tlio dentals to the palatines, the work will he accom- jiiislied with ease and certainty. That tliis is tho natural Older, and that the lips are the first organs of speech exerted by cliildien, may be known from this; that the words papa orbaby, and mamma, are the terms used by children for father and mother, in almost all the langua-jes of tho world."— Sheridan's Art of Jleading. \ Notes, ver. 14G. The impressed brick and hieroglyphic stone. There are several of this species of brick in the library of tlie Kast India company, two or threo in the British museum, and three in TiinityColiejjc, Cambridge, a rough sketch of one of which 1 iiave before me. It is about thirteen inches square and three inches thick. Neither in the centre nor parellel to its sides, is impressed aparellelogram, which mea- sures six inches and one-eighth by three and five-sixihs. 1 his space is divided lengthwise into six parts by five parellel lines, between which are perhaps the never to be deciphered characters. I'hese are called by some arrow-headed, by others javelin.heade.l, and by the French characteres dcloux, nail, headed ; and they are much like the nails used for shoeing horses and for the tire of wheels, arranged in various shapes Sir VV. Jones says of them, " They appear to be regular vari- ations and compositions of a right line, each line towards the lop becomiug an ang.lar tigure." There is one character -^vii^arr? TIFK SPUING OF LIFE. 97 irli it) tlit'ir .';»cliin;j[ llio I had ori^'i- ors, as lliey I with suoli to liuitic all ; follow tlio proceeding he uccoin* ho nntiiml ell exerted *ords |)i»pa [) for father world."— library of I museum, sketch of sen inclies centre nor hich inea- ve-sixihs. '6 parellel leciphered , by others DUX, nail- er shoeing IS shapes, ular vari- vvards the character that bears a resemblance to our figure 4, but more angular nt the foot and transverse linci The same occurs twice with twelve other angular-botloined tapering strokes crossing the perpendicular and hanging from the foot which stands on one protruding to the left, 'i'ho others are too complicated to be described in writing. In the library of the same college is a curious little article, composed of a like substance to that of the bricks, and impressed with similar characters between vertical lines, but much smaller and more regular. This curious little relic of antiquity is shaped like a wine pipe, and measures seven inches in height and three inches in diameter ot each end, thunco gradually increasing in circumference to the middle. No one can reasonably doubt that this was one of the ancient modes of recording objects of national concern and propogating and conveying to posterity the memorable actions of eminent persons. Whether the cha- racters on these aiiiient relics were signs by analogy, as the Kgyplian hieroglyphics ; or signs by institution, as the Chinese characters »ind tlie Arabian ciphers; or whether they were signs of vocal sounds, which might be either an alphabet of syllables, as used at present in yKthiopia and some parts of India, or an alphabet of letters as used by ourselves, the labors of the learned, to the best of my knowledge, have never been able to discover. I am inclined to believe that they are signs by institution, as the Chinese characters; and, farther, be- cause the angular part of almost ail the characters are turned probably upward, that they were read from the top to the bottom. It is said that with these bricks were built the original city and the celebrated tower of Babylon. If this be admitted as a fact, it will afford much matter for the speculation of the linguist. According to Archbishop Usher, Babylon was founded by Belus, whom the learned have identified with Nimrod of Scripture, about d.c. 2,2;j3, and the tower of Babel about 16 years after tha founding of the city. Before this period "the whole earth was of one language and one '^\ I I 't'Hi f)8 Tllli SPUING OF LIFE. f *pee(;h." Their design, in huiltJinR thii cUy and tower, wm i<» prevent their dinporsion to replenish the earth and to make to themselves a kamouh character. Thi« would account for the impiesHions on these bricks, which are evidently intumled to convey and preserve to posterity some special and important fact ; and this is an argumeiil that they are a remnant of those immense walls whicii are said to have been 87 feet thick and \i!iO feet high. Hut as these building materials must iiave been made, and are said to huve been preparing during three years, previous to the commencement of the city, which with the tower is supposed to have been cariitd on 22 years before language was confounded, when these works were Slopped by the dispersion of mankind, the characters on these bricks must iepie«eut the primitive lunguage spoken by mun, and the original method of retaining und transuiilling know- ledge by writing. Hieroglyphics ate certain symbols which are made to stand for invisible objects, ami which were at first supposed to bear to these objects an analogy or resemblance. Thus an eye, was the hieroglyphic symbol of knowledge ; an ant, of wisdom ; a fly, of impudence ; a hawk, of victory ; a circle, of eternity, among the Kgyptians; but among the ancient Chinese, it repesenled the, sun, which they called Ge, an appellation this luminary still retains, though represented by a difterent character. Note 4, ver. 150. Then marks for ideas stand. Recording loie of China's ancient land. The Chinese in the beginning of their monarchy commu- nicated their ideas by drawing the natural images of the things they would express, which answered to the rude picture painting of the Mexicans. Afterwards they used enigmatical figures and' symbols which correspond with the hieroglyphic characters of the Egyptians. As numerous objects, such as the passions, viitues, and vices, could not be represented by drawing, to expiens them they by degree* composed and THK SI'lUXU or MFK UU d tower, waf and tu make account for itly intuniled nd important nantol' tlio:je let thick und i must liave during three , which vvilh jn 22 years works were terii ontliese len by rnun, itliug know- adc to stand osed to bear lius an eye, , of wisdom; , of eternity, Chinese, it appellation r a difteren' hy t'omniu- af the things ide picture enigmatical lieroglyphic :t3, such as resented by ipo^ied and invented more limple, which w«rt mostly formed from lh« hi.'ro«lyphir.il and symholicul figuros. At Hr«t iht-y weto only oullinoH of tUete characters but afterwards received cnnsiderahle .Uieraiion. In Hpeaking the Chinese vnry each of their words on no le"«s than five different tones, by which they make the same word signify five diffurenl things. The Jipanese. Tonqulnese, and Cor.i'jHs, though tiiey speak difTerent languages trom one another, and from (he Chinese, all use the same written characters and correspond intelligibly with each other in writing. In a Chinese work which I have seen, « loh page was divided horizontally into two columns, no that the reader began at the top of the right-hand page and read halfway down, and when the top column was read, ha commenced at the top of the bottom column to the right hand reading to the left. They observe the same rule with respec t to the order of their pages, so that the failhest towards tl.» right is always the first. Note 5, ver. 151. And all the west one mathematic language teich. Our arithmetical figures, which we liave received from the Araliians, convey the best idea that can be given of the Chinese characters, being precisely of the same nature. These figures have no connection with letters, the represen- tuives of sounds, and have no depcndance on words ; but each figure denotes an object, the number for which it stands. Immediately on being presented to the eye. ihe-je figures are equally understood by all the nations by whom they are used, however different their languages may be, and however difTerent they may be called in their respective languages. They are perhaps in more extensive use among mankind than any oilier written character, and to them we owe many of our improvements and discoveries in the mathematics. P ! 1 100 TIIK SPRING OF LIFE. Nol« er. 163—164. Tha Hebrew tongUf, in which God wrote commandrt and Momi eung, &c. U iieitimaled that there are at present about 4000 diflerent anguagei ana dialect* in the world. The«e are believed to have a common origin; for previous to the building of Hak'l jhe whole earth .poke the «ame language. The Hebrew ha. made claim to this distinction. I am aware that in treating of thi. tongue I t.ead on ground which is dcemtj .acred I therefore will not .peak ra.hly. and though I may d.„ wh.ch it is now dilficult to bo perceived, yet there can be l.ttle doubt that they are derived L. the same sourcl! As instances, the character he. which signifies behold or her« «>.. .9 the hieroglyphic of time; the letter .«.. which is trans- lated a hook, bears a resemblance to a hook or a shepherd's crook; the letter Jl/em, signifies water, which the Egyp,ia„H called Mo. and wrote I believe by a not unlike character. or 1' TTVJ- '^^ *^^^P'''" ''ieroglyphics. the known orgmof the Chmes« and Japanese characters, with other collateral facts, prove that theorigin of written language waa hieroglyphics; which were at first pictures of visible objects, ihen symbols of invisible things, and then simple arbitrary blance. Of th.s latter class \ consider the impressions on the Uabylon.an br.cks. the Persepolitan arrow-headed obeliscal characters, the present Chinese. Tonquinese. and Cora-an anguages. and our arithmetical figures. The invention of letters .s attributed by Plato, in Ph«=dro. to Theuth. the rilK SPUING OK I IFF. 101 Kg>|-linn, wlio In nupjjosoil to be the Mrrcury oi tlie Gieiks' llivi>t) uiguniiMit4 only iinlitute a^uinat tliu Ikbiuw wiitttii lain;uanu, tow nch tlio oriil iraiHt havu Ihmii iinitrior. lint •ome of llio arKutnenis urgtil Im piovf llial llim was lla'uiikin*! ■nJ uiiivurnalxpeucli woulu alto prove llienuiiif of nonuol ll»« Anieriiun Ituliiu languaKt*. li U tnoitl |.iobablo tliul lli« ilcbrcw letter* wtiu ih rived fioiii tliu liitMOnlypliics o( i:;;y|.t, whence Moses cacicd them into the l.iinl ot CaiiOHi, rtheie Ihty were adopted by the I'lieiiiciani, and woru afierwardu truusniillrd into Greece. Hut as tiieKU ieilcrs were Kimilar I) tliQso UMcJ by the Syiian-*, ond the \uilir of the book of Job \n siijiposed by gonte to lime been conttiiiiioiaiy wiili Abraham, it is po^Hibie that this |)alii nch It-arncd ijiem of tl.c Syrians, and that iiis postiiity carried thuni into Kgypt. ()( thu similarity of the Ilebr.vv aiid Syrian lt"l. is, .lo^iphin writes, " 1 he character in wiiich tiiey (ilio Jewish books) ore written, sieni to bu like to tliat which i* the po|)ei character of tlie Syrians, and that ilssound when pronounced is like ihcirs aUo ; and that this sound iipjit urs to be peculiir to themselves." — Antiiiuities of the Jcvmi, b. xii. c. 2. . Note 7, vcr. 170-171. To Grecian sliora Pbenician Cadmns sixteen JeUers bore Of Hebrew stock or growth of I'aledtint'. Tlie Greeks themselves admit that they received their alphabet, as well as much ofliieir learning, from other nations. Herodotus their earliest historian, says in his 'i'erpsichore, " J he lonians had their letters from ilie Phenicians, and used them wi;b very little variation ; which afterwards appearing,', those letters were called Phenician, Irom the Pheniciaiu bringing' them into Greece." Josephus says of tiie Greeks, " It was also late and with diflflculty that they came to know the letters they now use; for those who w,)uld a'lvanee their use of these letters to the greatest antiquity, pretend that llay lear-ied them from the Pheniciaus and froin Cadiuuj . yet i** . I M f 103 Tin: SPfllNO OF LIFF. nohwly able lo (]emon«lr(i(A that th«y havt any wrilinK pr«. •erv«,l f,om that lim«. neither in their temple, nor in iiny oilier public monumentii."— Again«t Apion, b.i. «. :), UecuuM of hi« havini; carried the Utter* from I'henicia. I hivecallc-l Cadnm, Phenieian; but several ancient writer* ulhrui that he wan originally of Thebe«, in Kgypt. Note H, ver. 172. With theiie aogo Momcmtrung the harmoninui line. There wat a Iruililion among thoaniienia that the poems of Jlomer were not written down by him, but that they weio committed lo memory anil like biilid-i «un(( in paifx, which were aftorwardi collc'cied and compded in thfir ,, resent nhiipe. If there wore any writing in Greece in hi* time, if (hero were any person that could write there it wa* FFomer, than whom Cireece had never uniore learned man. That the Greeks had wriUnK in his time may bo proved by thu famous Siguaii inscription, which is contained in a tablet that was disinterred upon a promontory called Sijjeum, Hiluulcd noi far from the s.:ile of ancient Troy. This. tablet is of beautiful while marble, nine feet high, two feet br»ad, and eight inches thick. on the top of which had been a bus-f probably of Hermocratcs. whose name it bears. It in thought to bo not less than .'3,()i)(V year- old. The letters of the inscription are all (ireek capitals, which bear a much greater resemblance to Hebrew than the same characters which we now print. The Cliineje language is read from the top of the page to the bottom, the Hebrew from the rij;lit hand towards the left, but this inscrip- tion begins on the left side of the tablet and proceeds to the right, the next line commences on the right hand and reads lo the left, and is thui continued alternately to the end. Note 9, ver. 174. In which one vocal sound each letter claimed. In a perfect language every simple sound would be rcpre- sented by a distinct character which would have no other. I' THE SIMIINO or MFF,. 103 It tvnr Ihtrfl wer« InngungM thiii peifcct tlity wern ihn snciflnt (ire«k and Homan. All true rrnical ikill in iho ■oun.l of lonRiirtge mn^t hav« ii« foiin.lnlioB In iu nimplA •lemenl. or l.tttrn. So rrnirh wa^ thi^ Mti.ly piir«ij..d nml honorc(Ml)y tho', I ' I H 104 TIIK aPRINO OP III r. •1 ih, (h, tnil uf. The I.ilin U iiov a (lm of tlio ioijn>l« o1 it* UtUii. Hut iImm« which we do know qre not tho«« which our chufitrler* re)ii«- • 'III \ for iiHi«nce, our i ami u in (h« wnnl unilo were •uuinlcit by thn tluticin* like our i'« ami oo. VirKil Uli* u« that Crtini I'l, niulate |t*rlo, wiili kuliII viriition, v,a* ini'lo rainilUi iltii roiiM not hi< ilomi tti lCii;^lMU without wholly «lio{i|iing th« «oumJ ol th« Iviiur i. Nolo II, ver. 21'>— 312. No work* can be more (K-fi-clivc, In my opinion, than a lirj^e pulioii uf Iho r.iiul'mh opi'lliii'.; hudkt. I hiive ({ivnii u xktttrh ot one in m')#tui(it'm.ivo ciiculuion at lliu tion! I li;ft I'.n^l.iml. I.ilijo iliti I vxyvrt to liml on lliia liJe <>f (hn wtuiorn oct-m, work* of till* kind incompirably supi-iior to tho^u in the inolhor coutiiry. l.iMlc did I tx|)ccl to (ind primer* not di4a<«l»iirp iu-d t'lut (ivt- imllion^of ropiui of \Vc'b«t«i% Amoriciin S|itdlini{ I'ook had bet'ii piinted livo ye.iti ago. It i* a well.di;,'citcd iyntwrn of the rlfincnH of linj.'ungo, spelling, and n-adinjf. It U fnrni-hed with ex- tun^ive lni,'hor decree of perfec- tion than it is at present. A man of Kent can batter under- stand a Frenchman than hiso\^n countivfoan of Yoik^hire. A native of Norihumberl and would conprelit-tul ''lo Gaelic of a Scott, as easy as the Knijli-ih of •-.i o.' Cornwall. In no place is our hnguage spoken with so much alloctaiion and pedantry, and at the same lime so incorrectly and un- grammatically, OS by the middling clasaos of tbe metro- ■-wrj" •. hui iImm* ) wtrvauumlcit l«li« u« ihit n, Hi.»« inulo aliuut wliully n, tli»n a lirKt li.'ft lln^l'i'xl. I in the inotliur it ili4Hi'iiihr to iwIiIlIi 1 Ikivd Iiuri4urri)|ii«}4 n piitited (ivu I'liMiiontt of lii> toon aurpotaad by ««l«tclinK ««lut W4« «ic«|l«nt Irom •«( h .uid bUndioK it with h«r own. So in all probability «vill KukIiIixI owtu to her coloHiu*, and th»««i who li.iv« b««ii hur coluitiv^, much ruliii«nt«nt of h«r touKua. It i« riilly lo lnK of tut Kn((lin hi« principteH of reiiKii>ii, put within hit reach un exhaui(laf*a nourco of amuHoment and pleasurable grotificalion, confirm a huliit of thinkin)^ and r»t. flection, aecuro him from inony teiiipt.itiuna to wliiuii oihei4 aro exposed, and will loach him to regard with di^j^iMt all that ia low, vulgar, and viciou*. " Vou place him." siys Sir W. Uericliell, " in contact with the host society in evory period of history, with the wiwst. the wittiest, the tendere-»l, the bravest, and the pure>'t chnractern that have adorn.;d humanity You make him a deniiun of all natioui— a cotem. poraryof all fkget. The woiid has been creuled for him. It is hardly possible but the character should take a higher and better lone from tiio constant habit of asHociaiing in thought with a claw of thinker.*, to say the least of it, abovo the average of humanity, it is morally impossible but tli.it the manners should take a tinge of good breeding aod civili- sation from having constantly before one's eyes the way in w hich the best bred and the best-informed men liuve talked and con- ducted themselves in their inteicour»e with eucli other." i 106 THE SPRLVr, OF UVK ^ i Note 13, ver. 487—504. ['istory is one of the most natural and most rational p.u.uit, CI r r^' r' '"'"'" ^« •"^--^'^ -ncerning .ore or " I""""' '" "^" ''"'^^" ' "'-"'" '^ey wcr! and w,.at,„„d „,.„,, may have inhe.ited from their actions '•'ws a„,| .nsl.tufcn.. History i« not only level to the e pe nc ce b,u amuses and entertains. It excites cu,iosity at.sfics. It suppi.e. motives to virtue, and begets a d.te.- '"i'y, and furnishes maxims of prudence, liberality and 'and.ng, and enhghtens the judgment, it proves the best -our,ty aga.nst the prejudices and false impressions whcl n.ay..e contracted by education, by intimate connexions, or by .he foihes and vices of the ti,nes. History is a true re. pesentat,o„ of mankind in the various age., circumstances, cond.nons of life. 1,3 object and end is to record truth i o'u": oT'"; "^ "'" '' ''-"^^ '« °- view the wo.ld a.L "'';"^' "'^'^-^ '^^ -' -^ governed in its n y „w ,ts kingdoms and commonwealths we,e first ^^ -'l' .^l.ed. and how they rose, flourished, and decayed It .nt.oduces to a kind of intimacy and correspondence tith the wisest, the bravest, and the most celebrated characteis of "very age and of every clime. It travels into distant countries and traverses v.n regions of the unive.se to inform of their manners, c..ston,s, politics, religions, and various pu.,suit. It makes us citizens of all nations and contemporaries of all age:. Vi^- THE Si'IUNG OF LIl'E. 107 Note 14, ver. S38 While Cesar's turrets heard the niyhily giojn. The tower of London, the building of a pari of which i» attributed to Julius Cesar. Note 16, ver. 541, Thy roses red and white together twined. The well-known devices of the houses of York and Lan- caster, which were united by the marriage of Ilumy vii. wuh Kliiabeth, the heiress of the houio of Voik. lleury viii. their only surviving son succeeded to the throne. Note 16. ver. 772—776. See Iloraer'a iliad, b. xiv. Note 17, ver. 852. The clustering isles that stud the .Egean deep. Seven cities contended to be tiie birth-place of Homer, hut perhaps he was of Chios, an isle of tiie .Egean sea. Simonides calls him " tlie poet of Chios;" Tiieocritus "the singer of Chios i" and in ahjmn to Apollo, attributed to himself, it is said " he IS the blind who lives at Chios." His birth-pl^jce ii quite unceitain. Nole 18, ver. 853. Theban retreats and Pella's studious shades. Pindar, thp chief of the Greek lyric poets.^was a Theban, he flourished b. c. 435. Euripides, an excellent tragedian, was " Pella's bard," he flourished b. c. 407. Note 19, ver. 856. The iMantuan shepherd startles at the sound. Virgil was bom at Andes, a small hamlet in the Alantuan 101 TIIK Sl'RIKG OF LIFE. (Liritoiy, about three miles from the city. lie finished his fdiicalion at Milan, under the philosopher Syro. Probably Ills poems were wriiten on his paiornal estate, which hi* Geoigics prove how well be knew to cultivate. ». ^ote 20, ver. 857. That sooths the impassioned breast in Laura'i bowers. Pelrauh was bom in 1304, at Arezzo. His works have nodered the fountain of Vaucluse, Laura, and his own name inimoital. Were it not for his passion for tliat lady, he would have been less celebrated. Note 21, ver. 885, 886. Genius their guide, these early poets shone. Unskilled in art, the critics laws unknown. On account of a defect in their tongue, which rendered it incapable of numbers formed by poetic feet, the French, whom our early poets followed, measured their verses by the number of syllables which composed them. Boilieu says of ifae early French poets, La caprice tout seut faisoit toutes lea loix. Caprice alone made our first poet's laws Milton was well acquainted with the laws of versification and the powers of numbers. But " Dryden," says Dr. John- son, "maybe properly considered as the father of English criticism, as the writer who fust taught us to determine tjpon principles the merits of composition. Of our former poets, the greatest dramatist wrote without rules, conducted through life and nature by a genius that rarely misled, and rarely deserted him. Of the rest, those who knew the laws of propriety neglected to teach them." As Boilieu says of JMarot, it may be truly said of Dryden, Et montra pour rimer des chemin!) tout uouyeaux. He shew new ways to build tho lofty rhyme. THE END OF BOOK II. Fe finislietl his ro. Probably te, wiiicU his ra'i bowers. is works have his owQ name ady, he would one, VQ. h rendered it the French, verses by the oilieu says of THE SPRING OF LIFE, A DIDACTIC POEM. M^ BOOK iir. f versification ij's Dr. John- 3r of English lermrne tjpon Former poets, cted through , and rarely the laws of lieu says of reaux. r An(j( MKXT. IntrndiiNioii—TIi^ niitxtor, vor. || — pj;, ipat of a scliool ami (lie character of Its y ijnints, HIJ— Writing. 8n_( NI-VVrMficlon, J-Jfj-The Fiend jnnimar. nr<.<.k.;n;? - fj .Anil lUMlil-.y, i.iwl Ilelirow Ianpiia«c«s, «6<)— I) "^b I I. 207; Latin, 259; I awing, 403 la Hiictic, ()\r,.-.C, ISO of tlie Mnthcmafic.q, 607— no omf;try, W;?-Algcbra. mii—l an ic-s, 73;3— Ofiti,.,, 8;j:;_.\ IIRO- Stic- THE SPUING OF LUM:, A DIDACTIC POEM. BOOK III. Our memory's eye we often backward cast On sports of childhood and on pleasures passed With playmates dear, now busy on life's stage; And with their parts performed in ripened age Compare the bias of their infant mind ; Some were to studios, some to sports incliiietl, Some busy merchants trafficinp; in toys, Some must command a regiment of boys: Thus in green age a native tinge appears, That marks the color of their future years. 10 A pleasant seat that crowns a rising ground. With pitchy pales and hawthorns circled round ; Below a bark-ploughed stream majestic rise, Afar the ocean laves the ethereal skios; %i 112 THE SPRING OF LIFE. Slow glides a fleet, the zephyr swells its sails. Fans the warm noon, with healthful breath regales. There curliDg smoak proclaims a distant town, And hills and vales with budding beauties slrown ; Here the smooth-shaven plat, with daisies gay, Where scholars hold converse and pupils play ; 20 The hedge-row elms around and new-blown flowers, Shade the calm walk and scent the studious bowers ; A Gothic painted shed a play -house forms, Shelters from summer's rains and winter's storms : Here dwells the man, preceptor of our youth. Who learning's rugged paths well knows to smooth. Fluent in speech, in converse grave or light, Graceful in mien, and naturally polite ; Skilled in the world, its ways, and vicious arts ; A man of letters, manners, morals, parts. SO But anxious only that his pupils learn, Their morals, minds, and manners his concern. Piety he fixes in the tender breast. By constant practice, more than rules, impressed; Virtue with pleasure, vice with pain he blends. Truth, sacred truth, inculcates and commends ; The chart of human life he slow unrolls, Points the unerring course and threatening shoals j. THE Sl'lllNG OF LIKK. HS Unmasks Its follies and its wiles sets forth; To love and copy excellence and worth. 40 Graceful demeanour and discourse refined, With well-bred airs, give Itistro to the mind: Courteous himself his pupils are the same. Ne'er rudely bold, nor whelmed with bashful shame ; Discreet if gay, if penile yet discerned, Grave without dullness, without boastint,' learned. The tide of speech in modest bounds restrained, Ne'er by lewd jests impured, by oaths ne'er staine Hence at the stated hour each leaves his sports, With willing mind to school again resorts; In silence they around their master stand, Waiting their pen and copy from his hand ; Then to their desk, where each his rules he tells, Commends him who in penmanship excels; A hand lor business employs their quill. Then curious ornament improves their skill. Important art, most useful men possess; Clothes their ideas in a graceful dress, 100 Transmits the accumulated lore of time To farthest ages and remotest clime. Holds converse sweet with dear and severed friends, The lover's vows, the sage's reasons sends. Records the past, the present propagates, Whence man to man his thoughts communicates. Hence, if thus useful in our life's affairs, It needs no common skill, no common cares ; An elegant clean letter claims respect, The writing neat, the grammar wrote correct. 110^ l*'l a 1 «| 110 Tin: spiuNu OF mpk. I?ence Btiidy grammar well, whoso rule* will teach The strict proprieties in every speech, Instruct to renil with ernce, to spell suight. To speak exactly, auu correctly write. But first ac(|uire your simple mother tonpne, In which a IVewion wrote and Milton sunij; Noconjut^atetl verbs, nor nouns «leclinc(l, Nor varied adjectives fatigue the mind ; Articles modify the sense of names, Whoso genders are hutsuch as nature claims; 120 Some particles the voices, modes, and tenses teach, Express relations and connect the speech. By a few simple rules our Syntax shows, How we with ease may sentences compose ; Our Prosody the laws of verse contains, And accent, quantity, and emphasis explains : Wo have no Prosody some learned advance ; Then flow my smoothest lines by art or chance.'' While others verse with poetry confound, From whom for sweetest strains most praise re- dound. I3Q Who, like the sun emerging from the east, Surveys all nature with a fervent breast, Her every scene, her every charm illumes, Pourtrayed in every hue the sky assumes ; A soul exalted, a superior mind, That eyes the characters that form mankind, I iit> niE SPRINO or LIFE, in Catches ihc present, conipaises the pnst, SearchcH the deep, and pcnetriitcs the viist, BlendH freeilom, strenujlh, and Hiiency ofthoii^rhr, In harmonious verso and words well ^on^ht; 140 Such is the man who claims a poet's name, Whom but to draw, we more than need hin (l.ime. Who rhymes with words may think he writes in verse, Rhyme may be hobbling prose though e'er -m) terse ; For accent makes the movement of a hne, Or an emphatic impulse some define; Thus in unite both syllables are long, The accent last, though each has a dipthongy Fn ed'ucute the impulse first must lie. Though the two last are long by (juantity ; 150 By which, like Latins, we could scan our feet, If vowels always were the accent's seat, Hut consonants this impulse oft obtain, Hence duplicates of feet enrich our strain; Those move with graceful ease and noble port, With ruggid harshness step the latter sort : Iambic verse admits, by art confined, Some vowel feet and all the other kind ; Sprightly in front the Trochee loves to play. Stretched out in length the slow-paced Spondees Jay, IGO Into a line the Pyrrhic skips with ease. But verge composed of pure Iambics please ; ( lS-*' I III TIIK sr'UINO OF MPE. A Daciyl oft dcll-ht« our Wnieuin^ com, While AnuiHi'xtic notcH iirouw) unuwarei, Ainplmbruiluc n.ovotncni flow» wiili lively gr,c0, Mdo(Jiou.,Iy the Ti,l,r«cl. find, it* plac*»{ ' 'il.o vttriou. foot, l,y |,a,,,,y an combined, Will morin or culm iho pan^ions of ihc minil; Knrujro, coinposo, with icrror rt'iuj the lusirt, And wl.ut h foigiird or lilt to all Impait ; 170 'llio poet puintu with all their Klowinj? hiici, With all their powers expressively otiduea ; If undulating hcus loud temprst.s form, The roaring foiest Huotuates to the storm j When to its stretch with Mtrength Fandarus dreir Rapidly fium hiii bow the whi/zin^ arrow flewj Slow move deep sireanji that bear fraught Heets to town. The impetuous torrent rushes thunders down. The final pause each verse's measure bounds, Cesuras vary and enrich its sounds; Thus,' like a child," was poetry' nt first, Naked' at birth," then after' dressed and nursed ; Cloathcd' with exactness," with attention' reared,' Restrained' by custom," by each grace' endeared! Corrected' with judgment," with art' improved, ' Esteemed' for native worth," for virtue' loved. * But some have censured rhyme, as Gothic chains That binds the fancy and the sense restrains; Tin: SPUING OF urr.. 119 For wh«n thoy would exprcM ihoir tlioiijhln precise, Reaioii aayM virtue und tlip rhymo Bay* vice ; 190 llonce ihcHo freo mind* tuch fettcri ipurn ; their rhyme By clipM and man(;l*d words feduccd to time, Or hull' cotnplolcd, expletives d.juppeur; Whdo oft the opon vowels tiro thine ear: Hoinetiincs wo prosper and sonietiiiies wc fait, Hut genius, art, and labor will prevail. Though toiiplot rhymo the Hncnt leuso confines, It sweetens, »trcngthon«, and compacts our lines. Each moral thought, in fowoHt words imparts, It charms our car* and captivatcH our hearts. 200 Hrncc for Didactic strains is righfly uned, Where in the mind instruction U infuf^cd; But he who soars on eagle's pinions strong, Needs not ifs oliiniinf; aid to raise his song, His lofty thought and vaiicd verse combined Convey important truths and please the mind. Skilled in the lan;;uoge of their native soil, By friendly converse and by studious toil, Our youth some living foreign tongue are taught, Which, adding words, extends the bounds of thou>>ht, 210 Widens the views of theirs and other states, Their scieucc, arts, and lore communicates. !< uo TIIK SPRING OF LIFE. ' %'- V Our commerce oft embarks to Gallia's shore, And travellers oft her beauteous scenes explore, Her tongue iscopicus, elegant, polite, Hence learn to read it, speak it, and to write. The plainest rules let memory embrace, Of noun the gender, number case, VVhoNc article and adjective with it agree; A hardy race of pronouns next we see; 220 Though these fatigue yet all impatience curb, Boldly attack the conjugated verb; A regular conjugation daily write, For rules with practise always should unite ; Hence clothe some easy tale in English dress, In foreign words your native thoughts express : A copious syntax then will claim your cares, Which idioms of both the tongues compares; Most adnouns follow nouns, the pronouns stand. According to their kind, on either hand ; 230 The place and government of other speech, Negations and the rest its rules will teach. No varied pause and lofty epic strains. Nor strength nor ease its rhyming verse sustains. Hence Latin poets speak their songs in prose, O'er Homer, stript of numbers, we repose; Yet works of genius every age adorn, In every age were noble poets born. Malherbe first, the Dryden of his clime, Refined hi* language and improved its rhyme; 240 ,v THE SPRING OF LIFE. 121 His cadence just, his graceful verses glide, All know his laws, their model and their guide. Then Corneille walked in majesty the stage; Racine exact with sweetest verse engage ; A Moliere's comic, Voltaire's tragic muse, Each virtuous principle of the heart infuse: In heroic strains great Henry's virtues live, " Mighty and mild to conquer and forgive." Ulysses' son, wrecked on Calypso's isle. Braves Cupid's arts and scorns the goddess' smile, 250 Filial aflTection glows his youthful breast, Through earth he wanders of his sire in quest ; Hence realms appear, the shades of death dis- close; Described in harmonious poetic prose. Boileau unfolds the poet's art divine, To precepts just his own example join ; With ease of Horace, Juvenal's force and fire, lie tortures vice with numbers and satire. Time was when Rome, the empress of the world, Her sacred eagles in each clime unfurled, 260 Her brave CamilJus, Fabricius poor and great, Scipios or Cesars saved or ruled her state ; Nor Ganges' flood, nor Medias' forests high, Bactra nor Ind, with her in fame could vie; M I2« HIE SI'RING OF LIFE. Hers was each lettered sage, each muse that sings, Walk then her shades, unlock her sacred springs; To feed with knowledge and reward our pains, Her tongue majestic ample wealth retains. Learn first its nouns, in cases six declined ; With conjugated verbs impress the mind ; 270 Then be the varying adjectives acquired. In correct Latin daily themes attired; Find roots of verbs, trace nouns though erery case, AW useful general Syntax rule embrace: Hut;shali we still with Latin Syntax tease. Like Hebrew taught in unknown Portuguese? And shall we still require our youth to quote, Words without thoughts, as parrots prate by rote ? Oh! ye who path all learning's heights with flowers, Spare youth such toil, employ such wasted hours; 280 E'er classic garlands the young breast adorn, Free the sweet rose from the obnoxious thorn. The flowers that bloom in the Ausonian field, Triansplanled thence less lively colours yield, L'lse their rich scents in a less genial bed, As subtle essences evaporate when shed. We love the charming song of Mantua's swain, ta old Ascraan or Mnonian ttrain ; nuse thai J springs; ' paiDS, ns. lied ; i : 270 2;h erery iese? uote, by rote ? Us with I wasted 280 )rn, horn, ield, eld, wain, THE SPRING OF LIFK. Its if native rural scenes our steps invite, His simple shepherds' easy lays deli^^ht ; 290 Or would we till or plant the fruitful tree, Raise clustering vines or rear the frugal hoc. Learn both the poei's and the farmer's arts, He fixes them indelibly on our hearts; Or reach Parnassus' crown on epic wings, "Arms and the man," the best of poets sings. Great faults and beauties Lucan's poem contain*. Ardent and bold for liberty in chains. Horace supreme in judgment and good senate. Reproves with smiles, delights with negligence ; 300 Juvenal sedate, the truth with satire arms, Censures with frowns, with glowing beautieii charms; Be some of Ovid from the classics rased, AVanton in morals and impure in taste; Tibullus tender, easy, and correct ; From Ph.-edrws' fables early tasks select, These, more than these, the relics of her fame, The genius and the taste of Rome proclaim ; Who would speak well or elegantly write. Read them by day and study ihem by night; 3lO Not vain of language, nor of learning proud, Rise o'er the middling and o'ertop the crowd. A wider field now opens to our view While we a nobler higher theme pursue. ,.^-™_„.j«iP".- li 12i Till! SPRING OF I.IKE. ! ^ JiH Pnront of sciences ami nmsc of arts, Grccco ill her tongue trauamils these northern parts All the accumulated lore of years, All that rcliucs, cnlighlentt, and endears. A Homer's " Iliad," a .Xenophon's "Retreat," A Socrates wise, mi Alexander great, 230 A Saviour's death, his aciions, and his words Her tongue imparts, perpetuates, and records: Rich, comprehensive, flexible, and strong, In a broad stream of liarmony Hows along; To learn it then devote each leisure day, Profit and pleasure will your toil repay. In Greek, like Latin, nouns have change of case. But here a dual number claims a place; Its adnouns and article with it agree ; With numerous brunches grows the verbal t»cc : 330 Time, evertlowing, tenses subtly quote, Which augments and inflections will denote; Optative moods, and middle voice has each. Contractions, dialects, and forms of speech. Latin and Greek construction near incline, Here singular verbs with neuter plurals join; No ablative shews the instrument or cause; Peculiar lustre shine in various laws. With this Thrasybulus made the tyrants cower, Demosthtnea opposed a Philip's power ; 31 &. , TrrK SPRINO OK I.IFR. 125 se northern With this tho broalh of frec(h)tn was infused; Tho l{)ii^;est thxirinhi'd and tho noblest used! In this AchiMos' wiiith pjrout llonier snu\; Ha|)|»y hin nRe and li:»|)|>y in his tongiio ; Sweet lictionsaiid swoet tniths his strains nnfold ; VVhale'cr is sph'ndid shines in ^^onis and koUI, Whato'er is phiin with native beanty gk)W8, Whiite'er islilth) noblo diction grows; Ilia mnsc melodious rharins the listening skies, J.ovely as Venus as Minerva wise. .']5() Then Ilcsiod taut^ht to til and nurture trees Iliinp^ up his ploii'j;h to sing and live at case. Aloft snblinio the Theban eagle springs; Anacreon inspires the love he sings; A Sappho's tonnamcd, Stiaho may tell and fit tor classic pacjo ; Ihil lute (ico^raphy should youth cni^agc. For this is history's eye, the merchant's hand, That bears his laden keel tVom laud to land ; The tcles^cope through which we see at home, The distant rc^^ions pcre<2;rinator8 roam. 4'50 A continent unknown till iiehcm's sail Spread its broad bosom to the western gale, Whose track Columbus with success pursued ; Cabot and others this New World reviewed, (iama tirst doubleil AlVic's iiopcful cape, Where storms contend and gulphs terrific gape ; Bold and secure he furrowed Indian seas, Whence Europe trades in eastern luxuries; A Drake o'er Spain Britannia's thunder hurled, And bore her fame in triumph round the world. 4i0 A Cook, great geographic truths resolved, Thrice, like the sun, around the earth revolved. As gathering bees from mead to orchard rove, From flowery garden to the juicy grove, Tin: SIMUNO OF MFK VJ'J From every plant nnrtarcojis swrpts to (;loi\ti ; So travellers ronm tlit()ii^;li every deviuiia seeiie, Some btiniiiiij wilds, some riiiri-Hcattered plaiiM, Sotiic buried cities, suine niili(|iie reinniiis, Whose nuuuicrfl, customs, Hcienco, arts, mid lore liiberally contribute to their store j 450 In every cliuie they hive iritt'lli|;encc ; lleturned, their spread repast ref^alcs our nense: While fancy soviring on excursive vviii^. Rove as they roved; hence where Nile's BOurcr» opring A Bruce's joys we share ; or rolls her flood Westward and east, where Noph or Aveu stood, Whence Pharaoh followed with [)or(i(lious slaves (Joshen dismissed, to drown in weedy waves, O'er stately ruin stalk; with kindred hearts We travel Africa's interior parts 460 And share the woes of Park; for Guinea's ore The shark-like wretch will rob Nit;ratia'8 slioro Than him of better kind, whose painful tale With Christian sympulhy our eyes bewail : Ill-fated race! worthless thy golden floods, Thy shining ivory, odoriferous woods, Rich gums, rare fruits, and treasures deep con- cealed ; No music to thine ear thy songsters yield. In gaudy plumage robed ; the muses' strain And softening arts unknown ; no laws sustain 470 '£' Ui f MO Tllf SPIUNO OK UPV.. Thy equal ri^litu; but ataviHti ba«o desire, Uoven(>;e, and liiHirul love ihy«piiil Jiic. Now by tlic bund ttbe luadii thiough climci late fuund, Where CulU Niagaru with ihiitidciinK' sotind, And Andes |)ro|> the skit'«; we expiiiiuie O'er Montiiiiiuu.i's seini-biirbuioiiH rIuIo, Potuui's silver bilh and Manlc'rt rich soil, Cone/, and Pizano's lijoudbought spoil { A^Mlast, we turn to Luaitaniii's phiins, Where Ciibnil foundered and Biaj^unza rci^'ns; 180 With peaceful Raleigh nurse Virginia mild, Aid Dolawar to rear the eldest child or British birth ; who, now mature and free, Wealthy in state and noble in degree, la wooed by every prince; in India west, With vast savannas, gardens, orchards, blessed, Beneath a Tanning tamarind recline, Quaff cocoa's milk or palm's refreshing wine. Now see accumulated riches send The industrious peasantry of our land, 490 And our ingenious artists cross the seas; Ye wealthy lords 1 will you, deprived of these, With blistering hands, manure and plough the field, Drive the smooth plane, or clashing trowel wield? These, scourged by famim from their native soil, On Lawrence banks begin iheir hopeful toil; TIIK SPniNO op MFP. 131 !iiiro. re. clitnci late sound, >(e ilo. oil, jil ; reif^ns; 180 mild, d free, , blessed, ig wine. 400 is; of these, iloiijj;lt Iho •we! wield ? lative soil, 1 toil; I St'p griiii the Held and cities plant the plain, And sapeil l»y pjunporod vice und luxiirio* vain. Their imuh-loved country Hink ; yit thi-y nspnn Hear weal, wealth, jjlory with a p.itriut'n lire.501) Now rnitnic fancy uprcnd* her during; Hight Where marlilu ruiiiH o( the eutit invite The truvelier'n »tcps; here hloonu'd ICiyiinm fir»t Here man, iininacidate, with (>oi) cunvcrsed And, sinless, snn^ his praise ; but sinninf^ won Troin death and hell, by (ioi)'«» beloved .son, Who, rnbi'd in Hesh, a shameful death endured ; Imuiorlal life and joy to nmn secured I Now real and supposiliiious relics shown. With Moslem's mosfpies and temples not her own, 510 Calvary red, and ploii-^hcd-up Sion's hill Israel disjUTsod, one people yet, fuUil Trophctic writ; the propliet false adored. Here and Mecca, stablished by hi.«, sword His world-rewuidiufy creed; tluou'^h deserts lono 'i'he pilijrirn wades to kiss ihe sable stone Witnessing faith; or round the Kaaba turn Seven times devout ; for now Medina's urn Is ruin's prey. A vain denenerate race We visit now, that occupies the space 53U Of Cyrus' ample rea'm: to dust consumed Lie Babylon and Persepolis entombed, ■f I. I i It rn Till; SPUING OP LIKE. No mort to rt«<»; now InpnlinnN broad »il«, CircliMl with hilU luid villu* joined delight. TliR Hiiow cbd inountainn, verdiirp-rovcred liilU| Ilicli cultured pltiiiiji, und ''".tU\\/'w\; rilU, Orintoiil(yabul Ircml, or Cuwoeping iiurtli tho brine to mountaina form, 550 Or adverse driven ihn li(|iiid inlandK rend ; In furry t^.ub licro men with cold contend ; The winlery ylooni the bhuinj? amber* cheer, Inwnerned in cnvei, with nature'* coarsest fare, Knvious nor envied live; at twilight day With «|uivcr, bow, and nets they Bcek their prey. Thence on beyond whi-rc 01)y'« water* roll And (iieeiilund, cased in ice, to northern pole, The lump of life, fust wuniii^', there nxpire*; IIcio Geyser'* jet, and snow- clad Ilccla'i fire*, 500 A lava dclui;o spout; here nature's child Unblemished dwells in tho Lapponiuu wild, His streams support, his fairy lakes bewitch. Fond of his mounta s, with his roin-deer rich. When cancer roddens with the solar beam Straight lulls with fruit and vales with verdure teem In Sweden's realm, though late with winter drear : The hardy Dane resists the inclement year. Gigantic Russia strides o'er half the earth, To one vast mind her greatness owes its birth, 570 Immortal Peter's I who, in foreign parts, Culled seeds of civil wisdom, arms, and arts, ? I. * il ■ ni TMK SPIUNG OP LIKK. To sow al lioino ; made savas^e deseits lame ; Now power (lospolic blights lier biiddinu; fame; Tlin hapless Pole bravely his letters shakes, And the stern Moslem at her sceptre quakes. O'er fallen Rome the sacred mitre reigns, While biijot Spain, that poured Peruvian gains O'er half the world, in poverty is proud: Ijisitunia to tyranny has bowed. 580 Not 80 the robust Swiss, in Alps secure, Enjoy their vineyards, seas of ice endure, And love their checkered scenes; here flows the Rhine Down their steep mountains, branched in many a line Through German, French, to the Batavian states ; These sweep in circling poise, on fleetest skal3s, Its crystal pavement; those its banks adorn \N ilh faotured towns, ricli meads, and ripening CO! n ; Tiio>e aie ingenious men, industrious these; Those rich in commerce, these in fisheries. 590 Our native isle! whose very name inspires, Kx|)ands the mind, the yonihl'ul bosom fires, (irten are her hills, her watered vailies fair, FtTtiie her meads, salubrious her air; Fruitful her orchards, fishful are her streams. With Uocks, with herds, with swiftest coursers tacnis; I f THE SPniN'C OF MFE. 135 lame ; ii; fame ; ikes, lakes. IS, in gains 580 -> ire, flow3 the 1 in many an states ; it skal3s, Join J ripening icse ; ies. 590 es, fires, 'air, cams, coursers Stately Iier cities, works of art her pride, Forests of masts in every harbour ride; Her fleets at sea, her armies brave on land. Her foreign millions own her potent hand ; 000 Freedom is hers; and where her banners wav« She righls the injured, liberates the slave; Genius she nurtures, merit she retinites, FAtends her arts, her artisans i.icites; By Cam or Isis walk her studious youth, With learning, virtue, piety, and truth. The mathematics number stars or grains, Measure Egyptian pyramids or plains: Assault our reason, opposition quell, Reign without pompandwithoutfurce compel. 610 Prove this position false, its adverse true. Triumph with art, wiih science self subdue ; Employ our leisure and secure our health, Lessen our labour and increase our wealth: By these we build commodious abodes, Cities for men and temples for their gods; By these our armies skilfully arrav, Defend our country and our fues dismay ; By these our navies plough the watery plain, Enthrone Britannia empress of the main ; 621) By these in trade we readily compute. Our blighted harvests and our labour's fruit ; li 136 THE SPRING OF LIFE. Weigh with just beam, with lawful measure mete. Buy without fraud and sell without deceit; By these in art we nature's works excel. Resist a torrent or a rock impel, Useful machines ingeniously design, To fashion factures or exhaust the mine; By these a keener vision we contrive, Scale the high mountain, the deep valley dive, Illume the dark, on the concealed encroach, Enlarge the small, and the remote approach; G30 By these in solemn choiis we praise the Lord, Attune the brass, the shapeless block accord ; By these foreknow the length of day and night, Revolving seasons and eclipsed light. Eye the vast fabric, comprehend the plan. Weigh the hugh spheres, and their wide orbits span. Follow their motions and establish laws. Admire their grandeur and adore their Cause ; By these we prove, unanswerably refute. Solidly judge, and strenuously dispute, 640 Steady our fancy, intellect unbind. Sharpen our wit, and elevate our mind; If this their praise — our manners they correct. Soften our passions, and our life direct. Perchance, a half-formed arithmetic art Was prized of old in the Phenician mart; ^^ Tlir SPRING OF LIFE. 1S7 Now, cloji^antly shaped, we early try To add, subtract, divide, and multiply ; Values to less or greater name reduce, Practice those rules that we in commerce use: 650 Hence readily compute a vessel's freight, Its worth, its bulk, its duty, or its weight; Insure, cotnmission, barter, or exchange, And with our [)artners our affairs arrange; The love of wealth increasing with our gold, Oft compound interest is in vain foretold; Our hopes dispersed, our counted profits drowned, With pain we pay the fractions of a pound. The prince, the swain, the statesman, and the boy, And every artisan its rules employ; (JGO Which, more or less, in every age were known, Now every clime will claim them for its own. With annual pomp o'erflows the wealthy Nile, While Egypt joys and all her deserts smile ; His waves retired, her ancient rural swains, By geometiic skill reclaimed their plains; To marble grandeur and colossean pride Its narrow rules her sons of art applied : Then Greece arose and shone in borrowed light, With her full beams illumed our northern night. 670 This science first the spacious field surveyed, In right-lined figures on papyrus laid; \ t' 1S8 THR SPRING OF LIFE. The plan aroused the speculative mind, Its wonderous latent properties to find ; HenceThales, when hefor lore soughtMemphis'aid, Compared his staff's with the high column's shade ; H^nce the famed lines Pythagoras devised, For which in joy an ox he sacrificed : Hence too the " Elements" with Euclid's name; Hence sage Archimedes' immortal fame ; 680 Hence mensurate the line, triangle, square. Capacious circle, solid cone, and sphere. When forests fall beneath the axe's strokes. Their quartered girt, vast length appraise the oaks ; Whose stems are hewn to waft the merchant'* freight Curved with the circle, with the angle straight ; When Syracuse resists superior foes, She fires their fleet, their nescient works throws ; K'er the proud dome or splendid city rise. Its art-drawn plan the architect supplies ; Then artists ply the bright mechanic tool, (leaius their guide and science is their rule. er- 690 The mind to soar above terrestial things. With new-discovered truths dispreads her wings., When mathematic logic frees her flight, Her bounded course extends to infiniie: I THE SPRING OF LIFE. 139 This science ffcneru), comfirchensive, cl«ar, Furnishes rules or makes their truth appear; With literal symbols and peculiar sicn'!. Reasons on numbers, (luautities, and lines ; 700 Compound equations e<|uipoised resolves, Sums endless series and all roots evolves. This recent science wonderous truths has found ; Fluxions to Newton's envied fame redound ; A logarithmic canon to invent Was noble Napier's lasting monument, Whose sines and tangents, an elaborate cliain, Mensurate angles spherical and plane. In life's affairs important science herp, It grasps the earth and spans the farthest sphere. 'J^^y Hence from this station readily is found, How far that tower those battlements surround ; Hence counties, isles, and empires are surveyed; The sites of cities on a map displayed; From plains remote, or distant vales below, Compute the height of the high mountain's brow ; Or when it elevates our wearied feet. We mark the spot where sky and ocean meet. Then on the arc the gradual index slide, The downward angle skilfully provide, 720 Whence find the upward, formed by sloping lines, Proportioned to their adverse angles' sines. I tt 140 THE SPRING OP LTFR. Which through Ihe chiliads trace, and measure thence The earth's vast axis or circumference. Hence too the magnitude of planets, moon, Or sun, in the full majesty of noon, Scarce bigger than a bowl to erring sight ; Yet could we look from his meritlian height, If visible, this great terrestrial sphere Would noi so large as our own eye appear. 730 Hence too their wide elliptic orbits' round, Their dim eclipses and their periods found : The unnumbered stars that sow the evening sky. Sublime and beautiful to the wondering eye, In fancied figures formed, positioned true, A small celestial globe depicts to view. Hence too the mariner, by night or day, Computes his course and steers his trackless way, Corrects the mystic needle's devious aims, His erring watch to certain time reclaims, 740 For while he sails the counted hours include, His travelled leagues of western longitude; Sun, moon, and stars, by nautic rules, define The polar height, his distance from the line: When Afric's pirates strike the British flag, Plunder the freight, the crew to slavery drag, The art-projected shells unerring soar, Down on their fortress bursting thunders roar, ' 1!^ (1 meastire noon, eight, 730 pear lind, und : ening sky, ngeye, iriie, • h I trackless ims, ims, 740 icliide, tude; , define e line: flag, •y drag, jrs roar , THE SPRING OF LIFE. 141 When keen ambilion or the thirst of gold, Leads Cook some new creation to unfold, 750 Though naught but sky and Houd he can survey. Yet art informs und science li>;hts his way. Stupendous monuments of ancient days Ti)at now e'en era-proud mi'chiinii's praise, That still on Nile's or Ganges' hanks lemuin, On rich Carthaian or Salisbury plain, Could feeble man, such vast and ponderous weights, Raise by unaided arm to Alpine heights? Perchance, long ere their theories were known, IMechanic powers o'orpoiscd the massive stone, 7G0 Practice alone compounded the machine. Hence ruined vvoiks, not subtle words, ure seen ; But genius soon t!ic laws of motion proved, Showed the efFect of powers or forces moved ; Then various useful instruments designed, The lever, wheel, wedge, screw and plane inclined. By these, to arts and manual trades applied. The noble ship first drinks the briny title : Here busy wriglus the greasy slope secure, Then groaning weights the heavy load endure, 770 Some wedge her firm, some rive the under blocks. Suspended now she totters on the stocks ; Some fix Archytas' screws beneath her prow, Whose levers bend, hard heaved by sweating brow : X; ,;:«l 148 TIIF SPRING OF IJI'R. Now jiipinng feet, now tliuiitlcriiig liamtncn ash, Njw tioiiiMci cailh, now ropes uiul limb ers crash. The land recedes, down plim^'o a grove of oukg, Wall()winj5 deep, the pitchy bottom soaks', The dancing fleet and roUinj,' billoua joy, NVhile hjiid hii/^aa resound from man nnd TI hoy ; 780 icn riic her masts, two tall Norwei;iaM pines, ^Vili^ rattling pullios ri^^ged and thousand lines Wide on her yards and stays the cunva-s swells ; Now steam a-ainst the wind and tide piojicls; Prodigious engine, modem years desi:v„ed, Noblest invention of the imreniuus mind, In com nierce, carriage, arts, and factures plied, Biitannia's boast, and her mechanic's pride. Oft splendid works progrcs-Mvely ioiproved. Praise followed those who blemishes removed, 790 Hut that superior mind obtained renown. Which justly claimed a (abiic for its own; Savary performed what Woiceslcr had planed Newcomen, Watt, and more their labors scaned ; The expanded vapour fro^.u the boiler 11 Thiough opening valves the cylinder suppl les. pl'lies Rushing at top the piston pressed by steam, Descends attached to moving see-saw beam. [It' TIIL SIMllNG OF LIl-E. U3 ^ liainmcis im\ timbers vc of ouks, luun niifl 780 i\ii piiios, >a\m\ linos; uss swells ; propels ; ;iic(l, ,(l, res plied, piitle. ovcd, moved, 790 kvn, uii; planed Drs scaned ; Hies, npplios ; iteiiiu, beam, TIioii lip it 8piiii|;;s tlio watery power reversed, And that above coiideiisiii;; pipes dispersed ; 800 While up and down alternate the piuon drives, 'I he whole machinery with motion lives; Ilcnoc a grand engine wings the potent press, That guards religion and relieves distress; Hence jetty fuel from the |»it it throws, A wholesome strcim throngh ihiisty cities flows, Weaves the fine silk niul saws the k no tty t roe. Smoaks o'er the land and rushes through the sea. Tiie sage with these mechanic powers invents Ci iiiions plulosop'iie inslruuients 810 luur. »» Of old the mcasuied stream announced the I Or dials shadow on the tem|)lc's tower; Now the just pendulum's ulteinale swing, Or wheels and pinions with the spiral sprin As moments, days, and years unceasing roll, Moves on our being nearer to its goal. The hollow glass of vital fluid drained, The long-coneealed jjueumatic laws explained, The silent bell within the vacuum i)rove3 What wafis the music of the harmonious grovea, The lifeless lamp what vivifies its fire, 8:21 The breathless breast what panting lungs respire. From the chafed cylinder the lightening flies, Mimics on earth t .e tempests of the skies; True to the pole the needle points her hand, E-.npalhs the deep like Moses' mystic wand. if' I i' 114 Tin: SPRING OF I. IFF,. The cliymid iiuy:c terrestriul tliinixii cxplortt llin liibratury with apparutm Htoros; Wltilc flume in pliynica skilled will incusurc ri-l.t, \S'iil\ (|iiuclraiit, sextant, or tlicudolite, 830 Look tliioiinii creation with telescopic eye, Unveil plid'iiunicna of curlli und sky. Its creator said He liplit, and there was Iip;ht, Ere Phil bus shone or ('ynthia ruled the night, But lonjj; the vital lustre flowed on man, Ere he its wonderous properties could scan; Then Newton lived and color-making rays, More lovely to the si^ht, dliimcd his days, Now unap[>alle(l, hut not with less an\u/e On once portentous lerial shapes we gaze; 810 Oft from the north a bla/injj meteor gleams. First sparkling low, than upward quickly streams, It shrinks, it spreads, it falls, it reasccnds, Its vivid radiance with all ether blends. More rare the full-orbed moon the ethereal bow Faint-coloured paints on eveuitig's dewy brow. We hear that Heets inverted sail the clouds, That sieged cities and embati'cd crowds, On crystal plains, commix in phantom war; Such scenes tlie superstitious mind o'erawe ; 850 Not so the more enlightened sage inquires, Why these illusions and electric fires; THE SPniNO or I IFF. 143 measure 830 !yc, 3 night, I. ican; lys, ys. ze ze; 840 jams, ly streams, ds, t real bow 'y brow, luds, s, var; awe ; 850 lires. Why throu-h the crooked tube he nought survey! Why ghiss obstruct* the houl while past the ruvi Wl y septenary hues th ^ risni refracts; Why the plane mirror imngos reHecti ; Whv punts the worUI within the torrid zone: Why shines the sun and why opacpie the moon ? Amusing views and moving; fijjure^ pass. In diirkened chamber through the conrex glass,8()0 On the white sheet are hills and vallies fair, Flocks play in meadows, birds disport in air. The forest waves, the distant windmill twirls, And mirthful lads attend their lively girls. When Ilerschel's tube reflects the ethcical sky A flood of glory bursts upcn the eye; Innumerous twinkling stars the a/ure sow, Like tulip beds, with every color glow; Each lamp, a source of light, a central sun. Round which, in their appointed periods run, 870 Obsequious spheres, where life and focd subsist; Hence countless systems like our own exist ! The microscope our bounded vision frees, Grains rise to mountains, drops dispread to seas; Those swarm with insects clothed with gems and gold. These teem with fish in scaly armor rolled ; Mad they ne'er breathed, nor vegetation sprung, Nor ocean roared, nor groves melodious sung, o f I f II' \l \ UO TIIC SPIUNO ur LIPE. Nor ^«mnny ilar», nor silver moon had been, Man'i eye within itielf a Gon haii icen ; 880 Who raited it high tii the imperial head, With tuniclcs of finest texture clad, Fenced round with bonus, tho |mpiUed irin died, The microHcopic crystal juice lupplied, Curtained with lid o'crarched with pendant hair, Bade outward objects on the brain appear ; To weep with grief, with »oft affection roll ; The mirror ot the heart and window of the soul. On level plains and under skies serene, The Chaldeo shepherd pjazcd the starry scene ; 800 To know its laws and orderly dispose ; Perchance celestial science thence arose, f^fryptiun priests then marked the starry /one, From Aries to tho Fish ; to sun and moon. With other five, revolving round this sphere, Motions and aspects gave; in sextile, square, Malignant opposite, conjunt, and trine, Ascribed sweet influence or unbcnign ; For noting hours of biith and following yoars, Compared man's checkered course with wander- ing spheres, ®"^ Judged like results from similar incidents, Predicting thence or good or ill events ; Thus the precisive moment I was born, The rising sun illumed a summer's mo'-n '"VSitefc.. L t*H niC bPRINO or MFC. 147 beeu, i: 880 d, i irU died, r ;idant hull, tear ; roll: ' the iioul. nc, icene ; 800 Be. ry /one, )on, Hjliere, square, ne, g y'-ars, ith wandci- 900 itltS, I I To clu'er life 'i eve; but moon's a/Ricted rays Dulled the (|uick senao and nickiuied infant days ; l/rged to foreknow tht'y searched the starry chart, Ucvealed to others the celestial art : Hence Tliales the sun's eclipsed beams foresaw, That gloomed the Mc speed ; While through the signs his satellites recede ; 1030 True to great Kepler's law revolve all spheres. Their distance cubed is as their periods' squares. Since, therefore, nor spontaneous motion reigns, Nor chance can guide the planets with their trains. But fixed their periods and unchanged their laws, It follows an intelligent First Cause ' t, : Hi: 152 Tin-: SPRING OP MFK. Arranpcod their order, equipoised their force, Fmpcis, directs, and circumscribes their course; Who comets in eccentric orbits twirled, (>)ncentric moved the phuietary world ; 1010 Adapting each to its peculiar end, J>i-,Hitencd with ;;lory, and with wisdom planed ; Who bade their changeful yeaily circuits bring To Mars the seasons and to .Tovc the spring, M'hile their diurnal varied round arrays, Their nights with darkness and with light their davs ; Tiicir ample surface flows with ambient air, Or lucid or opaque, or dense or rare, To animate those lungs with vital food, That range their fields or cleave their sky and flood; 1050 To waft their clouds that drop prolific rain, Producing herbs, fruits, flowers, and golden grain : But what are these compared with all [le made, With all the orbs the universe pervade ? Like spreading circles on the crystal lake. Which sinking stones or sportive insects make, Wide and more wide the solar system flows. But this compared with all is small as those I Through the whole universe as through this earth, All matter lives or quickens into birth; 1060 Tin: SI'IUNO OF MFI' 153 force, r course ; t lOiO 1 planed ; its bring pring, light their t air, r sky and 1050 rain, nd golden VaU chain of Heirig ! with which all k franj^ht, From infinite to man, from man to naught; Small parts of one stupendous whole; we see, Confess in ihem a CJoo and l)cnw Co Mpnii VVordi with jiint notii and nccont, iii.f to iic:in >Vith Midu«'cari4, cominittiiiK >•*>•>« and long. Thou hoiiouroNt vim ho, and tcmo inujt luud hor wing To honour thfi', iVc. Here the poet appears to me to censure the milho-l of •CfUHiinjT Knglish verso by the rule* of quaniity, and to coinnierid Mr. Laws for liU skill in aetting English music to wordi not scanned " with Midas,' oars, coratniuing short and loni?," but " with just note and accent." To Fairfax's translation of the celebrated Italian poet Tasso, Waller owned himself indebted for that softness and smooth- ness of numbers to which he owes his reputation. Drjdt'n waM personally acquainted with Milton and probably learned of him or from the study of his works that accent determined the movement of numbers. In the preface to his translation of Virgil, the knowledge of an art of versification, not then in general use, was boasted by Dryden, who seems to have wished it to be considered as acquired or perfected by his own exertions. It must be admitted that he not only greatly re- fined and enriched our language, but smoothed, softened, and added harmony to its numbers, which Milton had borrowed from the Italians. After this view of the rise and e« ai tfnteil. ai, unite; or .u', or /I. .lurid '. n«. .I.Mvnrighi. i , other pol •yllablea tho «uul of |h« ac(;ent may l.« y«t fariliP f*movf.l from the Jipthonp, an., in mono^yllablw a con«on*nt i, not unlre.,u iitly aocenlo.i in prelerori-o to tho (lij,thonjf ; „,, groun'i. joint , Afl«r all, it t» nut i-Hprobabic tlut tlic ii»«venierit of both Greek and Utm vm*v depended, liko our oivn. on tc cent or emphatic irnpul«. In hit Ki.ay on the Klemenu. Accenls, and I'roaoiy wf the Kngli*h lani^uage. Mr. Odell laya that •• tiMjjjoveraing principle of rhyihmu>, w „ot to be found in the 'rMf;th eit,bcr of noteaor aylUble*. it can be only in their ei>.j>haii*." Aguio. " llhylhmu* wan fell before nyllablei were meanured. and it wa^ aUay« qoverned by the emphatic pulsations ; but in every language it U natural to give an enplmtic utterance to a long nvlUble rather than a abort on.., whe« the place of the .yllabic cmphasii is not otherwise ilaermined. Nono but an empUalic Hyllable. ex- cept in particular cases, can occupy an emphatic place in the rhythmical ,pul,iat.on. A long syllable, ihutelore. wouid ■occupy that place to the exclusion of any unemphaiic shoK one. Uut short syllable*, in po,i,ion, were, by that ci.cum. •tance, rendered emphatic, or ^usceptibl.• of en.phahis, and «o depended ..„ il„s imp-ilse, hecoucludci «< It in an orior !o suppose lut t!,e ancient p.os.idy «a^ cunstructe.1 Wley on the distinction of long an 1 >l.ort syllables. It m Js . an error to »ui.;„)H, that distinction of itself sulficienl for a.;..Mtai„i..,4 i!,e ..,..t,;,u! sTucture of in^ ver.c ur sco'ctcj I ■ THE si»niN(j OF I irr. 161) I uf an iambic I cimienil u iably the Mat. » voucbtkYc ' bt actentctl, I ( olher pol , fllie fcmovcfi I conion»nt i . Ii|itliun{^ ; UA, ii)«vemcnt of ' own, on tc he Kiumenu, t, Mr. Odell i ia not to be t can be only * felt befoi'ti erned by tlie ii4 natural to ather tlian a [Aiam JH not nyllable, ex- place in the .'lore, wuuiil ipbaiic shoK tlial circuin- iipliuiti^, aad er adducing >' Gretl and ludoi *• It ii cunHtructed abiud. It ID suificieiit for ; or st'D'ctscj f .incM»nl or moderit." And he thmki that, trom hit obMrvi* tiona, " it I* cletrly manifeti, that melr* is ah«'ay« «ubordinalr lothy(hmii4; and (hnt the j{o»crning iiinciple of rhvlhmn* !« vnifeTinUj one and the naim, namely, tlie pulsation^ of alternate emphaii* and remiMJon." Ono Ungu8({e cannot roiT»municat* ita nilea to nnotbei , not it a knt 'vledga of GtecK or Latin IVo«ody of any u^f to th« P.n^lith versifier. Soino of our grammariani, |)erc«ivii lliat accent r^ijulated the movement of our verse, laid down tiib rtjiw, vinder th« head Quantity, that a vowel or nyllalde if lung when the accent is on iho vowel, and itliort when on u consonant. Phea* rules, whether true or uniiue, ire in.i|)j)ii- cablb to vtraiHcationi l>erausc> the tame ay liable which i» hero «;alled it thousands of long vowels which are nut no nted. W<> have many ouna di^linguiahed from verba by beinjf accented on the firit and lite vet' 4 on the lail ayllable ; as, a con test, to conteat' ; ia the < long and // 'lort in a pre tigf, and the < <>hortand a long in to presa ge? Mr. Marray and some others add to theao rulea, that i accent occisiana the vuwci in tix former instanc' "to be slowly joined, in pronunciation, to tin followi'.ig letter;" and in the latter rule, accent "occasions the vowel to be quick ly joined to tlie auccccdini; If^ttcr." Thian) ly bo true, but i douL til. i am of opinion thai uc« cent dues not prolong tho sound of lettevs, bee -e ''often falls on the impure mn*'?*, b, d, and g, wboae 'jn 1 nly with difficulty ia prolonged, and wliat occasion! Hto$e vowels to be long which are unaccented? Aou«nt is a certain sircta or impuUf- ,)< the voice on a letter or >-yIlable, distinguishing it from t er» in the same woid. Insteaii of Miis strem or impniae atFecttng ' • length of a vo cl, I apprehend it retard?) the voice or forms a sort of pau.«e on a certain letter a ieogtit of time proporlionato to the difficulty or ease Us pronuncia- I H 1 R)\ I 160 TIIK IPRJIfO or UVK, tion i btocf lli« u«acc«n««4 vow«| or n\h«r •cc«nl«a cooio- ntnl «•> t.U tl.« .am. |>Uc« in t VtrM iiid will occupy •bout Iht turn, t.ma in |Hou.joci.lion ,. ih« i.ctnud iony .VOW.I.. Accent fall* mc.ly on that |,u«r or ,ylUbl, of * worj wl,«j|, rendm th. .rticuUtion ma«t tuy lo tl.t .p«akfr •04 •^••^l.lo .0 .h« h«ar«r. 1., pronouncing long poly, -ylltbl*., III. .„, of .poking «,,ui,a. u,„i|y . „con.lary •ccent of !••» forciblo iire*. than iha pritnttry. Thf t«i«nM of number, coo.i.u ia cariain imprtMiuoi m^iifi on tl.a mind tbrougl, ||.« o-r at lUitd .od r«guUr dilance. or l„„.. will, .„ obMrv.nce of • r.Utiv. proiwrlion inil.o.«di.Uni:o.. I.uho Ci,e.k «„,| Ut.o language U,o« impreMiona were mado by loug »o,»,i, or .yllablet at .(ated •nd regaUr di,tinco. of time ; bwdw which they recogniied • lone which ha* been confounded with our accent and w«. -narked by what wo call .ccenU. and denoted the ri.ing and dMccnd.ng of (he voice in • manner peculiar to the pronuo- mi.on of tho»« tongue.. In meaauriog thei, f«et and verw.. the .hort .yllable i. a^umed a* the „„i,. .„d ,h. lo„. syllable •. regarded a* double the .hort. I'he^i imprewiona. .D our bnguago arc made o. the mind by a c.r..un impuUo of tl.o voice, called accent, on letter, or .yJlable. at .taj JanJ. regular distance, of tim.,. Ilenco KnglUh ver„, compo.od of feet formed by accent only, muy have a. juat mea«urement of t>;no a. tho.a formed, like the ancient*, by «uantity. l-urther. i.ncc in many of our word, a long vowel i. the ml. of ih6 accenl. an Kngli,h ver.e can be compo.ed i»reci.ol« the *arao ait the Greek or Latin ; a« in ihi. e.ample, And tliricM Im routvtt ull hii foeg, And thrici- lu- aU-vf tho »Iaiu. Tht»e lines consist of pure iambic, by quantity a. well as by acc«nt ; and eaciv fogt U e.,u.il lo three time.*, the .ame a. ^ (.reek m Homaa iambic. In these h»auages. a heroic verse, called an Hexameter, consists of six feet, the first four may be either dactyl, or spondees, the fifth a dactyl, and tho '...t . a sponaec. The Kngli.h heroic verse consist. «f fivq larnbicc. (or any one of which, except the fifth, may besubsti. THE SPRING or LIFE. lei will oecupjr uctnud long •ylUbl* uf 1^ lo III* •p«akcr f luuf poly< r ■ Mcoatlary imprcMiuat auii regular vo pfo|M}rtiuii Ifuaget ttiQ«« Am at (Utad ly rtcogniieU ent tnJ wn« >e fifing and the pronaa- t and verM*, rid tli« long ) improuiuoa* (iiin irnpulio •tttaledanj I, vumponud neajturemvnt »y «|uaoiify. )1 ia the 8«al< »d [krecitfuly y a» wuli as the lame im », a heruic he firMt four tyl. and tho iista of tivQ y begubstir tntcd, afltr ih« nitnnar o( th« four flr«t f««t af an llcaamtlar, « trochaa. tpoudat. or pyrrhic, aa in lhi« caupitt of Urydan j A milk I wtitif Itiiitl, j iniiMtir | ul »u4 | uuch»iit|«J, Ictl UM I Ibn Uwua, | Mita In | ikn |W | til rituavd. Iha Ncond foot of the Kiat liaa ia a aponJea and tha fourth a pyrrhio j ia tha tccoud veraa. tlia llr»l foot i« 4 liuchto and the third a pyrrhir. Hut, for a«vaial rtiaon*. our iiaroic vara* will admit of aach of tKo uihar four kinda of far* to b« subali* tutcd, " by ait confined," for any ana of lh« four firtt iambic*. Tha dactyl may comiuanca a li.i« u ia thia from Taradiie I.Mt;— i'lutteriag | hU pfn | nona vain j plamp down | ha dropt. Nctwithatanding th« firit being a dactyl, the fourth foot ia made, for eipiawion, a apoadee. " Aa there are evidantly word* 111 Kngliih poetry," saya 8hen»lone, " (hat have ail the force of a dactyle, and. if properly in^ried, have no imall beiulycn that accouat, it aeem« abiurd to contract or print them otherwiie than at leoKth, tho looio wall totttriug oVr Iha trembling thade. (igilvy'a Liny of Jutciliiiunt, • Trembling' ha* also the force of a dactyle ia a leaa degro«| but cannot be written olhtiv»i«e." To which I would add, that •' tottering," the dactyl, teeina rather to form an unieptut with o'er a« trumblint; doci witli ahade, which last foot, the aame poet laya, " is a va«t beauty." The amphibrach nuy liave pluce in any patt of a heroic vurio, in the loliowing aru no leM than three ;— O'er muuy ] a fro | aeu niuny | a Ae | ry Alp. The an'ipwit tinds udmiitancu «n every patt of a line, and i« the only loot that can be well aubsiiiuted in rbynie for the last in the ver»c. It ia then mostly formed by liit lust ayllablei of a dactyl ; as, And lonely woodcoclu haunt the wa | tury glade. With iiluugh I tcring guns | tho uiiwva | ricd fow | Icr rurcs. The lait line mny be scanned with three anapre^ts. The tribrach is mostly used in the second or third foot) and ii i 16-2 TIIK SPRINO OF'UFE; formed of a polysyllable; na, " In.lis ( polubly flim." It; inny be objcrtet be sparin^Hy and skilfully used, as titcy will sometimes require that the time of the verse be e(|iialized with a pyrrhic, with which, ex- cept the tribrach, they a re equal to two iambics. 'J'he precepts ill the poem itself will befound to contain anumbei of examples. Hence Engiish verse is composed of feet like that of the ancients, but with this difference, our feataie formed by accent and theirs by quanti'y ; which we have also, but ours is variable and theirs immutably fixed. In composing verse, several things require particular at- lion. I shall first notice IMelody, whicli is to please the ear with a smooth an.l agreeable fl tw of verse. i»econdIy, our numbers are capable of vast Variety, wliich relieves th^ ear and prevents it from being satiated or disgusted with a con- tiuual repetition of tke same melody, Thirdly, the h'glvis'- y film." I; X necessarily nmpliilir.irli ij; wholly of t formeil by ion of' tliens . inrin^ llieso lonsomiit or ipace to say same lengtli id not equal - Tirn Sl'lUXG OF LIFK 163 fr.iamont of versipcaiion arise* frnni (li«parity in the members and equality in tlie whole, which i* the result of what may lie calKd the Harmony of verse. It is an effect produceil bythe action of the miml in eumpnrinff tho diirerent members of ;i verse, meloiliously eon-itr icled, w«th each other, ami per- ceiving between Ihcm a due and 'beautiful Vropmfion. And, fourthly, Kxprt's^ion, which is to consider what disposition of numbers or even mo\^ement of' the verso is best suited to convey the sentimeuis or images- to the mind in the clearest and most forcible manner, whether such disposition coincide or not with the hws of the finer melodv. I tnng. wn. vel doubles r, the pause '.lie lime of ne which is md ail tiiose y be substi-- ;. But tii- ue s|;arin!,Hy re that the which, ex- he precepts )fexamples. that of the A by acceni Jut ours is rticular af- ase the ear 3ndly, our ves tht ear viih a con- he h'glvis'- Note 2; ver. 171—178. Tlepresenfdtive metre Unot merely a fanoied rcsemblanc.\ as some have be^Mi of opinion, but may lie accounteil for satisfactorily enouji>h to my mind. It arise* from an app^o- piiafe ariangement or movement of expressive word-^. It is admitted that most or all langunj^'es hnve words whe the objctt the w liter has in view. When the sounds of words are em- ployed for repiesetiting any kin I of malion, such words .ne sidectcd and anang'd ir^ such a n.anner as sh;ill cause i sisriilar moiion in their formation by the orgons of speecii as is inten-!el to be conveyed. 'i'hus, for example, these cek'biated lines of Pope, do-ii'iibinj, tho labors uf'riisvphu» ; ^Vith many a weary step, and many ti groim, I'p a higli liill hi' hi'avi's a luigh r.iund stone ; Till! liii'li r )unJ ptono, ivsiilti: g with a bound, , Thunders impetuuiu down, ana s aoaks ubng the yr u.id. Kvery one will perceive the slow moiion of the stone " uj) iht hiiih hill,'' and the violence with which it returns. Bm how Ikis the poet tiius happily drscribed this moiion? Tlie second and last feel of the second line are spondees, whicii Oel;iy ihc ''uice iu reading, when.'e is produced the eill 1 1 of ;-!i w moti'v> !ii IG4 THE SruiXG OF LIFE. l-y the movement 5 the illiterallon of the letter /(, followed in tach successivo foot by voweU that gradually increase in length, causes a difficulty in the formation of these word*, and the voice or rather breath is step by step borne up from I'jgh to hill, from hill to heavo, and from heave to hugh, whicii admirably conveys the idea of ascending with difficulty " up a high hill." The rapidity of the return is caused by the length of the last line, which our organs easily express, and the voice moves on quickly particularly at the conclusion " and smoaks along the ground," Read the couplet with emphasii and observe how the tongue bouudi from the teeth in pronouncing the word thunders. That it is the diffi- culty or ease and quickness or slowness of the action of the organs of speech in forming the words that deicribe the motion of the object may be easily shown by substituting some other words. Thus, Dr. Joiinson, who says " beauties of thia kind are commonly fancied," gives these lines- While many a merry talo, and many a song, Chcor'.i the rough roa.l, we wish'd tlic rough road long, I rii- rmigh road then, returning in a round, -Mock'd our impatient stcpF, for all wu» fiiiry ^ound. As he states " we have surely lost much of the delay and much of tlie rapidity." Tliey rotain now only that portion of delay and rapidity which is the effect of movement, for hi4 feet are very nearly the same as i^ope's ; hence w« perceive the share that the arrangement of the wor.ls has in represetit- inj: the motion, tlie rest arises Irora the choice of wordi. Thus ;1 the second line reads, Up a higli hill, he rolled a hugh round stono. Jhe organs of speecli would have had less dift'icuUy in getting up the height, but still tlie /li and dipthon^ u immediately beiore a spondee accented on voweU remain. Lst the liner read thus — I'p a high hill, he ro'.l^d a large round stone. A'ow I think therj U no more delay in the motion than in Dr. Jjluisori'i -ecoiid v r;e, thj tfl'it I uf move^ieii'. If we iiad f a li THE SPRING OF LIFE. 165 ', followed >a r iocrease in these wordri, srne up from ave to hugh, 'itb difficulty is caused by isily express, e coriL-lu&ioa :ouplet witli nm the teeth is the diiFi- le action of describe the ituting some luties of this >ad long, ound. e delay and t portion of ent, for his v« perceive 1 represerit- ardi. Thus y in gelling ninedi^itet/ iSt the line than in Dr. ^vve iiad »fiother happy word beginning with an A followed by a vowel sound in length between that in heave* and the dipthoii^ u in hiigh, tlia lino could be mada yet more to represent slow laborious motion up a high hill. If there were such a word Pope would have found it and probably have used it ; so that for example suppose the following verse good sense— Up a high liiJI, Itc hoavca n hcwa bugh Htone. Now it appears to me tliat we must rest a little for breath after hewn, before wo can adjust our organ* of speech to pronounce the word huge, by which the line is yet more retarded and tlie labour increased. Such are some of the experiment* the versifier make* on the powers of numbers. A* another in- stance, take this celebrated couplet from Pope- When Ajax Btrivos scnne rock's vMt weight to throw. The liuo too labours and the words m ivo alow. Here the laborious slow motion is less the effect of movement than of the choice of words. In Ajax are our two double consonants, which exact a difficult and forcible pronunciation ; and between the x and utr we are obliged to make a pause, which gives to the second foot live effect of a spondee. In the word rock's again occurs the double consonant x or *jr, immediately before a spondee, formed by the very strong and forcible word vast followed by a smooth diptbong that gives it yet more energy. It is thus the poet may at least imitate sound and motion. This was attempted so long ago as the time of Cowley,, who has this line which is merely the effect of movement — Which, runs, and as it runs, for ever shall run 0:1. Note 3, ver. 179. The final pause each verse's mepsure bounds, Cesuras vary and ecrich its sounds. The final pause is used to bound the measure of every line and v\itliout it blank verse would be meiely poetical prose. Cesuras divide the line into eq'ial or unc'iml parts, whence 3: '1 * rj- ]GG THE SPRING Of LIFE. irne what h called iho harmony of verse, bul they are by no means .s^ential lo it. and our shorter measures are mostly "Jf.out the.n. Generally speaking, a cesura after the fourth liable makes the briskest and sweetest melody and givei' •I'e most spirite.l air to tlie line. After the fifth, the verse necr,mes smoother, more gentle, and flowing; after the . : ''""■^'■' gr»ver.and more solemn ; and after the seventh, vnich N nroand mostly for expression, the cadence of the ver.e becomes yet graver and more solemn. Beside* this '"v.s.on of the line by the ce.ura. it may besubdivdied by the semi.cosura. ]• xamples will be found in the verses following '"o.e preceding this note. In the Italian heroic verse the pauses are of i!,e same varied ntsture as those now used in the i'^ngl.sl.. and mostly fall after the same four syllables. A fevv in* ances of their u.e may be found m Milton, which waa perhaps more the result of a musical ear than of a correct knowledge of their powers. In Paradise Lost is this line, l-ovc- withont end," u,h1 without mcnsuro' grace. Sir John Denham introduced them and Dryden, especially 'n his translation of Virgil, establisheu their use. Note 4, ver. 235—236. Hence Latin poets ?peak their songs in prose, O'er Homer, stript of numbers, we repose. I should not wish to be thought severe on the piedominant language of tliis province, but this couplet contains too much truth. Many of the ancient poets are translated into French prose. Constrained by rule and fettered by rhyme this Ian- guage rarely attains a sufficient degree of elevation for the highest kinds of poetical v*ritings, to which also its versifi- cation seems but ill adapted. Voltairt'i llenriade. the most celebrated epic poem, is frequently languid and abounds with prosaic lines. Hut it must be admitted that the Freuch emi- nently excel in dramatic poetry. Both the Iliad and Odyssey were translated into French proue, at the beginning of tlje H\\S. THE SPRING OF LIFE. 167 kst century, by Madame Dacier, who hiu added lo them numerous atd copious notes. In her preface she says, " 11 faut done nous oontenter de la prose pour traduire les poet." et tajcher d'imiier les Hebreux, qui n'ayant pos de poesic,' c'est u dire une diction astrainte A un ceitaiii nombre de piedi etdesylliibes breves ou lonpues, ont fait de leur pro^ une sorte de poesie par un langage plus oroc. plus vif, et plus flgurt." We must content ourselves with prose for translating: the poets, and endeavour to imitate the Hebrews, who, having no poetry, that is to say a diction confined by a certain num- ber of feet and of short or long syllables, have made their prose a sort of poetry by a more embellished, lively, and figurative language. Thi.* lait remark is erroneous ; Uieie ii no reason for doubting that Hebrew poetry is written in verse, ■ although, the ancient pronunciation being lost, it be now difficult to ascertain ib nature. However her translation deserves much praise; anl, as she says, "ce n'est pas Homerc vivant el anime, je I'avoue; mais c'est Homere." I own it ■k not Homer living and animated; but it is Homer. : I IS- u Kote5, vcr. 431— 4;J2. A continent unknown till Behem's sail Spread iu broad bosom to the western g«!e. Of the discovery of America it is said that a Portuguese vessel, going to the East Indies, was driven by stress oi weather upon the coast of Ponant, and she found herself r.tar that country. The crew perished tiirough hunger and want, except one pilot and four sailors, who being returneJ to a port of the island of Madeira, full of fatigue and misery, dieU a short time after at the house of Christopher Columbus, a Genoese by birth and a sailor in that island; to whom they g>;ve an account of their voyage and of the country they had discovered. M.r''n Behem, or Behaim, who was horn at xVuremberg in 145*>, was employed by John i. of Porlu<'al, .on a voyiige of discovery. In 1484, about eiglit i ears before f.i-- tl 168 THE SPRING OF LIFE, Columbui set out on hi. first royage. Ilehem i« said to have discovered Brazil and the itraiu of Magellan ; from whom Columbus obtained at Madeir« his information respectiuj a western cpntinent. ITio proof of Uehom's previous discovery is founded on his own letters i* the archivos of Nuremlierjr, the public records of tl^t cUy, and tha Utia Chronicled Hartmoti ^hedl. Note numbers by the aMition of the:- logarithms the quotient of their division by the iubtmction of their Joguriihros, and their powers or root* by -nultiplyiDg ordividing their logarithms. The application of^lhis invention to Trigonometry is of incalculible use to the naviijator. TIJL END OJ- BOOK IH. ; • THE SPRING OF LIFE, A DIDACTIC POEM. BOOK iV fi ARCiUMKNT. I Btroductor)— College Education, 7— Abuse and want ©f Diiicipline, whence the corruption of the Cicigy, 47— The sooil Preacher, 5.0- Law, 79— Physic, 107— Agri- culture, 127— Praise of a Country Life, 169— Conimerc*. :i*2<^- lisherics, 307— Mechanics, Arts, and Manufactures, 4W1 — Conclufiion. THE SPRING OF LIFK, .\ DIDACTIC I'OKM. BOOK IV. Prepared for action on life's dangerous field. With wisdom's armor and with virtue's shield, , Well pleased the youth scholastic duties ohang;e Expecting soon a freer sphere to range, Unconscious of the labors, cares, and pains, That wait increasing on our young campaigns. But some professions deeper study need, To preach from pulpits and from rostra plead, On land or water to defend the state. Council the king, in senates legislate : 10 Hence bearded youth on Cam and Isis dwell. Proud to acquire, ambitious to excel, Full up to climb the highest steep of fame, To serve their country and suistain her name : 178 Tni; spRiNo OP Liff. Thj'ir «Hcrc(l f.irirs I «nw— polliHnl Rnwt Anm/r«l iluu vice had not fl.d tlienoo >fitlt aw«. Oft by unlctloreil Ynre I iilitiiiuuii roved, With uliippimj, like u IcatleMit forest, ^Tovcd, Where active oommoioc erowdn the bimy mart, (tain iiiid corruptive j;oUl eiialavu the heart; 20 What wonder were iioijiouie Inottth to harm, For youth ure githly uiul their bhmd i^ warm, But when I »aw iho tii -lUed cap and jfown, A ch)ak for ignorance, for vice a crown, Where reach no venal trade or artful gain, Where virtue, piety, and learning reign, i wept— for stupid wealth and titled uloth, Kxcluded merit and ingenious worth I A lurdlin- with liiH money-sharing friend, Who to \m midnight hi ails assistance lend, SO From loathsome cell and drowsy lecture ficcd, Sly to the oft frccjuonied tavern speed; (looil I'ort IS ordered and tlu- cards to play. To find vvho shall for the Hist bottle pay; Then rattling dice Umj. ihuiuleiing from the box, The loulling swears his friend o'erreaching knocks. The luscious glass their JL-cheions blocd luHames, Hach with ti wanton kissing servant gamen, Spouts unbeseeming, brawls inceniive songs, As ncVr disgraced or pimp's or sti umpot*s tongues » Then wallows forth to seek impuier sports, Uiots in aireets, in common alewK rcaoi ts; nil .;iMjKf} or i.irit. lit henr ptilliitril, aun<«(* iirol'tiic, Winninj* in ti\ mii) ' ' lulx loote. 'I'lu'ii riUHO hiiH Uttti i<> u IHH|iop'«l •«c, Doctor ofll'viliry hit r%\ii IcRrce, Chriilian uuul(^ but nthoiiit in rrocd, Hacttfd in dIHcc, Imt prorunn in deed, 60 A tdivc nt I'ouit, u Htian<^ur to the |)oor, SwullowH (en livin^N, liohU in p;ifl Ion ninie: l''.X('ot'wed Hcrnuiiiii prrnoh 2 Thiit t'liors spread his charijeR hiud prd ' um, Pulilinh his own and hikewarm ch'i y'i< iihainp; The heavenly funetion in hJM hand in inado A luerous sinecure and jii.jjfjiiit' tade. We venerate the man who^e hosoin l'Iows 59 With truth divine, whose life iiindocirinen hIiowh; NN'ho thirst* with zeal to he hy (J )d approved, Revered hv man, and by his floelt beloved; KuouA to iiifurni the rich, the pu )r relieve, ('ojihrm the \vaverin|^, and the weak retrieve, Console llic wretched, with the pfuilly piay, Allure to heavenly worlds and lead the way; • Then lice hi n stand the lep;;ite of the skies, Me^yk as a d^ V V \\ O^ s ^ % ^ ^ ^ ^ ,17* THE SFIUNG OF LITK. Or prcachitig gospel truths in seraph's strain, (Jlowiiiy^ as lie j)ersuades in hmij^nage ph»in, Giave with his suljjec*, with its iniporl warm, Though warm not light, though grave not unirorni; Tender his look and leeling his address, Pure doctrines only anxious to impress, IJberal his creed and charitable his plan, 'J'he messenger of grace from God to man. ■1 It" it ii I Who crimes and virtues wei^lis in lii^hteous sca'e, Condemns oi- saves as these or those prevail, 80 J*rotects our persons, properties, and rights, With, justice to be merciful delights. Needs more than human wisdom, human skill. To execute the laws and them fulfil; But curse the wretch whose hand dares take a bribe, To cover guilt and innocence proscribe, Who sells our lives or trathcs with our store, While from the oppressor justice we implore; Law is a trade, and lawyers are a crew 8huned by the virtuous and the vicious too; 90 With venal hands, learned heads, and honied tongues, ('hicane our rights and add tenfold our wrongs, \n the worst causes harangue long and loud, Of what ccndemns them, most they mosi are proud,. THK SFHING OF LIFE. 175 I'or any action fees can buy the slaves, Thoiifrli robed for justice yet are arrant knaves; Half the wise code our ancestora revealed, Is misupplied, forc;olten, or repealed; Hence rather sutler wron^, than in dispute l.oosc ajuat cause and pay a Chancery suit : 100 In Lincoln's, I'ernivars, or Temple bar, May many live who juslice path prefer, More worth than ^'ems of rich Golconda's mine, Bright as the stars of summer's evening shine, Who plead like Cicero a Milo's cause, Practise and know, like Hale, their country's laws. Though we might think that the medicinal art, Incompassionates the mind and steels the heart, Yet we perceive o'er every surgery door "Advice given gratis daily to the poor;" 1 10 If some there be who (|uack about for fees, To mangle wounds and lengthen out disease, No faculty more arduous duties fill, More famed for learning, liberality, and skill ; Experienced, studious, dexterous, and kind, Clear sight, quick thought, and brave ingeniou* mind; With curious eye, but pious breast, they scan How fearfully, how wonderfully made is man; Mixed bodies to their simples they re«iuoe, Know ali their vi;'ues and Drescribe thet," nse; 11 MB" 'I *'." ' "ffk'' 176 rWh SI'llING OF J IFF. 'i I /ii Of nil llir produce of iho fruitful yt^nr, 121 What foot!, \\hjii liano. what mctlioinc iloclare, Aiii tlu' iutornal lioalinj; puwor l)y art, Tutu for a lime aside diMi'hs Icvojlod diirf. Jiobiacc llic tiorvcH, alluy the levcrmh lnoulli, Ui*n» llic sharp pnnjj, and Koolho tho bod <»f ilfulli. Most nnoiont nrt, most liotx lUMal known, Whence woods urorUaied, wasios pl<)U|;hcil, and h.irvcsis (»T()wn : At first in Paradise, niau'u Mi-^slul walk, Where hun;; all seasons ripe upon the stalk, l.'JO lit* pruned the plant, d(>t wholesome need und Trained the younp twi^-^, and culled an»l»rosial' fruit, Wedded the ivy, wove the woodbine bower. On roseate beds reclined at noontid" hour; Hut thonce ejected by A'lni^hly will, The earth accursed for sustenance to till, Now, when youny^ sprinj; unbinds tho frozen soil. lie yokes his oxen and bey;in8 his toil, All day, incuudjenl o'er the brit;htenin}; shure. Draws the fresh parallel and j^oads the steer; 14) ^Vllh measured stalk thvMi liberal strews the urain. Which the harsh harrow buries iit the plain : To b )iinteoiu heaven he piay-<, his put now ilone, I'lOrg^nul fcligwer»,6ol'l dewB, mid qiiekeniujj'^ luii ; 121 iirJ. lOUlll, of (leiuli. wn, ^licd, and :rtik. ina prcil uiid unbrosiat' wor. nr; izi'n soil. shurf, leci ; 14) lio uraiii. (iti : i)w doii^, IMI'^'^ 8Ull i;iip. RPRiNo or utf.. vn Thfn MOAK with joy tlit ((reoii b)iid«ii Itronk tlia i;roiind, Fit for the «cytl»o 'hn numd with harvfut rrownril, Till! ruddy tnnid, brown youlb, »iid lionry loi^kn, Sptciid tlio rich nwnth uiul bi^iip tlin riiNtot ooikiii O'er floods ot I'orit with i^riitiliido bo noom, Id g(M)tU) billowK rolU the nlllbll^; brooxc; 150 Now nnturu'N NtflfiiivilRK tbo roiipor'H biuidn, Who, by his Iiihm, wilb tbo kocti kickbi NtniuU, IUmkIii o'or bii work, tbo Rultry bourn delloi, Pronn at bJH (cot tbo ((obhMi tromiira lioR, She cbcorM bis toil and wipoii biii Nwcntini; brow, While blooiuini^ full hor virp;iii bruiitioM (;l(>*v ; Gkdiy tbu farinur {;riiiitM liiit noi|;bboriit|^ |>oor Knr Jiftcr cur to glean their Hcotity utore, Ah bis full wup;^oiiH crowd )m liurHtin^; ImriiM, Whore wintcr'ii food and ibe the thranhcr citrna. Now giUhorcd in, from ruling HtorniR locuro, 100 All loose to fontivc joyH and plouNuinti pure, Around the country laugliH ; forgot their toils While on her love* the villaj;e boauty Kiniios; Taught by the HetiHu of niu.sic'v (piickoning sound Dance with wild grace u light l'atila'and kind : lease, Ith, d Wealth! I blessed, lains pos- d gardens 190 re, ore, Here virtue dwells, mild, generous, and kind, By culture tamed, by liberty refined ; Here dwells It.e worth, though full with many a day, His brow scarce furrowed and his hair scarce gray, His path of life primeval ages trod, 199 When dwelt with man archangels and his God. What though he hears the wars of potentates. The crush of nations and the fall of states, The rage of senates, factions of the great, Safe and unmoved he likes his still retreat, Of honors, fame, nor pensioned place he dreams, Inglorious he loves his vnllies, groves, and streams, Nor slothful he, but various his employs, Should he be idle who so much enjoys ? Friends, books, alternate labor and repose, With nature's loveliest worka familiar grows; 310 He studies culture, meliorates his lands, Sows the unlike with seeu^ that each demands, Grows flowers of every hue, plants fruitful trees. Trains sprightly steeds, and tends mellifluous bees. Reclined in shade, or sat in fragrant bower, The tuneful muse delights his leisure hour; Or truths divine exalt his pious mind, Sedulous for the welfare of mankind. Not commerce, gold, nor can dominion wide, Subsistence for a populous realm provide. 5i2Q I ii ' m3S»» m S e" ' itt o-l l i th Hi 1 180 Tus 8PRIN0 or Lirs. For enltured plains u population mete, Not swnrms of poor with n few cormorant grcit; For trnde to flourisli, agiicultuie thrive, The laboring class must comforipbly live; The more to till, the more earl'i's blessings grow. From happy numbers power and plenty flow: Venerate the plough, improve this useful art, The soul of trade and body oftho mart. As ebbs and flows the moon-attracted eca, 220 Earth's treasures fluctuate by a commerce freej As waves o'er waves roll on the bellowing shore, Quays piles with wcullh that springs of commerc* pour, As sun-drank brine refreshens thirsty plains. Impoverished man his wants by commerce gains. The deep that severed once those distant lands, Whose nations each in others' clime shake hands, Links isle to isle and opes a thoroughfare To countries fruitful and to deserts drear, Bears the rich freight, impelled by favoring gales, The orbit that star-guided commerce sails. 240 The navigating art, though known of old, Was left for modern genius to unfold ; The mystic needle, logarithmic lore, Graduated arch now guide from shore to shore; Imperfect yet, is zealously pursued Search to attain time-changing longitude; THE SPRING OF LIFE. int grett ; e: ngt grow, flow: ul art, 1 eca, 220 cc free; 'ing sliore, commerc* lains, irce gains. It lands, Like hands, ire ;ar, ifing gales, lils. 210 Id. to shore; de; Our artists may chronometers improve; Or tho eclipsing satellites of Jove Shine in a mirror curiously designed ; What cannot well-rewarded genius find ? 250 Calms follow storms, smooth scus a war of waves; Yet seamen brave sink in their watery graves, Ships are ingulphcd, on shelves and rocksare riven, Their cargoes lost, or on strange shores arc driven : Though dun^i^ers, toils, and ditficulties impede, Hence wealth, ii.tellii^ence, and power proceed ; It raised low Hulland o'er the whelming soa, Made Venice wealthy and Genoa free, Bade daring Gama circle At'ric's shore. And bold Columbus a new world explore; 2(50 Gave Britain navies and mercantile fleets, Supplies her marts, and crowds her busy streets; For education, honesty in tiade, Wisdom in the senate, virtue in the shade, For public spirit, love of native land, Liberal mind, kind heart, and generous hand. For prudent enterprise and vast designs, Conspicuous the British merchant shines. His flag in every port, his sail on every main; Whence Britain's sons o'er Neptune's empire reign ! 270 Commerce, by intercourse and mutual trade, Oives unproductive regions plenteous aid ; a V I I i ^1 lU THK SPRING OF MFK. "? Hi SupplicH the wasted crop, the famished rccds, Sends this clime's surplus to that clime which needs, Tcasts luxury with forei;;n rich and rare, With eastern splendor rubes the western fuir, Wafts to the poles the treasures of the sun, Weds earth's numc:ous families in one; Regions untrod implants with human race, Whence Hocks wild beasts and crops vast woods displace; 280 Then commerce, where man never dwelt before, Luiinchus the skiff and plies the feathered oar, Lres the strong; keel, the bellied sail unbends, Viom once drear wilds a Incrous produce sends; Di-^s the canal, with arches strides the streiim, Kail-ioads and livers navigates with steam; Draws foreign merchants from their native skies, Sure of their profits on your incicluuuli/c, Protection of person, properly, and right. Candor, good luitli, free trade, and customs light ; Who biing what others have invented well, 291 Excite your own to equal and excel, Intend your tiade, encourage men of parts, Perfect yjur I'lcttires, and improve your arts. Hence iro.n old nations a new nation grows. Those rise o; fall as conuucrco ebbs or flows; Hence Afric's de^■erIs, As"a's varied state.>, A'licrira fro'.n luirope populiti'^ ; Tli£ Sl'RINO OF LIFE. fccdrt, me wliicK c, rn fuir, sun, • • uce, rast wooJ.H t before, ed oar, bends, :e sends; strciim, mtn ; live skies, ze, ht, oins liglil ; ivcll, 291 parts, ir arts, rows, tiuws ; tes Hence Spam for wealth and cruelty wur< famed; Vait iliiplcM riuMia, half the globe, scarce named; 300 Hence London proud, the world's chief glory now. Of conuiiercc drained, as Tyre shall sink as low; Hence will unanticipated cities rise, lieneath cool Lawrence or hot Niger's skies. In Australia, by human foot scarce trod, Mansions be built for man and fanes for (iod. All waters, from an ocean to a stream, With Hnny, shelled, and reptile races teem; K'en every drop has life of various sort, Or food or spawn and mankind's prey or sport. I'or man pisciverous, with his nets or lines, 'U 1 While on the flowery brink he soft reclines, Beneath a pendent oak, that shades froni beams Of vernal sun, which pierce the dark brown streams, His watery game with fly delusive guiles; Or on the sabulous shore his nicshy wiles, E'er light has silvered the green billowy deep, Slowly along its shelving margin sweep. The fisher thus no hours of pleasure finds, Cradled in tcmpest^ and upreared in winds, 320 Forgot his dangers, his fatigues o'crcome, He brings the lu. varies of the ocean home; 14 184 TtlK SPIllNO OP Liyi. From burning line to froscn po!c« he saiU To catch or iilverud ipratt or blubbered whf»l moon, th:' tliitiiiji' Iceezes lise, \. i.i Is war Mi:h waves ii;id n, trolled wa\es With s'uioS, 'I iiC b') n i iUiCTj-cil in lilt' (.('ei V. h^'liiii.iL:- brine, Nov, !;'m» 't.^ ji'n'iitl d'a^'^rd by ihf ml- tViin^lit linv, hi ' 111!'' ■;nc.:r (■ cl.iv, n il.c I { '1.1 toil; coil; s bowls, 3 rolls, c receive, cs heive. on sivmis 381 strive ; tiicii prey, ers play; arm, sh swar.n, r, ids ponr; i liaiid, taiid. SPa to Icar, slics tear; '6 lisr, aves With brine, .1- liir.i^rlit THE SPRING OF LIFE, 187 The wa!ery mouniain shews, blood streaked afar, The vengeful meal — the piscatory war : 400 The distant tempest giowls, the light ings flash. Loud and more loud the rattling thunders crash. The wide-ient clouds a pelting deluge pour. Shrill shrieks the wind and hoarse the surges roar: Aghast all stand! from fish their nets to save Confused they strive, and selves from watery grave. Round whirls the capstan, piles of foes on deck. Commixed in slaughter, breaking seas wash back; A gramjius, splashing in the tangling maze. Scintillates in the electric fluid's blaze; 410 Eniiig the master hurls the barbed lance, Enraged he plunges f.on its harmless glance, I3rcaks the strong warp, the fragile meshes leari, Drags to the bo tom half our fishing gears. The mournful fishers to their cabins creep, Till morn gray glimmers o'er the foamy deep. Dut thosii who traverse hyperborean sua^, lla.dsl.ij.s arid toils endure surpassing these: No frioadly share, an unfrequented main, \Vhere endless winter holds his tyrant reign, 4?0 lleie b.ewi his tempests, arms with frost his winds, Moulds the sharp sleet, with ice the surges binds^ A I. ght of mo:itlis the vivid moon illumes, Uedoublc'd lust..^ every i'a; ass.:me»j 1 if ! , , 1 r 1 ■ , 1 •1).! 5 i : I til 1 1 §' *-*f^ ill 189 TME SPUING OF MFR. Refracted lij^lit ami strcaniiii;; meteors play, hilt l)rii:;htpr suns rejoice the leiip;tIienocl day, I''tertial frost their pilow in^; ,s|)lcndor spurns, Drained of its moist the L,^'lid air burns; Ik'uce snows on snows an undissolving- heap, k'ield sfctched by field and borgs o'er berp;s outstecp, 430 Sheet rrushos sheet, projected one ascends, l^one that subnierij^od and this impelled upends; Hence !i:litteiinij^ towers, pellucid pillars rise, (itot within p^rot the noonday sun defies; The sparklinsj; tree bedroppcd with crystal leaves, The statue hewn from glassy waves deceives; r;uilasiic forms which well-known objects claim. As lively fancy g'\vc» them shape and name. Immersed in fur here prowls the polar bear. Whose thunderinir roar afar alaims tlie ear; 440 In watchful troojis here basks the hairy seal, Or smooth glid(>s o'er the sea, ths liger steams the iron boat, Perchance ere lon|r more metal hulls will flr,;u. Whose air-fraught tubes on water liglitly dun.e, Unsunk by winds, unscathed by litrhtning'siriunc.'. Oft civil life some art from savage drew, The feathered paddle and South Sea canoe. That whirled by steam may this ere long propel. AVhich now glides swiftly down the H.idsons swell : 57^j How many principles by man are known. Will future genius with in^rention crown; Ore unproductive, ungenerated gas, May timber boats and rstuate steam surpass; Atmospheric pressure or elastic air, May on a vacuum alternate l)ear; The s:uall may larger watery columns urge, That press thesiic. :t, devouring flames submci more hard to part their minghng shade, To every art an engine is applied. For every facttire some machines provide. The million wheels, that once by hand were turned. The rich amused, the poor their living earned. Now by a single piston rapid rur), 611 Whence cotton, wool, or silk is finely spun. That factures our commercial wealth increase. May solve the fable of the golden fleece; Yet Job had clad with his flock's wool the poor, Solomon bought Ei^yptian >arn before; Tyrus imported cloths of purple die, Embroidered work that would with modern vie. Now cloths of every web the shuttle weaves, Of every hue and smooth like tulip leaves, 620 As soft as cygnet down, than fur more warm, Adapted to every climate, age, and form; Fine cassimeres, and flannels white and red, Blankets the savage clothe and prince's bed. Hose of Merino wool our feet infold, Highland and Tartan plaids resist the cold, Crimson moreen excludes the solar rays. Spread o'er the floor the gorgeous carpet lays, That Kidderminster skilfully wove and died. Pictured and tinted with the garden's pride. 630 Four ages passed the woollen dress was worn Where now the silk or cotton garb adorn ; ) '. w I • )0({ THE .SI'IUNG OF MPK. Ilatrhfd by the foon, gravelike night, celestial morn of men; Or lluouiih the signs he runs his annual course, Uf changeful seasons, youth lo age, the source, Hut verdant spring succeeds to winter gray, ImmoitaJ glory follows mail's decay ; 050 He fades and Houiishes like the forest's chief, Strong as its .^tem but fragile as its leaf, The calm, the storm, and time's unceasing change l*iMfcct his stately form and slow derange, Then sinks (o dust, whence was the acorn grown, liaised incoirupt, though in corruption sown; His earthy body shall celestial spring, Ograve! where is thy victory? death! ihy sting? Ye vainly wise! who deem the ravenous tomb I'or our corrupting carcase to consume, GGO Till SPRINd or LIFE. 107 rriib ul iilirub. rotid, pruud, 3ver diet, eal skies, 041 w: vc, vo! "men; course, source. Tuy, C50 chief, g clian{j;o n grown, iown ; Iiy sting? tomb GGO To sink in matter's fluctuating sea, All livir)g forms by nescient cliance to be; To look on high tor future hapinness Learn from the worm that spun your silken drc»9. The ermined velvet robe that princes wear; Kutestiing or satin rustles on the fair. Reticulated gauze half veils half shows her breast, That panis in Hlumncher or broidered vest; Her pining cart'S the rich brocade arrays, (Jay ribbon bows her giddy head displays; 070 Elegance and neatness please, but oft wu tind A woman's dress reflects her naked mind. Like iiclds of nettJun grows the (ibrons Hax, That utidcr garments makes for either sex; The smooth and snowy sheet from Lrin's looms. The checkered tick that wraps the bed of plumes, Th ■ Howery damask, figured huckaback, The finest luces, and the coarsest suck. Bahamas boast their pods of cotton down, As light as gossamer by zephyrs blown; 680 Which the steam-rattling loom for shirting weaves} Cambrics embossed with eyelets, sprigs, and leaves; Whence various textures of innumerous tints, In fancied shapes, the rolling press imprints ; Transparent lenos, muslins pure as air, Ta»t<;fnlly wrought as bridal virgins wear ; • "4^ 106 THE .^pniNo or i ifk. luHt-eoIotetl gmghami, ntnkttn* yellow diVif, Tape, loc«t, lu'lii, and trinm oricmnle pride. iJsllkrti unrp ultcrnatc treodl^n ii«e, And wool or cotton in swift nhuitlf (lii'!i, 60O iJrl'^lit bombajiinoi thuH Norwich iikill deni;^!'', In cl.»tfcriiiitnHi»'l(U Mmootli Inttrin^' aliinfi. 0(t ihroiiKli the i-ud ilie luMnpen hiinchc* trail, Till Hiu'ly dicMsrd tliuy ftonl in nhnj^^'y tiiij, Till! wliirrintf wlicci Hirn twiHtntliPin info tlircudi", Ah down the wulk the npinner buckwurd treadu, Or turns with toil tho «iiu!wy yurnn to ropB, When anrhor. d rides \m hark tho «panian'n hope, Or whrn the winds the lashin^; siirtje nproll, Thiindn aHfonnds, flume darts (Voni pole to pole, Down swoops hill b.iik, thiU kphs aloft iiphoro, flnrled from h'!;li billows jjashes on tho uliorc, SaiU .split, niuitii hhalter, rigy;ing» spread each wave, 0eitruciion terrible I a cormorant grave ! On scatten'alm his mind, Man, in all ages, curious arts designed. Some ctit the rock and poured in molten lead, Some linen stained and wound it round the dead, Some towers and cities with stamped bricks began, Built pyramids for deified boast and man, 910 Carved the sarcliopluigus in vain with praise, Sought for ambition a monument to raise, On lettered stones their hnroic (leak proclaim, With leaden books extend their poets' fame; Some wrote on leaves and some papyrus died, Then skins of beasts their manuscripts supplied ruE siMUN(; or life. 207 line, me, cals. Joiigeals; move, 900 uihI, I lead, Lhe dead, d bricks 1, 910 lise, claim, me; died, ipplied. Some road tlicir laws engraved on brass or stone, On ivory lablct!* Roman edicts slione; Some heroes wrote their wills on slieulh or shield, I-ovcrs theii wooden corro9|)ondence scaled, 920 Sealed with a mottoed stamp ; such seals impart The cnibrye ideas of the printer's art. Then China taiide of banjboo's finest bark Soft silken paper to receive each mark, That holds o'er unsubstantial thought control, Fixes the essence of the immortal soul; fJlued on the block the page transcribed aright. Upraised the writing and cut deep the white, Then on its lettered surface spread with ink, Sheet after sheet the sable licpior drink; 930 This graven block could stamp the Babel clay, On card or paper intelligence convey. Print Bibles for the poor without the text. And books of images with words annexed; Unchanging could but to one subject tend. One task perform, and answer but one end. O Meniz! proud city, deathless be thy fanie, A Guttemburg is thine, immortal name! Who with much labor, loss, and talent t«U"ht The solid block to mimic written thought; 940 But genius oft his whole estate exhauts. Without Mecena's aid or liberal Faust's, The multitude will gaze and feed with praise. When starved to death his monument will raise; I I .i 208 THK SPPING or LIFE. 'i^hus (iUltctnbcrg oppressed liis ills endured ; His lofty mind the new-born art matured: Peroliunce his letters vainly moyed on wood, Then with vast labor cut on metal stood ; Unbounded joys his oft-pangod breast expand, The Word of God now owned his skilful hand. Schtt'H'er and Faust, his partners* discontented, Obtained by law the works he had invented; 963 Pursued his traffic and his art improved, No sordid aim their active genius moved ; Hence Schd'ffer then, whose craft will ever last, Struck the Bne die and fusil letters cast, That some new station, some new oflice sought, To stamp in characters the winged thought. Britons 1 your lasting gratitude confess. To Caxton, founder of your enlightened press ; Who learned in foreign realms, with cost and loil, That noble art, to bless his native soil ; 962 Whence bigotry is scorned and ignorance de- spised, Piety increased and knowledge patronized; Whence Freedom healthful breathes, upheld your rights,. And man it meliorates, instructs, delights : How then can you a Caxtons boon repay ? Sec history's page and see the poet's lay ! lleilcct what ages menial nii^lii have seen, See now bright day diffused i)y that machine, 070 iicd; J: rood, ixpand, ; hand. Lcnted, ted; 963 vcT last, sought, jht. press ; and toil, 962 ance de- ed; held youi ts: V? TFfE SPRING OF MFE. 609 ;n. line, 970 The press! in demons and its (gentlemen, Stronjr arms and riofjers quick lor type and pen ; See on that spot where Caxton act that tree Whose t'luit is knouled^'e, ste n is liberty, That spot where Britain's parliament debate, For weal or wo of millions legislate, There the (piick pen the fleeting breath enchoini, The artful hand in moving type retains, The snowy sheets receive the sable die. Then through tlm world as swift, as lightning flie; Hence now compositors, with finger (piick, 981 Type after type from well-known boxes pick, Tiie copy's right- spelled words in order place, Dividing each with equidistant space, Line joined to line the thoughtful page complete, rh«'n curious art imposes the perfect sheet; I/iicI on the press, by noble Stanhope made, Improved by Ruihven, Smith, or Clymer's aid, A Foster's roller sable stains supplies, r.ight o'er the form the slieeted tympan flies, 990 The lever's ready gripe the type receives, Successive stamps ten thousand lettered leaves. Then Konig, for the screw or lever's beam, To this machine applied the power ofsleam, Beneath inked rollers to and fro move type. Which take fiom sheered cylinders the gripe, Revolving swift the hourly thousands spiead, , That \\i a day i!ie distant millions read : .^ lir I i ?I0 Alt TltF, SPRING OP LIFE. all ntions hear the voice, f.rtmnit Ihoir ilU or for iheir boon* rejoice, lOOO^ liiil>il)c the principluH, ihc breath iiihnic, When free the press n* heaven's eiiliveiiint; k»Io; \\ hcie factioiit parties clash, whutc'er it scum, The liberty of the press in but n drenm ; Applicil to bane pursuits and servile use, Its hireling scribes but libel, lie, abuse, Advocates of their own self ri|;hteous cause, Innioiious martyrs to their country's laws. As on the spot whoro poisonous roots are found, By mercy great, their antidotes abotind, lOlO So can the press, by its own moral force, I'!!xposc their folly and airest their course; It needs no I'itt to ticket, lax, and stamp. To fine, in»prison, and our reason cramp; The mind of man is free ! and thou<;h a jjAj^c With treason teem and democratic rage, A single mind, a people whole may err. But many minds will truth and right pn for; Let a free press a corrupt press assail, Religion, truth, and knowledge will prevail ; 1020 Imprison him who public moraljj taint, The vicious savage then becomes a saint, His lies and libels sympathy excite, And half his readers in his cause will write : Power to a writer readers only give, Though Carter bled yet still his rcudcrs live.. TIIF, SfMUNO or I.fFF.. 211 r.m to rernoteitt time hit trcanon hand, With wofKC than Isgypt'ti plugiuH iniiy Mcoiirgo tho land ; Wichl hiH own woapon, turn on him iho ^rfnn, III* \\l\'. is di'ath, \m io.mIlmk daily h>i>«. 1030 'i'heru are anonymuiiMly |i()llii(c thi* pn;;c, The vicitnis mode of our onlij^hfeneil iijijo. Stab public worth and virluo in tliu back, And private* fume and innoccnoi! attack, I'hc printer tlicn niust take tliu writer':! place, Publish \m naiv.c or Auil'er hiti di^^race. What though the preHS miftchicvousi worku pro*' duct', .lu(I;;e net ith aim by arj;uiu;j horn abii«»'. N\'liat liax it done and what may it ilii(;ty W liat good has man ri'i'«iiv'od or may uxpect? bright as the pillar rose at (iod's command, 1041 To guide his people to the proniincd land, A heavenly (lame from pure religion bhi/ed, That bigotry and superstition razed ; Then manuscripts wore had with search and cost, Slow published, few, scarce spread, and lasy lost; Now books are numerous, ready, chcajdy boii;;ht Whence studious millions to rcscanh arc brought, Buoy up the fabric of the human mind, Evpan'^Mg 'iifgc, uiuic c pi "•us, and refined;. y n\ iiiE M'RiNfj ov nrr.. \\ f i I »;P tciKT I'ame'M twift Highl ond rca»on'M f(|iinl c'uiirse. Tli»' »(rei lOAl .Mill IH i|iiu(lfr clicftr h(»r frasl, I.iilmr propures tlio wcury liiiilw to rest; Virtue alone lli« hlins of lioavcMi I)psIow5, 'riic path tliroiii;li life to licavcn slio only shows, (Jnidcs down tlio stnMiin of life till a^;c rontcnf, r.ooks hack wilh transport on a lift; wdl-spcnt, In whi(d> no hour (lew unimproved away, Some ijtMiorousdcn,! dislinj;uish('d everyday; And when the nunihered years at h;ni;th expire. The Kons shall hoast the |i;lories of their sire, Whose praise is sounded by eternal Cainc. In sacred soufj forever lives his nume d, cMvard; r sleeps, ps; dcs, ! lieurt, 1120 whole, tin. Hi t. m :i| II i Iftti Hi '^^JfhjisL-^''}^ iN O V K S. HOOK IV ^'olp I . vor. 1 1 . J'l.f / "•■"(■e bcarHta >oml, on C "'""-'' liver is the scat of i|„. |; urn and I^s dwiill. yii'i tiie l.itlfi iliu I I'lvcrsily oi Ux(mi\. uiversilyof Ciiihhinlgi Xoto v( I. •i.i — rni. o my own icslunony ol .l.o .x.KxvM.nnce. l.contiou.ncss. I ir"lV' ,"'""" '" "'" '■■"^"^'' >''--M.ies, 1 could My., d I.atoMnuny other w.i,.... 1„ u ,,„„,,„ .h. < Woucestc-r. Uev.rly says. •• J5ut ex.ravagu.ux. is not v.ce ul tlu. undergraduates only; the J)ons alLre ihe.n- -den rellovvs and TuU,rs is s.nsnal ,o a high degree. ' I't"" d.nners and .i„e ,.ariic« are frequent, their entertain- .nen.s costly and supo.b." -. An inspection of the apa.tments ' a Intoror a Fellow would at «nce satisfy your Royal "ji.Ness. that no slender purse mu.u be required for the dKsph- of luxury that there offer, itself. In some, a costly a|.pa,atus of ulabastervases. representations of naked U.uees, sa'T? ^' 7>,«^:'.-^''^''I''"^' ^'"P'J^S loathing nymph,, brisk a.yrs. and all the n.eroglyphics of the Kingam-Voni, n.ani- «tly decla.e that these venerable hermits have not forgotten ::.;'^^^'^''^' '''^^^ ^^"eofthemcnkshasorL,: i""!; t „,e ago. a larye collection of i.npure books, LnUu •eneh. Jtahan. and J.:„.,i,,,. ,„j „.^ ^,^,.^ sto.e was „ '"8l. request amongst the Dons who. ere in the sccal '] h,s »ame person had bis concub.ne and natural cl.Idren. a'nd w.. <*f."t..lu, mi>u.:n of 'lheo,a..leU- ;l:e buttle'." '2\H Tin: si'uiN(j or i.ii i*. -.} ii 111 " lU'foi'' a parent nsolven lo niiiku liis n>n a clcrgynion. )<>> i-lu iiUI lie f'llly c'orivirKfil ilint lie liuKtlio^e natural lalcnU llt.if iuu siiit;ibl() lo till' cliiiraf'.tr of a divinr, a rlear ajipif. lu'ns-ioii, n lively iiii.ii,'iti;itict), yo\\i\ jiiil;;ii)('iii, ;i Itniicir.u'* iiifuiory. inula li;i|i|)y •lodiiinii ; lo lin-i' !«lniulil be aided, iin iinfi'i .'111' I 'live ol initli aiii)iil t>v( ifiowif;,' witli love and htinnvoUincc, and a coiiiiiauiicalivo disposition, Kote3, vpr. Cf)3-10r)n. Of all modern invenlion<* tlio ait of piiniini; has bocn found lilt; ino't u>(ful and bcncficiiil to iiiiiii. Hiil llic lii.^tory of lilt' oii^iti ami prcjioss of tlils ail li;is bii ii until vi ry lately veiled in so nmeli obscuiily, tli it l.cinoin* cdiiIiI uriu; but a short peiiod wee, " It is wdiidcilnl, biil it is tme, tiiat llic only art which can iccmd nil otlifis slmnld aliiuist i'ui|M'l itself." The fiHeeiilh reriltiry was the !if;(! ol di>ieoveries and inventions, and gave rise In the compass, oil-painlinj,', copper- plate enpraving, aiid printing. To iiiwstigale properly thn on"in of letter-press prinliiig, it would be necessaty to cairy our research to a ptriud far more remote than that century ; but of this the limits of a note will not admit. 1 must, there- fore, confine myself lo the statement, that the principles, on which th's art is founded, were known to man in the earliest ages. Immediately after the deluge, there are convincing iirools that the art of forming impressions was practised ; and most probably with a view lo piopagate science, to inculcate special facts, and to preserve to posterity certain useful memorials. For such purposes, it is reasonable to conclude, the Chaldeans stamped or printed their tiles or bricks with finires, hieroglyphic.^, or inscriptions. The Babyloniaii bricks and other specimens of clay printing, show lo what an extent this principle vas in practise among the ancients. There is no reason lo doubt that these specimens were used to comnninicate and transmit ideas to posltiiity, and may be ;ustly calltil ihe first step towards tht ail of piinling. The THE SPRIXG OK J.IFK. 219 Chinese afr.rm ll.at Huh art li.s |,een practi.o.l bjf ihcm from tune imrnemo.ial; but I)., llalde Hays i( was not InvrnlOil nil about n.r. .00. nn.l that paper was not manufantined till near a century nfterwar.U. To my n.in.l. the transition frot,. clay stamping, sonncirntiy known to the Clialdcani. to that kind of printing or staining in u.^o in China even to tbiu .lay. is far more easy than that fron- blork printing to moveabio metal types ; because the same block that vould impress the clay might al.o be used to stain paper or a .similar substance, in the same manmra^ the Chinese, which is a. follows : — After the copy of the work intended to be printed U well and correctly transcribed by a good writer, every page of it is glued on (he smooth surface of a separate block of hard wood ; an engraver then cuts away with a sharp instrumeut all the wood that lici under the white paper, leaving all ihe black strokes untouched, which present a prominent surface to re- ceive the ink. The printer fixes one of these pages on a table for the purpose, with the engraved surface upwards, lie then dips a soft brush into ink and rubs it lightly over the block with one hand and immediately after with the other covers it with a sheet of paper, which being of a bibulous nature imbibes the ink on the prominent parts of the block, and hence is stained with all its characters. Sometimes he rubs a stifTer brush, on the end of the former, over the paper, lest any part of it should not touch the block or freely take the ink. Though this method of printing has been practised in China full eigiiteen centuries, yet our art, excepting a newspaper printed by the 15ritish merchants, is still unknown in that country. Whether this art wcs introduced into turope from China, at what period, and by whom, I am not aware have ever been satisfactorily developed. It has been supposed that the famous Marco Polo might have brought it into Europe in the fourteenth century ; or that it was suggested by what he says of the Chinese paper-money, which " ilie principal oflicer, deputed bythecham, smears with cinuabar the seal consigned to him, and imprints it upon the money, so that the figure of theseal, coloured in cinnabar, remains impressed •i:iO THIJ SPRING OF LIFff. J i 'ipon ii." It doei not seem to have occurred to writeis of tfiis opinion, that all (liiB paisuge could suggest was known 10 the ancient Romans, and in use by them even in Hritain. For instance the mctalic signet in the Hritish museum, on ^c'l^CAFrin '"''^^"f"'°" '" '*o •'"" of Roman capitals :— HKKMIa'k.s'n. which is, as wo should now print it, C. I'. ClCUJI HEIlMI.r. Sir j ,., ..i.e Signet of Caiui Julius Circilius Ilermias. Lv '< 'ting a person of no historical notoriety, it is prosumt ' ,e could not have ranked very high among the public characters of his time, and that he used this signet (jilher to save himself the trouble of writing or more probable to supply his incapacity to write. Since this stamp, like which there are others extant, is capable of producing an effect by impression similar to that of printing types, it is plain that the very essence of printing was known to the Romans. In Cicero is a passage from which it has beesn supposed the moderns took the hint of printing. That author orders the types to be made of metal and calls them forniffi literarum, the very words used by the first printers to express them. In his History of Engraving, Oltley states " thatcngraving on wood was practised as early as the thirteenth ceiUury in those parts of Italy which border on the (julph of Venice." But I believe we have no public document till a century later, which is a decree of the government of Venice, dated Oct. 11, 1441, from the matter of which it may be fairly in- ferred that engraving wood blocks and printinj,- from them were practised at Venice in the latter piirt of the fourteenth or beginning of the fifteenth century. This art was addressed to two object* of -a very opposite character— playing cards and books of devotion. These, which were at first painted, were known in Germany in the beginning of the fourteenth century ; in France before the reign of Charles vi. for wliose use fifty-six sols are charged for three packs, supposed to have been piinted, in an entry in a register, dated 1392. 'J'he represeulations of saiutsand of sciiplural histories, which the ; I 'Ii ' TMK SIMIINO OF LIFE. S2l > wrileis J vas known ill lirilaiii. useum, on :apitaU i-^ It it, C. I. t of Caius rson or' no lave ranked , and that eof writing ite. Since > capable of of printing was known hich it has ing. That calls them printers tc itcngraving century in )f Venice." I a century nice, dated )e fairly in- froni them B fourteenth IS addressed lying cards 1st painted, e fourteenth I. for vvliose 5sed to have 1392. The I, whicli the l.mncii of the m naileries had for several centuiies been |....i.li.g ,„ il,,i, luiH.a'.and U.blc.., were hiKhly popular and had a lijore exieosivt- demand ih.u. could l,e *uppl.ed by the brush. Ihisgavo rise to printing from engraved wood blocks. Hook, of Imnyes weie of two kindi, with or without text. 'H iheroll.ftion of Ivirl Spencer Iheie in a curious print from a wood block, repre-entiag St. Ch.istopher carrying the infdut Saviour. It is dated 1423 and was discovered by Ileineckin in an old convent in Cermarvy, pasted on the cover of a Latin Mi! of the year 1417. It has this imcripiion a the bottom . Cliri.it .plierl fa.'ipni die quiiciiBquo tucrin, 111:1 inoinpf die inorto inula non. ■MnicMimo ccccxx tprtio. In whatsoever day th<.„ gco.t the likones. of St. Christopher, in that «nmo day thou wilt at le,..t troni death no evil blow incur. The Hible. it is well known, could only at that time be obtnined in manuscript at n very great piice, as mucii us would hnve purchased a considerable estate. It was there- fore inn isible to young peisons and the common people ; for whom, about 1430, some pious wriier s-elecled suljects from the .sacred volume with appropriate texts and caused them to be engravetl on wood and printed, 'ihin celebrate.l werk isentiilud Liblia Paupcrum, the IJibteof the I'oor. .ind consist- of loity leaves of a smnll folio size, each of wiiich has a cut on wood with extracts from the Scriptures and other illustrative sentences. "Ufall the ancient Hook^of hna-'es " observes Mr. Uorne in his Introduction to Hiblioc^.aphv '• which preceied the invention of piintin-. the .Speculum' Salutis (the Mirror of Salvation) is conltssedly ihe mo>l perfect both in its de.ign and execution." It is ascribed to a Benedicti.-ie monk styled IJroiher John, and was translated into seve.al languages and frenuently printed. Two Latin editions are extant without date. The impressions in each »>e. sixty. three in number and are executed from the same '•iocks ; but in that which is reputed to be the more ancient, !he<.vp),uiations of tweity. fi^e of them, not in ret tlie i hildren of his ■ bri)tlicr-iu-la>v. 1 Lis iucieeiied >o «eil he atiiiupled gieater il iML's; aiul lieiiip; a man of genius and ritlidion l.o iinenltd Willi iiii« aid ol Lis ii.utLcr n law, I lio i.as I'ieleiiso.i, a li'M Ki r .iirl iiiiiie aillie.'-ivi: i. In. ij'^ *itu i oiiiIii as too iliiti .i; 1 I .1 1 : i.i M ■ .] Mill-. \\ nil tlii<. ink L-. vs.is able III piint /■*a« (ouml uui aiifw, in thfi eity of Mriilt, by nnu Ji liti (iiiiuniliiji|{, mIiu li.iving i|i«)itt lii« Mfttute c>l4itk< 111 lluir liybt order uml completed their I'orrrxi, th«y printed iho voi-ubuliiiy called • Catholicon.' To thii HuirettJcd a iiioie ingenious inve.iiiou, loi they found out a wuy of Mtuniping the fhapcii of every letter of the Liiiin nlphiibet, in what they culled nialrice*. fioin wiiich tboy nlierwaiiln cunt their letter*, either in copp«r or tin huid enouijh to bo piiutid upon, wbioli they fust cut wiib tliMr own hundi. Il in .triaiii tiiit ihii uit met with no sniiill dimcullicsfroni the btginniuK of it« inven* lion, 111^ I heard thiity years nuo from the mouib of Petri- Nchd'H'er do {iern^h(•iIll. for wjicn llicy vMiit about printii^' llie ISible, befoie ihey hud wrrkf.l od' the third .|uiro, it bad <0!.l Ihuin already ubovu four tbousan idea that matter niij^ln be coinnosed n? sepiir.st. Utters eapabltj of rearrangement alter the impressions «ef<; woiktd oil", and the extending of thin piinciple from a Irnc lo a «hol« page, and Irom ona pa-c to many no as to form a book, was the noble invention of Jolin (JuttBir-beig. He probably at first, after having practised the art with engraved wood blocks, mainly attempted with moveable wooden letters, and after- wards with moveable metal types, each •■iii^'ly engraved by band, with which be printed "he ctlcbrattd Uiblo. Kvery ouc ;• u t ptr^eive the immense labur and cxpen-e of cuttir.jj ».f r)F LIFE. iliu limt (H'D) ilie art of va« louiiil uui anew, in tho iintiviK, mIiu Ihivin^ iIidiiI i*cov«iy, by tht uaitianc* K.iuit and (illiirs ItiuuKlit ctiun. i'liui ititi tiist irii« iltiiik4 i llii'ir torriM, tliey (irinti'il in.' 'I'u till! Hiirrc<(iGf| ii otaiil uut u wiiy of tttuniping itin nlpliiilift, in what tlity Iterwaiil* cuaI tliiir Ivttt'm, to 1)0 |iiiut((I ii|ion, wliicli , It 1% ciTiaiii tiiit lliii uit the btfginnin^ of itn inven* from lite tnoutli of I'cter n llicy Hint about printint; of! iK(! tliiiii i|iiir«, it liail u'.ami lioiiiis." To thcc ' John S(;h(i>ff«r (un of the iiiii|ioseor and cxi>en-e of cutting TIIK SI'HlNcJ OF IIFR. 994 «• many tepara;, Uiu,. upon .malt plic«i of nif tal. and th«ir liiMM.rfi.c:i and irregular execution ; .ouHqiiently aiiolhir »lep mu ntcfltaary to render the art mora peifctl. Ihit «tep con- •••led in the ready multiplication of ihett teparate letter* by cxting ihem in niouIN ; ihi* waa ihe improvemrnt of Scha-fTer, »»'»o. aa deicribrd in an aiuK-nt document. •■ privately cut ronlricea for the v*hole «lph.il..,t , an., ^h.n he ahowed hia inaMer the letters eaai from iheau mairicea, Fauat waa ao plaaaed w.ih th.) contrivaiu-e. that he promiaed to (;iv« him hM only dunjhter. Chrialina, in marriage; a promi^u which ha aoon after performed." •• Thiaco«iclu»ion." any. Ilannard In hia finely-printed I ypo^raphia. " nay b« atliafactoriiy drawn, that to Gutlenl.er,f i* duo the high appellation of talherof I'rint.nK ; to Schmffer. that of Katlier ol Letter, founding; and to F.iust. that of the generoua I'utron by whoao meana the wondcroua discovery, • The Nurae and I'naerver of the una and aciencea,* waa brought ao rapidly to per. fection." In coostecjuence of the great expense incurved by Fuuat, who auppliod the capital, In printing the Latin Hiblc. he commenced a Nuit againat Gtiitembcrg, who was obliged to Bivo up hia apparatus to Fauat, and their partnership waadis. •olved. Fau»t then entered into pdrtnersliip with Sihcrffer- from whoac preas numerous work* were isaued. Ciultemberg, though deprived of the fruits of Uh genius and labor, waa not diacouraged; he eatublishcd a now printing-o((icc and pr.ic- tised the art until 1465, when he ob:amed a -situation, with a good salary, under the Elector Adolphus. In 146'j, ho piinted the Hrst iilmanuc which is the liist Look with a certain date. At the sacking of iMenti by the .'.rcl.bishop Adolphus, in 1462. the workmen of Faust and SclKi-fTcr were (lixpeiscd into differed countries and the invention wjs publicly di- vulged. Tiieir apprentices, Conrad Swe^nheim and Arnold I'annartz, were the first piioters at Home, where many beau- tiful editions of the Latin classics issued from their piess. In a petition to the Pope, in 1471, after stating ihey were the : » 1 nn TiiK HpruNo OF i.iri. I lil ll 41 I 3 tint who intro«luPt ihi, cihiogun itf iht wnrllt I»riiiefi| by v«, yoii will ••linirit limv unci ^\w,e wt CHihl pro. rtirn n iMrCKiont t|iianlil) of pttpflr, or tvcn »•«•. for (iirh a iMiiiilirr uf voliimi-*. 11... luial of llii.-n Imull* nmouni* lo 13.47.1— a proilinioiH h»'a|)- noil iniiilion of lhomK, for «'«m of bii^ria; of wlii, b tliiro rann.H bu a inorM fUnianl proof than thai our bou>o, iliuu^^b «thor»vi*K «|..iri.iui cn.)«;jb, U full of (iuir...bonk*, bill void of tvary niTCMnry of life." Thi» cH'lf brai.'.l Mpira*, nl.o (uTinan*. wero (he Omt prinleri m VoniPf, ibn«« of lioiifi«> llii'it typo fH. i'lie fufiioit4 Aldu* /rnic-fl, iu |4f)u. ||o in. alir ; aiiauiiful kit. Ill ihu \«i€tH nut h\ l,«»*i» ii. •o iMaaia, lu |(,irii ihg url «f | riniiui;. lUii, ovttiiK lo nvil di^^..-r(»i„n^ |„ 1,1. t„„j,|,,,„, j„„,„n ,p„|,.,| ,, VeniiK from I 170 .}»!•. Ilr |i|,iiinrnt projior »<«»ti« tit.. chirirl..|. lini-hiu m rvtrv iKitd. Hut Caiion ii,i„„lu,.,,,j ih«j an «l piiiitiut; iniu Kii;{l.iiid. iind |.r.iiii,»..| ,1 II,,.,,.. „.,, ,„^^,, ,|„„|,,,„| ,111 |,j ,.;^ ;^ ,Impul» «t IhN li>i u «,o.i» hriwc'ri ihr- . mnpniiv of Stalinni r* nml »o i n |)«r«ori» iMptcliMK a pa'ini fur piinniiK, iii wlnclt ilie clami of Cailon wn« r|Udii(in(d, bul, it it i>aid, ^m^tl.-rjilv V"^"***!. Then coiiies the |,,»ndiflh lUror.l, which has ii«v«r (men Stan liinni nor wa^ n.'vi.r U»tml of l.cfota thn publlcitlon of Alkin'^ hook.enlilled '• I (mori^^mal and urowih of printinjr. collected out o( ihfl l.iilory and r«rord« of ihin kiii;>dom ; wherein ia nl-o .hnion.iratrd that prii.lin;? nppirtaincth lo tho I'rtroga- live Moynl, and i-t n (h.we. ol the Crown of Kngland. Uy Ilichard AllivtM, vm\. London. Kitil." h prli fotlh. utnong othorihinK.. lliat Hohurl Tumour, a favorilf of Mcnry vi. arid William Culon ci.tictd to Knuhmd oi.o Tn-derick <'«r.ellM. an und.r woikmnn at (Jultfmhcrg'* onrici.-, at Haarlem (mupid error !) ; thai ' « w«* s-nt lo Oxfcid, under n Ruard, where he piinltjd ihU Record in l4«in. In looke'* IMiiloiophiral Kxpfiinniits it a letter, dated lfi')I. fiom Dr. Willi* to Dr. Ht'rnard, renpeclipfj n casu at .Seijeant^ Inn involving some rifihti, claimed l»y (he Univemity of eai» b«(onj tliuie wum my prinliiig iu London." 'Ihtr« it abundance ol coiemporary evidence (hat Caxton wan thefirNt printer of I'.ngl md, by which tillo he is called by the faniou» .lohn Leiand who lived near his lime. I consider the icsti . mony of Theodoric Hood. Caxton's journeyman and the fi,st piinter at Oxford, In a Latin volume, dated l48.->, decis-ive, gunni Jcnuon Vrncton docuit rir (iullicuii arUm, Ingi'iiij «U*»"<-h V.nUia, by Ikt iiuluhtry, did to h.TH.-lf impart. il'is nm>t liuve reftrcnce to Caxtiuj, who has no rival in '•■n-Iand to dis;,uit. tlie honor with him. T^hus Oxfoid itself lurni.hes a lestimuny thai overthrows theilate ofits own book. Many im,,roveintni-i h.ve been efiected in this noble art, e^pi'tially during the last half century. J. Van dtr May was the inventor of .tereotyi,e, uhich, thouyh a retrograde move- "Hill in tlie ail, is of some value for printing stand. rd works. It IS now niuih less in u-e than it was a few years ago, and IS wholly diseonlinued at the Oxfor Fooler, ^va« preparatory to c^ Under priming, which «as long attempted U-fore steam power was applied hy Konig. a Sa'xon piinter '" J.ngl..ml. ()„ ,ht. o[j,|, Noven^Jrer. lai!). the Times newspaper announced •' that tlie sleet the r.ader held in his hand, was one of many ihousanda thrown off by steam." liy this machine 2880 impressions of a newspaper have been printed in an hour, but 1000 copies from^ single form is a medium rale. I'rinting in gold and silver, and «iih types of various metals and inks of various colors have lately been practised The art of Lithographic printing, or taking im. pressicns from stone by a chemical process, was lately in- vented by Scnef.lder. Great improvements have been made in letter.founding. to which machinery has been adapted There is every reason to believe that the ar, of piintin- is yet susceptible of many great and important improvements. I he Caiter alluded to in the poem, published " The inno- oency of the Queen of Scot.- and " a Treatise on Seism," in Llizabcth s leign. for which, he was indicted.J arraigrxed. and ondemned o high tieason, and sentenced to be '• hanged bowelled, and quartered." The fust martyr of the Liher.v -0! the I rcs^. aF LIFE. ^lit t)w VenftiuTm tliis fair art, to luTHt-lf impart. Ktoti, who lias no rival in 1 him. T^hus Oxfoid itself iws iheilale ofita own book. 1 efiecled in this noble art, lury. J. Van tier May was tliouyh a rttiogratle niovt- ur printing slandird vvorkf, t was a few years ago, and ir