■'•.■■*?•- '*
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
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 INDIVIDUAUTY; 
 
 OR 
 
 THE CAUSES 
 
 OF 
 
 RECIPROCAL MISAPPREHENSION 
 
 IN SIX BOOKS. 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH NOTES. 
 
 BY MARTHA ANN SELLON. 
 
 LO^HOIf: 
 Printed for ROBERT BALDWIN, Paternoster-row. 
 
 1814.
 
 C. Baldwin, Printer, 
 New Bridge-street, London.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 1 HE following pages are submitted to the Public with 
 considerable anxiety and apprehension ; but not uncheered 
 with the hope, that the peculiar nature of the subject, and 
 the difficulty and extent of the undertaking, will secure 
 indulgence for all defects in the execution. 
 
 The general design of the Poem is founded upon that 
 infinite variety of character which pervades the works of 
 creation, and furnishes nature with credentials of her divine 
 origin : but more especially as it characterizes Man, by 
 giving to every one a certain singularity, and peculiar tone 
 of mind, temper, and disposition, so as to prevent that per- 
 fect harmony of soul, and that full and clear reciprocation 
 of thinking, which might probably be expected to result 
 from the ties of interest, friendship, and relative connection ; 
 for however strong the attractive influences upon any two 
 minds may be, there is always some distinct principle which 
 operates as an impediment to their complete union. 
 
 The investigation of these obstacles with their respective 
 causes is the object of the present inquiry. They are 
 multifarious in their kind, and different in their appearance.
 
 PREFACE, 
 
 magnitude, and effect. Some may be distinguished by the 
 most common observer, whilst others evade the eye of the 
 strictest scrutiny. The stream is not only broken and divided 
 by the larger stones and projections that appear above the 
 surface of the water, but is likely to be disturbed and dis- 
 united by the secret and smaller obstacles concealed in the 
 bed of the river. As a circle is constituted of points, and 
 each point possesses distinct qualities of its own, becoming 
 the centre of another circle, and so on ad infinitum ; so every 
 Individual forming a part of the great circle of society is 
 possessed of some especial point or principle constituting the 
 focus of his own immediate sphere of action. Thus a division 
 of interest is created, which in a great measure may account 
 for that disunion and misapprehension which is the phaenome- 
 non to be explained ; inasmuch as every man thereby becomes 
 acted upon by a diversity of influences, and like a body pro- 
 pelled by two forces in contrary directions, he will adopt 
 neither, but will take a line different from both. 
 
 To this individual peculiarity, which is thus subject to an 
 almost indefinite combination of circumstances, arising from 
 constitution, education, religious persuasion, relative con- 
 nection, and the various interests and pursuits of life, the 
 name of the Poem is to be attributed ; no word suggesting 
 itself 60 comprehensive and appropriate as that of Indivi- 
 duality.
 
 PREFACE. T 
 
 Conscious that on a subject so intricate and infinite in its 
 nature, she would soon be led beyond her depth, did she 
 attempt to dive into the researches of philosophy, the 
 Authoress has only presumed to bring forward some of the 
 more leading and prominent arguments to explain the doc- 
 trine : but by way of illustration, she has selected the almost 
 in6nite variety of religious tenets which prevail in the world; 
 whereby she has endeavoured not only to relieve the mind of 
 the reader from the fatigue of dry and abstract reasoning, 
 but to introduce subjects and occurrences, both foreign and 
 domestic, which have of late arrested the attention of the 
 public, and stamped so peculiar and sensible an impression 
 upon the present aera. 
 
 This peculiarity indeed, arising from the awful signs of 
 these latter days, has moreover induced her to indulge, by 
 way of closing the work, in some observations upon the 
 Millenium. She is aware that this is venturing upon Holy 
 Ground; but there with all humility she takes her stand; 
 from thence, and thence only she extracts her materials ; 
 «he has not dared to risk an observation upon this sacred 
 topic, which, to the best of her judgment, is not fully war- 
 ranted by the Scriptures. 
 
 The stupendous events that have recently taken place, 
 and are still passing, upon the theatre of the world, and 
 irhich mark the present times with an impressive solemnity.
 
 ▼1 PREFACE. 
 
 would alone fully justify the opening of the prophetic page 
 to the serious attention of the reader : but, independent of 
 every other consideration, this part of the work seems pecu- 
 liarly connected with its general design, as it leads the mind 
 to the contemplation and the hope of that felicity, when 
 universal peace, harmony, and faith will be established ; 
 when all the members of Christ's Holy Catholic Church will 
 fully and clearly comprehend each other's sentiments, views, 
 motives, and objects; and when, encircled by one bond of 
 love, animated by one and the self-same spirit, and attracted 
 by the same gracious and divine influence, man will converge 
 to one and the same point, and God will be all in all, 
 
 M. A. SELLON. 
 
 Jpril 25, 1814.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK I. Page 
 
 The elementary Points of the Subject brought forward. . 1 
 
 BOOK II. 
 The Roman Catholic System in general 59 
 
 BOOK III. 
 Inquisition Ill 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 The Mythology and Abominations of the Hindoos .... 173 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 India — British Religious Systems — Subject of the Poem 
 resumed 249 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 Subject of the Poem concluded>-Scripture Millenium . . 329
 
 INDIVIDUALITY ; 
 
 OR, 
 
 CAUSES OF 
 RECIPROCAL MISAPPREHENSION. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 The elemejttary Points of the Subject brought 
 forward. 
 
 The subject immediately opens — The blessing of 
 being thoroughly understood — arises from reciproca- 
 tion of character — Tlie essentially-correspondent fea- 
 tures for apprehension detailed as follows — An 
 equally-attempered mood — Honour — Truth — An ad- 
 dress from hence to Ingenuousness — Continued Ust 
 ofrequisites — Fidelity — Attention — Interest — Physical 
 congeniality — Equal and similar habits of education 
 — Similar station and characters — Affection — Natural 
 
 B
 
 t INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 affection — A recapitulation of them as a constellation 
 of attraction — An ideal one alone, too complete to 
 exist — The obstacles to its existence infinite and 
 eternal — brought forward in their elementary causes 
 — Man as a species — Man as social — as intellectual 
 — as christian — The inconsistencies of philosophers — 
 Pride poisons their attainments — Great powers too 
 often extinctive cause of christian faith — Instances 
 to the contrary in Bacon, Boyle, and Newton — 
 Man as evangelised, what his desirable knowledge 
 and possession — The finite capacity of man — Ardour 
 for knowledge best satisfied in the range of chris- 
 tian pursuit — In the purity of its spring, and the 
 sufficiency of its fi-uits — In the abundance of its 
 passing peace, and in the fulness of its coming joy.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY, 
 
 Of blessings deemed superlative, refined, 
 Peculiarly adapted to the mind, 
 Behold how prominent the welcome good 
 Of being accurately understood ! 
 Of pouring on the listening heedful ear 
 Tlie narrative conception renders clear; 
 Of finding that the thing you would explain 
 Has almost, ere you willed it, reached the brain; 
 Has scarcely left your lips, ere lull inhaled 
 With all its matter lateral entailed; 
 Has on the nerve the subtile feeling pressed 
 By quick perception instantly confessed; 
 Attracted morally by power its own, 
 As that by northern magnetism shown; 
 
 B 2
 
 4 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Of proving that the sentiment conveyed 
 
 Carries its purposed and appropriate shade; 
 
 Of seeing the articulating eye 
 
 The nice deficiencies of speech supply, 
 
 Giving its radiance eloquence so pure 
 
 As confidence unclouded must ensure; 
 
 Of meeting self, reflected — self, endeared. 
 
 Sustained, conjoined, directed, soothed, and cheered ! 
 
 Who can appretiate such a quickening glow? 
 Who is so blest its genial worth to know? 
 Who, qualities so rare can estimate 
 This quickening glow essential to create, 
 But those whose tried experiences sweet 
 Have taught such grateful intercourse to meet? 
 All social bliss depending in its kind 
 On beaming reciprocity of mind. 
 
 To be throughout a subject understood 
 Requires an equally attempered mood;
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 That atmospheric thing, which, not at hand, 
 E'en wiUing suavity can ne'er command. 
 It is not in volition, wisdom, worth, 
 To call the stubborn tuneful urchin forth. 
 Sometimes it floats upon the wintry blast 
 Wild as the element on which 'tis cast; 
 Sometimes in vapours thick it sits and lowers 
 Till it relapses with descending showers. 
 Now morbid hovers in November gloom 
 (Of Autumn's lovely glowing tints the tomb;) 
 Now fleecy wraps o'er ills rheumatic flings, 
 
 And moans with evils, noxious east wind brings. 
 
 Nor can soft vernal freshness give it peace; 
 
 Nor Summer suns subdue its cold caprice; 
 
 Dependant on external things it moves 
 
 As element, or circumstance approves; 
 
 Yet equally attempered it must be, 
 
 To yield recipiency effective, free.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Besides the mood agreeable, there must 
 Be Honour for the voluntary trust; 
 Assurance, the narrator to inspire 
 Ingenuously to give what truths require. 
 Forward in simple majesty of soul 
 To bring the whole, and nothing but the whole. 
 Without which, conference, how weak and vain ! 
 What hope advantage solid to obtain? 
 Whene'er a heart o'erburdened with its freight, 
 Would on its other heart impose some weight; 
 WTtien stranded, in distress, without a guide, 
 It wants to be pushed off, and made to ride : 
 Its destination, motives, strength, supplies. 
 Are objects of inquiry with the wise. 
 And tissued matter must be seen entire. 
 Or separated, see the whole expire. 
 
 Ye ! who have gained the prompt and ready ear 
 Tho theme important to yourselves to hear,
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Scorn dastard fear, which base bom craft exacts; 
 Which facts would render otherwise than facts; 
 Whicli dares not to the point; but keeps aloof 
 Shrinking from faithful merited reproof. 
 Scorn mental reservation's subtle snare, 
 Whose root is self-acknowledgment to spare. 
 Scorn the notoriously deceptive art 
 Of glossing over the corrupted part. 
 Misleading judgment at the deadly pass, 
 As travellers are misled by fell morass. 
 
 Too prevalent such meanness, e'en with those 
 Wlio every other meanness would oppose; 
 And charity inclines one to believe, 
 They're not aware, how they themselves deceive. 
 Yet if they have perception to observe 
 In cases similar how others swerve — 
 If they the tales of others can dissect 
 And quickly incoherences detect—
 
 8 INDIVIDUALITT. 
 
 If they have policy to know the strength 
 Which rises from discussion free at length — 
 Or knowledge that the wounded to be healed 
 Must let the whole of evil be revealed — 
 If they have sense the artless to admire, 
 And candour's beauty in distinct attire — 
 If wisdom to discover how they work, 
 And see conviction in such frankness lurk — 
 If ever openness of temper pleased — 
 If cold dissimulation ever teased — 
 If inconsistency they've ever stemmed — 
 They're inexcusable — they stand condemned. 
 
 Whene'er the selfish coil suppresses facts, 
 Or wish for sickly praise, such praise exacts. 
 There rises a thick mist before the eye 
 Which yields confusion, and which proves the lie. 
 Embarrassment the shallow purpose thwarts; 
 Neglected confidence from anchor starts;
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Compassion, in such darkness, cannot give 
 The meed of Christian sympathy to Uve; 
 Judgment runs wild, without its compass lost, 
 Co-operative aid is tempest tost; 
 Censure not justly due, perception cheats; 
 And credit where it is, itself defeats. 
 
 All hail Ingenuousness ! of sylphic air, 
 Of vixtues deemed the fairest of the fair! 
 Or could the ear the solecism endure 
 Of virtues deemed the purest of the pure ! 
 Come with the cheek of tint so fixed and true 
 It cannot take the tint of deeper hue. 
 Fearless, but not undaunted — meeting blame 
 But ignorant of sin-depressing shame; 
 Patient of censure, wooing e'en the while 
 Forbearance with a fascinating smile. 
 Come with the eye that indicates the mind. 
 With eloquence that language leaves behind.
 
 10 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 That braves the steady gaze of other eye 
 
 And can percipiency itself defy. 
 
 Come 'gainst tenacity to stand erect 
 
 And strange perverseness in the mass detect; 
 
 To hold in self-possession lasting sway, 
 
 And beam a day-light radiance on the way. 
 
 Come with thy footstep prompt, thine open arms, 
 
 Thine healthful look, thine all-collected charms, 
 
 That cannot adequately be expressed 
 
 But as reflected from their native breast. 
 
 Give us to see thee in thy genuine state ! 
 
 And dwell with those who can appreciate ! 
 
 Who cannot? the poor idiot — Nature's scorn — 
 Of chaos and subversion basely bom ! 
 Who will not? he whose worse-than-idiot eyes 
 Permit him not to calculate the prize; 
 His multiplying powers engaged around 
 With witcheries of shilling, pence, and pound.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Yet even on the principle of gain 
 It might be wise its worth to ascertain; 
 To try its qualities, to prove its source, 
 To watch its highly advantageous course, 
 To aid its currency, to give it trust, 
 And to its artless promises be just. 
 It might be wise suspicion to destroy 
 That causes interchange so much annoy, 
 And on the mind receive the full impress 
 Of confidential safe Ingenuousness. 
 
 When this transparent good the sceptre holds 
 What complicated turpitude unfolds ! 
 How are the secret principles disclosed 
 And their distinct propensities exposetl ! 
 See Reason hoodwinked: she has lost her sway; 
 And Prejudice appears in full display. 
 There scarcely visible, yet swollen wide 
 By poisoned barbed arrows in its side.
 
 12 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 And coated with a scaly consequence 
 
 Is Pride : say, children of the dust, firom whence ? 
 
 Closely integumented to conceal 
 
 The holiowness it dares not to reveal, 
 
 Behold that seeming thing, with leering eye, 
 
 And brazen crested: 'tis Hypocrisy. 
 
 Those airy elements, see how they shift. 
 
 Now winged for service, and now turned adrift — 
 
 Now phalanxed firm, a body of high merit — 
 
 Now groveling in the dust lies Party Spirit. 
 
 Seize on that atom dire of hideous shape 
 
 And hydra-headed; let it not escape. 
 
 Shrunken by act of its constituent parts, 
 
 And shriveled by the breath of aching hearts ; 
 
 Writhing its sinuous texture wheresoe'er, 
 
 At others' cost, it can advantage share; 
 
 And puckered round itself at every voice 
 
 Tliat bids it mourn for others or rejoice. 
 
 Place it within appropriate bounds — the tomb, 
 
 There Selfishness will find sufficient room.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 13 
 
 Lo ! where battalioncd legions bear away 
 In priniogenial strength and ardent sway ! 
 An individual cause each bosom fires; 
 An impetus unbridled each inspires; 
 Which laughs at consciousness of high behest, 
 And spurns the lesson of sweet interest ; 
 Tlie Passions — conquerors how sure, how fell, 
 Let poor humanity their victim tell ! 
 
 Now gladly turn from sickening survey, 
 Seek the Ithuriel touch — detecting ray; 
 And hail again that analysing charm, 
 That can defend against tliis troop of harm. 
 Stand in thy singleness, thyself a host, 
 Invincible, yet scorning empty boast. 
 Assert thine own dominion ; pierce the haunts 
 Wliere artifice with all her minions vaunts. 
 Bring forth the traitors of whatever class : 
 They're criminal; condemn them in the mass.
 
 14 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Plant in their stead around the lucid throne 
 
 Virtues that are especially thine own. 
 
 Magnanimous, the fear of man despise. 
 
 And let thy fear from God alone arise. 
 
 What thou possessest, liberally impart. 
 
 And bless the grace that made thee what thou art ! 
 
 Though long delayed, yet bearing in our sight, 
 The charm of being understood aright — 
 It is of import high this end to gain, 
 The subject regularly to explain ; 
 And as each circiunstance finds station true, 
 To clothe it nicely with importance due; 
 To shun whatever may fatigue the ear, 
 And interrupt progression brief and clear. 
 Conciseness with coherence must imite, 
 To place narration in effective light. 
 Bear on your tongue precision — just, correct, 
 And critically close in each respect.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 15 
 
 Nor must the auditory nerve relax; 
 Nor must Attention strict be felt a tax. 
 Prompt it must be and braced, nor ductile less 
 To yield unmutilated strong impress. 
 With eye intent that seeing does not see, 
 And ear absorbed in listening faculty, 
 No useless retrogression will be made; 
 No ostentatious question be displayed; 
 The mind would startle at injected tone, 
 Though voice interrogating were its own. 
 Subject, through medium smooth, gains memory fair, 
 And is indelibly imprinted there. 
 
 What wakes attention? Interest sincere: 
 We speak not of that sordid interest here, 
 That keeps in exercise each venal elfj 
 And bears a constant goad within itself; 
 That literally seeks it own, nor cares, 
 That own secured, how every other fares :
 
 J« INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 But that which would its literal own resign 
 If requisite at its appropriate shrine. 
 Which speeds at friendship's penetrating call 
 And threatening danger meets without appal; 
 The faithful vigilance to given trust. 
 The action to its parent feeling just. 
 
 What wakes this interest ? what this friendship forms? 
 What is it genially that lights and warms? 
 What makes this embryo quicken, gives it birth, 
 And ascertains its comprehensive worth? 
 What gives its infant years the bias strong. 
 Association to repeat, prolong, 
 And fondly to regret successive close 
 Till firm adherence every purpose shows? 
 What, when attachment to this climax brought. 
 Makes intellectual intercourse full fraught; 
 Urges ideas prompt to coalesce; 
 Nerves them with twofold energy and stress;
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. IT 
 
 Proves the rebound of preference so dear, 
 
 And wakes reciprocation's smile and tear? 
 
 What bears such partners through the vale of years, 
 
 With still-responding pleasures, hopes, and fears; 
 
 Wills them alike to leave the things of time 
 
 And view by faith a renovated prime; 
 
 Impels the wish that sure approaching death 
 
 Together would exhale their latest breath; 
 
 And gives assurance that in realms of light 
 
 In junction pure their souls will re-unite? 
 
 Where is this widely influential cause? 
 
 In nature's certain unperverted laws ; 
 
 In sympathy of answerable part; 
 
 In similar affections of the heart; 
 
 In similar perceptions of the brain ; 
 
 Or fluid similar the nerves contain; 
 
 In subtileness or denseness of the blood ; 
 
 In sources never to be understood; 
 
 In sameness of our compound and degree; 
 
 In physical congeniality. 
 
 C
 
 18 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 This total union of perception, mind. 
 Is then required in due degree and kind. 
 To tune communication fitly high 
 For consonance of warbling melody; 
 And give it meet vibration for the sound, 
 That bursting motive seeks to pour around. 
 
 Another article of import-worth 
 To give the mental matter fitting birth, 
 Is Education suitably exact; 
 The bark which saplings for themselves contract. 
 According to the rudiments prescribed. 
 Or dispositions prevalent imbibed. 
 The early mind, sofl, succulent, and smooth. 
 Which time will knot, indent, and roughly clothe; 
 The superficies, which must henceforth bear 
 The character internal, base or fair; 
 Which has to stand against the summer's heat. 
 Prone energies to slacken and defeat;
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 19 
 
 Wliich has to stand against the winter's storm, 
 Whose northern blasis will more or less deform; 
 Wliich bears perspective clear for youthful ken. 
 Of proverb life — e'en threescore years and ten. 
 In this green period, from the early dawn 
 Of intellect, to life's diffusive mom, 
 Those manners, habits, morals, are matured 
 That henceforth never wholly are abjured. 
 This second nature — superadded bent. 
 Which reaches constitution's full extent, 
 As often to alliance proves a claim. 
 As sembling lineament, or classive name. 
 Through the same medimn objects they've beheld; 
 By the same motives been restrained, impelled; 
 Confederate for years the point to gain. 
 The task to slip, the truancy explain; 
 Well known the points where discord, concord strike. 
 Their views, attachments, pleasures, pains, alike. 
 No pressure subsequent can this efface; 
 No habits violent can these displace; — 
 
 c«
 
 to INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Changed may appear the foliage of the tree; 
 Changed too the blossom, and the fruit may be: 
 But 'tis by ingraft changed: the same the stock 
 Whose pristine quahties no art can shock. 
 These are sound premises for hope to tread 
 When on fuU comprehension's business sped; 
 And far as fact from knowledge we believe, 
 Can never in reality deceive. 
 Season o'er which fond memory lingering dwells 
 And with enthusiastic pleasure swells ! 
 
 But be the ligament however strong 
 That equal nurture may produce — e'er long 
 It must uniting tendency subdue; 
 Disjunction formidable must ensue. 
 Fostered and strengthened under parent sun, 
 The spring of life's career men thoughtless run ; 
 Ascend the point from which they must diverge. 
 Tremble, recoil, reciprocally urge,
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 91 
 
 Attain new force, the warring world explore, 
 
 And call the roof they leave their home no more. 
 
 On the rough surface when at first upborne 
 
 They each feel insulated and forlorn : 
 
 But aiming still the chosen point to gain 
 
 That talents, friends, and bias may maintain. 
 
 Each settles, strives for necessary pelf, 
 
 And soon becomes a centre for himself; 
 
 Forms new connections, love and honour plights, 
 
 And shines surrounded by his satellites. 
 
 These are the ingrafts, which the change create 
 
 Between his present and his former state; 
 
 The bearings, which draw largely from the stock. 
 
 Though fibred faithful as the rooted rock. 
 
 Life must proceed in generations fair; 
 
 And generations must be parents' care. 
 
 But as to sorrow every one is bom. 
 
 And every sweet has its appropriate thorn, 
 
 So in proportion as the mingled case 
 
 With that of other men we clearly trace,
 
 « INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 In social points, m moral, in. degree. 
 
 In circumstances, or what e'er may be. 
 
 Such consonance, from characters their own 
 
 Makes them to fellow-feeling instant prone; 
 
 And needful words are few a case to state 
 
 That knowledge parallel can penetrate. 
 
 Or otherwise, ' when each of fihal band, 
 
 Through Providence obtains a different stand — 
 
 Though by the tie of nature firmly knit; 
 
 Though they in sentiment exactly fit; 
 
 Though they in manners, morals, mind, accord, 
 
 And veneration for the sacred word — 
 
 Yet where their circumstances don't agree, 
 
 They must of. course through differing mediums see. 
 
 From the same steady principle they start, 
 
 And far as matter general never part: 
 
 But as the subject softens ofl^ they find 
 
 That each Jia^ left the other far behind; 
 
 Or rather by divergency supplied 
 
 They see each other at a distance wide.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 23 
 
 Each from the point confused began to veer, 
 And each has gently entered his own sphere. 
 Where there is love, volition is on wing, 
 The shade of feeling's counterpart to bring : 
 But strong arresting cares its own, prevent 
 Performance of the delicate intent ; 
 And common daily duties of their sphere 
 With tide of others' cares must interfere. 
 Much by determined action may we do. 
 The course of others so far to pursue. 
 That sympathy and judgment may be just. 
 And christian friendship faithful to its trust: 
 But the sensorial faculty to teach 
 The finest pungencies of woe to reach; 
 To find a nice vibration for the string 
 Attuned by long and various suffering; 
 And bear its sound for ever on the nerve 
 Bestowed an aggregate demand to serve. 
 Is more than nature can — ^is wish too high— 
 Js plainly Individuality.
 
 24 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 We cannot then exactly be conceived, 
 
 But where the heart from equal cause has grieved. 
 
 ../C.I. ... Ui . 
 
 In thus determining, each separate part 
 To form a compound rich, to bless the heart. 
 The quality can ne'er forgotten be 
 That gives the whole to be consistent, free. 
 That gives illumination, ardour, zeal ; 
 That makes the mind to see, the heart to feel; 
 Without which, every stimulant wants point; 
 Perception, judgment, will, are out of joint; 
 Taste sickens ; relatives no pleasure give ; 
 Friendship is feeble, scarcely said to live; 
 Interest is vapid ; morals are but law ; 
 And life yields nothing but the breath we draw. 
 Does this sweet power denomination claim? 
 It needs it not — Affection is its name. 
 
 Affection has such comprehensive span, 
 Is so congenial to the wants of man,
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 25 
 
 To " love our neighbour as ourselves " was given, 
 
 A mandate from the righteous throne of Heaven. 
 
 But this best passion of the hmnan mind 
 
 Distinctness has in its degree and kind, 
 
 And when its tide is strong in kindrkb veins 
 
 The height of its capacity sustains. 
 
 It is not, that mere instinct can inform, — 
 
 That blood of the same lineage can warm — 
 
 It is not that the merely natural tie 
 
 Can the defects of head and heart supply — 
 
 Nor, that abstractedly in simple state 
 
 It carries any but its simple weight : 
 
 But weight it has ; and added, must of course 
 
 Give strength additional to other force. 
 
 Nature exhibits her inherent right 
 
 In current blood, as in the flowing light; 
 
 And men may strangle feelings as they rise, 
 
 And shut against meridian suns their eyes: 
 
 But these are acts most violent of will 
 
 Subversive of the love she would instil.
 
 26 INDIVIDUALITT. 
 
 What hallowed voice with parent-mercy song 
 
 In nature's figurative moving tongue 
 
 Comes issuing from celestial realms to cheer, 
 
 And prove high I^rovidence eternal here? 
 
 " Can woman e*er forget her sucking child ? " • 
 
 What implication strong in question mild ! 
 
 Such monsters are ! God, moved with kind regret, 
 
 Acknowledges that mothers maij forget. 
 
 It is within the bounds of what " may " be ; 
 
 It is the verge of possibility. 
 
 And when the prophet judgments sore predicts, 
 
 Which, in due time, God awfully inflicts. 
 
 Attempering mercy soothes where nature need. 
 
 And styptic yields to arteries that bleed. 
 
 *' Leave thy dear orphan children — I will prove 
 
 " Their great Preserver, their i Resource of love; 
 
 " In me your widows bid to put their trust, 
 
 *♦ And know that to my proHiises I'm just." f 
 
 * Is. c. xlix. y, 15. • !'>!■" + Jer, c, xlix. v, II.
 
 INDIVIDUAUTY. 27 
 
 Nature in all her bearings, all her throws, 
 
 The God of Nature feels as well as knows. 
 
 This poor existence would be passing poor 
 
 But for this strong elastick ligature; 
 
 Although, alas ! its great efficient power 
 
 Is quickest valued in bereavement's hour. 
 
 The bliss of early years is never taught, 
 
 The knowledge by comparison unbought; 
 
 And judgments juvenile as tliey advance 
 
 Are too initiated to enhance. 
 
 As birthright privileges they are known. 
 
 And oft by discontent, as those alone. 
 
 But birthright privileges are not small 
 
 Which gives them of this temporal life the all — 
 
 Protection, providence, cohesion pure, 
 
 Ardour their several interests to insure, 
 
 Instruction, vigilance, a guide to Heaven, 
 
 The full forgiveness " seventy times and seven," 
 
 Immunity from care, and soft repose 
 
 While parents' anxious eyelids never close;
 
 M INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Indulgencies which parents never knew; 
 Produced by strength of self-denial, too ; 
 Importance, from this estimate well known. 
 And conscious pleasure in it, all their own ; 
 The prompt concedence when it can be made; 
 The fit refusal when of ill afraid ; 
 Tlie fond delight when ever they appear. 
 Evinced in welcome smile, and starting tear; 
 Converse untainted with sarcastic gall; 
 Hilarity's conceits that never pall; 
 And high endeavours, efforts to repay 
 Which sink the heart by threatening decay. 
 Oh ! what a mass of virtues to deplore 
 When death informs them — it is theirs no more ! 
 
 Houseless, though heritage and wealth abound- 
 Hopeless, while all is vacuum around — 
 The anguished orphan proffered shelter takes, 
 And soothed by kindness gradually awakes.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. » 
 
 Who, in her houseless hopeless anguished state 
 
 Flings open the wide hospitable gate? 
 
 Who seeks her, offers the supporting arm, 
 
 And bids her throbbing filiaments be calm? 
 
 Who but her relatives, alive to pay 
 
 This needful tribute in affliction's day? 
 
 Collateral sources now their bearings show, 
 
 And hearts with kindness readily o'erflow. 
 
 Freely the lineage parallel embrace. 
 
 And blend the child fraternal with their race. 
 
 Or should the generation be full grown. 
 
 The orphan finds a brother of her own 
 
 To shield her blooming years from evil tongues. 
 
 Her hopes from subtlety, her right from wrongs, 
 
 And in advancing stage, be what it may. 
 
 To be her refuge, counsellor, and stay. 
 
 This then the whole — ^with life arose the tie, 
 And till the close of life, it cannot die.
 
 SI INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 It differently affects from differing cause: 
 
 But on humanity enacts its laws, 
 
 With whose protecting genial influence 
 
 Its subjects would not willingly dispense. 
 
 As far then as this individual thing 
 
 Which in primordial substance has its spring, 
 
 Produces tmion properly so called, 
 
 And confidence that cannot be appalled — 
 
 So far, when happily, united view 
 
 On tenets dear, stands spirited and true, 
 
 It must congeniality transcend, 
 
 That cannot with this vital current blend. 
 
 Without it, mental concord may be high. 
 
 But with it, two-fold is its harmony. 
 
 Deduction plain, of power in kindred blood 
 
 To aid the being nicely understood. 
 
 If such component parts essential are 
 To form a whole so exquisitely fair;
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 81 
 
 And such a whole important is to gain, 
 
 To cheer our travail, and to soothe our pain— 
 
 Who would not estimate each separate strength, 
 
 Draw up the close-enumerated length. 
 
 Improve his social fitness where he can 
 
 And give the wished-for meed to brother man? 
 
 Behold the requisites in fair array-^ — 
 
 A MOOD of EQUALLY- ATTEMPERED SWay; 
 
 Honour — inducing plainness, firmness, trust; 
 Matter — conveyed by truth and method just; 
 Attention — rivetted throughout detail; 
 Interest — too lively and sincere to fail; 
 Tendencies constitutional the same; 
 Tuition — which confederate habits frame; 
 Station and character that well compare; 
 Affection — that vicissitudes can bear; 
 Affection kindred — of superior zest. 
 To bind and to consolidate the rest.
 
 32 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Vast constellation ! beautiful and bright ! 
 But shining only in rapt fancy's sight. 
 Who does not at this period heave a sigh 
 Which mortal incapacities supply — 
 A heavy sigh arising from despair 
 A blessing so superlative to share? 
 And those who from this point the theme pursue 
 Inclined to take a comprehensive view 
 Of causes and effects — in short sojourn 
 Will this plain cause and plain effect discern. 
 
 Man, as a species, it must be allowed 
 Is with appropriate faculties endowed; 
 Embodied link in the created chain; 
 Distinguished, privileged, informed and sane. 
 But taken separately from natm'e's whole. 
 And seen from age to age, from pole to pole, 
 Yields himself system copious and complete 
 His proud investigations to defeat.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 3S 
 
 As individual man he stands alone, 
 And calls surrounding objects all his own. 
 Upon them his own character inscribes; 
 From them the radius suitable imbibes ; 
 Is his own world; on his own axis turns; 
 And with absorbent passions ardent burns. 
 
 As SOCIAL MAN he proper orbit makes, 
 And others in consideration takes. 
 Urged by philanthropy makes great resolves; 
 Strengthened by it, unwearied ly revolves; 
 Gives to his course centrifugal a swing 
 Strong as its spirit, ceaseless as its spring; 
 Attracts the virtues cardinal, refined. 
 Expands his worth for profit to his kind. 
 And all, o'er whom emitting radiance shoots 
 Is nerved by influence, or cheered by fi:uits. 
 
 As INTELLECTUAL MAN, he spums a rein; 
 Holds motion regular in high disdain; 
 
 D
 
 S4 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Embraces ethicks, sciences, and arts; 
 Additional discoveries imparts; 
 Whate'er yields contact to his various sense, 
 Excites inquiry and research intense; 
 The inference to fix, his powers arrests; 
 He tries, compares, investigates, digests, 
 Issues attempt each object to define, 
 And dares to reason upon acts divine. 
 Skilled in philosophy of chymic lore, 
 Accustomed o'er experiment to pore. 
 To analyze the compound, and to reach 
 The separate parts and properties of each — 
 He sees all matter in its simple state, 
 And pierces its contextural innate. 
 Gives various rationale for earthquakes' cause, 
 Volcanos' rage, and deep-emboweled wars; 
 Describes the probable of mineral veins; 
 The saturation metalled ore obtains ; 
 For vegetable progress will account, 
 And gives of animal the plain amount ;
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. «5 
 
 Separates the sanguine fluid of his kind, 
 And from it judges of its owner's mind ; 
 Determines revolutions' constant sway 
 Of just amelioration and decay; 
 Proves the materiality of light 
 By arguments perspicuous, erudite; 
 Defines the parts constituent of heat, 
 Exciting causes which to action beat; 
 Pervading small interstices of things, 
 The pores of all that from creation springs ; 
 Shows its expansion, and its bias lent 
 To counteract the gra,vitating bent; 
 Explains its general fructifying strife, 
 And presses on the principle of life. 
 Without demur, quick as the solar ray 
 At midnight penetrates the hidden day; 
 Beholds his own meridian radiant height. 
 And gazes till he's blind with dazzhng light. 
 Tlien spreads his pinions, and without controul 
 Reaches immediately the distant goal; 
 
 D 2
 
 S« INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Wheels at his will through ether's ample course, 
 
 Surveys each planet's magnitude and force, 
 
 Decides its orbit, and by numerals' power 
 
 Predicts eclipses' very day and hour. 
 
 With motion of velocity sublime 
 
 He meets the comet at expected time, 
 
 And settles, from the flight of its career, 
 
 When 'twill revisit our terrestrial sphere. 
 
 Strains his keen optics to behold afar 
 
 The properties of each resplendent star; 
 
 As clustered in co-operation clear. 
 
 Or as it may apart distinct appear. 
 
 Onward he wings to regions far remote 
 
 The systems of infinity to note; 
 
 Sees them their revolutions just, complete 
 
 Around their central orbs of light and heat; 
 
 At various angles intersect, and roll 
 
 One comphcate illimitable whole. 
 
 Thus as he seeks the universe to scan 
 
 He carries with him all the pride of man ;
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 37 
 
 Is bloated with the product of his pains, 
 Although as nothing, all that he attains; 
 And while to science he makes high pretence, 
 Unskilled in wisdom seems, and conunon sense. 
 
 As CHRISTIAN MAN, he dcems such knowledge loss 
 That has not its foundation in the Cross ; 
 Considers useless, dangerous, absurd, 
 Whate'er is not engrafted on the Word; 
 Whatever is inimical to faith; 
 Whatever militates against " he saith." 
 Respects high literature as he ought, 
 Though as a gem that may be dearly bought. 
 Regards it as the polish of the mind ; 
 As passport with society refined; 
 As recreation for a leisure hour; 
 As proof of manhood's intellectual power; 
 As indication that his years of youth 
 Were honourably exercised for truth;
 
 38 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 As patronising every great pursuit 
 That in the general welfare has its root : 
 But in subordination justly due 
 To that which has eternity in view. 
 He estimates this union great and fair 
 Perfection as the human state can bear; 
 Reason the quick percipient of the soul, 
 And Faith the clear resolvent of the whole. 
 But when invading mysteries awful line, 
 Disdainfully rejecting " the true vine," 
 Averring that it nothing can believe — 
 No system reverence— principle receive, 
 But what call yield to demonstration's fact — 
 To measurement of line and rule exact — 
 To reasoning's sophistries that truth despise — 
 To blindfold strong impassioned subtleties — 
 To education's bias — stubborn will — 
 To what necessity and fate fulfil — 
 When erudition springs from such a source 
 As criminal, he scorns the thing of course.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 39 
 
 Some minds well fitted are for great research, 
 But pride obtrudes, and leaves them in the lurch. 
 A large capacity their minds contain, 
 And stimulant, extent required to gain: 
 But failing in humility's due poise, 
 The point inexplicable much annoys. 
 Corrodes the whole attained, and keeps the thought 
 Upon the unattainable full fraught; 
 Much disappoints them of the promised praise 
 They strove upon creative skill to raise. 
 And damps the ciiarm of seeing what they sec 
 Because they cannot quite Omniscient be. 
 Strange ! this presumption should embodied reign 
 In beings of decided deathful wane ! 
 Who in their composition had no share — 
 Who cannot bribe the mortal stroke to spare — 
 Who, understanding as they may, the laws 
 Of certmn nature, cannot its First Cause — 
 Who know not free volition to explain. 
 Although they trace it to the nerveftd brain;
 
 40 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 And \Thile they bid to motion feet and hands, 
 
 Are puzzled at their own impelled commands j^ 
 
 Are puzzled at obedience instant shown 
 
 Almost before impelled command had flown — 
 
 Who now will argue with fallacious skill 
 
 That over it they have a sovereign will^ 
 
 And now again, some blunder or defeat 
 
 Hears them to sluggish fatalism retreat — 
 
 Who full of contrariety's worse bane 
 
 WiU now annihilation drear maintain. 
 
 By disquisition of unwearied length 
 
 Mailed in rhetorical display and strength, 
 
 And gradually to settled climax wrought 
 
 Will prove themselves and talents things of nought ; 
 
 Whilst recently with equal flow of tongue 
 
 And wit, they other tenets nimbly strung, 
 
 Evincive of the dignity and reach 
 
 Of this same wit and eloquence of speech. 
 
 What ! is this ardent Babel-building mind 
 
 To be at last devoted to the wind?
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 41 
 
 O'er the rude desert to disperse its form, 
 
 The henbane cherish, and the viper warm? 
 
 Was embryo quickened — into being brought, 
 
 Trained up, improved, matured, to prove it nought? 
 
 Born, various substance gradually to blend 
 
 Merely for nature's chymistry to end? 
 
 Is there no purpose for its summer's day 
 
 But as chance wills, to labour or to play, 
 
 To starve or pamper, be a slave or king. 
 
 And die as well a knave as any thing? 
 
 Are faculties of reason and of speech, 
 
 By which we seek, obtain, enjoy, and teach, 
 
 According to their bias and degree. 
 
 No proof of plain responsibility? 
 
 Does not full consciousness of right and wrong 
 
 To proof of immortality belong? 
 
 And does not every spark of mental hght 
 
 Reduce the hope of everlasting night? 
 
 Is this the fond expectance of a soul 
 
 Accustomed round creations self to roll —
 
 « INDIVIDUALlTr. 
 
 Regions celestial to explore and range, 
 
 And boast of doing so ? How passing strange ! 
 
 How contradictory, degrading, weak ! 
 
 How drear, in shiftings such, defence to seek! 
 
 Far happier the million who but read 
 
 The plain professions of their faithful creed. 
 
 Yet through it, their sure title can espy 
 
 To future good, to immortality. 
 
 Ye ! who would elevate your proper race; 
 Who in its faculties such wonders trace; 
 Who jealous are its flight should know no bound; 
 Should sedulous in knowledge still be found; 
 Whose passion erudition is acute; 
 Who surely something hope for as its jGruit; 
 Deem man immortal ! Leave him not in dust ! 
 Give him in renovated state to trust! 
 To know this scene of pain, and care, and strife. 
 Is but the prelude to eternal life;
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 41 
 
 That there is compensation, and much more 
 
 For those who here are doomed to travail sore, 
 
 And carry with them an abiding sense 
 
 Of mercy in the ways of Providence. 
 
 Deem him immortal ! Tell him 'twas for this 
 
 Wisdom was given him — to accept of bliss; 
 
 That God so privileged him, to discern 
 
 His ardours waste their fires and barren bum 
 
 Unless he look for good beyond the breath 
 
 That finally delivers him to death. 
 
 Howe'er from matter man his growth obtains, 
 
 His individual soul distinct remains. 
 
 Leave him primordial quality abstract 
 
 Given by material vehicle to act; 
 
 By this to feel its duties and fulfil; 
 
 And be responsible for good and ill ! 
 
 Leave Self, which quits its tenement of day 
 
 Before its tenement can know decay; 
 
 Through whose departure only, matter dies, 
 
 Whilst Self revives afiresh in other skies —
 
 44 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 In medium skies, between the pilgrim way 
 And awefiil fiat of the judgment day ! 
 
 Great intellectual powers too often prove 
 Extinctive to the christian faith and love; 
 Or raise a stubborn barrier between 
 When these have never yet experienced been. 
 The tumid honour man from man receives, 
 The heart engrosses, and the eye believes; 
 And He who well knew evil to detect, 
 Makes question negative to this eifect.* 
 Not so with all. Emblazoned on the page 
 Where records will endure from age to age. 
 Behold to clear the film from sceptic sight, 
 A Bacon's, Boyle's, and Newton's shining light I 
 These as they urged their scientific way 
 Forgot not where to rest, nor how to pray. 
 Defined the atoms in the solar beam. 
 But glorified the solar ray supreme. 
 • John V. 44.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. * 
 
 Intent on knowledge, onward still would press. 
 But hailed throughout the Sun of Righteousness. 
 When years, infirmities, and sickness gave 
 Them nearer insight of their mortal grave, 
 Where deep investigation is no more, 
 Nor mart for all its hterary store; 
 And deep futurity beyond, o'ercast 
 By stamp indelible of actions past ; 
 When these presented — these plain certain things- 
 Philosophy recoiled, and drooped her wings; 
 Acknowledged her best labours weak and vain; 
 Her end mistaken; and but loss her gain; 
 And mourned her talents rare so misapphed, 
 So unimproved her audit to abide. 
 He the most eminent, whose classic hoard 
 Intelligence sublime will long afford — 
 When at the aweful close of life, compared 
 To pebbles, the researches he had dared, 
 Which, gathering on the shore, his time beguiled. 
 As shells and coral the delighted child,
 
 49 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Whilst unexplored and disregarded nigh, 
 Stretched the vast ocean of eternity. 
 
 As man evangelised, his highest aim 
 Is to miite his character and name. 
 No knowledge dear — none his ambition wins 
 But that which gives remission of his sins; 
 Which yields him convoy, comfort, anchor, guide, 
 And perseverance steadily to ride, 
 And courage, time's rough tempests to endure, 
 And confidence to reach the haven sure. 
 No knowledge dear, but that the Spirit gives — 
 But that in which Ufe's essence clearly lives; 
 Which can the depths of blackest darkness chace ; 
 Can make the infidel its hght embrace; 
 Can the impenetrable stoic move; 
 Can force perverseness captious to approve; 
 Can gladden the unlettered, the forlorn. 
 The poor, the captive, all to misery bom,
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 47 
 
 Or all who feel their misery and need. 
 
 And choose to take so privileged a meed. 
 
 No knowledge dear, but that salvation brings;; 
 
 Salvation finished by the King of kings ; 
 
 Salvation universal, fi*ee and great 
 
 To every nation, number, change, and date. 
 
 Salvation which it is in vain to know 
 
 Unless we in its knowledge live and grow; 
 
 Unless we bear consistent fhiit and sense 
 
 As general sanctifying evidence. 
 
 This needs no genius, no scholastic toil, 
 
 No telescopic aid, no midnight oil. 
 
 No apparatus but the given Word, 
 
 No arms defensive but the Spirit's sword. 
 
 No title but the contrite heart sincere, , 
 
 No rank — the peasant welcome as the peer; 
 
 He who but runs may read, who reads receive. 
 
 And who receives, efficiently believe. 
 
 And he who caimot read may love and fear 
 
 If influenced to lend the listeninij ear.
 
 48 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 With the desire this knowledge to pursue 
 
 The christian has the needful virtue too. 
 
 When science casually may engage 
 
 He is not self-devoted to the page; 
 
 He is content heaven's wonders to espy 
 
 Without a lens to aid his open eye; 
 
 And takes the opportunity to raise 
 
 A tribute to his great Creator's praise. 
 
 When he considers agency divine 
 
 Bade them to be, to journey, and to shine; 
 
 That each, especial pui*poses fulfils 
 
 As the Artificer stupendous wills; 
 
 And that Omniscience operates in all 
 
 The concave glorious that surrounds our ball; 
 
 From lowly mind his admiration breaks — 
 
 By eloquent apostrophe he speaks — 
 
 " Lord what is man that he should be thy care; 
 
 " Or son of man, to visit and to spare ! " * 
 
 * Psalm viii. 4.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 49 
 
 As man for intellectual reach, exalts 
 His faculties, and palliates his faults, 
 So man for spiritual attainment, knows 
 His nature evil, and his talents foes; 
 That knowletlge puffeth up, and therefore wars 
 With needful spirit for the christian cause. 
 What saith the scripture ? Listen and be dumb ! 
 " Except like little children ye become," * 
 " Except ye're born again," f are docile, mild, 
 And teachable as unassuming child. 
 No place prepared — no entrance will be given 
 To joys unspeakable of righteous heaven. 
 The philosophic eye must be " plucked out," 
 If it excite in christian mind a doubt; 
 The " hand cut off " — propensity resigned. 
 However pleasant, specious, and refined. 
 Which militates against the interest sure. 
 That through perpetual ages will endure. 
 
 ♦ Matt, xviii. 8 + John iii. S. 
 
 £
 
 50 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Would you be taught in revelations school? 
 
 Make up your mind to be esteemed a fool. 
 
 Would you salvation's work supremely prize? 
 
 The world's broad ridicule in turn despise. 
 
 Sheathed by enduring charity, the shaft 
 
 By satire hurled, recoils, and proves its craft; 
 
 And through this antidote, the stigma rude 
 
 Can never be corrosively imbued. 
 
 Peace will at all times be your staff and stay 
 
 Which man can neither give nor take away. 
 
 " Where is the wise, the noble, deeply-learned,* 
 
 And disputant " in science hardly earned? 
 
 Not many in comparison, alas ! 
 
 Are found within the strictly faithful class. 
 
 Omniscient God foreknew the world's applause 
 
 Would be at enmity with christian laws.f 
 
 And Apostolic verdict has decreed:}: 
 
 Its friendship, holy progress would impede: 
 
 • 1 Cor. i. 80—98. + Rom. vlii. 7. J: Jam. iv. ♦.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. it 
 
 Unlettered men were therefore called to prove 
 The boundlessness of God's redeeming love. 
 The foolish things were chosen to confound 
 The men, for erudition deep reno^^Tied; 
 The weak against the mighty were made strong; 
 The poor despised obtained the gifts of tongue; 
 Low artisans to scribes and priests preferred. 
 To be the promulgators of the Word; 
 That flesh might cease to glory in its own, 
 And give it to the God of grace alone. 
 
 As christian man he deems all knowledge vain 
 That mystery and miracle restrain; 
 Deems impious, contradictory, absurd. 
 By human skill to trj' th' Omniscient Word; 
 Deems his best faculties as things of nought 
 When before dread Omnipotency brought; 
 And what abstractedly they may appear, 
 Holds them with correspondent love and fear— • 
 
 » 2 _
 
 52 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Holds them as articles of awful charge 
 
 To use, improve, increase, and spread at large; 
 
 His praise, from whom they were derived to speak 
 
 His honour in the whole they do, to seek. 
 
 Determines finite man has finite mind. 
 
 His powers to his appropriate state assigned. 
 
 His reason he may stretch, his optics strain. 
 
 But so far only can he e'er attain; 
 
 Beyond this point, no mental eye can see — 
 
 'Tis region of subUme obscurity ! 
 
 Why else through ages multiplied of man 
 
 Has not progressive knowledge been the plan; 
 
 Leading the student of the present age 
 
 Forth fi-om his predecessor's final page? 
 
 Why else do sages of superior fame 
 
 Who each in turn our admiration claim, 
 
 Hold adverse theories with so much power 
 
 To teize the scholar's earnest-searching hour? 
 
 Why else are various systems early known 
 
 In later days decidedly o'erthrown?
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. »S 
 
 Arts of importance lost ; and lettered lands 
 
 Captured and peopled by uncultured bands? 
 
 Why, but to prove perfection cannot grow 
 
 On imperfection? all things tell us so. 
 
 Man from his first of being, was endowed 
 
 With high perception — gratefully avowed. 
 
 The act by vvh::h his perfect nature died 
 
 Gave birth to knowledge, sense acute, and pride. 
 
 He instantly discerned from evil good; 
 
 And intermediate wiles were understood. 
 
 Created blameless — -judgment he had none; 
 
 He knew — by disobedience when undone: 
 
 But knowing — his capacity was keen 
 
 As in his sons it can be — or has been. 
 
 Our form and features our first parents wore; 
 
 Ours too the intellect they also bore; 
 
 And averaged man, through stages he has ran, 
 
 In like proportions, the same averaged man. 
 
 Knowledge like empires, has its rise and fall; 
 
 It undulates around this earthly ball;
 
 it INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 Now here struck deep and fibred far its root. 
 
 Its branches bending with high flavoured fruit; 
 
 Whilst there, where ages owned its boasted fires. 
 
 The sap is spent, the tree decays, expires. 
 
 Ages again by time not yet unfirrled. 
 
 May yield reversed narration for the world. 
 
 Such its vicissitude, its climax true, 
 
 And measure ever varying to the view: 
 
 And will be so, till time fiilfils the birth 
 
 When heavenly knowledge shall o'erflow the earth. 
 
 But why to empires was its rise and fall 
 
 Compared — why not to all around our ball? 
 
 Slow revolution is the certain fate 
 
 Of miatter animate, inanimate ; 
 
 Or, fitter terms perhaps for what is meant, 
 
 InteUigent and unintelligent. 
 
 All travels gently to its utmost strength, 
 
 And then deteriorates till laid at length; 
 
 Unless some stroke of Providence, or force. 
 
 Should prematurely finish nature's course.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. tS 
 
 But in this constant act of wax and wane 
 
 Proportion likewise does itself sustain; 
 
 And limits, rarely high or low accrue 
 
 To what determined our forefathers view. 
 
 It may derive celebrity and praise 
 
 From interval of dark illiterate days; 
 
 At dawning period of reviving taste 
 
 From literature's desolated waste: 
 
 But soon emerging mind will bring to light 
 
 The previous records of oblivious night — 
 
 Soon will explore, digest, compare, embrace, 
 
 Though not so easily smpass his race. 
 
 Much controversy may be heard and weighed— 
 
 Much erudition on all sides displayed: 
 
 But yet how seldom has one point been found 
 
 Newly acquired to philosophic ground? 
 
 Tuition's fertile plans may give the good 
 
 To be more generally understood; 
 
 And wake the lower classes of our kind 
 
 Their latent best capacities to find:
 
 5« INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 But man has long possessed his widest range, 
 
 And all that follows is incessant change. 
 
 What is it then but speculative boast? 
 
 But proof of great capacity at most ? 
 
 But toiling for caprice of human breath ? 
 
 But seeking fame, that quickens not till death? 
 
 If things inexplicable have such charm — 
 
 If theories of time the bosom warm — 
 
 Let those of vast eternity engage — 
 
 The theorem of revelation's page ! 
 
 Is knowledge pleasant? — Take it fi'om this fount. 
 
 And prove incalculable the amount. 
 
 Possess the sight, that seeing can perceive; 
 
 The hearing ears, that listen and believe; 
 
 The understanding nerve for medium clear; 
 
 The aspiration fervent; sigh sincere; 
 
 The heart for gratitude; the voice for praise; 
 
 * 
 The prayer which faith and love will ever raise.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 5T 
 
 Would'st thou that pleasant knowledge ne'er should cease — 
 
 I'hat it should forward go with large increase — 
 
 That time, and toil, and talents, should be spent 
 
 Where profit will be high and permanent? 
 
 Would'st thou that when removed to other skies 
 
 New intellectual sources should arise — 
 
 New intellect appropriate be given — 
 
 New stimulant, new intercourse, new heaven? 
 
 W^ould'st thou that future promised joys should flow 
 
 Congenial with thy present wish to know — 
 
 And think illumination of the mind 
 
 A portion of the bliss for man designed — 
 
 Drink largely at the christian's sacred spring; 
 
 It will fruition to thy wishes bring; 
 
 It will allow this hope thy will to move, 
 
 If governed by a faithful ardent love. 
 
 The promise issues from the highest throne 
 
 That " we shall know, as also we are known ; " 
 
 Know love creative, that first called us forth; 
 
 Know love atoning, cause of second birth;
 
 w iNDivnrtrAETTT: 
 
 Know all our being's nature can endure 
 Of happiness unchangeable as pure. 
 Is there of medium-something still a need 
 To cleanse and fit the mind for healthful seed? 
 Doubt not 'tis honesty — its voice obey — 
 And give it unresisted perfect sway. 
 Uncase interior self; and let it be 
 Exposed to grace, benignant, full and free ! 
 Quench not the Spirit ! give it ample sway, 
 And rise to radiance of the perfect day. 
 Then speak the joys of christian man well known- 
 Become by high experience all thine own ! 
 For thee no more the sun shall spread his beam,* 
 Nor moon emit its sofl diffusing stream; 
 The Lord shall be thine everlasting light. 
 Thy God thy glory, knowledge, friend, and might. 
 
 • Is. Ix. 19, 20.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 The Roman Catholic System in general. 
 
 Elementary matter multiplied — Each radius point 
 a centre for itself — This injSnite variety must ter- 
 minate in Individuality — Semblances of character, 
 however strong, evincing to the eye of observation 
 a distinct difference — Religion as a single source 
 brought forward to illustrate the endless diversity 
 of Man's acceptation of things — The Roman Catho- 
 lics — Their superstitions — absurdities — bigotry — im- 
 posed and voluntary blindness — Tlie Monk — Anclio- 
 ret — Mendicant — Nun — This sacrifice of females 
 worse than the sacrifice of old to Moloch — Parental 
 love natural — The Novice — Andelia — Her sufferings 
 — Apostrophe to men of science to define her 
 symptoms — Derangement — resolved into melancholy
 
 eO INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 — Melancholy described — The passive state of such 
 a victim — The effect of choral music — Andelia re- 
 signed — Takes the veil — Simile of the white heifer — 
 What is life to liberty — Better for the Muse to 
 wander when she is so inclined — Feels herself ardent 
 in the cause of liberty — and is delighted to harmo- 
 nise on the subject with the spirit and energies of 
 Cowper — He well qualified to pourtray this high 
 blessing with its attendant virtues — Tribute of the 
 Muse to him in conclusion.
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 1 HESE are some pristine points, though but a few, 
 
 From, which divergency around me view; 
 
 While every line obtaining radius joint. 
 
 Becomes in turn another central point, 
 
 Divergent to its own extent of sphere, 
 
 And intersecting every circle near: 
 
 Thus offering to the philosophic eye 
 
 A variation to infinity. 
 
 An evidence of individual place 
 
 Within the given amplitude of space; 
 
 Of individual character and sight 
 
 Imbibed from medium of surrounding light; 
 
 Of individual faculty and soul 
 
 In trainuig for a stimulating goal.
 
 62 INDIVIDUALITY [Book II, 
 
 Semblance of persons sometimes is so strong 
 In all they have of right, in all of wrong, 
 In all of taste, perception, pleasure, pain, 
 In what they now reject and now maintain, 
 That passing observation would decide 
 Them characters that nothing can divide: 
 But close investigation will discern 
 What probably themselves have yet to learn, 
 That union full and faithful cannot be 
 While each has Individuality. 
 (Self must, whate'er its wish, be prominent 
 Though counteraction generous be spent. 
 Such instances are notwithstanding rare. 
 Complete too as humanity can bear; 
 They yield as much of bliss as man can prove — 
 The intercourse of harmony and love. 
 The wonder then is none, the list is smaU, 
 But that such instances exist at all. 
 Give but a moment's liberty to thought 
 And see it with unnumbered reasons fraught,
 
 Book 11.] ILLUSTRATED BY RELIGION. «J 
 
 Of genus, species, order, and degree, 
 To shew the hindrances to unity. 
 
 What is that veteran host that first appears 
 And seems more vigorous for increasing years? 
 Whose far perspective optics cannot reach; 
 Whose appellations language scarce can teach ; 
 Whose features various — stubborn, lenient, sad, 
 Gay, sanguine, lukewarm, vapid, ardent, mad, 
 In all tlieir finest shades, their nicest bent. 
 No pencil-skill can justly represent? 
 Which bears the standai'd whether false or true, 
 Of conscience, having sworn allegiance due; 
 And war-accoutred, musket, sword, or lance, 
 Marshalled with just precedence for advance? 
 Which waves at each division banners high 
 Distinctive legions to identify. 
 
 Whilst each that helps to form this phalanx grand 
 Has abstract armies at his own command;
 
 64 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 Is himself leader of a special host, 
 Raised by his voice, and standing to its post, 
 Though hair-breadth differences that thought deride, 
 Seem to divide again and sub-divide. 
 Summoned from every nation, every throne 
 They come — Religion calls them all her own; 
 Whate'er their colour, their profession, sect. 
 Fanaticisms rank, or cold neglect. 
 
 See ! where the mummeries of sound and show 
 Communion unadulterate forego ! 
 Where full accerras yield a rich perfume, 
 And priests in broidered robes, such power assume 
 That pardons and indulgences are sold 
 As merchandise for prostituted gold; 
 In bold contempt of scripture boon concise, 
 " Free pardon without money, without price." * 
 See where the symbols transubstantiate 
 As high the cup and host they elevate ! 
 * Isaiah Iv. I.
 
 Book ir.] THE ROMAN CATHOLICS. 85 
 
 Hear the bell tinkle, that beheld, adored, 
 May be their new-formed, their incarnate Lord! 
 Prostrate they fall before each sculptured saint. 
 Governed by custom, habit, and constraint. 
 Invoke their tutelage, implore their grace, 
 For intercession in the Saviour's place; 
 And seem to venerate the sinner's worth 
 Beyond its sacrifice of godhead birth. 
 See them the honoured shrine extatic kiss ! 
 Hug the blanched bone as mean of health and bliss ! 
 Or if such privilege be thought too much. 
 Feel cured and blessed with transient sight and touch ! 
 Whilst folly to their superstition clings, 
 Not once conceiving these famed sacred things 
 May spurious be, as ceitain they have been 
 In frenzied times that urged imposture keen. 
 Borne in procession and on pilgrimage 
 As amulet for sickness and for age. 
 From catacombs the treasures vast behold ! 
 Tlie actual dust of martyred men of old 
 
 F
 
 M INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 Baptised at pontiflP-pleasure and behest 
 
 As legend or inscription might attest! 
 
 Many to eastern provinces were led 
 
 For remnants of the apostolic dead, 
 
 To calm the conscience, cheer the drooping soul, 
 
 Save sinking states, and other ills controul. 
 
 See penanced variously as sin's degree 
 
 Accords with affluence or poverty, 
 
 The man-confessing, self-atoning throng. 
 
 Acquitted, but again to practise wrong ! 
 
 Bare-headed, and bare-footed, and opprest, 
 
 Their wearied wanderings can know no rest; 
 
 Distance incalculable they subdue. 
 
 And hardship, suffering, and spirit too. 
 
 The punishment inflicted to endure, 
 
 And cleanse themselves from every lapse impure. 
 
 Loretto's famous virgin form they reach, 
 
 Her ornaments admire, her prayers beseech; 
 
 Are dazzled with the gew-gaw, love the lie, 
 
 And shroud themselves in its absurdity.
 
 Book II.] THE ROMAN CATHOLICS. 67 
 
 See myriads of Croisaders on their way 
 
 To Palestine, in hostile dread array ! 
 
 Giving the scourge with tenfold thong to sting 
 
 Such resolute, such operative swing, 
 
 It fixes in the flesh, and draws the gore. 
 
 And leaves on back and loins indented score. 
 
 Liveried in sackcloth, haircloth, some appear, 
 
 Insignia of a ser\'icc harsh and drear; 
 
 Insignia too of voluntary pain 
 
 For voluntary and deliberate stain; 
 
 Witness the Gallic fabulist of fame ! 
 
 Who could not his immoral talent tame, 
 So in the act did penance for the sin. 
 By writing with a haircloth next his skin. 
 Tasked by confessor with a tale of prayer, 
 To iterate which, becomes their only care, 
 See groupes with moving lips, and busy eyes, 
 And fingers nimble at their rosaries; 
 Ave-marias numbering by their beads. 
 And pater-nosters for their foul misdeeds. 
 
 Fa
 
 «8 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 In decades are the chaplet numbers strung; 
 In decades therefore prayers are said or sung; 
 As scliool-boys with their impositions sore, 
 Labour to learn, repeat, and get them o'er. 
 Wan, meagre, languid, children of long fast, 
 Like spectres, make spectators all aghast! 
 Embodied shadows with enveloped minds 
 That priestcraft darkens, and in darkness binds; 
 Witholding privilege to know and judge, 
 And dealing out salvation with a grudge. 
 Fell monsters ! that for arrogance or wealth. 
 Deprive their brother-man of joy and health ! 
 Oh ! spare yourselves of trouble such expence — 
 Tell your poor flocks to use their common sense; 
 Teach them to read, in scripture to confide. 
 And give the Bible as their rock and guide ! 
 With supplication be the requiem sung; 
 Let prayers incessant exercise the tongue; 
 Specific masses strictly be discharged 
 For souls firom earthly tenements enlarged;
 
 Book IL] THE ROMAN CATHOLICS. 69 
 
 Let contributions efficacious flow 
 Religious houses to erect, endow; 
 Munificence be showered on every side, 
 And self in all respects be mortified ; 
 Continual war with gladdening comforts wage 
 The pains of the departed to assuage, 
 To gain from purgatory their release, 
 And issue them to pardon and to peace! 
 Is there a dubious state beyond the grave? 
 From punishment can human offerings save? 
 Break then the crucifix — reject the Word- 
 Profession such is palpably absurd. 
 
 Of all distinctions, ages, orders, see 
 Men who profess from temporal snares to flee! 
 Associated some as garbs bespeak; 
 Whilst others unfrequented places seek. 
 Those in close structure for their purpose dwell; 
 These in rude house, or excavated cell.
 
 TO INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 Those evidently with the world embued; 
 These bearing characters of solitude. 
 Those cunning, carnal, sordid, useful tools ; 
 These indolent, erroneous useless fools; 
 Fools, from deficiency of reason's power, 
 Or from perversion of so rich a dower. 
 A narrow-minded, dim-discerning set, 
 Whether monk, mendicant, or anchoret. 
 Born to no purpose that makes man rejoice; 
 Deaf to perceptive and sonorous voice. 
 That bids faith prove itself by moral fruits — 
 Thus giving motive high for such pursuits. 
 Vagrants contemptible, who ask their bread 
 Of labour that is poorly clothed and fed; 
 Unblessed with spirit honestly to strive 
 For means to keep their mortal part alive: 
 Yet fancying the spirit they possess 
 The souls of others can support and bless. 
 Cowards! who shrink from real pilmgrimage; 
 From bearings which the human heart engage;
 
 Book II.J THE ROMAN CATHOLICS. 11 
 
 From self-denial for a parent's ease; 
 From exercise fraternal ties to please; 
 From care a rising offspring to maintain; 
 From sympathy in others* care and pain; 
 From slights, ingratitude, reproach, and scorn; 
 From disappointments broad of promise bom ; 
 Cowards ! who dare not to the christian field, 
 The sword of the church-militant to wield. 
 
 Hark ! where harmonious whispers breathe around I 
 Now fiU the air with soft and even sound; 
 Now swell upon the sense in sweetest tone; 
 Now call seraphic melody their own. 
 What is their cause? from whence do they proceed? 
 What bliss do they await? what righteous deed? 
 Wherefore arrest the ear — invite the eye? 
 To witness the extent of cruelty. 
 
 When in due course a babe receives its birth, 
 It instantly receives specific worth;
 
 M INDIVIDUALITY. _ [Book II, 
 
 Moves the young limb, and rolls the eye on light, 
 
 And has to given life peculiar right; 
 
 Nature the second cause producing it^ 
 
 As God the great Original sees fit. 
 
 On parents, nature makes her own demands; 
 
 The same, whether of separated lands, 
 
 Savage or civiHsed; the same her calls 
 
 On the vast circuit of irrationals, 
 
 Their progeny to nourish and protect. 
 
 And in all difficulties to direct. 
 
 To raise then o'er such innocents the knife, 
 
 To prove the power of elements on life, 
 
 To be the minister of agonies 
 
 Tow'rds human, filial, and defenceless ties, 
 
 Is highest treason against nature's laws. 
 
 And heaviest odium upon manhood draws. 
 
 The quadruped, who seeing danger near 
 
 Will eat her young through agony of fear. 
 
 Shows strong affection, in comparison 
 
 "With pagan barbarous rites to Moloch done:
 
 Book II.] THE NOVICE. IS 
 
 Yet these are mercy, favour, tenderness — 
 
 Tliese bless the beings we're designed to bless, 
 
 When viewed with miseries of lingering doom — 
 
 With years of ciu-se witliin the convent tomb. ^ 
 
 Say what is life upon such iron terms ? 
 
 Far better were the victim food for worms ! 
 
 Various the parent motive for the deed, 
 
 But each arising from a worldly creed. 
 
 The act ignoble of a noble name 
 
 To shun the slur of rank-degraded shame. 
 
 Some banished from their infancy, are taught 
 
 To see profession as their sole resort; 
 
 And some are offered a pretended choice, 
 
 While every art is used to warp their voice. 
 
 Is the fair novice quite beyond our reach? 
 A prey to all the artifice of speech ? 
 Flattered by close attention, won by smiles. 
 Guarded by fear, and rivetted by wiles?
 
 U INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 Is there no mean her mind to undeceive — 
 
 An object in such peril to retrieve? 
 
 Ye spirits ! who her softest slumbers keep — 
 
 Who hover round her whilst her senses sleep — 
 
 Who to her mind command a free access — 
 
 On it, the sweetest imagery press! 
 
 Make her to feel the tear upon her cheek 
 
 Fallen, a father's sorrows to bespeak; 
 
 To see another trembling in his eye, 
 
 Started from conflict with weak policy. 
 
 Bid her to throw herself on his embrace; 
 
 To plead for restoration to her place; 
 
 To tell him all his care she would remove 
 
 By assiduities of filial love ; 
 
 To plead for freedom of her native home 
 
 From which she never yet has wished to roam; 
 
 The soft adhesion of fraternal ties ; 
 
 Her youthful hopes; her glowing sympathies. 
 
 Plant yourselves on the intellectual nerve; 
 
 Fixed there, from your position never swerve.
 
 Book II.] THE NOVICE. 75 
 
 Hmlfully, as realities recede, 
 
 Infuse the powers of reasoning in their stead; 
 
 Exhibit biilhriglit blessings of our kind, 
 
 Incalculable, weighty, broad, refined; 
 
 Shew her the luxury of doing good. 
 
 In abstract life so little understood; 
 
 The high-toned pleasure, pleasure to dispense, 
 
 And all the beauty of benevolence; 
 
 Bid the insinuating vision give 
 
 The life of those who rationally live; 
 
 The close dependencies of man on man, 
 
 Through every age and rank since time began; 
 
 Rich literature's manifold delights; 
 
 Wisdom's sound themes ; imagination's flights ; 
 
 Encouragement of sciences and arts; 
 
 Instruction which their principles imparts; 
 
 Intelligence, by radiant interchange 
 
 Wit ach whose habits take a distant range; 
 
 And pleasure, such as innocence can love. 
 
 Taste can select, or virtue can approve;
 
 T« INDIVIDUALITY, [Book 11, 
 
 Associate chosen far beyond the rest, 
 The zealous faithful friend at length confessed. 
 See how they work upon her raptured brain ! 
 See her warm wish, these blessings to obtain ! 
 She grasps them — the illusion is destroyed — 
 Her eyes she opens on the frightful void ! 
 
 Now she begins to think her prospects drear; 
 Insensibly she wipes away the tear ! 
 Insensibly her lovely bosom heaves ! 
 To solitude she oft escapes and grieves. 
 Her usual avocations cease to please; 
 The assiduities of others teise ; 
 The conscious something, dares not meet the eye 
 Of the Superior's jealous scrutiny. 
 Unhappy, listless, negligent, she deems 
 Her only refuge and support, her dreams. 
 Cheerless to her the sun's resplendent shine — 
 She looks impatiently to its decline.
 
 Book II.] THE NOVICE. 77 
 
 At length his fading glories leave the west; 
 
 Vespers are o'er, and she retires to rest. 
 
 Again full radiant in successive years 
 
 The captivating phantasma appears ! 
 
 Midst generous hearts, and high illumined minds, 
 
 And polished scenes, herself again she finds ; 
 
 Meets kindred welcome, takes congenial place, 
 
 And fills it with inherent truth and grace. 
 
 Thus shining in a constellation bright. 
 
 Imbibing and emitting mental light. 
 
 Attracting and attracted, she inspires 
 
 And is inspired by animating fires; 
 
 No obstacle impedes — no parent strife — 
 
 She enters happily connubial life; 
 
 Owns a new sun, in a new orbit moves. 
 
 And with well-disciplined affections loves. 
 
 Hours swiftly come and go; and weeks decrease 
 
 In period of sweet intercourse and peace; 
 Her cup with high felicity runs o'er, 
 And she's too satisfied to think of more :
 
 T8 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book 11. 
 
 But seasons, as they buoyant circuit make, 
 Fond expectations gradually awake, 
 And yield perspective joys for future years. 
 That every present blandishment endears. 
 She sees herself a mother ! tell the bliss 
 
 Ye who have drank the first maternal kiss ! 
 Time gives a lovely race, with promise fair 
 
 Of excellence, to cheer a parent's care. 
 
 All nurtured, taught, beneath a mother's eye, 
 
 Binding the filial and maternal tie. 
 
 Her every character, her every deed, 
 
 Becomes a testimonial of her creed. 
 
 The ignorant are schooled, and idle hands 
 
 Obedient to utility's commands. 
 
 No more the cheek is wan — the hollow eye 
 
 No more with tears its furrows can supply — 
 
 Blessings reiterated charm her ears 
 
 And warm her heart wherever she appears. 
 
 " Oh ! we for social life were surely bom ! 
 
 " Reason to guide and knowledge to adorn ;
 
 Book IT.] THF, NOVICE. 79 
 
 " The talent unimproved my soul appalls — " 
 
 She said — ^and waked — and sighed to convent walls ! 
 
 November's da^vn makes drear the scene around; 
 And hollow does the bell for Matin's sound; 
 And disappointment dire o'er all is hung; 
 And murmurs rise — and set upon her tongue. 
 With quick reproach she lifts her eyes to Heaven — 
 Then breathes a fervent prayer to be forgiven. 
 From soothing visions, and serene repose, 
 To frigid air, and rites austere she rose. 
 Swift as she passes in that dismal hour, 
 The screech-owl hoots from the adjacent tower; 
 The raven inauspicious croaks his tale; 
 And all ill-omened incidents prevail. 
 The loop-hole windows give the twilight gloom 
 In scanty rays across the galleried room; 
 Walls of solidity those rays confine. 
 And darkness takes its stand from line to line.
 
 80 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 The casement with its clasp and hinges wars, 
 And rattles 'gainst the grated prison bars. 
 The storm beats heavily; the livid flash 
 Gives warning of concussive sulphurous crash ; 
 Sublime it comes; loud and still louder rolls, 
 And shakes the massive refuge of their souls. 
 Horror gains entrance by each sense and pore; 
 Aweful the sound of Ocean's deepening roar; 
 Tempestuous winds, lurged to a mighty sweep 
 Convulse the waters of the wondrous deep, 
 Scoop with wild impetus the dread profound. 
 While walls of water the great power surround; 
 The buttressed base, though founded on a rock. 
 Receives from billows force continued shock. 
 " Bear me from hence ! " imploringly she cried, 
 *' Waft me in mercy on your turgid tide ! " 
 Desperate she wished, but could not reach the wave. 
 That would have yielded passage to her grave.
 
 Book II.] THE NOVICE. 81 
 
 But what avail her agonies acute? 
 What strength the stubborn purpose can confute? 
 Deaf is the car perverse — mute is the tongue 
 Suborned to crush the heart already wrung, 
 The stratagem collusive to defend, 
 And at all hazard to obtain its end. 
 No parent's arms are open to protect; 
 No sterling friend to listen and direct; 
 No pastor whose disinterested zeal 
 Would conscientiously promote her weal; 
 No pity-beaming eye — no soothing breast 
 In which to gladden, or on which to rest; 
 Where'er she turns, her late companions fly 
 Forbidden to afford her sympathy. 
 
 Abandoned, harassed, sad, her wandering feet 
 Reach the square cloister's vaulted damp retreat. 
 Dim is reflected hcrht — the crescent aid 
 Can scarce the noxious atmosphere pervade; 
 
 G
 
 tS INDIVIDUAUTY. [Boot IL 
 
 Just serves to shew the vapoured medium near, 
 
 And make the dreary solitude more drear. 
 
 Here she gives utterance to her just complaints. 
 
 Invokes the spirits of departed saints, 
 
 Prays to be disencumbered of her clay, 
 
 And soar to heavenly liberty and day. 
 
 The soft articulation finds its bound, 
 
 And cheers her with reverberated sound. 
 
 Echo ! kind nymph, in energetic tone 
 
 The same, makes the same moving prayer her own; 
 
 Iterates her sorrows, holds the cadence wail. 
 
 Gives it to gentle breeze, to murmuring gale, 
 
 Sighs when she sighs, implores when she implores, 
 
 And in resembling accents God adores. 
 
 Soothed by responsive melody, absorpt. 
 
 Her mind from pious meditations warpt. 
 
 Time passed unheeded — the loud vesper bell 
 
 Had given the humid eve its closing knell, 
 
 Andelia's absence from the service, spread 
 
 A general confusion, marked by dread.
 
 Book II.3 TH£ NOTICE. «S 
 
 Inquiry moved each lip; and every eye 
 Poured the expression of keen scrutiny. 
 In vain each sought from each inteUigence, 
 All was suspicion, terror, and suspense. 
 Forth instantly from consecrated fane 
 Their flight in all directions they maintain; 
 Groupes disappointed at each angle meet; 
 Each passage gives the patter of their feet; 
 The chamber, closet, dormitory, cell. 
 The cemetery, haunt she loved so well, 
 The chapter-house, refectory, and school. 
 The utmost limits of the ctrnvent rule, 
 The various secret subterraneous ways, 
 And sally-ports which anxious quest betrays— 
 These as in different courses they explore, 
 Are entered, and deserted, o'er and o'er. 
 
 Roused by the mingled and increasing hum. 
 She listened, and perceived it nearer come. 
 
 o 3
 
 8* INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 Immersed her troubles in the strange surprise, 
 
 And eager to obtain the cause, she flies. 
 
 With sweet simplicity and earnest look 
 
 Which their vindictive tempers nearly shook, 
 
 The quick interrogation she pursues, 
 
 While each seems information to refuse. 
 
 Her innocence had put them all to shame. 
 
 And paralysed the tongues full fraught with blame. 
 
 But venomous suspicion once awake 
 What draught Lethean can her terrors slake? 
 Where can narcotic property be found 
 Sufficient to procure her sleep profound? 
 She sleeps no more ! keen on her rigid post 
 She watches, Argus-eyed, herself an host. 
 No judgment has suspicion; no clear view; 
 No nice discrimination false from true; 
 No sweet reliance on the promise given; 
 No confidence in the confession shriven;
 
 Book II.] THE NOVICE. 85 
 
 No trust in honour's more than moral nerve; 
 No anchorage in honest will to serve; 
 Dark jealousy's correlative — twin maid ! 
 That throws o'er all around, its jaundiced shade; 
 Transmutes the deed, however great and fair, 
 And stamps with treason, *' trifles light as air." 
 Andelia victim of her bane becomes, 
 And every faculty her scowl benmnbs. 
 
 Now shrewdly chosen from the veteran class, 
 Behold where'er she is, at mess or mass. 
 The nun, whose own vexations lost in years, 
 Has oft been proof 'gainst youthftd sighs and tears. 
 Prohibited the solitary stroll, 
 The privileged secession of the soul — 
 Required all self-communion to forego 
 The last poor solace of embittered woe — 
 She's doomed to hard restraint in all she says 
 And all she does, in all her looks and ways.
 
 M INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 Struggles with hard inflictions — not because 
 
 She militated 'gainst convent laws, 
 
 But for the terror felt by every one 
 
 Of what through urgency she might have done. 
 
 Conscious of power usurped, they well may dread 
 
 The act to which a captive might be led. 
 
 Base subtlety is surely justified 
 
 In fearing subtlety on every side; 
 
 And surly despotism is well aware 
 
 How far for liberty the slave will dare. 
 
 Did they of poor Andelia misconceive ? 
 Who would the strange affirmative believe? 
 Who, short of marble apathy, could be 
 Oppressed, restricted, schooled in misery, 
 And not inventive faculty employ 
 The fetters of coercion to destroy? 
 As from the pallet while her keeper sleeps. 
 Her nightly vigils painfully she keeps,
 
 Book IL) THE NOVICE. « 
 
 Sees through the gloomy richly-tinctured pane 
 Tlie silver orb's progressive wax and wane, 
 She forms the various project for escape; 
 Thinks of Imposture's dauntless air and shape; 
 But looks around in vain for staimdi good will. 
 Conception quick, co-operative skill; 
 Her best constructed schemes, keen foresight foils; 
 Till all expedients parried, she recoils. 
 At vespers is her heart engaged in prayer ? 
 What but compulsion would the question dare? 
 J'ure piety requires no massive wall 
 Its aspiration's ardent to enthral; 
 Needs no alembic's fit mechanic arts 
 The essence to retain with which it parts; 
 Pure piety is simple, ardent, free, 
 Unapprehensive of apostasy. 
 
 Alas ! she does not animate that waste 
 Of loveliness and delicacy chaste !
 
 8S INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 Some tincture of her character is seen — 
 
 Some sweet remains to show she there has been, 
 
 But nothing of essential spirit fair 
 
 To prove the pure possession still is there. 
 
 We see Andelia raise her speaking eyes — r 
 
 To heaven too raise them, but find no supplies. 
 
 We see her head its fixed position hold — 
 
 Her eyes with sculpture beauty stiU uproUed — 
 
 But 'tis not the result of piety — 
 
 It bears no consciousness of object high — 
 
 It is the act of a bewildered brain; 
 
 It bears expression daring of arraign, 
 
 Yet in the victim supplication shares; 
 
 Long tale of woe and perjury it bears — 
 
 Of morbid feeling sad from past distress 
 
 And weight of present gloomy pensiveness. 
 
 We hear Andelia heave the heavy sigh — 
 
 It rises from a cold despondency. 
 
 Collecting forces from her breaking heart 
 
 We see the tear without emotion start.
 
 Book II.] THE NOVICE. 89 
 
 Rusli o'er the margin fringed with sorrow's charm, 
 And fall upon the bosom strangely calm. 
 Doubled her fragile figure — thus employed 
 To press upon her stomach's sinking void; 
 Nature the action urging, to sustain 
 The frame insensible to wasting pain — 
 That pain, for which no skill presents a cure, 
 And only leaves the patient to endure. 
 
 Ye men of science ! to whom mortals owe 
 More than to those who tame their country's foe! 
 Who heal the wounds inflicted by the brave, 
 And strive, what life the sword has spared, to save I 
 Ye that take charge of man's material state, 
 And all the maladies that on him wait ! 
 Who theory have clothed with quicker sense 
 Of observ'ation and experience-^— 
 Ye nice anatomists ! who comprehend 
 The whole of human structure's use and end;
 
 96 INDIVIDUALITY. {Book 11, 
 
 Know how the wonderful machinery works; 
 
 And where occasional obstruction lurks. 
 
 The ailment complicate or simple prove; 
 
 And all its terrors and its pains remove! 
 
 Ye more especially who point your skill 
 
 To trace the cause of intellectual ill — 
 
 Its various operations on the brain. 
 
 And all perverted judgments morbid train ! 
 
 Who strive to mitigate at least, or heal 
 
 The worst of evils, nature can reveal ! 
 
 Say whence Andelia's turbid fancy — ^whence 
 
 For nothing her anxiety intense? 
 
 Whence, from the eye, that upwards cast its Hd 
 
 Before the heart owned matter to be hid. 
 
 To meet its brow erect, and forehead fair, 
 
 Where shadow of a frown could never dare — 
 
 Whence, far retreating from observance, now 
 
 Behind a scowling, low-impending brow 
 
 Dark fires erupt malign, from watchfulness 
 
 And fell combustible of deep distress ?
 
 Book II.] THE NOVICE. fl 
 
 Whence does she seldom sleep? and when the dose 
 
 Puts on the mockery of short repose, 
 
 Whence constantly succeed terrific dreams — 
 
 Muscles convulsed — and apprehensive screams — 
 
 The agony in which she thus awakes — 
 
 The strengthened fixure which such terror makes— 
 
 The tremblings violent — the pallid cheek — 
 
 The respiration difficult and weak? 
 
 Wlience is she stationary through the day, 
 
 Her loco-motive faculty astray — 
 
 Her bosom heaving oft the piercing sigh — 
 
 Her swollen eyes still weeping bitterly — 
 
 Her hands close clasped upon her suiFering head — 
 
 And all her gentle pure affections fled? 
 
 Whence to a kind inquiry of her health 
 
 Casts she a look of doubt, and fear, and stealth— 
 
 A look of keen reproach — then droops anew 
 
 Her lamentable wanderings to pursue? 
 
 Alas ! her reasoning powers are all estranged; 
 
 Judgment runs wild; Andelia is deranged.
 
 W INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 Infatuated on a case so clear; 
 Or worse, to act resolved — these monks austere, 
 Dreading the stigma on their undue power, 
 And dreading more the loss of future dower, 
 Deem her refractory alone, perverse, 
 Determined prejudices strong to nurse; 
 And persevere their wished-for point to gain 
 By every method of the fertile brain. 
 By turns they flatter, soothe, amuse and chide, 
 The best professional advice provide. 
 And watch the healthful progress of each draught 
 With all solicitude of priestly craft. 
 Her youth is in her favour; and her mind 
 By nature to placidity inclined; 
 And spring prevails, of hope's revival full ; 
 And bursting bud gives tint to forest dull; 
 And imperceptibly the sunshine cheers; 
 And soft its genial warmth exhales her tears; 
 She feels its influence, while zephyrs fan 
 Her face, still lovely, although sad and wan.
 
 Book II.] THE NOVICE. 
 
 Her fearful turbulent emotions cease, 
 And gradual piety, works gradual peace. 
 
 Peace seems of such a mind the native right. 
 And nature vindicates her reason's light; 
 Clear consciousness now operates — and taste 
 Returns — arrd feeling, and resources chaste: 
 But with them comes, immersed in Stygian dye 
 Consuming Melancholy, vapid, shy, 
 Complexion's her full mind, and o'er it throws. 
 The gloomy sensibihty of woes. 
 Tis more than pensiveness — than madness less — 
 Something that language cannot well express. 
 It grants the intellectual eye a view 
 Of the contour of imagery true; 
 Allows it all its bearings, weight, and place, 
 Its niceties, contingencies, and space; 
 But tinctures it with equal sombre shade, 
 For ever listless, hopeless, retrograde.
 
 H INDIVIDUALITY. [Book 11. 
 
 Vision is dimned, by various passions teised; 
 The mental retina is all diseased; 
 Refracted rays through substances of gloom 
 Make every subject their own hue assume; 
 Resembling the effect upon the eye 
 That lenses soothing verdure can supply; 
 Or that too nearly to the case allied, 
 The sable veil's effect — soon to be tried. 
 
 And let it be — solicitude is o'er — 
 The poor Andelia seems to care no more. 
 She who of late in misery was spent. 
 Is now to all events indifferent. 
 And let it be — quick premature decay 
 Its subject hastens to the realms of day. 
 Death is a liberation, no arrest 
 Of art, or arm, can tear from the opprest. 
 Disease usurps the season health should claim, 
 And undermines her youthful lovely frame j
 
 Book II.] THE NOVICE. M 
 
 And sorrow has too much imbued her mind 
 Enjoyment in the things of time to find. 
 Of earthly hope bereft, monastic gloom 
 Suits best the cheerlessness of fading bloom. 
 Yes ! the fell mischief is complete ; and glad 
 Barbarity has nothing more to add. 
 
 The day is fixed — arrangements made — the dress 
 Of cost prepared, in which she's to profess. 
 The white transparency to give her face 
 If possible more interesting grace. 
 Jewels maternal, precious, highly set 
 Arrive, for her who never wore them yet — 
 Arrive to deck her injured head in scoff — 
 To deck it, for the act — to put them ofi"; 
 Next to adorn a titled sister's brow, 
 Who, in the glare of fashion wears them now. 
 Strange fact! at least 'tis still in England strange — 
 May growing influence ne'er efiect a change!
 
 98 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 May systems of the scapular and hood, 
 By Protestants be never understood ! 
 Friends are invited, evidence to bear 
 'Tis with her own consent she's buried there; 
 That freely, of her own accord, she shuns 
 The world, and all its many dazzhng suns; 
 To hear her majesty supreme address. 
 And pray the consecration pure to bless, 
 Although her trembling lips the words profane, 
 And vainly would inhale them back again. 
 Irrevocably sped — and with their speed. 
 The prelate fully ratifies the deed. 
 
 Mean while the quiet victim wanders round 
 The narrow precincts of permitted bound ; 
 Regains her chamber, views declining light 
 Succeeded by the silver orb of night; 
 And calculates th' incalculable sum 
 Of solitary evenings to come.
 
 Book If.] THE NOVICE. 97 
 
 She sees, as though she did not see, the course 
 
 Close prefatory to her blank divorce. 
 
 Hearing she hears not, why they thus prepare; 
 
 Or if she hstens, does not seem to care. 
 
 The chant appropriate would the truth reveal; 
 
 But, sad to tell ! she is not quick to feel. 
 
 No objects terrify — no rays illume — 
 
 Encompassed by impenetrable gloom. 
 
 Her eyes she raises at the well-known voice 
 
 Which calls as in derision to rejoice; 
 And all estranged from sound and sense so vain. 
 With dread composure casts them down again. 
 No ripple on her gentle bosom plays ; 
 No useless plaint in verbal utterance strays; 
 No far fetched breath is audible in sigh; 
 No tear distils from her soul piercing eye; 
 No limb has impulse — not a muscle leaps; 
 Susceptibility for ever sleeps. 
 Not e'en the speaking flush of Hfe-blood warm 
 Impairs the strong expression of her form : 
 
 H
 
 96 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 But all is beauty, interest, loveliness, 
 Truth, gentleness, and eloquent distress. 
 
 Early, and promising, and grey the dawn. 
 Andelia's pillow plucked of every thorn 
 Affords her tranquil slumbers. He, on whom 
 The altar calls with nuptials' happy doom 
 Sleeps not — ^but minutes eagerly the night 
 And hails the mere perceptible of light. 
 He too, on whom the ministers of death 
 Await, to take in judgment forfeit breath 
 Sleeps not — ^but dreads the rays, by eastern skies 
 Reflected, which proclaim Aurora's rise: 
 But she who long has buffeted the throes 
 Of feeling's pungencies, and hopeless woes, 
 Sluggish and dull progressively becomes, 
 Till torpor totally her powers benumbs; 
 The current lingers in her flexile veins, 
 And of its subtile fluid spirit drains.
 
 Book II.] THE NOVICE. » 
 
 Andelia therefore sleeps, till Phcfibus' spread 
 Of splendours reaches her devoted head. 
 Yet why does Phcebus shine ? ah ! why exhale 
 The dew-drop — ^tear of primrose in the vale? 
 Why does he on a deed so full of guile 
 Permit his beams to tarry, and to smile? 
 Compulsion's irksome, rugged way to smooth— 
 The sinking frame to prop, the soul to soothe. 
 
 Lo ! mass begins — the tinkling beU is heard; 
 And all arrested are towards the Word. 
 The rites and ceremonies every whit 
 Performed, in hair-breadth order nice and fit. 
 TTie swelling sounds that from the organ flow 
 Drown rigour's voice, and soothe the child of woe. 
 The harmonies of congregated throats 
 Which pour the sacred song in dulcet notes. 
 Reach her chilled feelings — bid her gentle breast 
 A sense of consecration to attest; 
 
 u 2
 
 *^0 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II; 
 
 Creep imperceptibly throughout her frame, 
 And kindle resignation's lambent flame; 
 Tell her the highest sublunary things 
 Have gross alloy, and bear capricious wings; 
 That all are full of care, whate'er the lot, 
 From luxury's palace to the peasant's cot; 
 That life the longest— is a vapour, breath, 
 The source of pain — the harbinger of death ; 
 That stations are not man's, but His who gave, 
 Who died himself, the world to seek and save; 
 And she, whose choice it is not to immure. 
 May take it as of God's appointment sure. 
 Omniscience, deeds of future ages sounds; 
 And long has " marked our habitation's bounds ; " 
 Determined limits that we cannot pass; * 
 Selected duties for each separate class; 
 For those ambitious, who to heights aspire. 
 And those, who fearful from the world retire. 
 * Job xiv. 5.
 
 Book 11] THE NOVICE. 101 
 
 Sweet are the melodies of clianted praise ! 
 Devotion sweet, they're suited well to raise ! 
 They bear us planetary things above, 
 And realize sublime celestial love. 
 In such high seasons, no constraint there need — 
 No priest to importune — no friend to plead — 
 The soul appears to will its own release. 
 And hail its mansion of eternal peace. 
 
 Andelia kneels — self dedication makes ! 
 Declares the world she willingly forsakes, 
 Renounces all its vanities and toys. 
 Its pomps, its pleasures, and its empty joys. 
 Consistent principles of faith declares ; 
 And, to consistently maintain them, swears. 
 Vows, from exact obedience ne'er to swerve; 
 Vows, chastity unblemished to preserve; 
 Vows to be poor — to give up every claim, 
 And bless for ever God's most holy name.
 
 102 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 The prelate hears her vows— cuts off her hair — 
 Those beautiful voluted tresses fair! 
 Puts on the ring, of Christian bond the sign; 
 Puts on the crown, which emblems chaste entwine; 
 Kemoves the white veil, to be worn no more; 
 Blesses the sable one, and throws it o'er ! 
 
 Thus milk-white heifer of unblemished worth, 
 Chosen and fed for sacrifice, is forth 
 Conducted from his solitary stall. 
 His horns with silken cordage held in thrall. 
 Gay ribands hung, his forehead curled to deck. 
 And roses wreathed around his stately neck. 
 Patient and docile, through the crowded street 
 Conducted to the altar, death to meet. 
 
 Peace to thy future years, sweet maid ! that peace 
 Which worlds can neither give, nor make to cease!
 
 Book II.] THE NOVICE. iOS 
 
 Could we at Moloch's offerings appear, 
 No Christian heart would sigh nor urge the tear- 
 Horror stuns feeling — gives it dead surprise- 
 Palsies our nature's sensibilities: 
 Yet what is life to freedom? what without? 
 No question this romantic — there's no doubt 
 That life, without life's privileges high 
 The vegetative tribe can well supply. 
 Indeed, except the high prerogative 
 That man is born eternally to live. 
 The vegetative tribe may envied be 
 By those, whose earnest wish is to be free, 
 But whose solicitude is ever vain. 
 Bondage ! the very sound is grief and pain j 
 Confirm it, patriot Britons ! born to glow 
 With feelings, none but patriot Britons know! 
 And bondage, to a gentle female mind, 
 Accustomed to fair habits unconfined, 
 Banished from juvenile resource and sport 
 To scenes where superstition holds her court—
 
 104 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 Surely she better had been fortune's scorn — 
 Or, as to temporals, better ne'er been born. 
 
 If warmed by influence of generous fires, 
 The Muse here lingers — ^gratefully respires — 
 As drawn insensibly toward the orb 
 Whose glories might her purposes absorb; — 
 If recollection, while her spirits burn, 
 Sohcits, and effects her due return, 
 Brings her again to her appropriate theme. 
 And bids her to pursue digested scheme; — 
 Though judgment the remonstrance may approve. 
 And application bid the numbers move. 
 Yet will their want of energy soon show 
 The spring but spiritless, from whence they flow; 
 Soon show that flaccid is the feeling nerve. 
 Or wandering otlier purposes to serve. 
 Why then the Muse restrain? of sov'reign right 
 Wherever fancy points to take her flight.
 
 Book II.] LIBERTY POURTRAYED. 105 
 
 Why hold her back, who richly freighted home, 
 
 Might well repay your suffrages to roam? 
 
 Why fold her pinions when they're spread to fly 
 
 In cause of English birthright liberty? 
 
 But it is well — propriety requests, 
 
 And who would slight her sheltering behests? 
 
 And it is well — and better far than well, 
 That he * whose magic numbers none can tell, 
 Though if there be the one that cannot feel. 
 To taste and genius ne'er his name reveal — 
 He has long since the genuine blessing shown 
 With nice discrimination all his own. 
 Drawn her complexioned high, of stature length, 
 Of elevated mien, of sinewy strength. 
 With straightened knee that never abject kneeled; 
 With upraised arm that never knew to yield j 
 Bearing great Magna Charta in her hand, 
 Promulgated o'er all our happy land; 
 • Cowper.
 
 108 INDrVIDUALITT. [Book It 
 
 With graceful attitude, and self-possessed, 
 And countenance with radiant love impressed; 
 And eye of intellect, and common sense; 
 And dimpled smile of pure benevolence. 
 He who from her own spirit took survey 
 Might well indeed her lineaments pourtray; 
 Stamped in the sterling specie of her mint, 
 Was furnished with her colouring's purest tint; 
 Her value bore, intrinsic beyond gold; 
 And faithfully retained it, never sold. 
 No patronage for him possessed a bribe — 
 Indignantly he spurned the venal tribe; 
 And never ceased to mourn the growing rust 
 Corrosive, ruinous to public trust. 
 Disdained the tumid eulogy to make 
 On power ephemeral for lucre's sake; 
 Though if it were deserving of his praise 
 Poured forth spontaneously his nervous lays. 
 Such did he for our Chatham — and for such 
 What can compatriot poet do too much?
 
 Book II.] VIRTUES OF LIBERTY. lOT 
 
 Neither could treacherous breath of fame allure— 
 
 Nor profit sordid tempt the thought impure — 
 
 Nor servile fear restrain — no, not the charge 
 
 Of a tenacious erring world at large. 
 
 That world was his great object — well content 
 
 His talents and his energies were spent 
 
 Its eyes to open, and its tongue to move 
 
 To sense and song of pure redeeming love. 
 
 As Liberty's own image thus he drew, 
 
 So did he her attendant virtues too. 
 
 Familiar with their influence, could trace 
 
 Its bearings on his insulated race. 
 
 Knowledge, throughout imraeasureable aim. 
 
 Which doubts and disappointments cannot tame — 
 
 Which presses onward stiU without control, 
 
 And proves at least the energies of soul. 
 
 Genius, that infant apprehension fans 
 
 Till bold inventions and their fruits it spans; 
 
 Courage in arms, the enemy to meet; 
 
 Glory, alike in victory or defeat;
 
 108 IxNDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 Honour, that makes the hostage unrequired, 
 TTiat is the seal of covenant desired; 
 And magnanimity, than bravery more. 
 That o'er our nature's ill can greatly soar; 
 And quick philanthropy, which unconfined 
 Extends its sympathy to all mankind; 
 Religion, cleansed from superstition's blot; 
 The Bible open in each poor man's cot; 
 AU that exhilaration can impart, 
 That sparkles in the eye, that lifts the heart, 
 That sheds a comfort on our planet earth — 
 From Freedom, gift divine ! has second birth. 
 And shall the classic bards of ancient times, 
 Their foreign heroes' feats, in foreign climes. 
 Their mass of feigned mythologies absurd. 
 Of envious wanton deities, their herd — 
 Shall they be ever gazed at from afar 
 Bright constellated in the triple star? 
 Did they attain Parnassus' spiry height 
 To hold it ever by prescriptive right —
 
 Book II.] TRIBUTE TO COWPEK. 109 
 
 Chartered by Time that no successive deed 
 
 Of poesy should ever supersede? 
 
 Does not the spring Castalian freely rise 
 
 For each whose earnest wish explores the skies? 
 
 And are not exploits great as Iliad's boast 
 
 The laurels of our continental host — 
 
 Achilles' fierce and vengeful deeds outdone 
 
 By patriot valour of our Wellington? 
 
 Let prepossession die ! call reason forth ! 
 
 Give to each action its specific worth ! 
 
 As far as fiction and as fancy fire, 
 
 Let those who have congenial taste admire: 
 
 But never let it by our age be said, 
 
 That greater homage is to fable paid 
 
 Than to the theorem of general good — 
 
 The truths so luminous, so much withstood. 
 
 Prompt is the Muse this tribute to prolong — 
 To grace with borrowed radiancy her song.
 
 110 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book II. 
 
 Proud is she thus before her little world 
 
 To spread such kindred sentiments unfurled. 
 
 *Tis a high pleasure ardent glow to feel — 
 
 But higher still, such pleasure to reveal! 
 
 Full is thy laurelled wreath, sweet bard! no space 
 
 Whate'er the breathing wish, one leaf to place: 
 
 But sweet employment it would be, to bed 
 
 The knotted texture for thy honoured head 
 
 With blue Lunaria's emblematic flower, 
 
 And silver pod of clear unfading power. 
 
 Ah ! how does thy blest spirit look disdain 
 Upon such honours, frivolous and vain ! 
 How far beyond all sublunary fame 
 The soul released from its corporeal frame! 
 That tunes to heavenly melodies his strings — 
 And with the host redeemed, for ever sings I 
 
 JEND OP THE SECOND BOOK.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY- 
 
 BOOK III. 
 3lrgiimcnt, 
 
 Inquisition. 
 
 Lamentation of the Muse to be again called forth 
 to enormous representation — St. Dominic the patri- 
 arch of the Inquisition — fancifully pourtrayed — his 
 vile adherents — and attendants — Harpies — The then 
 perspective centuries of intolerance — Inquisition's court 
 of judicature — Its indescribable horrors — State of its 
 victims — The corroding and certain poison of grief 
 — Apostrophe to England — Its privileges and influ- 
 ence — To God the glory — The definitive denomina- 
 tion of The Holy Office — Satire on the term Holy 
 as thus applied — Holiness what — Scriptural threat- 
 enings and promises — The treachery by which a 
 candid happy groupe is often beguiled and sepa- 
 rately conveyed to this miserable place, imknown to
 
 112 INDIVIDUALITY. tBooJt HI. 
 
 each other — tortured and imprisoned till the act of 
 Faith arrives — Benvolio, a tale to this effect founded 
 on fact — An application of the closing part to the 
 worldly characters deficient in feeling and delicacy 
 — The arrangements of Horror for the ceremonies 
 of the Auto de Fe — The order of procession — De- 
 grees of criminals — significant habits — The last scene 
 of this tragedy withdrawn from recital — Interroga- 
 tory resulting from this detail, if there does not exist 
 for such barbarians a hell — Application of passages 
 from Isaiah — Question on the nature of hell — View 
 the heathen poets entertained of it — The Christian 
 view of it — Question on its situation — variously de- 
 termined by the heathens — The Christian's more en- 
 hghtened judgment concerning it — Apostrophe to 
 bigotry in conclusion.
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Would that the Muse had nothing more to do 
 In bringing such enormities to view ! 
 Would she were liberated from the need 
 Of branding with abhorrence fiuther deed ! 
 That it were given her joyfully to close 
 The catalogue of Superstition's woes, 
 And hail the epoch — the fruition prove 
 Of reason, unanimity, and love ! 
 Would she were favoured to behold the time 
 When heresies of every class and clime 
 Will be resolved to universal trust. 
 And all will be harmonious — all be just; — 
 Wlien antichristian principles will fail. 
 And blest millenium's happiness prevail ! 
 
 I
 
 114 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 Would that it did not still remain to tell 
 Transactions gendered in the womb of Hell, 
 Born at full birth — and federate with the plan 
 Infused into tli' indurate heart of man ! 
 
 See where he comes with all his dreadJEul train. 
 Great Dominic the saint — fanatic vain ! 
 High Patriarch of barbarity extreme ! 
 Judge arrogant ! Inquisitor supreme ! 
 With wide and open ears of trumpet form, 
 To gather lies while yet from malice warm; 
 And eagle-eyed, with rapid light to dart 
 Into the deep profound of human heart ; 
 And tongue of serpent coil, and forked wiles ; 
 And muscles, never yet relaxed to smiles; 
 And caverned cheeks where maceration sits; 
 And brow, which care malign indented knits. 
 *Tis said, his mother pregnant with him, dreamed 
 She bore a thing unnatural — which screamed,
 
 ISooklll.] THE INQUISITION. »13 
 
 And iji the paroxysms of its ire, 
 
 Cast forth a cataract of liquid fire ! 
 
 Prefiguration in those days of night 
 
 Wlien superstition was obstructed Hght, 
 
 Of future eminence in the career 
 
 Of his peculiar and extensive sphere; 
 
 Which seemed fulfilled, when in the church he wrought 
 
 By furious zeal, such deeds as stagnate thought. 
 
 Skulking within his shade Suspicion peeps; 
 Ignorance the harlot plays, and Virtue weeps. 
 To Calumny he holds his outstretched hand, 
 Who near him ever takes her pampered stand 5 
 Revenge, her deadly colleague, and her spur, 
 With good too active to permit demur; 
 And Passions subtle, though of influence less; 
 Minions that wanton in her fond caress. 
 By Envy she's preceded — on her right 
 Is Perjury, Conspiracy, and Spite; 
 
 I 8
 
 116 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III" 
 
 Hypocrisy and Fraud are on her left, 
 And Subterfuge, the crutch of crippled theft. 
 Behind her in a tattered garb and black, 
 Her head in bitterness oft turning back 
 As if she sought for truth and guilelessness 
 To ask their sympathy in her distress, 
 Is agonised Remorse — with pungent woe 
 For havoc which she never can undo. 
 Suffering intolerable — what the force ! 
 What Gilead balm can ever soothe remorse! 
 Of vigorous faculties is Calumny, 
 And animated is her sparkling eye, 
 And all-insinuating is her voice 
 That bids her trembling auditors rejoice 
 As she narrates her fabrications base, 
 And worth consigns to perilous disgrace. 
 Her countenance but ill impatience brooks. 
 While yet invariably askance she looks. 
 Comely her mein, and flattering her address, 
 And all of mischief carries strong impress.
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITION. HT 
 
 Coadjutor of darkness ! stoutly bold 
 At midnight hour the flaming torch to hold, 
 Whilst fell Revenge performs the deed of death, 
 Seizes the victim's throat, and stops his breath; 
 Nor upraised hands, nor voice for mercy's pause^ 
 Can influence the wretch that nothing awes. 
 
 Cast in the same inhuman narrow mould, 
 Behind this savage canonised, behold, 
 Fitted to purposes that shrink from day. 
 And fill e'en heroes with a just dismay, 
 His creatures — to their various posts assigned, 
 Impetuous, sordid, ostentatious, blind. 
 Menials of infamy pre-eminent ! 
 Dread Inquisition's vast establishment ! 
 Fell ministers of information, blame, 
 Mock trial, condemnation, taunt, and flame! 
 An host, whose secret machinations, brave 
 Wisdom and equity to bless and save;
 
 118 INDIVIDUALITY. [Bo«k III. 
 
 Whose glance is menace; and whose poison such 
 That full destruction hangs upon its touch j 
 That fills the air with pestilence around. 
 And gives its acts opprobrious to resound. 
 An host to which the Hai-pies owe their birth, 
 Of avarice and rapacity brought forth; 
 Monsters disgusting of the feathered kind, 
 Winged, to speed on every blasting wind. 
 Bodies like vultures; human faces fair; 
 Contorted tails of serpent ; ears of bear ; 
 Feet hooked like talons of the birds of prey. 
 To grasp the miserables in their way. 
 Driven, for repeated deeds of outrage bold. 
 Far from the country of their native hold; 
 And lefl to flit at large, o'er desert, fen, 
 The haunts of reptiles, and the haunts of men. 
 
 See centuries in chai'acter advance, 
 With growing acts of wild intplerance !
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITIOX. lit 
 
 See diabolic infamies matured; 
 Veracity's consistent facts abjured; 
 And tens of thousands complicated snare 
 Of which no vigilance can be aware, 
 By which e'en conduct inoffensive falls, 
 And strict allegiancy itself appals ! 
 
 Lo ! where their jurisdiction rears its dome- 
 Iniquity's broad well-constructed loom ! 
 Weaving the finest filaments of wrong 
 Into a tissued texture close and strong ! 
 Where criminals, by private pique, or aught 
 Of zeal mistaken and deluded, brought— 
 Aught frivolous, or fabricated — charge 
 On mere suspicion, as on proof at large — 
 Of deism, witchcraft, Judaism accused, 
 Magicians, sorcerers, of skill abused ; 
 All enter the great portal, in despair 
 Of ever knowing a free exit there.
 
 120 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 Projected in illiterate barbarous times 
 When shades of thinking were as many crimes; 
 When to be verbally misunderstood 
 Was for fanaticism seasoned food; 
 When plain investigation was not free 
 But thought inquiring deemed a heresy; 
 Reared on religion counterfeit — the base 
 Whose hollowness must soon itself disgrace; 
 And girt with arrogance — the rigid bond 
 A hair-breadth must not fail, nor go beyond — 
 The legislative system was of course 
 Consigned to jealous judges to enforce, 
 On whose stern sentence, dislocated bones 
 And ligaments extended, wring out groans, 
 Which to the countless cells for maddening woe 
 Send their long echo through the vaults below; 
 Cells opened but to give the meal, and see 
 That life still pulses wasting misery. 
 Oh ! past conception by the happy throng 
 Who sport unnumbered hberties among —
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITION. 121 
 
 Can think, and speak, and act, without restraint. 
 Fearless of accusation and attaint— 
 And past description e'en by those whose fate 
 Has long obscurely viewed their window grate; 
 Told oft the tale of prisoners, by the sound 
 Of shotten lock repeated in the round, 
 Till nice attention could precisely tell 
 Tlie glutted and evacuated cell. 
 And measure the reverberated groan 
 By scale exact of tone and semitone — 
 Oh ! past description, e'en by these inured 
 With horror and suspense to be immured — 
 Past aught but sorrowful experience 
 In all its sufferings to obtain a sense- 
 Past every other anguish that can ache 
 The human head, or teach its heart to break I 
 To be surprised by ministers of wrath — 
 Unjustly apprehended — carried forth — 
 At such a moment too when none is near 
 With sweet impelling love to interfere —
 
 m INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 To be nor more nor less than kidnapped — watched — 
 
 And by the hand of power insidious snatched — 
 
 Wrenched from life's fiill enjoyment, warm and high — 
 
 From usefulness, possession, liberty — 
 
 From objects of the fondest bliss and hope 
 
 That yield a parent far-perspective scope — 
 
 From choice Penates' worship, which no more 
 
 Stretched arms will clasp, or rapid eye run o'er — 
 
 To urge the interrogatory vain 
 
 Such paralysing conduct to explain. 
 
 And find cemented Hps, a further shock. 
 
 Anxiety's acute distress to mock — 
 
 To feel by violence the sinews pinched — 
 
 To see the ignominious fetter chnched — 
 
 To know impracticable an escape — 
 
 To image spectres of each size and shape — 
 
 To be assured no equity is there; 
 
 No sympathy; no treatment open, fair; 
 
 That truth will be repelled; and evidence 
 
 Suborned to overbear plain sense —
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITION. 18* 
 
 To mourn for bursting bosoms, weeping eyes 
 
 And all dear home's distracted agonies. 
 
 Yet have no chance of intercourse, by word, 
 
 Or pen, or medium of the callous herd — 
 
 To retrospective pleasures still to chng 
 
 Tliough each review has power the soul to ^vring, 
 
 Aud shudder with dismay at coming view 
 
 Of sufferings, manliest fortitude subdue — 
 
 How strong the vital spring that does not snap 
 
 At stress of such a sudden thimder-clap ! 
 
 How tough the arteries that do not start 
 
 At such a rush of life-blood to the heart ! 
 
 A pistol, or a poignard sends the soul 
 
 Express; astonished, to its awful goal; 
 
 These are poor cowards' instruments, who dread 
 
 The accusations of a dying bed; 
 
 Or sink beneath the sad vicissitude 
 
 With which mortality is full-embued: 
 
 But woe — depressing and abiding woe^ 
 
 Maintains a progress chymically slow;
 
 124 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 Creeps through the nervous fluid's fibrous course; 
 Distends susceptive nature's softest force; 
 Separates the mingled well-concocted juice 
 For general health, and spring's specific use; 
 And leaves the mass thus decomposed, a prey 
 To each corroding evil in its way; 
 Genders the maladies of lingering breath, 
 And gives its victims to a living death. 
 How dare the wretched mortals of an hour 
 Assume such undue arbitrary power ! 
 Let God's own righteous cause be left to God ! 
 Yield him the mace, the sceptre, and the rod — 
 " Vengeance is mine " he saith " I will repay 
 " In my own wisdom, clemency, and day." 
 
 England ! whate'er the theme — wherever strays 
 The Muse, 'tis ultimately to thy praise! 
 She rides Atlantic billows, but to prove 
 How justly thou art other realms above !
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITION. 125 
 
 Doubles the Cape, and reaches India's coast 
 To stablish reason in her grateful boast! 
 Visits old Goa's strange tyrannic things 
 To prize more highly Toleration's springs, 
 To love more warmly Christians, who can still 
 Let differing Christians worship as they will ! 
 England ! the very name can animate. 
 As yielding every tiling for temporal state, 
 And for eternal too; the source of means — 
 The speck from which each territory gleans; 
 Her sons, the vineyard labourers — the race 
 Chosen for purposes of special grace — 
 Chosen as God's vice-gerents to the blind, 
 To wake divine perceptions in the mind, 
 O'er the wide world to give the sun to shine. 
 And promulgate the truth — the word divine. 
 To God be aU the glory, all the song ! 
 To him alone the honour can belong ! 
 To him our full acknowledgments we lift 
 From whom man's agency is all a gift.
 
 128 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III, 
 
 He gives the statesman wisdom; churchman, zealj 
 
 The judge to punish, and the man to feel ; 
 
 Glows in the patriot's mental, moral health; 
 
 Braces the sinews of the common wealth ; 
 
 Calls forth the warrior's skill and martial fires, 
 
 And naval faith and bravery inspires; 
 
 Feeds national attachment; draws the band 
 
 Around the offspring of a parent land; 
 
 Is to its commerce, convoy, strength, success, 
 
 The pilot to direct, the port to bless. 
 
 The compass, trackless seas to navigate. 
 
 The sun and shield in every changeful state. 
 
 But as it seems that sure corruption waits 
 
 On highest excellence of temporal states, 
 
 Be jealous, happy nation ! of the height 
 
 You now maintain in other nations' sight ! 
 
 Vaunt not your large advantages — your clime. 
 
 Strength military, naval, maritime, 
 
 Your constitution, legislation, spirit, 
 
 And all the glories that your sons inherit;
 
 Book TIT.] THE IXQUISITION. 1J7 
 
 Oh ! vaunt not in them — they are not your own — 
 
 They issue from a favouring mercy throne — 
 
 Favouring, while it remains for you to know 
 
 And bless the source from whence such mercies flow. 
 
 Vaunt not — but every victory disclaim; 
 
 Give them, like Nelson, to th' Almighty name; 
 
 And give your conquests, virtues, faith, renown, 
 
 Humility's fit well-becoming crown. 
 
 The holy office called, definitive; 
 The only one implied for all who live; 
 And holy officers of special note 
 Appointed by the holy pontiff's vote, 
 Rites holy to perform in word, and deed, 
 And thought, according to their vow and creed. 
 Derision's terms ! to mask unholy thing 
 That fi'om the deadliest passion has its spring. 
 Stablished in Christian territories, wide 
 And populous, of papal see the pride —
 
 128 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III, 
 
 Sanctioned by European potentates, 
 
 On whose co-operation vigour waits — 
 
 Whose issued edicts fitted to o'erwhelm 
 
 With horror, thundered through the several realm — 
 
 Who, sovereigns illustrious ! have thought fit 
 
 Themselves and their dominions to submit, 
 
 This bold tribunal's object to betroth, 
 
 And bind themselves by coronation oath — 
 
 Such institution from its large design 
 
 Ought truly to be holy — e'en divine; 
 
 But holiness, divinity, has nought 
 
 To do with systems in corruption wrought; 
 
 Whose agents strive, themselves to dupe and fool 
 
 By elements of superstition's school; 
 
 Holy ! term most unsuitable and vain. 
 
 From which convicted sinners would refi'ain; 
 
 And priests, however the assertion shocks, 
 
 Are sinners, heavy sinners — as their fiocks. 
 
 How opposite to holiness divine 
 
 Who gives meridian sun on all to shine;
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITION. 19 
 
 Who gives the sun of perfect righteousness 
 His people to redeem, support, and bless; 
 Who gives his spirit to illume the blind, 
 Tlie herald of salvation to mankind ! 
 Whose throne broad equity and truth support. 
 Whilst mercy gives the judgment of his court ! 
 Holy! nor Christian either; — where's the love 
 Enjoined so strictly by the voice above? 
 Where is the humble mind, the motive pure, 
 The " charity to liope, believe, endure ; 
 ** That vaunteth not itself, that envieth not, 
 *' Seemly behaves, whatever may be the lot, 
 *' Rejoiceth not in wisdom counterfeit, 
 *' Detraction base, and system of deceit, 
 ** But in the truth rejoiceth," * and the aim 
 Philanthropic to soften deed of blame? 
 Where is the genuine interest to befriend; 
 Tlie soUd judgment to obtain the end ; 
 
 • 1 Cor. xiii, 4—7. 
 
 K
 
 130 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 The " zeal of knowledge " that will teach, persuade, 
 Exhort, direct, and gladden converts made? 
 Where the quick pastoral eye benevolent, 
 To watch the flock, its characters and bent; 
 To heal the sick, to still the sceptic voice, 
 Bind up and bid the broken heart rejoice; 
 Restore the wanderer, seek the gone astray. 
 And lead them gently back to Wisdom's way? 
 
 Not with these holy ones will they be found — 
 Not thriving upon Inquisition's ground — 
 There the poor flock becomes a prey to lust 
 Starved by the shepherds who betray their trust; 
 Who eat their fat, are vested with their wool,* 
 And warm, voluptuous, satisfied, and full. 
 Forget the threatening of the Lord of Host 
 To quench their fury, and destroy their boast; 
 Still will that awful voice be one day heard 
 That through his own authoritative word, 
 
 ♦ Ezekiel xxxiv.
 
 Book III.] THE mQUisrnoN. ISI 
 
 Has issued long in vain — " For these neglects, 
 
 •** Abuses, rapines, contumelies, defects, 
 
 " Behold I am against the shepherds base; 
 
 " My flocks will I require to their disgrace. 
 
 " No more to pleasant grazings shall they lead — 
 
 " No more themselves with others' fruitage feed — 
 
 " Trample the herbage, the clear stream defile, 
 
 " And at their wanton miscliiefs shout and smile — 
 
 " No more abandon them in their distress, 
 
 " To ravening horrors of the wilderness — 
 
 *' I will their shepherd be, distempers heal, 
 
 " In majesty complete myself reveal, 
 
 " Will exercise as due, th' Omniscient rod 
 
 *' And shew myself their just avenging God." 
 
 When in young confidence of treacherous smile, 
 And winning manners worn but to beguile, 
 A happy groupe in converse candid, gay. 
 Gives to its reason rein, its spirits play, 
 
 k2
 
 Ise INDIVIDUALITY. {^k lit. 
 
 And little fancy, that in doing so 
 
 'Tis forging weapons for its deadliest foe — 
 
 The skilled Familiars — officers so called 
 
 Of whose mere name man justly stands appalled, 
 
 Commanded are such cautious steps to take 
 
 That e'en domestic eye should hot awake — 
 
 That each in a firm band correllative 
 
 Who in one dwelling and one interest live. 
 
 Should singly and within a given space 
 
 Be taken to this miserable place. 
 
 Pour on each other's ear the piercing shriek. 
 
 Follow each others steps through turn and creek 
 
 Pass to and fro 'twe«i cell and judgment hall, 
 
 In perfect ignorance reciprocal." 
 
 Bbnvolio just, ingenuous, and true, 
 Whom narrow principle could ne'er subdue — 
 Whose wisdom, christian faith, and spotless name. 
 Though often sounded by the voice of fame,
 
 Book III.l BENVOLIO. 183 
 
 And claiming highest deference and respect — 
 
 Could not from charge of heresy protect, 
 
 Was guilty of discernment — deadly sin ! 
 
 And all his children were involved therein. 
 
 Too honest to deny a charge in fact — 
 
 Too faithful to his conscience to retract— 
 
 His steady mind could look for no escape 
 
 From punishment in exemplary shape. 
 
 He, in a progeny superior blest. 
 
 Of widowered fathers was the happiest. 
 
 Fair beyond simile his daughters were, 
 
 Though ^twas their least perfection they were &ir. 
 
 The virtues templed in their bosom pure, 
 
 Gentle to comfort, steady to endure. 
 
 His lore they loved, his purposes they braced. 
 
 His head they pillowed, and his board they graced. 
 
 His sons, the glory not of him alone. 
 
 But boasted by a nation as its own. 
 
 Brave in the field, susceptible at hom^ 
 
 Prompt when required, but disinclined to roain«
 
 134 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 Not yet a feeling stronger had betrayed 
 
 Than those by nature's earliest ties conveyed. 
 
 Though young, they had to tell of deeds renowned — 
 
 Where Mars was furious — where Minerva frowned — 
 
 Where valour radiated the defeat 
 
 Till it was even victory to be beat — 
 
 And where by tactic skill and prowess high 
 
 Succeeded literal splendid victory. 
 
 Veterans in martial as in moral truth 
 
 They blazoned honour with the fire of youth, 
 
 And ne'er returned their swords into their sheaths 
 
 But with addition to their laurel wreaths. 
 
 Their early years scholastic knowledge earned; 
 
 Their later, intellectual things discerned; 
 
 Nor were they wanting in the bulwark sense 
 
 Of revelation, prayer, and providence. 
 
 Benvolio loved, admired them, — could he less? 
 
 Even beyond what parent could express; 
 
 Benvolio loved, admired them, — could he more? 
 
 Yet their lost mother he would ofl deplore,
 
 Book III.] BENVOLIO. 1S5 
 
 E'en when in fullest pride he looked around, 
 Sorrow would press upon bereavement's wound- 
 Sorrow — such pride and pleasure's highest zest 
 Could ne'er be known by her who was at rest. 
 Forgive the feeling, ye to whom 'tis given 
 To live the bliss immutable of Heaven ! 
 In moments so afflicting, so acute. 
 The eye and bosom speak — the tongue is mute; 
 He checked the starting tear, suppressed the sigh, 
 That filled and mounted from fond memory. 
 In hours of solitude — in pensive eve, 
 The groves have witnessed that he knew to grieve— 
 Echo's vibration sofl prolonged his tale 
 And ring-dove's note given cadence to his wail: 
 But when attuned to other harmonies, 
 If pungent retrospection would surprise. 
 Looks of quick sympathy — of quick distress, 
 Recovered him to ease and cheerfulness. 
 Such sweetness feminine — such manly worth, 
 Brightened the Summer sun, and cheered the hearth!
 
 J3« INDIVIDUALITY. [Book HI. 
 
 When rulers bade the clarion call from far 
 A nation's heroes to defensive war, 
 Benvolio knew no selfish morbid care — 
 Gave lus uniting voice the foe to dare- 
 Felt all his military glow revive — 
 Grasped the tall lance, and with his years would strive — 
 Yielded the ponderous weight, and shook his head, 
 Thankful his sons could wield it in his stead. 
 When peace — sweet peace ! returned— and gave the arts 
 To flourish, and made glad all human hearts — 
 Then literature's doors were open thrown, 
 And aQ her interesting hoards made known; 
 And rational pursuits of various kind 
 Resorted to, as suited various mind; 
 And seasons their appropriate pleasures let!. 
 With love and elegance associated. 
 
 Delighting and delighted, thus was spent 
 The early prime of kindred excellent.
 
 Book III.1 BENVOLIO. Iff 
 
 How shall the Muse in narrative proceed? 
 How bid the sympathising heart to bleed? 
 Nor loved Benvolio — nor his lovely race 
 Where known again within their native place. 
 For them no more luxuriant myrtles bloomed — 
 Nor was the air by spreading limes perfumed — 
 Nor did the boughs with fruit of luscious weight 
 For them bend heavily beneath their freight, 
 Gild the wide shade with orbs of golden hue. 
 And pour upon the smell their fragrance too— 
 The deer no more for them the paddock grazed, 
 Reared their broad antlers, and looked on amazed, 
 Then light and graceful, timorous and fleet, 
 l^rung to the fencied safety of retreat—^ 
 Stupendous cataracts for them no more 
 Afforded awful, deep, tumultuous roar, 
 Their crags returning radiancy of spray 
 Whose light refi'aoted gave continual day. 
 Their turgid waters foaming in their course, 
 Sonorous still with majesty and force.
 
 13S INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 Till gradually composed, they sweetly sung 
 
 And luminous meandered, plains among — 
 
 The woods with beasts and birds for sport replete, 
 
 For them possessed no more their varied treat, 
 
 The cover yielded, and the game enclosed — 
 
 Their fowling pieces with their dogs reposed. 
 
 The stag no more invited to the chace. 
 
 Nor mettled courser snorted to the race* 
 
 Nor skill at cricket competition shewn. 
 
 Nor coit by arm of manly sinew thrown. 
 
 Nor strength applied to the laborious oar — 
 
 Their patrimonial pleasures were no more. 
 
 Dire confiscation followed tainted air. 
 
 Blasted their joys, and gave them to despair. 
 
 The heritage that bravery had won, 
 
 And centuries given down from son to son, 
 
 Was wrested by judiciary abuse. 
 
 From which is no appeal, to public use. 
 
 The castle soon confessed another lord. 
 
 Whose name resounded from convivial board;
 
 Book III.] BENVOLIO. 1S9 
 
 And good Benvolio's broad and fertile lands, 
 
 Wliere cultivated by far different hands; 
 
 Nor piety nor reason owned their rule; 
 
 But all was vice, and brawl, and ridicule. 
 
 One local charm remained — one bliss defied 
 
 The tyrant lust of wealth, and power, and pride — 
 
 Still flushed the vein, and hushed the stormy wind — 
 
 The prayers of peasantry they left behind; 
 
 The sweet remembrance that while yet they could, 
 
 They exercised their influence for good. 
 
 The aged cheered, informed the minds of youth. 
 
 And sowed the seeds of wisdom and of truth. 
 
 These blessings followed them where'er they went^ 
 
 And softened even base imprisonment. 
 
 " Imprisonment! was this their destiny?" 
 
 Oh yes; and this but infant misery. 
 
 Not solitary was the barbarous act — 
 
 'Twas sevenfold vengeance — 'twas a mass compact; 
 
 Not superficial was the dastard wound — 
 
 'Twas gaping, jagged, barbed, and profound;
 
 149 INDIVIDUALITY. [699^ Uh 
 
 Not of duration short their hardened game — 
 
 The victims' number, was their years of shame. 
 
 Returning seasons seven times topk their course 
 
 Ere from their dungeons they received divorce; 
 
 By act of faith 'twas then bestowed, to swell 
 
 The triumphs of this institution fell. 
 
 Nor did it for each gentle breast remain 
 
 T* inhale the breeze and see the light again. 
 
 Some of the injured band had been released 
 
 By nature; some — by other means deceased. 
 
 Ask not particulars — ^from question turn 
 
 And in the scripture promises, discern 
 
 That the last act of barbarism strange 
 
 Gives to the faithfiil soul its blissful change; 
 
 Is, though through medium sharp, a mercy high — 
 
 The passport to a sure felicity: 
 
 But for survivors still-surviving strife. 
 
 With desolation's many blanks in life — 
 
 For still-enduring, and for coming woe — 
 
 For tears that flow, and must continued flow.
 
 Book III.} BENVOLIO. Ul 
 
 Nature's warm sympathies have steadier stream. 
 And energies with useful service teem. 
 Such are they for Benvolio's remnant line — 
 Peeled, drained, wrung out at superstition's shrine; 
 Without a comfort — ^yes ! without a friend 
 Who dared to shelter, solace, or commend; 
 Without an advocate to heal their shame. 
 Or chance of rescue for a father's name — 
 A father's honoured name, whose virtues rare, 
 Admired, imbibed, preserved them from despair. 
 Poor, as they oiice were wealthy — and abased 
 In due proportion with the rank they graced — 
 Deserted as they once were sought, caressed — 
 And as they gaily buoyant were, depressed — 
 Wliat did the gift of liberty, but wake 
 To deprivation's sense and wearing ache? 
 While each was yet a solitary — ^pent 
 In silent uninformed imprisonment-^ 
 Wliere no communication e'er removed 
 Suspense, or knowledge gave of those they loved—
 
 148 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 Each left in ignorance of other's fate, 
 Hope still in a degree would cheer, dilate: 
 But when repassed the massive plated door, 
 Hope, stunned with baleful tidings, was no more; 
 It breathed its last in certainty the worst; 
 It sunk beneath accumulated burst. 
 To learn that they were orphans — had been long- 
 Were rendered so by means that shock the song — 
 To learn the frater vacuum — how loosed 
 Its cincture — to a wretched half reduced — 
 To learn that they had watched the rising day, 
 Though dim and late was seen its cavern ray, 
 And gazed upon its early-fading beam. 
 Till blending darkness grew into extreme. 
 And rolled the vacant eye-ball o'er and o'er. 
 From floor to roof, and from the roof to floor — 
 To learn that this, and more than this, they did 
 Within the iron walls, where prison hid 
 The dear ones of their soul had done the same. 
 Till death released from Inquisition's shame —
 
 Book III.] BENVOLIO. 14S 
 
 To feel the probable that murmurs weight 
 Had often entered their chill lattice grate, 
 Warm from the fount, and laden with the smart 
 Of father's, brother's, sister's breaking heart — 
 To think upon the site — how small the space 
 That stood between reciprocal embrace. 
 Yet that, so blocked by art and rigid sway. 
 Had distance greater than remotest way — 
 To take in such a press of anguished sense 
 Was sorrow's masterpiece — was woe intense; 
 And yet if ignorance is ever bliss. 
 It must have been in state of things like this; 
 *Twas surely better in suspense to wear, 
 Than such an aggregate of facts to bear. 
 
 Still were these lorn ones in their youthful prime! 
 But change unlooked for by the hand of time. 
 Care's canker had effected — had outrun 
 What waning moons twice numbered would have done.
 
 144 INDlVlDUALtTY. [Book III. 
 
 Long sickniess oft had loathed, the food prepared, 
 
 Whilst no CHie knew the cause, and no one cared; 
 
 And appetite cmnparative returned, 
 
 But to be chidden by the heart that mourned; 
 
 And habits sedentary given the ail 
 
 From torpid thidciened juices to prevail. 
 
 Laying foundation for continual strife 
 
 With ease and health, and energies of life; 
 
 And cooped restraint had taught the feet to cre^, 
 
 The hands to idle, and the eyes to sleep, 
 
 Had stamped on sense obtuse and printless seal 
 
 Which hopeless apathy alone can feel; 
 
 Rigours of oft successive wintry reigns, 
 
 Had frozen the wairm current in their veins; 
 
 And languors of alternate dog-day heat 
 
 Rendered the lingering ravages complet-e. 
 
 No blaze had cheered their subterranean cell, 
 
 Nor zephyr had refreshed with gentle swell. 
 
 A «even years* intimacy with the press 
 
 Of such accumulated deep distress,
 
 Book IIJ.] BEN'VOLIO. 145 
 
 Had sapped the blooming honours of the cheek, 
 Chased the fine down of youth so soft and sleek. 
 Faded the whole complexion, and removed 
 The contour, taste distinctly had approved. 
 Sunk were those orbs of blue, whose gladdening ray 
 Had heretofore shed lustre on the day; 
 And where the temple's own transparency 
 Had given the vein with azure tint to vie, 
 Dark cavities had spread their circles wide, 
 And pressed upon the lagging vapid tide. 
 The brow too had its furrow— and a hair 
 Of reverend grey arising here and there. 
 Streaked with its silver line the golden hue. 
 And proved itself to nature's feelings true. 
 Who knew not to bewail their pride of youth 
 Thus frittered and consumed by savage tooth? 
 Yet was it but exchanged for ripened thought; 
 For rectitude from fierj-^ ordeal brought; 
 For charm of pensive character, displayed 
 In features speaking strength, and softened shade. 
 
 L
 
 146 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 Sad recollection reached the former face, 
 But to compare it with superior grace; 
 And beauty in her most attractive vest, 
 Yielded her claim to tender interest. 
 
 Such were they, when they turned the eye aloof 
 To gaze and shudder at the blasting roof 
 O'er which dank mildew hovers, shedding wide 
 Her acrimonious spoil from side to side; 
 Where late immured they agonised and wept. 
 For these remaining, and for those that slept. 
 Such were they — thus affected — when in haste 
 They wandered o'er the desolated waste — 
 Tlie peopled world this waste to them, whate'er 
 For others it possessed of great and fair. 
 They shrank from observation and restraint, 
 From scorn's broad contumely, and pity's feint, 
 And sought their all of sublunary good 
 In haunts of sweet refreshing solitude.
 
 Book in.] BENVOLIO. 147 
 
 Are there, who having reached this closing tale, 
 Tlie sad caprice of human things bewail? 
 Who having harmonized in tenderness 
 With this commimication of distress. 
 Make quick transition to existing woe 
 And fix their feeling on the things they know? 
 And have they the acquittals that proceed 
 From honest sympathy with hearts tliat bleed? 
 We hail their sense complacent — for ala«! 
 They claim alliance with a scanty class: 
 Not scanty the benevolent — the boast 
 Of Albion's sons — e'en from Northumbrian coast 
 To southern pebbly shores, and whitened rocks 
 Cleft by the power of elemental shocks — 
 From east to west — and through their island's isles — - 
 Is, that benevolence for ever smiles: 
 But there's a feeling, than benevolence 
 More faithfiU to capacity's high sense; 
 Quick as ear sensitive of virgin chaste; 
 Polished as work improved of finest taste ; 
 
 L 2
 
 148 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 That is at once the agent and the end, 
 And rescues from disgrace the name of friend: 
 ^ It is that delicacy, that pervades 
 
 And gives to intercourse ethei^al shades; 
 
 Resolving dark depression's rugged strife 
 
 Into the cheerfiihiess of light and life. 
 
 Say do you know it— or does keen reproach 
 
 In blush and hesitative word encroach? 
 
 'Tis rarely recognised — vicissitude 
 
 Is best acquainted with behaviour rude, 
 
 The sarcasm, the neglect, the air of scorn, 
 
 The pity of a sordid temper born ; 
 
 And she, who recently was all approved 
 
 In orbit wide and various which she moved. 
 
 Finds herself, with too many, giving way 
 
 To wealthy vaunters of a yesterday. 
 
 What ! is she with her change of fortune changed ? 
 
 Is judgment too and mental worth deranged? 
 
 Habits perverted, piety run wild. 
 
 Because of plain bereavement she's the child ?
 
 Book III.] BENVOLIO. 149 
 
 Oh no ! it rested with bereavement's blight 
 
 To give her virtues their full climax height: 
 
 It came — her prospects withered in the hour 
 
 Bereaved of conjugal support and power: 
 
 It came with tenfold weight from tenfold cause: 
 
 But it came gemmed with faith and moral laws, 
 
 That poured a radiance from the leafless thorn 
 
 Diffusive, vigorous, as the rays of mom. 
 
 It came with its especial convoy, grace. 
 
 To keep her steady in her better place, 
 
 And prove the penury of affluence 
 
 Without its worth intrinsic, common sense. 
 
 As silver is refined, as gold is tried,* 
 
 Forth from affliction she came purified; 
 
 Called her full talents into exercise. 
 
 And showed the fruits of virtuous energies. 
 
 Be wise ye worldlings ! and with effort bold 
 
 Wrest your eye jaundiced from ignoble gold; 
 
 * Zech. xii. 9.
 
 160 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III- 
 
 *' Judge righteous judgment," own the gifted few 
 Whose whole of excellence wealth never knew. 
 
 Lo ! where the despot of the coming scene, 
 Horror ! stalks dauntless with a raging mien, 
 Wielding a two-edged sword in her right hand, 
 And grasping with her left a flaming brand. 
 When prison-cells are full, and festival 
 Of special kind for this regale doth call, 
 To kettle drums and trumpets martial shame. 
 Her heralds, they the Act of Faith proclaim; 
 While following crowds on backs that nearly break, 
 Bear the full faggot to the iron stake. 
 Upraised the iron stake on scaffold height. 
 To give the gaping multitude the sight. 
 And deep the pit beside it they complete 
 And fill it with a glowing furnace heat. 
 For different crimes of nature and degree 
 For Romish, or Judaic heresy.
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITION. 151 
 
 Impatiently she paces all around 
 
 And views triumphantly Ribera* ground. 
 
 These fitments made — with long and bristled mane 
 
 She flies to the appointed square or fane, 
 
 Where criminals are brought their fate to hear, 
 
 And curiosity expels the tear. 
 
 Strange ! that the breast of sensibiUty 
 
 Can e'er permit its inlet eye to see ! 
 
 Can e'er present itself to aid a show, 
 
 That mocks the bitterness of shame and woe ! 
 
 Such contradictions are — and 'tis for these 
 
 Horror invites, arranges, oversees; 
 
 Hangs the rich balconies for royal treat, 
 
 Amphithcatrically mounts the seat, 
 
 Stations the ignominious cage, where each. 
 
 The victim placed for sentence there, can reach, 
 
 Tells how he looks — supported, or depressed,] 
 
 Distinctive fooleries in which he's dressed, 
 
 * The square for execution.
 
 1S2 INDIVIDUALITY. (Book III. 
 
 When, paralized by sufferings undergone 
 He represents a mere automaton — 
 Or when, with eyes uplifted, feehngs riven, 
 He sues for justice at the court of heaven. 
 
 They come ! embodied in procession vast 
 To make the gathered legions all aghast. 
 They come, in bigotry's swollen poipp and pride 
 To make the weak admire, the wise deride. 
 In front are merchants, citizens, in arms; 
 The standard next the zealot's bosom warms, 
 Displaying in embroidery, the adored 
 Saint Dominic, his oUve-branch, and sword j 
 Next, a white cross begemmed and richly wrought. 
 With effigy of Him who ransom brought. 
 Followed by priests Dominican a host, 
 Who make this privilege their special boast. 
 Nobles, grandees, and officers of state. 
 And Inquisition oi!icer# elate»
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITION. lif 
 
 Cross-bearers, visitors, and men a mass 
 Of legal and judiciary class. 
 And last, the grand Inquisitor august, 
 To render up his prostituted trust. 
 Behind his broad pontificals display 
 Advance the prisoners in dread array; 
 Barefooted and bareheaded are they, save 
 ITiose whose devouring fate precludes a grave. 
 In vile san benito's* disgraceful trim, 
 With each a godfather f and taper dim, 
 The penitents and those of crimes the leas^ 
 Yield their proportion to parading feast. 
 Next comes a class, who having narrowly 
 Escaped the sentence " by the death to die," 
 Have on their sables, painted flames reversed. 
 Then follow the relapsed, to fate accursed; 
 Their tunicks covered o'er by upward flames, 
 With exhibition of their crimes and namep, 
 
 • A d^radiDg vestment. 
 
 + An absnrd formality used on thii occasion.
 
 154 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 Upon their broad carrochas* three feet high, 
 
 Adding to persecution, infamy. 
 
 With lighter tread, and upraised open front, 
 
 Braced from on high to stand barbarian brunt. 
 
 Succeed the conscientious brave professed, 
 
 With ignominious cap, and hideous vest; 
 
 Each blazoned with himself, behind, before. 
 
 With painted portrait, crimes, and race of yore ; 
 
 Their base samarrasf all around bedeckt 
 
 With devils, pitchforks, firebrands, flames erect, 
 
 Serpents to hiss and sting, and dogs to tear — 
 
 Devices coarse to mortify and scare ! 
 
 Whilst some, of whose professions they're in dread. 
 
 Go iron-gagged to number with the dead; 
 
 Thus cowardly denying them alone 
 
 Articulation of a tortured groan ! 
 
 A train of fellow men upon the brink 
 
 Of mortal throes, for venturing to think ! 
 
 * Pasteboard caps. + A sort of coat.
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITION. 155 
 
 Jesuits on either hand with canting lure 
 Urging the harassed sufferings to abjure. 
 Now men of pasteboard come, the size of life, 
 Resembling those who through their prison strife 
 Have died ! or those more fortunate, abroad 
 Escaped for safety, though by these outlawed; 
 With tnmks for the deceased, with such remains 
 As flesh, whose spirit long has fled, retains. 
 These, with appropriate images, are all 
 Liveried with horrors that the soul appal; 
 And these in order just, and solemn state. 
 Will meet with their condemned igneous fate ! 
 Troops mounted of Familiars fill the rear. 
 Followed by those of guard and halberdeer. 
 Here drop the veil — let those inclined to see 
 The last sad act of this sad tragedy. 
 With all its inhumanities extreme — 
 Elsewhere pursue the anguished, sickening theme.
 
 15« INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 Is there for Christians faithless, ravenous, fell, 
 Proud, vengeful, fraudulent, is there a Hell? 
 Is truth in Scripture? does there not await 
 For them a worse than inquisition-state? 
 Speak ye from Stygian darkness, whose high crimes 
 During your pilgrimage in earlier times 
 Have placed you there — given you to mental flame 
 No Lethe can assuage, no period tame! 
 Speak, if your sufferings have engendered throes 
 Of charity tow'rds your disciples — those 
 Who still administer with Ijes and ire. 
 Imprisonment, bann, plunder, rack, and fire, 
 To warn them of their risk, and bid them shun 
 Enormities by which ye are undone ! 
 Dives, though lost himself, would have been glad 
 To keep his brethren from a state so sad. 
 Speak all ye know — that " Hadesf from beneath " * 
 Is moved for them to meet and to inwreathe; 
 
 * Isaiah xiv.
 
 Book III,] THE INQUISITION. 1ST 
 
 That kings and canonized stand up to hail 
 
 The chiefe, who over light and truth prevail; 
 
 That question is prepared, and heralds wait 
 
 Their inexperience to initiate — 
 
 •* Art thou also become as weak as we? 
 
 " Art thou become like us? to misery 
 
 " Is thy mock majesty and pomp brought down — 
 
 " The gtave the confine of thy bold renown ? 
 
 " The worm's gorged cuticle for thee is ^read, 
 
 " And twists itself to shroud thy vacant head. 
 
 " Thou that the nations weakened by thy strength 
 
 " How art thou sapped, cut down, and laid at length ! 
 
 " Thy full abasement we the more deride 
 
 " As end of thy ambition, lust, and pride ; 
 
 " As knowing in thine heart thou oft has said 
 
 " I will ascend to heaven— on clouds will tread, 
 
 " Exalt my throne above the stars of God, 
 
 *' Will snatch his scepti'e, jurisdiction, rod, 
 
 " Will sit upon the congregation mount, 
 
 " And rule the whole; " — " Now render thine accoimt !
 
 158 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 ** Now, thrust upon the margm of the pit, 
 
 " Tell, if amazement can, thy thoughts of it. 
 
 " View it in all its bearings — whilst on thee 
 
 " Its harassed inmates look as narrowly; 
 
 " Consider thee throughout; and question bear 
 
 " If thou art he that mocked at mercy's prayer; 
 
 " Made earth to tremble; kingdoms to convulse; 
 
 *' Cities to mourn; and victims jdeld their pulse; 
 
 " That opened not the prisoners' heavy door, 
 
 " To give them life and Hberty once more ; 
 
 " But pleased beheld the world a wilderness — 
 
 " Thy bliss to sunder, terrify, oppress ? 
 
 *' Then, with a burst of triumph at thy fate 
 
 *' Hail thee as object for malignant hate, 
 
 " And all the bold anathemas proclaim 
 
 " That heretofore gave thunder to thy name." 
 
 And what is Hell? — Ah! who e'er came from thence 
 To give the question its intelligence?
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITION. 159 
 
 Who, having made the awful plunge, regains 
 Probation space upon their mortal plains? 
 Who are allowed, even for others' good, 
 To make the literal statement understood? 
 A gulf profound, immeasureably vast. 
 That never can be fathomed, or repast. 
 Lies between sons of earth, and such no more. 
 The souls required, once hberated, soar 
 To other worlds, and are too occupied 
 In song or sorrow, to be here alUed. 
 Mortals must for themselves the Hell create 
 E^cient to affright them from its state. 
 That of the poets, various action boasts 
 Descriptive of our passions' hard imposts. 
 Prometheus, for imbuing men of clay 
 With heavenly fire — for powers usurped display. 
 Was bound to Caucasus — a vulture feast 
 Supplied — his liver growing as decreased, 
 Salmoneus daring too, imveiled his fate 
 By striving works divine to imitate:
 
 im INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 He bade the lightning flash, the thunder roll- 
 When lo ! a genuine bolt conveyed his soul 
 To realms of bitumen and raging flame ; 
 Combustibles his art could never tame. 
 Phlegyas on sacrilegious act presumed; 
 For which to endless apprehension doomed, 
 Whate'er his station — wheresoe'er he sped 
 A massive stone still floated o'er his head. 
 Threatening at every breath to crush his form, 
 And spend the utmost drop of life blood warm. 
 To wild ambition Sisyphus a slave, 
 Toiling for elevation to his grave. 
 Was punished by respondent toil, replete 
 With weariness, exertion, and defeat; 
 Even to urge against the mountain's steep 
 A ponderous weight of huge unwieldy sweep 
 Which ever as it seemed almost to attain 
 The promised height, slid to the vale again. 
 Ixion, for intemperate love, v/as hurled 
 From Jove's high coiut to Pluto's hottest world;
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITION. 1«1 
 
 There fixed upon a wheel, whence never freed, 
 He spun incessantly with maddening speed. 
 And Tantalus, who sacrificed his son 
 To feast the gods — by curious wish imdone— 
 Experienced for his savage impious fraud 
 Of majesty insulted, the award: 
 Gnawed by gaunt famine's ravening fangs acute. 
 Yet ne'er devoured — amidst delicious finiit 
 Of paradise, whose blooming beauties borne 
 On pliant bough by Zephyrus, heaven-sworn 
 To let it kiss his lips in frequent play, 
 Then bear it instantly, and far away. 
 And thirst consumed, though the translucent flow 
 Of purest waters met to mock his woe. 
 These are well- fancied images to prove 
 Retaliative act from vengeful Jove. 
 And Christians, as they more or less reflect, 
 Remuneration similar expect; 
 Remuneration for the several wrong 
 That to appropriate character belong. 
 
 M
 
 Kit INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 Christians acknowledge, and determine what 
 The Scripture terms, " the worm that dieth not ; " 
 Determine it remorse with tenfold sting- 
 Remorse for ever busy, on the wing 
 To bring home pungencies of acrid smart 
 To pierce, but not destroy the traitor hearts 
 The canker that corrodes the sense acute, 
 But ne'er deteriorates the bitter root. 
 To reckon o'er and o'er the heavy cost 
 Irremeable, of pleasures past and lostj 
 To view their sickly nature as gone by, 
 And see opposed a dread eternity; 
 To be compelled to retrospective view 
 Incessantly of deeds they would undo — 
 Now self-deluded yielding to the snare, 
 Now seeking vice, and basking in its glare; 
 To see the human heart in naked wile- 
 Its boast insidious, and its hollow smile; 
 To struggle such an hideous thing to fly, ' 
 Yet feel fest bound to its deformity^
 
 BMk III.] THE INtiUISITION. k6$ 
 
 To bear the consciousness of heavy guilt, 
 Yet know in vain for theni Christ's blood was spilfc — 
 All this is Hell — 'tis pain's most vigorous sense 
 From obs^vation and experience. 
 
 Christians determine, that to be intrenched 
 By fire and brimstone never to be quenched* 
 Displays in figure, to be ardent still 
 The passion strong to gratify and fill; 
 But being stripped by death of human power. 
 Rendered the passion's victim to devour. 
 It is the fevered impulse of the soul, 
 Outrageous through the loss of self-control; 
 It is mad effort ceaseless to attain. 
 With light to certify, 'tis all in vain; 
 It is comparison abiding, keen. 
 
 Of what they are, with what they might have been; 
 The beatific regions to behold 
 Which &ithful souls in multitudes unfold; 
 
 M,2
 
 164 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book III. 
 
 The song of praise and joy to hear and hate; 
 
 To see the purity of truth too late; 
 
 Their condemnation to acknowledge just, 
 
 From choice determined, and fool-hardy trust; 
 
 Annihilation as a good to crave 
 
 Yet know that even this they cannot have — 
 
 Oh ! this is Hell ! 'tis torment night and day 
 
 To everlasting, and without allay. 
 
 And this inquisitorial wrong will know 
 
 When hailed within the world to which they go. 
 
 And where is Hell?— no matter; 'tis e'en where 
 The sceptre shakes of furious black despair. 
 Each people has of Hell its notion wild, 
 Of man's perceptive varied powers the child. 
 The cemeteries, shades, have borne its name, 
 And places many of sound classic feme. 
 Some Romans, far beneath the depths. profoimd 
 Of lake Avernus, which dark rocks surround—
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITION. 18» 
 
 Within the Lucrine bay, and on the coast 
 Renowned, Lavora's far-extending boast 
 Lodged it, to which idea they were led, 
 By poisonous steams condensing o'er its head 
 So deadly, that the bird whose wayward fate 
 Impelled him o'er, widowed his faithful mate. 
 In woven woods of darkest evergreen 
 Around, where human foot has never been, 
 Whose topmost spread the noxious vapour takes 
 And ever gives it to the neighbouring brakes. 
 Old superstition lingers, drinks the dew, 
 And finds it still her baneful strength renew. 
 Near it a cavern opens, slippery, steep, 
 Dripping with tears of those who ever weep; 
 Dark, as eternal windings shut the sight 
 From every possible of acting light; 
 And echoing to a din of jarring cries. 
 That v/ell proclaims the world of agonies. 
 By this the Mantuan bard his hero brought 
 To Tartarus, a Sybil his escort.
 
 i«« INDIVIDUAHTY. [Book in. 
 
 Others place Hell beneath Tenarus bold, 
 
 A promontory in Laconia told, 
 
 Whose brow impending, binds in awefiil fear 
 
 The mariner, adversely driven near. 
 
 Whose excavated sides are tenanted 
 
 By finny mwisters huge, of monsters bred ; 
 
 And o'er whose surfece Erebus wide flings 
 
 Her unrelenting and impervious wings. 
 
 All, far as eye can see, the eye affrights, 
 
 While still the dread sublime the eye invites. 
 
 From hence kind Orpheus left the heaven of day 
 
 And took his fearful subterranean way; 
 
 Swept with his fascinating skill the lyre. 
 
 And wrought the end 'twas suited to inspire. 
 
 Others maintain these horrors are below 
 
 The spring-head whence the Stygian waters flow; 
 
 Its properties, e'en when they first arise 
 
 To meet the medium air that greets and ffies 
 
 Fatal, as when to utmost verge they roam. 
 
 And tumbling into darkness, hiss and foam.
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITION. If7 
 
 Beneath the dreary waste, the barren sands 
 That character Cimmeria's dusky lands. 
 Where verdure never spreads her grateful hue, 
 The Grecians fixed tlie black infernal crew. 
 In KKnnom's valley, e'en in Palestine, 
 And near the scene of sufferings divine 
 Tophet — abomination ! deep and large. 
 Whose flame to feed was a continual chargev 
 Yielded so much of terrible, as well 
 Might through idea's links be deemed the HelL 
 'Tis the strong figure scriptural, whose fire 
 The breath of God doth like a stream inspire.* 
 Depicted Hell in Alcoran appears. 
 Narekha terrifies through Hindoo ears. 
 Ere geometry had birth — or, ere it had 
 Diffused its theorems in day-hght clad— 
 Ere bold astronomy had made appear 
 The infinite of worlds beyond our sphere— 
 • Iiaiah xxi. SS.
 
 »»« INDiyiDUALITT. [Book III* 
 
 Ere planets had found system, and the ball 
 We own, proved so comparatively small — 
 Its superfice was deemed, or land or main> 
 One comprehensive heaven-embracing plain^ 
 O'er-vaulted by a richly-spangled sky 
 Beyond which man ne'er pushed his scrutiny; 
 The far horizon whereso'er he went 
 Still offering competency of extent. 
 In this short view of things, 'twas natural 
 To place in fathomless abyss, the Hell — 
 To make the country of eternal night. 
 Stand full opposed to radiancy of light. 
 As time the film of ignorance dissolved, 
 Interminable space sublime evolved. 
 And earth presented to the mind, a sphere 
 With motions regular, and orbit clear. 
 Where then, gave they infernal regions place? 
 Our planet centred them in her embrace: 
 Poised nicely 'tween ourselves and antipodes. 
 The furies and condemned had their abodes.
 
 Bpok IIL} THE INQUISITION. I8t 
 
 There, where the various elements at war 
 Force their dread way with strong percussive jar- 
 Where vapours in close viscera are pent, 
 And exhalations seek in vain for vent, 
 And gulfs inuneasurable and profound. 
 Spread their expanded waters all around — 
 Where rarefaction gathering bulk and strength. 
 Presses against confinement, till at length 
 It does the ocean heave, tlie earth convulse, 
 Accelerate the universal pulse. 
 Flash in pale lightning, in deep thunder roD, 
 And rive the upper mass to either pole; 
 Or driving through the mountains utmost height, 
 Yield to the gaping crowd a wond'rous sight — 
 This strength of darkness now, and now of fire 
 Raging amidst combustibles' fell ire, 
 Might well in times of cold conception, yield 
 The place for unrepentant sinners sealed. 
 But this is fiction all — no local gloom 
 The bitterness of conscience can entomb;
 
 ITO INDIVIDUALITT. [Book HI. 
 
 No horrors that the blood coagulate 
 
 Can give idea of perdition gtate ; 
 
 No fleshly suffering, no specific pain 
 
 Can e'er the anguish of remorse explain. 
 
 Hell rises in that mediatorial eye 
 
 From whose upbraidings 'tis in vain to fly — 
 
 Which, or in heights, or depths, or in the sea. 
 
 Flitting in space — whate'er the destiny— 
 
 On the wild wanderer sheds his awefiil rays 
 
 And bids him though abandoned, yield his praise! 
 
 It is the world where judgment's curse controls— 
 
 Which out of mercy's utmost precincts rolls ! 
 
 It is in hardened unrepented crime 
 
 Sculptured on irrecoverable time, 
 
 Pressing its characters upon the ey« 
 
 Indelible to all eternity ! 
 
 *Tis where the soul for ever is — ^*tis where 
 
 The sceptre wields of furious black despair— 
 
 'Tis in the savage hateful breasts we deem 
 
 Of bigotry's Inquisitors supreme I
 
 Book III.] THE INQUISITION. I7| 
 
 Oh Bigotry ! couldst thou be well subdued 
 What Paeans would awake from gratitude! 
 Truth would o'erflow by virtue of the deed; 
 And where the truth prevails, " we're free indeed." 
 
 END OV THE THIRD BOOK.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 The Mythology and Abominations of the Hindoos. 
 
 Apostrophe of thankfulness that Britons can never 
 understand nor bear oppression and tyranny — What 
 the nature of genuine freedom — If liberally gifted, 
 let it be proved by a spirited exertion in behalf of 
 our fellow-subjects in India — Motives for having so 
 long made the Romish Church the theme — The 
 conscientious of all denominations to be respected — 
 Christians would cease to be at variance, if each 
 had at heart the good of the whole — The national 
 wisdom of free toleration — The number and excel- 
 lency of its fruits — Recurrence to the subject of the 
 Poem — The endless sects and subdivisions of the 
 Mohammedans — Of the Jews — Pagan darkness, idol- 
 atries, abominations — Tlie Hindoos, their mythology
 
 1T4 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IT. 
 
 —Evident similitude of many of their first religious 
 principles with those of the Christians — The various 
 absurd and cruel self-imposed penances of their de- 
 votees — Their superstitions, credulity, and power of 
 imagination — Amradda, a tal£>-<— Juggernaut, its won- 
 drous naiTative — What the period for the flowing 
 in of Heathens — Not that, in which the mercantile 
 interest prevails over the christian, and patronizes the 
 greatest inconsistencies for the sake of gain — Its want 
 of perception on this subject, equal in its effects to 
 the blindness of the Hindoos — Their apparent zeal in 
 their idolatrous worship, a lesson to Christians — Their 
 inconsistent feelings — morbid towards the reptile and 
 insect tribe, and barbarous towards their own species 
 in a variety of circumstances — Female immolation 
 the climax evil — Zeibnissa, a tale founded on fact— 
 This, as a voluntary instance, bears no comparison 
 with the multitudes produced by severe compulsion 
 ■—The absurd incredulity of the English in respect 
 to these, and other grossly superstitious acts — ^The 
 evident cause of it — Not all narrow-minded — The 
 philanthropy of Howard — ^The humanity of WiJbejr- 
 force.
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 jL HANKS be to God! iniquity's broad flood 
 
 Can never be by Briton understood ! 
 
 Thanks be to God ! what we for others mourn 
 
 Can never, never be by Briton borne! 
 
 Oppressive act but springs his nerveful arm. 
 
 Sends to his cheek the hfe-blood quick and warm, 
 
 Sparkles his eye with just indignant fire, 
 
 And wakes the spirit of his sainted sire. 
 
 Yet why this vaunt? Wherefore this confidence? 
 
 What is this freedom's nature and defence? 
 
 Is it mere selfishness? — or does it rise 
 
 Into unbounded bold capacities? 
 
 Is it elastic passion tow'rds oiu* kind 
 
 Impulsive, generous, ardent, and refined —
 
 IT6 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV- 
 
 Or is it tumid feeling, hollow thing, 
 Corrupt, and wheeling round on local wing? 
 Prove it compatriots ! bring it to the test, 
 And let it stand in sterling worth confest^ 
 See where an undue power on India's coast 
 Derides our mother-country's ancient boast — 
 Stretches her jurisdiction to our throne, 
 And calls e'en British subjects there, her own ! 
 Strange ! that dull Lusitania hugs her chain 
 Though galled her flesh, and flaccid every vein ! 
 Strange ! that her stern tribunal firmly stands 
 And shakes its terrors o'er surrounding lands. 
 Strong in Great Britain's countenance implied ! 
 And passing strange — and if a fact supplied 
 Requiring publication solemn, full, 
 Such fact unfit, unkindred to annul, 
 That subjects to the Empire duly bound. 
 Whose residence on British land is foimd. 
 Claiming its high immunities, should be 
 Amenable to such fell tyranny !
 
 Book IV.] CHRISTIAN CANDOUR. 177 
 
 Oh ! let the current buoyant from the heart 
 Eject its health to every distant part — 
 Give to each member vigour, pulse, employ, 
 Appropriate fihal sterling worth and joy ! 
 
 If long the Romish Church has been the theme. 
 Its superstitions, bigotries extreme, 
 'Tis to display in what degree it can, 
 Mediums of varied character of man. 
 That systems some contemn, expose, detest, 
 By others are accepted as the best; 
 And that of these to subdivide again. 
 Scarce two will at all points the whole maintain. 
 An inference, that every one should move 
 To miiversal tolerance and love. 
 If in the ramble, facts are forward brought 
 That pious Papists may think over-wrought. 
 Let them their candour exercise, and sight- 
 Spread and examine them by reason's light— 
 
 N
 
 178 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 And should they still their natal views possess, 
 Forgive the Protestants who theirs profess. 
 The conduct conscientious motive feeds 
 From whatsoever body it proceeds — 
 Whatever difference of views connect — 
 Claims from the conBcientious prompt respect. 
 'Tis evident, where men are not agreed 
 Alike each differs from the other's creed; 
 Alike each cherishes their own so dear. 
 And shields it with a holy trust and fear. 
 Let but the privilege to think, be found. 
 And we shall stand upon more equal ground. 
 England rejoiceth when her sons rejoice — 
 Spreads her wide sails, and lifls inspiring voice, 
 To guard green Erin's children generous, warm. 
 From threatening foreign and domestic storm 
 With the same zeal maternal, that explores 
 Her own impenetrable laughing shores. 
 But be these generous warm ones faithful, just, 
 To government so faithful to her trust!
 
 Book IV.] CHRISTIAN CANDOUR. 179 
 
 Or all is good subverted, overthrow, 
 Excitement to the common watchful foe. 
 If powers contending strive alone for rule, 
 The people either way is made the tool. 
 Her cause the eloquent no longer warms. 
 Ambition every argument disarms, 
 Corruption germinates within the heart. 
 And shoots its vital strength through every pai't; 
 And few, enough their public conduct probe 
 To find the selfish separating lobe. 
 Untainted singleness I what end so pure 
 Tliat can thy robe's transparency endure ! 
 What patriot energies however prized 
 Would dare to be exactly analysed ! 
 Some few, of glowing ardour> transient span, 
 Have shewn that nearly-patnot may be man — 
 But these would have been first to bring to sight 
 That 'tis not in his nature to be quiie. 
 What follows then but this — each for the whole 
 His individual wishes should control; 
 
 N 2
 
 180 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV 
 
 Each should a comprehensive view command 
 Of interests of the close-connected band ; 
 Then hold the balance high of judgment sound, 
 And by its faithfiil counterpoise be bound. 
 
 Thus feeling, equity, and prudence teach. — 
 But limits of the Muse can never reach 
 The fulness of thy national decree, 
 Blest Toleration ! fearless, wise, and free ! 
 Security, beyond a myriad power; 
 Wealth, by the means of an appropriate dower; 
 Increase, by lorn ones fled from native coast; 
 Attachment grateful, from this foreign host; 
 Fidelity, internal confidence 
 On the broad theorem of common sense; 
 Beauty, from every source that beauty flows, 
 And unanimity's serene repose. 
 Laws for divine perception — how absurd! 
 Each for himself must read and mark the word,
 
 Book lY.] TOLERATION. 181 
 
 See it in all its bearings, and receive, 
 
 Or for himself dissent, and disbelieve. 
 
 Edicts may issue — bulls may thunder curse — 
 
 Prisons be multiplied — and, what is worse, 
 
 Engines of torture kept in exercise. 
 
 And pressing on invention for supplies — 
 
 Terror, base minion ! to usurped command 
 
 May shed paralysis throughout a land — 
 
 May gag from fear of truth — or make to start 
 
 The untruth from an aching timid heart — 
 
 But never can that vital power destroy, 
 
 That rises from a radicated joy. 
 
 Each swelling impulse crushed, but aids at length 
 
 Of swelling impulses again, the strength, 
 
 As shoots are nipped, tliat other shoots ere long 
 
 May shew themselves more promising and strong. 
 
 Force can effect no more than force impels — 
 
 But principle, which in tlie bosom dwells. 
 
 Wakes with the dawn, soothes the sad twofold day, 
 
 Counsels us healthfully upon our way.
 
 182 INDIVIDUALITY, [Boak IV. 
 
 Is present at the chilling midnight hour 
 To lull us by its self-acquitting power, 
 And even in 'the Inquisition court 
 Awes by its dignity, and firm support. 
 Whatever other knowledge men possess 
 That feed their lusts ' by fellow-men's distress — 
 Howe'er revered, or quoted in the schools — 
 In science of their species, they are fools. 
 They steer without a pilot or a chart — 
 They may destroy, but cannot touch the heart. 
 Though policy, by purposes is moved 
 Distinct from those by charity approved, 
 She yet, if comprehensive too as wise, 
 Will hail those virtues as her rich allies; 
 Work on their base, and candidly consult 
 The soul's peculiar claim of each adult; 
 Till bound together in one interest dear — 
 Scattering the seeds of jealousy and fear — 
 Each can in peace his faithful path pursue, 
 Well pleased that every one should do so too.
 
 Book lY.] TOLERATION. lU 
 
 Whilst thus rdigibn grows, such aids await 
 Tlie necessary conduct of the state, 
 As cannot fail in time our foe to tame, 
 And make hun tremble at Britannia's name. 
 
 Yet though the fruits of beauty and of worth 
 At every bud of tolerance burst forth. 
 The very term a difference implies. 
 That calls for sweet enduring charities: 
 A difference that estranges, and ne'er could 
 By reciprocity be imderstood. 
 Wide and distinct these christian orbs appear 
 Each spreading its own light throughout its sphere^ 
 Whilst every ray from each embodied blaze, 
 A character appropriate conveys — 
 One, that long ere it gains its utmost point, 
 Finds 'tis from every other ray disjoint — 
 Proof of impossibility, for two 
 By the same pass, objects tlie same to view.
 
 IM INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 Sects — (still the Muse all genuine faith respects) 
 
 Gender so rapidly dissenting sects, 
 
 That hair-breadth variations split and crost. 
 
 The patriarchal name at length is lost, 
 
 And other men start up, and take the lead. 
 
 And their disciples by degrees secede, 
 
 Who of their proper spirit iminformed, 
 
 And with extravagant delusions warmed. 
 
 Become inebriate with fumes of fame, 
 
 While popularity still fans the flame* 
 
 And if the Christian whole, so small a mass 
 Compared with that of other bonds, alas ! 
 Presents such various mind — how is the eye 
 Wildered in infinite variety. 
 As superficially it passes o'er 
 The deities that distant lands adore! 
 Hopeless on Asiatic ground to scan 
 The branchings-out of the Mahomedan — -
 
 Book IV.] SECTS. 185 
 
 And equally at loss to bring to view 
 The shades of thinking of the stubborn Jew — 
 Their factions, separations, sects are known, 
 To short dissent as fibrous as our own: 
 They each distinctly have their radius given, 
 Which points its way diversified to Heaven. 
 O'er burning sands — o'er snows eternal drear — 
 Thi'oughout the eastern, western hemisphere, 
 The pagan nations quenching nature's lights 
 Perform their strange abominable rites. 
 Various as senseless, many as absurd, 
 The more impure and gross the more preferred; 
 Each having form and cast and god their own, 
 And to the strongest deviations prone. 
 Idols of bestial and of human form 
 Their worship animate, their bosoms warm. 
 Objects imcouth and monstrous, stone and wood, 
 Are sought as authors of the fair and good. 
 Pantheon gods and goddesses, the growth 
 Of chiseled art, rebound aUegiate oath,
 
 186 INDIVIDUALITY, [Book IV. 
 
 Mock the libation rich of blood or wine, 
 
 And satirize the reverence divine. 
 
 Singly to stray the Hindoo race among 
 
 How wide and intricate would be the song! 
 
 How past detail their deviating thought 
 
 From genus into species fondly wrought I 
 
 How infinite their ever-rising springs 
 
 That schismatize from system head of things ! 
 
 Indeed of their mythology, the base 
 
 So far its own apology can trace 
 
 As evidencing, though obscure and crude 
 
 With that of Christians, a similitude. 
 
 A triad power of separate excellence 
 
 Its blessings full, appropriate, to dispense — 
 
 A God acknowledged perfect. One in Three— 
 
 A God of indivisibihty — 
 
 The incarnation — the atonement thence 
 
 Are seen — and Holy Spirit's influence: 
 
 Giving those stumbling stones at once to shine 
 
 Through medium vitious as that divine.
 
 Book IV.] HIxNDOOS— DEVOTEES. 187 
 
 Men erudite, in general are agreed, 
 That all the excellencies of their creed 
 From sacred fount derive their devious course 
 Though long distorted to complete divorce. 
 The mind unprejudiced to trace, explore, 
 And shed abroad the lustre of its lore, 
 Finds in their Vedas, Shasters, Poorans high, 
 Proofs multiplied of semblant theory. 
 
 And as their tenets form just as they please, 
 So do the penances of devotees. 
 In postures most grotesque, and to sustain 
 Most difficult — astonishing and vain ! 
 Their self-inflicted sufferings they endure 
 With perseverance, pardon to ensure — 
 Purchase to make for an amended state 
 When they are called upon to transmigrate. 
 Arras constantly extended o'er the head 
 With hands inclaspsd, till withered, fixed, and dead.
 
 1S8 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 Hands tightly clenched in conscientious qualm 
 
 Until the nails find way through sinewy palm. 
 
 Arms closely crossed on penitential breast 
 
 Till lost the power t' obey the will's behest. 
 
 Faces disfigured by continual act 
 
 Of coming roughly into earth's contact, 
 
 When measuring with their proper length, the road 
 
 Between great Juggernaut and their abode. 
 
 Some never will lie down, but while they sleep 
 
 Against a tree, position upright keep. 
 
 Some beg fi^om place to place, as wandering round 
 
 Great Vishnou's incarnations to resound; 
 
 Bells round their ancles herald them afar, 
 
 And tabor's beat, and the percussive jar. 
 
 Some vow eternal silence, and make known 
 
 By signs familiar, hunger's wants alone; 
 
 With plain rice satisfied, retire from sight 
 
 Whilst downcast eyehds scarce admit the fight. 
 
 Some, heaviest loads continually sustain — 
 
 Drag ever the most cumbrous weighty chain —
 
 Book IV.3 HINDOOS— DEVOTEES. 189 
 
 Their bodies bare to mid-day's scorching ire — 
 Or hang with downward head to fiercest fire— 
 Or hooked by cartilage till muscles curl, 
 Suspended are, and long in circle whirl; 
 Imposing on themselves with studied art 
 What they profess to flee — Narekha's smart. 
 Their men of science unclad, barefoot go, 
 Or only bark of trees as cloathing know. 
 Their Brahmans still in superstition bred, 
 Bear each the symbol flame upon his head — 
 Speak but when needful — then in terms concise 
 Comprise the matter as may just suffice. 
 The wild extravagancies some suppose 
 From which the highly-luminated rose 
 That wonderful profoimd bewildering plan, 
 First sprang, and took its course in Hindostan. 
 Nor will it seem to the inquirer strange 
 That beings, whose conceptions have such range, 
 Should fruitful be new fables to devise 
 To feed the listening ear with fresh surprize.
 
 190 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 Thus some believe a highly-gifted few 
 Through prayer mysterious offered to Vishnou, 
 Have power to quit their bodies, cleave the air, 
 Visit far countries, and forget their care, 
 Regain their tenements with new illume, 
 And all their proper characters resume. 
 
 Amradda ! Prince of power and vast domain, ^ ., 
 Who had his thousands — tens of thousands slain; 
 And who, an empire far above the rest. 
 Held sovereign sway within Luchmea's breast — 
 Yet having suffered this supernal fire 
 To kindle in him an undue desire. 
 He left the various pleasures of his day. 
 Through devious speculative paths to stray. 
 For this he sought in lonely place the fane. 
 The knowledge of the Mandiram * to gain — 
 That prayer mysterious, only known to one — 
 The goddess of the fane in desert lone. 
 
 ♦ The mystery or prayer.
 
 Book IV.] AMRADDA. 191 
 
 Attended by a confidential page 
 
 His way to cheer, his tumult to assuage, 
 
 He saw the sacred spot — he reached the goal 
 
 Which centred the ambition of his soul, 
 
 And in an extacy of mind, he poured 
 
 Petition to the deity adored. 
 
 In his own spirit he his object sought 
 
 " At all events," the Mandiram to be taught. 
 
 The goddess could not well be said to grant 
 
 His suit — to satisfy his airy want — 
 
 He prayed with fervor, though he prayed amiss, 
 
 And took by violence the fancied bliss. 
 
 Full to his eye the Mandiram unsealed, 
 
 And the mysterious power was all revealed. 
 
 Tlie slave at distance ordered to remain, 
 Cannot a curiosity restrain 
 Excited by a caution so extreme — 
 He steals through forest glade by moonlight beam —
 
 192 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 Reaches the temple in the moment high 
 When light is flowing from divinity, 
 And under darkness of the hour, he hears 
 The priestly lesson on his master's ears. 
 Delighted with the sacrilege refined. 
 The heavenly secret glowing in his mind, 
 Scarce to the air he gives respiring sound-— 
 Creeps from the sanctuary, and looks around — 
 Then wings his way through intervening space, 
 And gains composure in due time and place. 
 
 Nor did Amradda joy tumultuous feign — 
 It strvmg each nerve — it danced in every vein — 
 It occupied his whole extent of thought — 
 It was with full perspective transport fraught. 
 Oft when the earth with motion still untired 
 Rolled Asia tow'rds the orb with radiance fired — 
 First giving Ararat's stupendous height 
 To kiss the welcome cherub-breathing light,
 
 Book IV.] AMR ADDA. l«8 
 
 Then in due course presenting spire and hill 
 Till Phoebus' glories sparkle in the rill — 
 While yet the growing dawn sheds twilight grey 
 Scarce luminous, to guide them on the way — 
 Amradda with his favourite page, repeats 
 His visit to sequestered chaste retreats. 
 There, where the banian branches broad and high 
 Drop pendant columns of such majesty 
 That chiselled orders of the nicest art 
 Cannot such faithful elegance impart — 
 Whose forms inverted, shooting downward length 
 Take with them spreading vegetative strength, 
 Teaching their shoots to permeate the earth, 
 To strike their fibred root, imbibe its worth. 
 Till rivetted a stock that storm defies. 
 They see around them many saplings rise. 
 Which in alternate course assume a spread 
 Of leafy verdant honours for their head — 
 There, where just nature points the long arcade — 
 Sweeps accurately the bold colonnade — 
 
 O
 
 194 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 Raises for fancy vigorous and warm 
 The tasteful Dewul of a varied form, 
 With corridors, piazzas, vestibules. 
 And all the grandeur of the modern schools — 
 There did the Prince commit to Kassee's care 
 His body, and withdrew to private prayer- 
 Recite the Mandiram, and quickly soar 
 The open boundless ether to explore; 
 Till satisfied with ambient exercise, 
 He gently gravitates, forsakes the skies, 
 Hovers to find the place of his resort, 
 Revives his form, and seeks again his court. 
 
 DeUghted with a novelty so strange, 
 The altitude and vastness of the range. 
 Terrestrial duties wearisome became — 
 Dead was the soul-inspiring voice of fame ; 
 Vapid the charities that gladden life ; 
 Slighted his gifts, Penates, children, wife;
 
 Book I v.] AMR ADDA. 19K 
 
 And as a lover tedious finds the day 
 That holds him from his dearer self away, 
 So chwmed Amradda counts the lingering hours 
 That forge restraint on his aerial powers. 
 
 Alas ! for potentates who cannot blend 
 With page and confidante the name of fi-iend ! 
 Whose sovereignty heart-interchange denies, 
 With sooth of high responsive qualities. 
 While doomed the cringe of sycophants to bear 
 Like satellites revolving ever near. 
 Ermined, and gemmed, and all enthroned in state, 
 To stamp with awe the ranks subordin£U;e, 
 Judgment decrees it policy of need 
 Such characters with jealousy to heed; 
 To hear and to reject the proffered praise 
 That flatterers' hopes, not regal merits raise j 
 To listen to attachment warm professed. 
 Yet see the selfish hollow of the breast; 
 
 o 2
 
 198 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 And shrinking from such base empoisoned fruit 
 
 To feel themselves as men most destitute : 
 
 But when strong passions judgment's eye contract, 
 
 And truth and wisdom can no longer act — 
 
 When aught illegal to obtain, unfit, 
 
 A prince his rank and character will quit. 
 
 And to the medium of a page will sue 
 
 To aid the object, and to hide it too. 
 
 Safety is fled — the fence is broken down 
 
 Raised by integrity to guard the crown, 
 
 And usurpation dauntless treads the court. 
 
 And makes of majesty deposed, his sport. 
 
 Thus fatal was Amradda's trust. — One day 
 
 Himself absorbed in light ethereal way. 
 
 Time trod with leaden feet the banian shade 
 
 Where Kassee his attendance usual paid, 
 
 And led him to project unfaithful things — 
 
 *' Why am I here? Why on celestial wings 
 
 *' Not buoyant — servile cares and fears above — 
 
 •* Inhaling liberty, and joy, and love?
 
 Book IV.] AMRADDA. 107 
 
 " Is not the secret mine — and mine by fraud 
 
 " That would have justified a dread award — 
 
 " And shall I now know coward heart, nor dare 
 
 " Assert my interest in the Mandirani prayer ? " 
 
 His eyes upon the senseless form he turned 
 
 Impatient, and for liberation burned; 
 
 Beheld with eye of fire, Ambition near 
 
 Pointing the way to an exalted sphere, 
 
 And challenging with fascinating grace 
 
 To run with her the rough and breathing race. 
 
 An evil bias once indulged so weaves 
 
 Its own entanglement — so self deceives — 
 
 So dreads all retrospection — yet so dares 
 
 The next progressive vice with all its snares — 
 
 That by ambition's airy visions sped, 
 
 He to the temple willingly was led, 
 
 And sacrificed his honour and his trust— 
 
 The way was open then for any lust 
 
 That opportunity and motive felt; 
 
 His conflict was but short; he rose — he knelt —
 
 I9S INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 TTie work was done — and at the close of prayer 
 His soul unshackled, hovered in the air. 
 As side by side the bodies laid in rest. 
 Each of his own contour and mien possest. 
 His master's, the most graceful, was his choice; 
 And all resolved as sovereign to rejoice. 
 He entered, animated, filled his frame, 
 And great Amradda, to the eye, became. 
 Now conscience yields her office; sin betimes 
 Wings barbed flight, and sheathes itself in crimes. 
 He would no slave that knew his secrets base; 
 That could his origin ignoble trace; 
 Nor, callous as his nature, could he yet 
 The deference he was used to feel, forget; 
 His daring could not meet the high control 
 Issuing through casement of his Prince's soul. 
 He drew his sabre, and with goaded speed 
 Gave his own carcase vile, its proper meed, 
 Severed its head, and stabbed its treacherous heart. 
 And justice smiled to see the life-blood start;
 
 Book IV.] AMRADDA. IW 
 
 Then instantly withdrew to palace air, 
 Its pomp, and pride, and luxury to share; 
 To meet the conjugal and infant kiss. 
 And hail the circle of domestic bliss. 
 Alas ! how sadly was reversed the fate 
 Of poor Amradda, who returned too late ! 
 His sold suspended, soon perceived the case. 
 And sickened with regret, reproach, disgrace; 
 Long floated o'er the forest and its bounds, 
 Uttering soft wail and interesting sounds. 
 When active cares of day-dreams were asleep 
 It gave kind Erebus its sorrows deep, 
 Bade Zephyrs with its pensive accents swell. 
 And waked to sympathy sweet Philomel. 
 Long thus he floated, till pervading moan 
 Found from each hollow a responsive tone. 
 And woodland was familiar with his grief. 
 And solitude administered relief. 
 Here had it been permitted him to stay 
 His years in lulling plaint had whiled away:
 
 200 INDIVIDUALITY. CBook IV. 
 
 But Brimha, wisdom's deity, displeased 
 
 With folly's insult, was not yet appeased; 
 
 And punishment but lost its edge, to be 
 
 New set to keener sensibility. 
 
 His soul, degenerate form of parrot filled. 
 
 Its nature quickened, and its motions willed; 
 
 And impulse spread his wings, and gave the road 
 
 To his dear birthright privileged abode. 
 
 He reached his palace, but no state, no word. 
 
 Made the gates open to their proper lord; 
 
 Sought at his chamber window, entrance, rest. 
 
 But found the pane resist his panting breast; 
 
 Flung his full eye upon Luchmea dear. 
 
 Pronounced her Bame repeatedly and clear. 
 
 Struck with his beak, fluttered his pinions green, 
 
 Gave to his iris colours radiant sheen. 
 
 And strove by every power that nature taught 
 
 To draw her gaze, and by her to be caught. 
 
 Success ensued; he met her lovely face; 
 
 He found hinaself inclosed in her embrace ;
 
 Book IV.] AMR ADDA. SOI 
 
 Heard himself much admired, but only heard 
 The admiration of a beauteous bird — 
 Heard, where his royal soul had royal birth, 
 The simple wonder at his plumage worth. 
 Now to a cage, for structure, beauty chaste. 
 And curious workmanship for royal taste 
 Committed, motionless, the stem decree 
 Thwarts nature's will, denies him liberty. 
 A moody prisoner on his perch he stands; 
 Hears the walls echo Kassee's high commands; 
 Sees his own servants willing homage pay 
 To him, as one of them, but yesterday ; 
 His plans subverted; and his regal crown 
 Descended through a line of full renown, 
 Sparkling upon the brow of one, whose heart 
 Reflecting sparkle never can impart. 
 But ah ! these were but sufferings slight, to those 
 Resulting from a husband's, father's throes; 
 And even these comparatively small, 
 To beinff forced to hear while thus in thrall
 
 S02 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 His recent actions audited, revised, 
 His faults exaggerated, criticised. 
 His very foibles turned to rididule, 
 His folly blazoned by a wily tool. 
 And when this climax-pungency of sense 
 But waked revenge to yield to impotence — 
 To vent in bitterness invective high 
 Such as rotean language could supply. 
 Merely to serve the pages of the court 
 For gaze, astonishment, and mock and sport. 
 At length with compUcated misery spent 
 Death freed Amradda from imprisonment, 
 And urged him to Narekha, till fit hour 
 Returned him by a transmigrative power. 
 His secret slept through ages; and then met 
 Narration from an holy anchoret. 
 
 Thus history tells, and thus beUef obtains 
 Where fancy over reason holds the reins;
 
 Book IV.] JUGGERNAUT. 80S 
 
 And thus the Hindoo mind, in every stage, 
 In every station, and from age to age, 
 Deals out the ignorance their fathers dealt, 
 And gropes in " darkness " solid, " that is felt." 
 
 How shocked is sensibility, as taught 
 The wondrous history of Juggernaut ! 
 How past all credit were the narrative 
 Did not truth sterling in the medium* live! 
 Their annual festival of monstrous thing 
 Borne on fanaticism's wildest wing. 
 Spreads horrors of a sinking deadly hue 
 That palsy thought, and faculties subdue. 
 Pilgrims, from India's farthest bounds proceed. 
 Nor time, diseases, distance, age impede; 
 The season hottest of the torrid zone — 
 Nor do they imincumbered go, alone — 
 With wives and children tediously they roam. 
 Many to reach no more their sheltered home. 
 * Rev. Claudius Buchanan, D. D.
 
 204 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 At every caravansera flow in 
 Wailing and sickness, boisterous noise and din; 
 Still gathering thousands multiplied, as near 
 They gain the temple point to which they steer. 
 Increasing vicinage appearing plain. 
 To mock the rapture of the vagrant brain, 
 By shout increasing, and increasing spread 
 Of gasping nature, and unburied dead. 
 For twenty leagues around, the land is strewed 
 With pilgrims' bones by weary way subdued, 
 Picked by the carrion birds, who hover where 
 Putrescent matter taints the upper air. 
 And left to blanch, and to excite disgust 
 Through tardy course of osseous change to dust. 
 Which no proportion bears, to the augment 
 By lives in honour of Rutt Jattra spent. 
 As tow'rds the goal with eagerness they press 
 The covered road embodied mass confess. 
 Backwards and forwards, far as optics push, 
 Torrents of wild impetuous mortals rush.
 
 Book IV.] JUGGERNAUT. 205 
 
 And scarce at distance vast, at early light, 
 
 The temple of their God appears in sight — 
 
 When those who lead the van the triumph tell — 
 
 legions aroimd give it sonorous swell. 
 
 Till one the sound of extacy, acclaim. 
 
 And repetition of their idol's name. 
 
 Prostrated instantly with one accord 
 
 Their homage and their worship they afford; 
 
 And still as others the same point attain 
 
 The same their adoration and their strain. 
 
 Nought heard at length but shrill vibrated note 
 
 Vociferated from imwearied throat. 
 
 At length they near the town of Juggernaut — 
 
 Sink, with idolatries enormous fraught ! 
 
 And join the myriads at the outer gate. 
 
 Who entrance, with impatience outraged, wait; 
 
 Prevented by a posted guard, tiU paid 
 
 By each, the shameful tax on pilgrims made. 
 
 " Made by what power ? " ah ! why such question ask ? 
 
 It is indeed a mortifying task
 
 «06 INDIVIDUALITY . [Book iV. 
 
 Censure to cast upon that native land 
 Which holds on most points exemplary stand- 
 Yet must the truth be told; — 'tis English race 
 On which the stigma falls, the sad disgrace. 
 It is the English government, that scorns 
 Oppression, yet exaction thus suborns. 
 It is the nation that for tolerance known 
 O'er nations rigorous asserts its throne, 
 Gives it full bearing in its sea-girt isle, 
 And bids all differences to love and smile — 
 Yet with poor Hindoos such high worth abjures; 
 And by hard imposts, for itself procures 
 A fountain of revenue all unclean. 
 Dishonourable, mercenary, mean. 
 It is the christian nation protestant 
 That thus a license is induced to grant 
 To gross idolatry — that takes a part 
 By fair exchange made at its proper mart; 
 Whilst in its senate, it can make pretence 
 Of delicacy not to give offence :
 
 Book IV.] JUGGERNAUT. 201 
 
 Thus thwarting purposes of christian care 
 
 That would for darkness, light and life prepare. 
 
 Strange inconsistency ! now to advance 
 
 A system horrible by countenance — 
 
 And now send missionaries to the fight 
 
 The heathen multitudes to proselyte. 
 
 Ah ! what the spring that prompts and reconciles 
 
 These jarring motives, these insidious wiles? 
 
 Speak honestly — and let it be confest 
 
 It has its rise and flow in interest. 
 
 This act proposed to Wellesley, was disdained; 
 
 He gave disapprobation prompt, unfeigned, 
 
 And left his government without the flaw 
 
 Of giving sanction to opprobrious law. 
 
 Udny too, plaudit claims for equal view — 
 
 For conduct to his Bible-tenets true — 
 
 And for his witness, that his honest word 
 
 Should for transmission stand upon record.
 
 a08 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book lY. 
 
 Now filled the tdwn — ^its precincts — and around 
 In all directions worshippers abou,nd. 
 Ere the great day of festival awake, 
 The idol's thirst for human blood to slake. 
 Well suited is the country to the feast — 
 A burning, barren, noisome, deadly waste; 
 Where by the motion of tempestuous surge 
 Mountains of sand from ocean's depth emerge, 
 Excluding from the eye itself sublime, 
 While from itself excluding work of crime. 
 Thus compassed is the temple, and the town, 
 Places of such resort — of such renown. 
 In the mid-space, no soft refreshing green, 
 No clear meandering rivulet is seen; 
 No zephyrs pure from surface of the deep 
 Can e'er bestow their own salubrious sweep; 
 Soon as they pass that land contagious o'er 
 They're ftill polluted, to be pure no more; 
 Corrupt effluvia spreads infectious wings 
 And from the chamel its own treasures brings.
 
 Book IV.] JUGGERNAUT. 209 
 
 There the plains desolate are white with bones, 
 The legacies of human sighs and groans. 
 There famished pilgrims, squalid, ghastly, breathe 
 But want and dire diseases to bequeathe. 
 There devotees with painted flesh, and hair 
 Tangled, and clotted o'er their shoulders bare, 
 Practise unheeded their selt-torturing woe, 
 A bliss that none but maddest madmen know. 
 There sacred bulls for ceremony led. 
 By pilgrims' common charity are fed; 
 And senses are assailed in every way 
 That can produce disgust, distress, dismay. 
 And Golgotha is near, of sculls the place, 
 So by the English called — where ends the race. 
 But, for the cleansing current of the air 
 Which draws o'er ocean's surface pure and rare. 
 Disease contagious must for ever rage 
 Which skill and caution scarcely could assuage. 
 Birds of sweet song, bright plumage, buoyancy, 
 That warbling sit, or flit from tree to tree, 
 
 P
 
 210 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 Are never heard of here : but in their stead— 
 And oft before the pilgrim be quite dead — 
 The vulture finds the prey, and with his beak 
 Will parts susceptive, the intestines seek; 
 Soon aided by the Hurgeela, vain 
 Of ravening bill — the strong gigantic crane. 
 The bodj^s flesh still for their work too firm, 
 Has yet to wait a little longer term, 
 Ere hungry dogs the circumstance discern 
 By well known step of Hurries * quick return. 
 As soon as they approach, the birds retreat, 
 Till they have rended it from head to feet, 
 And by their violence, afforded power 
 To lacerate the muscles and devour. 
 Here the insidious jackall plays his part. 
 And makes the tendons, ventricles, to start ! 
 Such is the fact — so terrible the scene 
 On waste of glaring sands, and bare terrene i 
 ♦ Corpse carriers.
 
 Bookiy.] JUGGERNAUT. SI I 
 
 Whilst ocean's constant dirge from Bengal's bay 
 Seems to send forth one lamentation lay. 
 He mourns the witness he's obliged to bear 
 To deeds that blast the earth with black despair. 
 His sympathizing bosom still receives 
 The utterance that departing spirit leaves; 
 Sighs to its sigh, and heaves to every gale 
 That may convey afar the sickening tale. 
 The middle air is rent with shout and noise^ 
 Abandoned reason's wild tumultuous joys. 
 
 Now wakes the herald of the rising day 
 On which their Moloch's glories they display; 
 And all is preparation for the hour 
 When Juggernaut shall reascend the tower — 
 Car of stupendous height, and ponderous weight; 
 Construction awkward as its purposed state; 
 Upborne by many wheels that slowly creep 
 And leave within the sands incision deep. 
 
 p2
 
 «1« INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 Six cables of proportioned size and length 
 Are harness for a host of sinewy strength, 
 Who still are scarce sufficient to effect 
 The motion which admiring men expect. 
 Upon the top the throne is highly placed, 
 With priests and satellites surrounding graced; 
 And faces, as the pebbles on the shore, 
 Are all impassioned to send forth their roar. 
 The moment comes — the idol with acclaim 
 Only commensurate to Moloch's fame. 
 Is fi'om the temple brought, and raised on high 
 With all preposterous proper majesty. 
 Upon the throne at due meridian heat 
 The lumbering log is placed upon his seat, 
 When rises instantly wild pleasure's yell — 
 A dizzy senseless stun no tongue can tell — 
 Which knows no pause, no modulation knows, 
 And threatens never to arrive at close; 
 Made up of hissing, whistling, clamour, hoot, 
 Discordancies supreme and absolute !
 
 Hook IV.) JUGGERNAUT. 213 
 
 At length subsiding noise affords a calm, 
 And stillness for an interval has charm; 
 When at a distance swells a murmuring sound — 
 Instant in one direction eyes are foimd — 
 And men embodied, each with verdant branch, 
 And rapid step approach, and manner staunch. 
 A way for them is opened — they advance. 
 Cast tow'rds the god an adoration glance. 
 And prostrate all before the throne appear, 
 To worship liim who sits tliereon with fear. 
 Again, like bursting thiuider is the shout — 
 No voice of melody is heard throughout; 
 Nor sweet devotion soothes the soul to peace; 
 Nor spirit's influence bids emotion cease. 
 
 Of what is idol Juggernaut composed? 
 How startles reason at the truth disclosed ! 
 A block of wood, as solid as immense. 
 Is principle of his intelligence;
 
 «14 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 And probably among the hands upreared, 
 
 Those that wrought out this hideous form appeared* 
 
 At once the maker and the worshipper 
 
 Of one who evidently cannot err. 
 
 A terrifying vision he displays 
 
 That every gazing foreigner dismays. 
 
 Black his complexion painted, and his mouth 
 
 Blood-red, distended, and of form imcouth. 
 
 Ghttering with ornament and gems, behold 
 
 His dress magniiicient, his arms of gold ! 
 
 Five elephants the three-fold towers lead on. 
 
 Each cloathed with crimson rich caparison. 
 
 High waving flags of India's nicest art, 
 
 Gew-gaw frivolities from every mart, 
 
 And pendent bells of choicest metal cast. 
 
 Whose tones 'gainst tumult languidly contrast^ 
 
 As onward moving variably, slow. 
 
 Their harmonies irregularly flow.
 
 nook IV.] JUGGERNAUT. 816 
 
 Now the parade is stopped — the rites begin — 
 Fooleries of gross obscenity and sin, 
 The car at several pauses is removed, 
 As though the pleasure of the god it proved ; 
 This part performed, the next is understood 
 To be the pouring out of human blood ; 
 For which the tower advances— when behold 
 Pilgrims to rank fanaticism sold 
 Appear before it, and with out-stretched arms. 
 Grimace, and attitude that passion warms. 
 Prostrate themselves to earth — and Moloch*s wheels 
 Midst acclamations wild, and yelling peels. 
 Crush them to flatness, and at every pore 
 Drive from the ventricles the vital gore. 
 To Golgotha the mangled corses borne. 
 No hand to cover find — no eye to mourn. 
 
 Such, and for many days, these triumphs fell 
 O'er broad Orissa's territories swell —
 
 «1« INDIVIDUALITY, [Book IV. 
 
 Meet from Mirsapour's mountains a rebound 
 
 And liquefy again to spreading sound — 
 
 To Manripatnam give their dreadfid tale — 
 
 Murmur through Kalicotta's winding vale — 
 
 Faint and still fainter o'er Colaspour creep. 
 
 Till in satiety's dull breast they sleep. 
 
 Would they might wake no more ! would that ere long 
 
 This tide of voice may pour forth Sion's song ! 
 
 Give to the noisome waste its high perfume 
 
 And " where the thorn appears bid myrtles bloom ! ** 
 
 Ah ! what the period that Omniscience willed 
 This promise sweet and large to be fulfilled ! 
 Not that, which while it wakes the soul to shame 
 Cannot the love of power and lucre tame — 
 That while the myriads in such " darkness sit '* 
 Christians so called, can coolly witness it — 
 Can almost from their government supreme 
 Obtain the savage joy's licentious scream —
 
 Book IV.] JUGGERNAUT. Jfl? 
 
 Can almost in Calcutta's busy street 
 The crimson tide of superstition meet, 
 Yet think it foreign to their interest 
 To stem by influence such deadly pest 1 
 Not that, in which the sons of Albion give 
 Their yearly thousands that such things may live- 
 Freely their vile enormities support. 
 And through apostate means a people comt— 
 Not till more faithful are we — it is feared, 
 Their film will be removed, their eyesight cleared. 
 
 Which are most blind — those without sacred light. 
 Or those who having it, will shut their sight? 
 Not such the happy, who the precepts know — 
 But knowing them, the happy are, who do. 
 They know them not — in ignorance they err— 
 The prayer they to their sculptured god prefer 
 Is offered in sincerity and joy — 
 His fancied attributes their tongues employ;
 
 818 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 His power accredited excites their fear; 
 
 His goodness wakes the rapture of their cheer; 
 
 And though abominations such disgust. 
 
 And blasphemous appear to purer trust. 
 
 Yet far as ardours with profession burn, 
 
 The Christian from the Hindoo much may learn. 
 
 How inconsistent is the tenderness 
 That for all sentient beings they profess? 
 How morbid their extreme solicitude 
 To guard the meanest class with life imbued. 
 While age and infancy, as deeds of course. 
 Are given to breathe their last without remorse! 
 Fearful to crush the reptile, or to bruise 
 Their coil, as gathering in the early dews — 
 And dreading lest in darkness they should fling 
 Percussive air against the insect's wing. 
 They never rise, till light's sufficient ray 
 Gives them to clear the dangers on their way:
 
 Book IV.] HINDOOS. 219 
 
 But light's sufficient ray oft leads them forth 
 
 Despight of innocence, and kin, and worth, 
 
 The rites of barbarism to fulfil — 
 
 Parents, and children, and diseased, to kill. 
 
 Where Ganges rolls its lull majestic tide 
 
 Bearing rich merchandize from side to side. 
 
 Curling its waves with ever-varying grace. 
 
 And blending them in never-ceasing chace — 
 
 Whose sloping margins, soft with verdure fine. 
 
 And leaved with palmy arborage, combine 
 
 To court meridian slmnbers, soul-repose. 
 
 And meditation sweet at evening close — 
 
 River of ancient fame for virtue great 
 
 As passport easy, sure, to better state — 
 
 Amidst thy beauty, cool and soft and green, 
 
 What dark atrocities are ever seen ! 
 
 There, to the goddess of thy sacred source 
 
 As offering pure of adoration force. 
 
 Through vows which burst fi'om passion's varied spring. 
 
 Parents the pledge of love connubial bring,
 
 220 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 Give its light limbs to spread on buoyant wave. 
 
 Or whirl in rapid flow to distant grave, 
 
 Or treat for shark, or laid with infant smile, 
 
 A morsel for amphibious crocodile: 
 
 Or should the innocents from latent cause 
 
 Appear to militate 'gainst nature's laws 
 
 By willing not the lacteal draught prepared — 
 
 In wicker work suspended high, and bared. 
 
 The carrion bird no mercy has to grant, 
 
 Nor fly's proboscis, nor sharp stinging ant. 
 
 To Ganges aged pilgrims feinting come 
 
 To seek within its waters final home; 
 
 Persuaded through their superstition dire 
 
 That thus religious merit they acquire. 
 
 And helplessness, without a pang, is torn 
 
 From those it fostered, loved — and thither borne 
 
 To rid its progeny of what it seems 
 
 Their savage nature an incumbrance deems. 
 
 Instant as maladies are fatal known 
 
 Assuasives, tenderness, no more is shown;
 
 Book IV.] HINDOOS. 221 
 
 Trouble, expense, and care are at an end — 
 And generous relative, and faithful friend 
 Is borne to Ganges' coast without delay 
 Victim to inhumanitys display. 
 No sympathy is there — no tearful eye 
 Watches, expiring comfort to supply; 
 Placed on the brink of consecrated flow 
 What torments does the sufferer undergo ! 
 His legs immersed — his head and body o'er 
 The fluid pure continually they pour, 
 While ventilating mediums of the breath 
 Are stuffed with clay to aggravate his death. 
 Thus, from the agony of fountain woes. 
 And that, of suffocations dreadful throes, 
 The Hindoo with convulsed, distorted strife, 
 A farewell renders to his wretched life. 
 
 Is there aught worse? let each for self compare — 
 Draw his own scale, and plant his climax there:
 
 222 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 But is not female immolation worse — 
 
 Constraint to burn, a more decided curse? 
 
 Widows in prime of years and faculty 
 
 To be required by pmigent death to die; 
 
 To be initiated in suicide; 
 
 To make the captives, christian's shame, their pride; 
 
 For one deluded duty, to forego 
 
 All others that the soft affections know; 
 
 To be incited by it, by the claim 
 
 Of highest heaven — never-dying fame ; 
 
 Can aught than this be worse — or deeper shock 
 
 Our nature's sense — or more Omniscience mock? 
 
 Instances are, of those who with the dead 
 
 Alive have been sepulchred to their head; 
 
 And hundreds whom illusive hopes beguile 
 
 Mount annually their husbands funeral pUe. 
 
 Women of highest birth and consequence, 
 
 Nurtured with delicacy's finest sense. 
 
 Of manners gentle, and of timid nerve 
 
 111 suited sturdy purposes to serve —
 
 Book IV.] FEMALE IMMOLATION. ^23 
 
 Through customs influence, are found indued 
 
 With self possession, and full fortitude, 
 
 The awful sacrifice to undergo 
 
 As hero or philosopher could show. 
 
 Can Europeans such strange facts receive? 
 
 Can moral nations monstrous crimes believe? 
 
 Can the clear view of revelation's land 
 
 Enormities so dreadful understand? 
 
 Zeibnissa! why did nature choose in thee 
 To represent her perfect symmetry? 
 Why were the Graces ready at her call 
 With motions exquisite, as prodigal? 
 Why did thy skin, wrought of the finest grain 
 Rise with the buoyant current of the vein, 
 And wear a tint of interest, that the white 
 Of boastful Europeans can't excite? 
 Why did thy animated eyes express 
 Thy soul of beaming truth and loveliness ?— -
 
 M4 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 They speak no more — early, in all the pride 
 And heroism of widowed grief, she died. 
 Rhaam Chund Pundit was no common youth — 
 His bosom teemed with dignity and truth. 
 His manly form, his strong and vigorous nerve 
 Were given, the noblest purposes to serve. 
 Braced as the cause impelled, for war or toil. 
 
 He never knew of fear a moment's coil. 
 
 He never knew of listlessness the bane — 
 
 He saw, and fled its pestilential train. 
 
 His eye would beam with pity's liquid swell; 
 
 His ardours would the softer passion tell; 
 
 He loved Zeibnissa with a steady fire 
 
 That fed itself — that never could expire. 
 
 The orbit of his infancy was ran 
 
 Ere that, of one so early loved, began. 
 
 Seven times, the earth its zodiack course had rolled 
 
 Rhaam's ingenerate bearings to unfold, 
 
 When Hera with maternal rapture wild 
 
 First saw and kissed her new born female child,
 
 Book IV.] ZEIBNISSA. 225 
 
 First gladly contemplated by her side 
 
 For Rhaam whom she loved, a future bride. 
 
 The mutual parents of the Khatry cast 
 
 In friendship's purest faith their years had past, 
 
 Which woke the wish congenial, that henceforth 
 
 The ties of blood might flow from those of worth. 
 
 To favour views so cherished, so endeared, 
 
 rudent, withdrawal from the world appeared, 
 lliat simple manners and innoxious arts 
 Might weave their roseate hours, entwine their hearts, 
 And studies suited to their sex and age 
 Blend in their sports, and fill their daily page. 
 Sanguine their hopes, decided was their choice. 
 Urged by one interest, one pledge, one voice; 
 And steady conduct, built on axiom sound, 
 Their fondest wishes nursed, matured, and crowned. 
 Ten years thus fled — the period high arrives 
 When Rhaam's bliss with dear Zeibnissa's lives. 
 Aflianced, ripening years are wanting still 
 To aid the judgment, to restrain the will : 
 
 Q
 
 22S INDIVIDUALITY. IBook IV. 
 
 But sweet the passing interval, when known 
 That each for each improves, and lives alone. 
 Attachment germinated, buds and blows — 
 It sets, expands, and in perfection glows, 
 Zeibnissa long ere she becomes a bride 
 Finds Rhaam dearer far than all beside. 
 
 Now marriage forms preliminary, trace 
 In order due, their nature, time, and place. 
 Though on the match all parties are agreed. 
 The ceremonies solemn must precede. 
 The father of the bridegroom must demand 
 The bride, surrendered by her father's hand; 
 And word, and act, and method in reply 
 Must correspond with the solemnity. 
 The day is fixed, the rooms prepared of state 
 The nuptial festival to celebrate; 
 Fine chintz and linen line the Pandal wall, 
 And flowers in garlands decorate the hall.
 
 Book IV.] ZKIBNISSA- «S7 
 
 Under a canopy of broidered gold 
 With faces to the east the pair behold, 
 Whilst Brahmans on each side, and guests abound 
 Who sit on costly-covered floor around. 
 The centre with allusive rich device 
 Embellished — chosen spot for sacrifice — 
 Presents the lighted altai', vi^hilst the priest 
 With reverential bow towards the east, 
 Opens the sacred book — the gods implore — 
 And reads the passages appropriate o*«r. 
 Throughout the service he the flame supplies 
 With sandal wood, and benzoin's luxuries, 
 Which often as renewed, fling round the room 
 Their exquisitely-delicate perfume. 
 Worship to each of triad power is paid; 
 And as these holy offerings are made. 
 At stated intervals the blooming pair 
 Walk round the place of sacrifice and prayer. 
 The priest, the father of the bride demands. 
 Who gives his daughter, and unites their hands, 
 
 q2
 
 228 INDIVIDUALITY, [Book IV. 
 
 And supplicates the deities, the deed 
 
 To witness, vindicate, and to succeed. 
 
 The tali to the bridegroom given, is tied 
 
 Around the neck all graceful of his bride. 
 
 He swears before the nuptial fire, to prove 
 
 His honour, sympathy, protection, love. 
 
 To symbols of economy then leads — 
 
 Places her hand upon them, and concedes 
 
 The regulation of domestic things. 
 
 Dry rice with saffron mixed, the Brahman brings, 
 
 Sprinkles upon their shoulders, and again 
 
 Invokes the gods the union to maintain. 
 
 Processions grand and splendid now commence — 
 
 Palkees of number and magnificence, 
 
 Horses and elephants with trappings gay. 
 
 Bearing respective friends in rich array, 
 
 The town and its vicinity parade — 
 
 The lovely couple close the cavalcade.
 
 Book IV.] ZEIBNI8SA. S29 
 
 Now at the gala see the happy throng; 
 Now follow fireworks, dancing-girls, and song; 
 Illuminations noon-day beams supply, 
 And radiate the resplendent pageantry. 
 Brahmans and principals presented are 
 With gifts to each well suited, rich, and rare. 
 Redress is gained for sufferers long aggrieved; 
 The poor munificently are relieved; 
 And social gladness, of extent and praise. 
 Is liberally diffused for many days. 
 
 Happy, as far as happiness has place 
 Within experience of the human race 
 Were Rhaam and Zeibnissa — theirs the zest 
 Of genuine mind^ of an untainted breast, 
 Of gentle manners, pleasures kind and fair 
 And incorrupt, as those of the first pair. 
 So happy — as almost its sense to luU-^ 
 So uniform, continuous, and full.
 
 «© INDIVIDUALITY. f Book IT. 
 
 Their broad palmyra, date, and eocoa shades — 
 Their cool recesses and their fertile glades. 
 Oft sheltered from a world's unwelcome noise. 
 And witnessed their harmonious artless joys. 
 Three children crowned their union — Was there aught 
 That could be added to a state so fraught? 
 Alas ! they had their climax-height attained — 
 Affliction, all gradation-steps disdained — 
 One sad event the medium ones supplied — 
 Rhaam in bloom of manhood, sickened — died.. 
 
 His only wife Zeibnissa dear had been; 
 His only widow now at scarce eighteen. 
 With grief transported, as with ardour fired. 
 Soon as her husband and her bliss expired — 
 Scorning to wait the term for thought allowed 
 Instant to Brahmans present, she avowed 
 Her piety, her resolution stern, 
 Her nerves of strength, with Rhaara's corpse to bun*.
 
 Book IV.} ZEIBNiSSA. 231 
 
 As law does not require this sacrifice. 
 
 But simply recommends it to the wise. 
 
 The voluntary victim has of course 
 
 To stem the arguments of kindred force. 
 
 Their force Zeibnissa stemmed — parental eyes 
 
 Filled from the heart — the fount of ag(Hiies — 
 
 Parental hands now wrung, uplifted now, 
 
 Tlie humid eloquence on upraised brow. 
 
 The prayer imploring till the faultering breath 
 
 Seems the petitioner to yield to death — 
 
 This force Zeibnissa stemmed — and infants* charms. 
 
 And lisping melodies, and outsti*etched arms. 
 
 And helpless innocence, and mimic tones 
 
 Of those who ceaseless filled the air with moans. 
 
 And features, which the portraitures bestow 
 
 Of him departed, source of stiffened woe — 
 
 All these Zeibnissa stemmed— deluded youth 
 
 Is adamantine, as primordial truth. 
 
 When friends displayed maternal duties large. 
 
 Responsibilities on ©Spring's charge.
 
 232 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 " He who has given will prove his tender care," 
 
 She said, " Oh spare me — tests of torture spare ! '* 
 
 Yes ! life she had abjured — 'twas vapid all — 
 
 And sufferings that another might appal, 
 
 To her were passport only to that shore 
 
 Where Rhaam and his wife should part no more. 
 
 When shown the solemn forms, the dreadful pyre. 
 The terrors, torments of consuming fire, 
 She held her finger in a steady flame 
 With perseverance cautery could not tame. 
 One hand, of flexile play and softest skin, 
 The other, cinders glowing placed within, 
 And sprinkled incense o'er with pious cheer 
 To fumigate her friends and Brahmans near. 
 Thus firm of purpose — one resource was left — 
 Of power they told her, she must be bereft ; 
 She should not be allowed to burn. Suiprized — 
 With disappointment almost paralyzed,
 
 Book IV.] ZEIBNI8SA. ?S3 
 
 She suddenly exclaimed, " Still in my power 
 
 " It is, to urge my being's mortal hour; 
 
 " And if denied my privilege by cast, 
 
 " I'll die the lingering death of stubborn fast." 
 
 All opposition now was at an end; 
 
 Thus absolute, 'twas hopeless to contend; 
 
 Assent extorted through parental throes, 
 
 At length yields importunity repose. 
 
 With vapour big, with gloom portentous hung 
 The clouds their shadows on the Ganges flung; 
 Or scarcely there did gleam of light pervade, 
 To break the settled darkness into shade. 
 Turbid its waters rolled, wave following wave 
 Tlie ship to heave, the rocky coast to lave, 
 Wlicn early, the remains of Rhaam, reach 
 The preparations near the shelving beach. 
 Pligh was the pile, built with the nicest skill 
 Its terrible intention to fulfil.
 
 854 INDIVIDUALITY. [Beok X¥. 
 
 Upon the top an arbour arched appears 
 
 O'erspread with evergreens, bedewed with tears; 
 
 One open side, the body dead displays 
 
 To the promiscuous people's curious gaze. 
 
 And to Zeibnissa mean of entrance, given 
 
 To take by violence her pagan heaven. 
 
 'Twas long ere noon, when Rhaam's widow, deckt 
 
 In ornaments, such custom to respect. 
 
 Followed the corpse to sacred Ganges side — 
 
 River supreme of Hindoo trust and pride J 
 
 With parents, children, friends — a weeping throng,, 
 
 And multitudes who poured their wailing song. 
 
 Suspense held aweful interval— an hour 
 Cassam had passed the sun's meridian power. 
 Ere " leave for burning " — order legal, sad. 
 Came from the Fouzdaar of Mascud-abad; 
 Brought by the Soubah's representative 
 To witness that the widow would not live.
 
 Boek IV.] ZEIBNISSA. SS» 
 
 The time was spent ia act of various prayer, 
 
 Ablution, ardent h<^e, a^d dying care. 
 
 Arrived, Zeibnissa with a dearer few 
 
 (Oh Heral wliat tliy pungencies) — withdrew. 
 
 Her fortitude, still strengthening, to impart. 
 
 To reassure a mother's breaking heart. 
 
 To say that all would soon be overpast. 
 
 When she in fields of ether, ambient, vast. 
 
 Should rcap the glory of her present day — 
 
 There should they meet henceforth and blissful stray. 
 
 She saw it vain to linger — deluged eyes 
 
 And bursting bosoms were her sole replies. 
 
 With hurried spirits, and with eager haste 
 
 Her apron loosened from her slender waist. 
 
 She in it finger-rings and ear-rings tied. 
 
 Bracelets, and every ornament of pride; 
 
 Then to the corner of the pile advanced — 
 
 O'er it, and o'er the multitude she glanced — 
 
 Turned to the waiting Brahmans, and around 
 
 A fire symboUc, kindled on the ground.
 
 236 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV, 
 
 Sat with them needful time to exercise 
 
 The ceremonies, which their law supplies. 
 
 One laid upon her ready hand, a leaf 
 
 Of consecrated bale, of woods the chief 
 
 Prepared for ceremonies to the dead, 
 
 Then various symbolics upon it spread 
 
 Of great significance and ancient fame — 
 
 All these she calmly threw into the flame. 
 
 Another Brahman on her outstretched palm 
 
 Another bale leaf laid, with other charm ; 
 
 Dropped thrice upon it ghee, whose unctuous flow 
 
 Excited blaze again from ember glow; 
 
 Then gave it also to destructive heat 
 
 To render antecedent acts complete. 
 
 Whilst these were in performance, parts assigned 
 
 Well calculated to support her mind. 
 
 The Brahman principal, with pathos sheds 
 
 Upon her ear attentive from the Veds, 
 
 And questions her as conscience may advise — 
 
 Pious and self-possessed were her replies;
 
 Rook IV.] ZElfiNISSA. SS7 
 
 Steady her countenance, and all serene 
 As rising to the final dreadful scene. 
 
 Now taries large and wide-mouthed, spread around 
 Their deep, their mournful, penetrating sound. 
 And tantams' hollow tympanum seems proud 
 To be most prominent, most stunning loud; 
 And dole's monotonous imceasing hum 
 By friction wrought, nor clamorous is, nor dumb; 
 And talan's brazen shields, with upborne swing 
 Give their percussive animating ring; 
 The beins* vibrations their assistance lend; 
 Triangles clink; and conches' larums blend; 
 And lamentations bitter spend their wail; 
 And horror and discordancy prevail. 
 Tlie din is heard at Sheaspours' hills afar, 
 And Colliguam's echo back the jar. 
 
 Three times — the mystic number — was she led 
 Around the pyre on which reposed the dead.
 
 «S8 INDIVIDUALITY. iBook IV. 
 
 Tlie Brahmans with solemnity before 
 
 Affording still the Veda's strength and lore. 
 
 Three times she viewed the entrance as she passed— 
 
 ** I come " she cried, " this of forms the last 
 
 ** Thy hovering spirit waits this sacrifice 
 
 ** To wing with me its flight to other skies." 
 
 Returning to the spot from whence she rose, 
 
 Her conduct dignity, inherent shews. 
 
 She has to undergo the cruel smart 
 
 Than death more painful — from her friends to part. 
 
 With pressure ardent, she encircles each: 
 
 But daring not to trust herself with speech, 
 
 She waves her hand in eloquent farewell, 
 
 And looks more filial love than tongue could tell. 
 
 A Brahman now, to execute his charge 
 
 Immersed in ghee a wick of cotton large, 
 
 Lighted, and gave it to her for the deed; 
 
 Then to the arbour's open side they lead, 
 
 Where falling at her feet as she ascends. 
 
 She blesses them; — the air with sorrow rends.
 
 Book IV.l ZEIBNISSA. «» 
 
 She enters where her Rhaam stiffened lies- 
 Fixes upon his fac€ her speaking eyes — 
 Low reverence graceful at his feet she makes- 
 Advancing to his head her seat she takes — 
 Seems for a space in meditation high, 
 And feels if possible new energy. 
 To the combustible with motion quick 
 In different places thrice she plies the wick; 
 It flames — it crackles — showers of sparks emit — 
 But ah ! to leeward does its fury flit — 
 She sees it — rises with undaunted mien, 
 Unshaken purpose, countenance serene, 
 To windward lights the pile — resumes her seat. 
 And casts upon the corpse expression sweet. 
 The blaze contagious spreads, unites, conspires, 
 Gives to the roofs supporters quickened fires; 
 The power destructive weakens now their strength; 
 They yield — in fiirnace heat are laid at length; 
 The victim by the roof is covered o'er— 
 The living and the dead are seen no more!
 
 240 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 This, rending as it may appear, is still 
 Indulgence, through delusion of the willt 
 But nature will not easily believe 
 That such high fancies often can deceive; 
 Oh no ! since flame has no alternative 
 But with reproach and obloquy to live. 
 Imagination's vision may supply 
 The happy few with raptured choice to die; 
 And some through strength of frame and towering pride 
 Have in an energy of spirit died: 
 But these, rare instances, to trembling things 
 O'er whom the pile its blackest horrors flings, 
 And who, if left by friends and Brahmans free. 
 Would rather brave the threatened obloquy. 
 Such, wanting strength to stem the torrent's force 
 Are overborne to sue for life's divorce. 
 And by their savage relatives are led 
 In moments lost, bewildered, to the dead. 
 Shrink they from suffering ? there is no appeal 
 Alas ! to hearts that never knew to feel —
 
 Book IV.J FEMALE IMMOLATION. 241 
 
 They goad them to as fell a sacrifice 
 As superstition's madness can devise. 
 Compelled the elevation to ascend — 
 By strong coercion urged their days to end — 
 TTieir nearest relative the brand conveys 
 And sees well-pleased the all-devouring blaze; 
 While mirth indecent and gay unconcern 
 Evince how prevalent the deed to bum. 
 Shouts of the multitude surrounding rise 
 And drown the shrieks of burning agonies ! 
 
 Convulsed is nature at the monstrous act? 
 Do Britons scarcely credit it as fact? 
 Or reading and believing such things were, 
 Do they refuse their credence that they are? 
 Or seeing that they are, will they conclude 
 That rarely 'tis such instances intrude? 
 Or ,will they not without demur refuse 
 Acceptance to assertions of the Muse, 
 
 R
 
 442 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book IV. 
 
 That not alone the/re frequent, but increased 
 Since Britain has held empire in the east? 
 It is because their lukewarm hearts create 
 Them lukewarm ears, and interest subjugate: 
 It is because the all-prevailing arts 
 Of worldly gain create them lukewarm hearts : 
 Because soft luxury's destructive blight 
 Feeds on their verdure, does those arts excite, 
 Destroys their promise, cankers to the core, 
 And closes 'gainst demand each generous pore: 
 It is because they never pass the lines 
 Of their diurnal personal designs — 
 Can see no further than their eyes behold, 
 Can love no other than their native mould. 
 Can never realize, much less bring near. 
 The distant regions of our peopled sphere : 
 It is because they settle on their lees. 
 They give themselves to indolence and ease, 
 And though they hear a cry of far distress, 
 Cannot arouse such misery to redress.
 
 Book IV.] HOWARD. 243 
 
 Not so with all — ask to the full extent 
 Of prison-houses on the continent — 
 Even to Euxine's sea — whose pious love 
 With every difficulty, danger strove — 
 Familiarised itself with dungeon state 
 In hope its wretchedness to meliorate? 
 Won his bold way to Inquisition court — 
 Pressed his inquiry to a last resort — 
 Under assumed authority elate 
 Passed through the guard, far as the Bastile gate? 
 Who plunged in pestilence, through ardent aim 
 Its course to learn, its ravages to tame — 
 Exerted all his influence and address 
 To gain to Lazarettos free access — 
 Collate their systems, and improve their end, 
 Gauge their profound of woe, and vantage send? 
 Who ministered to all their ails relief — 
 Bound up the hearts relaxed by solvent grief- 
 Gave sanity to thought, to morals tone, 
 And spread abroad philanthropy his own? 
 
 R 2
 
 244 INDIVIDUALITY, [Book IV 
 
 Who was oft urged in other lands to roam, 
 
 And gave his wisdom stablishment at home — 
 
 Saw the barred edifice for penal man 
 
 Erected on a general healthful plan, 
 
 Embracing cleanliness, and light, and air, 
 
 The Bible, solitude, and watchful care? 
 
 Who knew on earth a heaven — lived to dispense, 
 
 And died a martyr to benevolence, 
 
 And distant died, where Nieper's waters roll? 
 
 The man of christian faith ; the great of soul ! 
 
 Howard ! thy work was done — Omniscient Power 
 
 Withdrew thee in impressive climax hour, 
 
 And left to those thy spirit may have fed, 
 
 Onward to push the cause elicited. 
 
 Oh! thine was toil original and high. 
 
 Replete with genius as philanthropy! 
 
 'Twas love that cannot be misunderstood — 
 
 'Twas grasp comprising universal good !
 
 Book lY.] AFRIC'S LIBERATOR. 24T /L^<^ 
 
 Not frigid all — or why do Afric's marts 
 For Britons teem no more with aching hearts? 
 Why do those hearts, as whelmed in deep distress 
 Still for " that loving country " pray and bless ? 
 Why do those merchantmen who cannot dare 
 Their name and pennants national to bear, 
 Skulk under cover of a great deceit, 
 Seamen, and ship, and colours counterfeit. 
 Swindle the purchase of the human race 
 And draw upon their coimtrymen disgrace? 
 Traders in nerves and muscles contraband ! 
 Traitors to feelings of their native land ! 
 WTiy do we see within our western isles 
 Despair's hard cheek relaxed to kindred smiles; 
 The sullen brow on vengeance darkly bent. 
 Levelled to resignation and content; 
 The eye that never waked to radiant light 
 But with the wish to shroud again in night, 
 Now upward cast to meet the solar good. 
 And ghstening with the tear of gratitude ?
 
 246 INDIVIDUALITY. (Book IV. 
 
 How is it beings wrenched in agonies 
 
 From nature's fondest sweetest charities, 
 
 Now know the full of man's domestic bliss, 
 
 Feel the warm conjugal parental kiss, 
 
 And while they're led to cultivate a soil 
 
 'Neath torrid suns, endure their abject toil 
 
 With meek anticipation of the hours 
 
 Of evening solace in their rustic bowers ? 
 
 How, thus at last the birth-place of their tribe 
 
 Legitimate attachment they imbibe — 
 
 With growing privileges are possest 
 
 And taste the charm of patriot interest ? 
 
 How was this all produced? By christian love; 
 
 By perseverance that no thwart could move; 
 
 No disappointment oft repeated, nrnnb; 
 
 No selfish opposition overcome; 
 
 Whose impulse ardent, and whose motive pure, 
 
 Knew well to combat, to retreat, endure, 
 
 And pledged himself to urge the righteous cause 
 
 As long as he bore influence on the laws.
 
 Book I V.J AFRIC'S LIBERATOR. 347 
 
 Importunate he sued on Scripture plan 
 For simple, honest, genuine rights of man ; 
 And when accomplished the great end he sought 
 Gave God the glory of achievement wrought. 
 
 £ND of THB fourth BOOjIC.
 
 •T '>n* 
 
 t '.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY- 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 3lrguiticnt» 
 
 India — British Religious Systems — Subject of the Poem 
 resumed. 
 
 The Christian exertions of Buchanan — Anxiety 
 that the representations he has aftbrded the public 
 may meet with the full success of his hopes con- 
 cerning them, and that the clauses introduced in 
 the Bill for renewal of the East India Company's 
 charter, relative to an ecclesiastical and episcopal 
 establishment in the British territories there, may 
 be put into effect — Important interests involved in 
 it — The petitions tiiat crowded the House of Com- 
 mons to advance it — The danger of letting slip the 
 present opportunity — Opportunity fancifully pour- 
 trayed — Address to the Directors and Proprietors 
 of the East India Company — Not all narrow-minded
 
 230 IxVDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 — The disinterested conduct of Missionaries — The 
 mental and extensive energies of Wellesley — Address 
 to those who cavil at such spirited and benevolent 
 acts — Tribute of acknowledgment to the promoters 
 and supporters of tuition for the poor — Such systems 
 the genuine productions of Christianity, and the 
 legitimate offspring of Freedom — Impulsive glow of 
 gratitude towards The British and Foreign Bible 
 Society — Tribute to the Society for promoting Chris- 
 tian Knowledge — Intreaty for its co-operation with 
 the former— Regret that the clergy of the Church 
 of England should not be agreed on so fundamental 
 a point in the reformation as the dissemination of 
 the Scriptures without note or comment — Tribute to 
 the Prayer-book and Homily Society — Religious sys- 
 tems the causes under God of the prosperity of En- 
 gland — Subject of the Poem resumed — Innate ideas 
 proved — The possession of powers beyond terrestrial 
 necessities, a strong proof of man's immortality — 
 Apostrophe of regret for those who see otherwise — 
 What the cause of such difference of vision — All 
 who seek will find — Man a free agent — Universally 
 the object of salvation — Grace variously appretiated, 
 cherished, and rejected — The facility of its attainment
 
 Book v.] ARGUMENT. 551 
 
 — Religious forms the most prolific source of man's 
 disunion — But the sources are infinite — Individuality 
 evidenced — Grace subdues, but does not eradicate — 
 In the same degree that it is slighted — Man degene- 
 rates — No two faces exactly alike — Illustrated by a 
 shepherd and his flock — To a discerning eye, Indivi- 
 duality exists in every thing belonging to the three 
 kingdoms, animal, vegetable, and mineral — All per- 
 sons and things created on one universal plan.
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 JuiVES there a Champion for the poor Hindoo? 
 Oh yes ! and bears a heart as warm, as true ! 
 And combatants of equal terror dares, 
 And with an equal energy declares 
 
 ' Until the Bengal government supreme 
 
 ' Shall utterly impracticable deem 
 
 * The conquest o'er the custom so abhorred 
 ' As female immolation must afford, 
 
 ' He will not cease the English ear to wrest 
 
 * A subject so important to digest." 
 He says — and him we readily believe 
 Because he has no motive to deceive — 
 Because his philanthropic christian aim 
 
 Has made us love his labours, bless his name —
 
 254 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 He says, and proves, that frequent are these things; 
 Plain references, placed on record brings; 
 Speaks of the possible to quash such scenes, 
 And names the Brahmans to appoint the means. 
 They have already shewn them — lenient, wise. 
 Such at all points as remedy supplies: 
 But lucre's sordid passion, hating right. 
 Will not permit them to be brought to light. 
 He tempted Indian seas, and Indian sun, 
 With tropic ardour for his work begun. 
 And persevered with judgment and with toil 
 The Hindoo state to prove on native soil. 
 Matured in faithfiilness of Christian school 
 Disdaining limits of ambition's rule. 
 He bade his leisure faculties embrace 
 The character peculiar of their race; 
 He bade his leisure hours with truth explore, 
 Tlie source and nature of their genuine lore. 
 Thus furnished, when his civil labours ceased. 
 Those of philanthropy sublime, increased ;
 
 Book v.] CHRISTIANIZING INDIA. ?55 
 
 And with exhaustless course he travelled o*er 
 
 Peninsulaen land from shore to shore; 
 
 Gave himself to obtain, compare, digest, 
 
 And with the purest motives to attest 
 
 What has been done by missionary zeal, 
 
 What yet is hoped, for broad Hindostan's weal. 
 
 Four years he thus devoted — each an age 
 
 Upon the close investigator's page— 
 
 Or century, to superficial glance 
 
 Of those whose sordid eye looks out askance 
 
 With jealous watchfulness and fear, lest aught 
 
 Of public good their private ends should thwart. 
 
 Say, what could such afford, intelligent 
 
 Of Hindoo systems, manners, morals, bent. 
 
 Were they in settlement to number o'er 
 
 Their years from infancy e'en to fourscore? 
 
 Is it a soiu-ce of sorrow that the wise 
 
 Are rarely understood beneath the skies? 
 
 Or is it rather confirmation sure 
 
 From all they nobly strive for, and endure—
 
 256 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 The contradiction and contempt they meet, 
 
 The arduous struggle crushed by sad defeat, 
 
 And all the wondrous waste of christian love. 
 
 Their faithfulness recorded is above? 
 
 When man's plain object is distended good. 
 
 How can he truly be misunderstood. 
 
 Except by those who never knew the charm 
 
 Of energy disinterested, warm ? 
 
 Ah ! were he here a century to come, 
 
 When long his spirit has known heavenly home. 
 
 He would weep tears of grateful joy to see 
 
 The men for whom he sought true freedom, free. 
 
 Ye who hold charter under British boast 
 And double with your merchant-men her coast — 
 Whose colours by propitious breeze unfurled 
 To circumnavigate the nether world. 
 Pilot the ready track convoyed, assured. 
 In science of Hindostan trade matured —
 
 UuokV.] CHRISTIANIZING INDIA. «57 
 
 Wliich, scarcely lightened of exported weight 
 
 Are fest replenished with rich eastern freight, 
 
 And homewards the Atlantic billows plow 
 
 Senses to pamper, children to endow — 
 
 Oh ! wake to fair consistency — reduce 
 
 Your gains derived from reason's strong abuse; 
 
 Upon improved and ductile intellect 
 
 The truths of revelation pure erect; 
 
 Minds covered with gross darkness radiate; 
 
 And give your vigour to accelerate 
 
 That bright epocha, when one light, one voice, 
 
 One people shall inform, inspire, rejoice ! 
 
 Success attend the memoir, statement, zeal, 
 Still operating tow'rds colonial weal ; 
 Still urging on their parent kingdom heed 
 To give the teaching which they so much need; 
 That while they're tributary to the state 
 Their proper interests may excite debate; 
 
 S
 
 S56 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 And nurture broad, and privileges just 
 
 Be rendered to the subjects of our trust ! 
 
 Success attend " the sketch of " high intent, 
 
 " Ecclesiastical Establishment 
 
 " For British India " fitted to dispense 
 
 The needful good for varied exigence. 
 
 And give our settlements of far renown 
 
 Security and honour, base and crown ! 
 
 This work effected, what a glorious field 
 
 For christian harvest will its influence yield ! 
 
 For soldiers, armies, christian-born, baptized, 
 
 And through their growing years well catechized, 
 
 Bearing fair promise o'er Atlantic wave. 
 
 But finding for iheir principles a grave. 
 
 Sent to defend where British power controls. 
 
 Assert an empire, and surrender souls. 
 
 For British Christians launched in early prime 
 
 To seek for wealth through risk of fervid clime— 
 
 For native Christians, thousands multiplied, 
 
 Without a hand to lead, a head to guide.
 
 Book v.] CHRISTIANIZING INDIA. 969 
 
 A body organized to claim respect, 
 A local church to shelter and protect. 
 This, like our vernal sun, by warmth and light 
 Would penetrate old Superstition's night — 
 Vanquish its horrors, dissipate its gloom, 
 Its folhes and depravities entomb, 
 Give the Hindoo to reason's sober ray- 
 To the effulgence of the christian day. 
 
 Success attend it ! may its object warm. 
 Its love inspire, its cognizance inform, 
 Its arguments convince, its spirit move 
 Our senators their sympathy to prove ! 
 May they with full conception of its worth 
 Bid the prolific policy go forth ! 
 May British impulse pass the noble act. 
 Ere private interest make the heart contract; 
 Ere groundless apprehensions tell their tale, 
 Mock the transparent system, and prevail ! 
 
 s2
 
 260 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V 
 
 Responsibility's attached, as fit, 
 
 To ill we do, to good that we omit; 
 
 And to withhold utility's broad plan 
 
 For narrow cause, is perfidy in man. 
 
 If 'tis each representative's intent 
 
 His people faithfully to represent — 
 
 And if his people, in their franchised choice. 
 
 Trusts he will plead its wishes, be its voice — 
 
 And if majority unbiassed, true. 
 
 Is honest system question to subdue. 
 
 Then let the legions of petitions — each 
 
 Marbled with names a legion — to beseech 
 
 Provision christian for their fellow man 
 
 Through regions wide and dark of Hindostan, 
 
 Pressing with borough, city, county weight. 
 
 Receive acknowledgment appropriate! 
 
 Oh ! give the sketch fuU space, attention full — 
 
 Let no kind heart be torpid — ear be dull — 
 
 Meet it as opportunity sublime 
 
 To balance the sterility of time;
 
 Book v.] CHRISTIANIZING INDIA. 991 
 
 " Permit not eyes to slumber, lids to close, 
 " The temples of the head to take repose, 
 " Until ye plant upon the heathen clod 
 " A stablished habitation for our God ! " * 
 
 While opportunity sublime it nears — 
 As full of wisdom, as 'tis full of years. 
 Wrought up to climax height, through rich supplies 
 Of observations sound, and judgments wise; 
 Of men sent out with talents parallel 
 The state of India, and its good to tell; 
 The time, occasion, place, and bias, fit 
 To bring it forward, and to settle it. 
 This period lost — who knows that issues breath 
 But ere another, he's consigned to death! 
 Gone to account for duties unfulfilled — 
 For love of his profession uninstilled — 
 Gone for ten thousand thousands to deplore. 
 Whose highest interests he can serve no more! 
 * Psalm czxxii. 4, 5.
 
 S«2 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Fancy has Opportunity pourtrayed 
 
 In genuine character of light and shade. 
 
 Upon a wheel, he calls for great resolve 
 
 Ere motion gives the blessing to devolve; 
 
 Wings on his feet, as all impatient prone 
 
 From dilatory mortals to be gone; 
 
 Behind bare-headed, that no seizure bold 
 
 When once escaped, can gain a lingering hold; 
 
 And floating hair, directed o'er his sight 
 
 To warn 'gainst idle undetermined light. 
 
 At distance small, a form is ever seen 
 
 With channelled cheeks, swoln eyes, and downcast mien 
 
 His substitute — who still the man pursues 
 
 That can such callings opportune refuse; 
 
 Repentance is her name; and bitter tears 
 
 Alone her beverage, through remaining years. 
 
 Fancy has hkewise dictated his speech 
 
 For moral pmposes our minds to teach, 
 
 That seldom he is seen by human eyes, 
 
 Though when depM*ted, wakes their keen surprize;
 
 Book v.] CHRISTIANIZING INDIA. 2aj 
 
 That found by few, though by the many sought, 
 He rarely gives effect to labouring thought. 
 That even while you listen to his lay 
 He vanishes — steals unperceived away ! 
 
 And ye who send your representative 
 Local efficiency throughout to give, 
 As legislator, and commander chief 
 For empire's safety, and for man's relief, 
 Lay not your imposts on those actions fell 
 Which rampant superstition loves so well, 
 That one incitement only — that the tru^ 
 Is visible to them in all ye do; 
 Thus rightly judging whatso'er ye boast, 
 Gold is the Deity ye love the most; 
 Gold is the object that with any stain — 
 In way anomalous — ye strive to gain. 
 Be ye consistent too ! and if indeed 
 Ye are adherents of the British creed,
 
 264 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Use all your influence whatso'er the cost- 
 Whatever transient vantages are lost — 
 Upon them British equity to press. 
 By proof its genuine virtues ye possess. 
 View them as subjects whose mistaken zest 
 Demands your tender care and interest; 
 As given you, not to grasp, reduce, devour. 
 But to exemplify Almighty power; 
 As conquered, not to yield their mineral dross. 
 But to receive the virtues of the Cross ; 
 As tributary, not to be our scorn. 
 But to stand equally with those free-born. 
 And view yourselves as Stewards, whose account 
 Must stand an audit for the full amount: 
 As called to graft; them well upon the stock; 
 To lead them gently with our common flock; 
 To draw them from their depths of ignorance 
 To tender them a new inheritance; 
 And prove the honoured instruments of grace 
 That pouit them to behold a Saviour's face.
 
 Book v.] CHRISTIANIZING INDIA. 86S 
 
 So did the Roman conquests prove the dawn 
 That heralded Great Britain's glorious mom ! 
 One missionary sowed the fertile seed — 
 What myriads bless the day, the act, the creed! 
 But not as niggards let them bless and use — 
 'Tis theirs to shed abroad, eject, diffuse. 
 Open new channels for its copious stream. 
 And see the margins with its comforts teem; 
 Duly the high prerogrative to prize, 
 To scatter scripture bread in large supplies. 
 And prove their faith and gratitude sincere 
 By giving India what themselves hold dear ! 
 The fields are white to harvest — promise true 
 An hundred fold — but labourers are few; 
 Pray, and be willing, with the harvest's Lord, 
 Supply of earnest labourers to afford. 
 Permit, encourage missionary zeal 
 The truths of revelation to reveal ! 
 Make their way easy, straight, and competent 
 To temporal need and spiritual intent.
 
 2«6 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 See that they're worthy of the cause, and then 
 Be liberal to them, of them, as of men 
 Chosen for embassy diviner— to dare 
 Tidings of moment and of joy to bear. 
 Let not the Roman Catholics reflect 
 Disgrace upon our Church in this respect; 
 Nor christian sectuaries of various name 
 Leave us behind them in constituent aim. 
 If for the ritual of our church we're warm, 
 Plant it in India, in its genuine form; 
 Or if we feel superior, gospel worth. 
 Let that through any faithful class go forth; 
 And opening intellect the way will clear 
 As edifices regular appear. 
 Let christian knowledge be exported, ere 
 There can be need of British form of prayer ; 
 Nor press upon the mind the tendril part 
 Before the principle has reached the heart ! 
 England most liberal tolerance can boast. 
 Why then deny it to fi'atemal coast?
 
 Book v.] CHRISTIANIZING INDIA. S6T 
 
 Deny it ere 'tis wanted— ere the glow 
 
 Exists tliat sense of tolerance can know ? 
 
 It is subversion of precedency; 
 
 'Tis fine discernment ere the eye can see; 
 
 'Tis bartering real good for shadowed ill; 
 
 Perverting judgment to indulge the will. 
 
 Myriads of each denomination known 
 
 True to their given light surroimd the throne. 
 
 Honest inquiry far as we can know, 
 
 Consistent action far as we can gc^ 
 
 Conflict with nature's bait to nature's goal, 
 
 Is of responsibility the whole. 
 
 Oh ! let the savage, the deluded throng 
 
 Warble though wild the note, redemption's song, 
 
 Ere difference is felt about the way 
 
 In which they should attune their grateful lay ! 
 
 Ail systems issuing from the vital light 
 
 In spirit pure, well-pleasing in his sight 
 
 Who only calls for man's integrity — 
 
 His heart — his whole — unprejudiced and fre«.
 
 2M INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 In Heaven, where all who on this subject treat. 
 Each for the other trusts, will henceforth meet. 
 No questions will be put the road how fair. 
 The scheme how regular that bore them there— 
 From what establishment of Christendom, 
 What sectary, what offset, they are come — 
 What power engrafted them — what nurture trained- 
 How far exalted, and how far disdained-^ — 
 'Twill be enough the scion was received. 
 The word of revelation well believed, 
 That they are there — the chorus high to swell; 
 Eternal joys of faithful souls to tell. 
 
 The powers that still such christian scheme oppd; 
 And stand decidedly this people's foes 
 Are they aware 'gainst whom it is they fight? 
 That God can at a word remove their light, 
 And give it on another land to shine 
 That will not the illustrious work decline ? * 
 
 * Isaiah xlv. 1—4.
 
 Book v.] MISSIONARIES. 269 
 
 Are they aware our Lord pronounces woe 
 On those who still withhold the key to know — * 
 Who seek not Heaven themselves — and hindrance prove 
 To such as might inherit joys above? 
 
 But broad Philanthropy is wide awake, 
 And anxious for its fellow-subjects' sake, 
 The millions of the eastern hemisphere — 
 Spurred by their wretchedness to persevere, 
 It never will solicitude repress, 
 Until consummated this work to bless. 
 
 Not all are frigid, covetous, or dull, 
 Careless of others while their cups are full — 
 Lo ! where the Missionaries set aside 
 All mortal good, as far as thus allied — 
 Their parents, brethren, birthright joys resign, 
 To bear to heathens embassy divine ! 
 • Luke xi. 5S.
 
 «• INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 No perils daunt, no darkling doubts depress- 
 Singly impelled, and sanguine for success, 
 The elements they brave, and reach the strand 
 That gives them to a rude an unknown land; 
 A people jealous of their motive, cause, 
 Untutored in their language, measures, laws, 
 Under dominion of one savage fear, 
 And one alone, which all their actions steer, 
 That strangers come for plunder and for power. 
 To rob, oppress, subject, enslave, devour. 
 Thus hostile to all purposed intercourse 
 They meet advances with suspicion's force. 
 Oppose their progress, inch by inch contest. 
 Refuse them tolerance, refuse them rest. 
 At bay remaining long, how small the scope 
 For active, for illuminating hope ! 
 Arduous and wearisome the months appear 
 Ere confidence enables them to near; 
 And foiled their various policies to gain 
 The ear, and tidings gladdening to explain.
 
 Book v.] MISSIONARIES. ill 
 
 Howard wrought sensible immediate good, 
 Therefore immediately was understood: 
 But those conveying Gilead's healing balm 
 Have prejudices powerful to disarm — 
 Have habits — second nature — to remove, 
 And love, conception does not reach, to prove. 
 Meanwhile the climate with insidious stealth 
 Their nerves relaxes, ravages their health. 
 Gives them to languor, premature decay, 
 Without assuasives of their suiFering way. 
 All this is highest work that mortals know; 
 'Tis Time's best privileges to forego. 
 Eternity's bright prospects to disclose. 
 And tell enraptured heaits, for them it glows. 
 
 In pious spirit to thy memory dear 
 For all that thou has done and suffered here, 
 Sculptured on earth, and registered above — 
 For all the labours of thy christian love.
 
 *7« INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Rising for half a century to their height 
 
 And closed by entrance into promised light — 
 
 Accept our quickest sense, our full applause, 
 
 Blest shade ! apostle great in highest cause ! 
 
 SwARTZ ! name of missionary excellence, 
 
 While past to present time can aught dispense. 
 
 The church erected at thy private cost — 
 
 Reared to his glory whom thou loved the most — 
 
 By self-denials reared— the savings hard 
 
 Of delegated teacher's poor award — 
 
 Shall stand thy higher monument of praise 
 
 Than marble graven with thy worth can raise. 
 
 We hail its sweet communion, spirit free, 
 
 Its truth, its concord, its simplicity; 
 
 And trust, the song that has subdued Tanjore 
 
 Will spread its harmonies Hindostan o'er. 
 
 Thy christian seminaries too shall bear 
 
 To honours of thine ardent work, their share; 
 
 And Rajahs' chosen long posterity 
 
 Their virtues, under God, derive from thee.
 
 Book v.] MISSIONARIES. S7I 
 
 Tliine was the light of head, tlie glow of heart, 
 Thine embassy's full wisdom to impart; 
 To gain o'er thousands generous control, 
 And spend it on the Interests of the soul. 
 Great policy — for ever! to insure 
 The blessings tliou wast anxious to procure! 
 Thy mantle, ere thy gentle spirit fled 
 O'er labourer * of equal faith was spread, 
 And hope and trust support us in the thought 
 'TwiU be from age to age with rapture caught. 
 
 Blest ! be associated christian bdlid^ 
 Thus to disperse the Word o'er heathen lands I 
 Munificently be our offerings lent 
 To " labours of the Church Establishment 
 " For Afric and the East " — or wheresoe'er 
 For barbarous hordes an agent they can spare ! 
 May great success their active work requite 
 And darkness flee before the living light! 
 
 • Mr. Kolboff. 
 
 T
 
 274 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V, 
 
 Wbllbsley! amidst the brilliant strong events 
 Thy term of delegated power presents — 
 Amidst perceptions of thy ample mind 
 To prove the bearings of a good designed — 
 'Twas thine to countenance the generous plan 
 Of moralizing and reforming man ; 
 Things temporal and eternal to connect. 
 And missionary medium to respect. 
 Amidst the benefits resulting still 
 To ripening time committed to fulfill — 
 Issuing fi*om great conception, broad survey. 
 Fiat decisive, rational display, 
 Judgment to see, and wisdom to enact 
 The penal law for the atrocious act — 
 We yield thee special thanks for that decree 
 That owes its being to humanity, 
 Making it murder, and the verdict death 
 To stop by various ways their children's breath. 
 Intrepid spirit moved the great resolve — 
 And who can calculate through small evolve
 
 Book v.] INTERESTS OF INDIA. S75 
 
 Of interval, since it was bade to cease, 
 The population's probable increase? 
 Much less can computation find the sum 
 Originating for the time to come 
 This was deemed likewise a tenacious rite, 
 And sacred custom authorized the sight; 
 Yet not a murmur on the subject rose — 
 Reason awoke and greeted the repose; 
 Nor has a similar attempt appeared, 
 Though sanctioned by antiquity revered. 
 And is not need as strong, and way as plain 
 The sacrifice of widows to restrain? 
 And would not reason here awake, and hail 
 The motive and effect that would prevail? 
 And other practices as general, 
 Corrupt, abhorrent, would as easy fall, 
 Which now to baneful superstition bent, 
 Receive their public broad acknowledgment. 
 The aged-pilgrim sacrifice would cease; 
 The sick and dying would remain in peace; 
 
 T 2
 
 «T« INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 And nature's last infirmities and pains 
 Exempted be from aggravation's stains. 
 Wellbsley had full extermination wrought, 
 Had time united with his teeming thought ! 
 
 Are there who cavil at such acts of power? 
 Who o'er such kindness spread ungenial lower? 
 Who fight for ancient rights at the expense 
 Of reason, probity, benevolence, 
 And thus avow they are content to see 
 Such ignorance, such strange barbarity? 
 Let them suspect there is some latent cause 
 More touching than tenacity for laws: 
 Let them inquire for motives out of sight 
 WTien jealous for Hindoo's invaded right: 
 Let them the film of prejudice remove 
 Ere they impede the work of christian love ! 
 While man lays siege to property of man; 
 Takes all advantages where'er he can;
 
 Book V.l INTERESTS OF INDIA. 277 
 
 Carries effective force to other land; 
 Makes 'gainst an inoffensive people stand; 
 Renders them tributary; drives them thence; 
 Raises a system of complete defence ; 
 Becomes a party in their native jars; 
 Imparts his strength to their intestine wars; 
 Places upon their princes' necks his feet; 
 Upon their ancient thrones exalts his seat; 
 Crushes their power, usurps their dearest claims, 
 Grasps their dominions, their just anger tames, 
 And fearlessly performs this horde of wrong- 
 Sure but to mockery it can belong 
 To talk of fear in giving " the best good," 
 And making it be clearly understood ! 
 Sure 'tis fastidious to excite revolt, 
 At a comparatively venial fault ! 
 The rights of nations, who shall dare contend? 
 But rights of conscience even these transcend. 
 Are we not all of kindred matter grown 
 And can a fellow creature smart alone?
 
 278 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 And have not sufferings of quick sympathy 
 
 A birth-right claim on feeling, equity? 
 
 Would you not rush to seize the sharpened knife 
 
 Though raised by hand appropriate with the Ufe? 
 
 Would you not strive to wrench the pistol dread 
 
 Ere it had classed its master with the dead? 
 
 And where's the difference? It is impulse all 
 
 That will not hindered be — knows no appal, 
 
 And with insanity that system stamps 
 
 That energies of human kindness damps. 
 
 Man oft-times stands in circumstances higli 
 
 That render caution impropriety; 
 
 In which a moment lost is loss so great 
 
 That tardy fitness ne'er can reinstate. 
 
 If jealousy still holds the stone and shng, 
 
 Nature asks pardon of contorted thing: 
 
 But first let nature ask the poor Hindoo 
 
 What most he fears from us — his answer view — 
 
 " Not England's government, oh ! set us free ! 
 
 " But English merchants' sad rapacity ! "
 
 Book v.] INTERESTS OF INDIA. 279 
 
 Wellbsley to govern ceased: but gave his name 
 
 To be emblazoned on the lists of fame ! 
 
 Bequeathed his plans, his precedents, to braye 
 
 All evil obstacle, to help and save. 
 
 Where he left off, let others still proceed — 
 
 And prompt acknowledgment will be their meed, 
 
 Since every energy of man is called 
 
 In such exalted work to be installed. 
 
 'Tis by strong use of muscles and of mind 
 
 That exploits rise capacious of mankind ; 
 
 That they are stabUshed, sane, increase their strength, 
 
 And send their influence into breadth and length: 
 
 But if permitted to remain inert, 
 
 Languid they will become, and inexpert. 
 
 If selfish indolence or fear find way. 
 
 The core is cankered, they must soon decay; 
 
 Judgment no more the sovereignty will own. 
 
 And darkness dense will fill, surround the throne. 
 
 'Tis by co-operation that the feat 
 
 Is rendered vigorous, competent, complete;
 
 889 moiYJDVAWTy, CBookV. 
 
 And fearless impartation will derive 
 
 Intelligence on which to grow and thrive. 
 
 Man jfrom hi* kind, demands true intercourse; 
 
 And they who with deceit pollute the source, 
 
 Will soon or late retaliation feel, 
 
 And jriends pretended, enemies reveal. 
 
 Pent within earthy v^sel's narrow hold, 
 
 Where small the portion of nutritious mould, 
 
 Roots through constraint still follow round and rouixd, 
 
 And twist, and bind, and press against the bound, 
 
 Till starved for want of space, and air, and soil, 
 
 Each feeble push resisted, knows recoil, 
 
 Feeds on itself, and stunts the sickly plant, 
 
 Leafless and budless — sign of famine gaunt: 
 
 But roots set free to run the surface o'er 
 
 And deep in strata virtues to explore, 
 
 Will at each fibrous point their wel&re tell — 
 
 Send out their trunk to branch, their bud to swell, 
 
 Spread the broad foUage o'er the wilding glade, 
 
 And lend the conquered shelter, warmth, and shade.
 
 Book v.] TUITION OF THB POOR. 281 
 
 Among the strenuous labourers for their kind 
 Beliold the agriculturists of mind 
 From infant twilight — from the early dawn 
 That gives the character to settled mom; 
 Which first fiiU impress to the latest date 
 No devious courses can obliterate ! 
 Their noon may try them with temptations fires, 
 Their post-meridian with unquenched desires, 
 But faith and sorrow of their evening ray 
 Will oft take counsel of their early day.* 
 Their operations are two-fold — to teach. 
 And to prevent what idleness would reach; 
 All saving knowledge to display, instil; 
 And guard against contaminations ill. 
 Sabbaths appretiated, now attest 
 Themselves the days of peace and hallowed rest ^ 
 Sabbatlis are welcomed as r^alia high, 
 The weekly waste of spirits to supply; 
 • Prov. zxii. ••
 
 282 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Places of wordiip lure to hear and pray, 
 And holiday is known as holy day» 
 
 According to prophetic* high command, 
 Those, who among the people understand 
 The many shall instruct — unclose their way. 
 And give their high inheritance display. 
 The son of Jesse in his latest stage. 
 When silver grey bore evidence of age 
 Prayed still for preservation, strength, to prove 
 The wondrous workings of Omniscient love — 
 To shew them to the progeny in bloom. 
 And sing them for the children yet to come.f 
 And is not Freedom moved to strong surprise 
 That from her sons, objections should arise, 
 Who better deem it, drudger to insure, 
 Than lumined observation to procure; 
 And dull insanity far better deem 
 Than mental efforts sprung at virtue's beam? 
 • Dan. xi. S3. •> Pgalm \xx\. 18.
 
 Book v.] TUITION OF THE POOR. 5 
 
 Unurged by other spur, for her dear sake, 
 Mortals are called their fellows to awake; 
 To bid them view the sun, and feel its fire; 
 To highest privilege and good aspire; 
 Wake them to temporal blessings wisest sense, 
 And bear away their raptured vision hence. 
 
 How largely do these systems spread and swell! 
 Scarcely a parish, hamlet, but can tell 
 Of assiduities benevolent 
 In faculties' expansion gladly spent. 
 What once subsisted only here and there 
 Now sends its cheering brightness every where; 
 Is its own local sun to light and warm. 
 To shed its genial increase and inform; 
 Till meeting at each point, 'tis blended all 
 In full established system national. 
 
 While agents exposition thus afford 
 Of individual comforts of the Word,
 
 284 INDIVIDUALITT. [Book V. 
 
 May He whose word it is, their work sustain, 
 That so their labour may not be in vain! 
 Not trifling are the labours of their day; 
 Not small their trials in their various way; 
 Those only can well calculate the cost, 
 Who by the Uke experience have been tost 
 The youthful volunteer too soon is tired 
 Not bearing to the standard strength required. 
 She loves the object, and desires the meed, 
 But has not perseverance to proceed. 
 She saw not in the bright of fervid glow 
 Tlie dulness that its embers must bestow; 
 And knew not that to keep due heat alive, 
 Ardours with vapours never cease to strive. 
 She who efficient would her service make 
 Must bring her whole of character to stake; 
 Must see her work before her — ^must not grudge 
 To think, inquire, inspect, perform, and drudge; 
 Must carry judgment, temper, into school; 
 Must carry ballast against ridicule;
 
 Book v.] TUITION OF THE POOR. 285 
 
 Must parley hold with manners vulgar, rude; 
 
 Must parry shocks of vile ingratitude ; 
 
 Must fee the parents' mercenary hand 
 
 To accept the boon they scarcely understand, 
 
 While they would gladly all submission be, 
 
 For common act of common charity. 
 
 She oft must struggle with a listless frame; 
 
 Must yield repose which wearied spirits claim; 
 
 Must business pleasure, render her pursuit 
 
 Would she effectually execute. 
 
 Great purposes demand endeavour great; 
 And system's health needs treatment adequate; 
 And strength and beauty and completeness rise 
 From genuine correspondent energies. 
 Such laid foundation stone upon the waste! 
 Such pdnt the spire of superstructure chaste ! 
 Raikes lived to see such institutions live ! 
 And long may Mor£ her blest instructions give.
 
 286 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Not all are languid, local, selfish — Hark ! 
 It is the gratulation for the ark — 
 TTie ark of covenant, the word of truth 
 We hear — from age, maturity, and youth. 
 It is sweet melodies its children raise, 
 The chorus high of gratitude and praise, 
 The bursting joy that swollen bosoms pour. 
 Reverberation strong from shore to shore 
 That compass us ! from every point they come. 
 And with responsive joy are welcomed home. 
 'Tis Hallelujahs exquisitely sung 
 By every people in their proper tongue, 
 'Tis for redemption found, one general shout 
 The planets intellectual realms throughout. 
 All glory to the Great First Cause be given ! 
 Proclaim it angels through your boundless heaven ! 
 Wliile men, the honoured instruments, shall sound 
 The full amen to auditors around. 
 Of such, their most consistent christian fame 
 Issues in this — all merit to disclaim;
 
 Book v.] TUITION OF THE POOR. 287 
 
 More favoured to be called to such a post 
 Than to appointments of high temporal boast; 
 Soothed, by increasing kingdom of their Lord, 
 More than by plaudit legions prompt afford. 
 Still man to man is authorized to pay 
 Acknowledgments to their illustrious day. 
 From man to man on equal object set, 
 It is discharge of honourable debt; 
 It is his boimden duty to impart 
 Tlie tribute of a warm consenting heart; 
 It is his voucher for his own belief; 
 Tlie utterance that to feeling gives relief; 
 It is his honest pleasure on the land 
 He loves, to take his firm decided stand; 
 To fear no stigma of dissenting voice, 
 But with laborious christians to rejoice. 
 
 All hail then ! authors of the generous strife 
 To scatter o'er the earth the bread of life 1
 
 288 INDIVIDUALITY. Book V. 
 
 Bible promulgators ! who ceaseless toil 
 Each wily system to expose, despoil, 
 Without hostility, or vague pretence, 
 Singly through rudiments of common sense ! 
 Who Bibles without comment, note, supply 
 In all their proper simple majesty ! 
 
 Careful alone in such important trust 
 
 That each translation should be faithful, just; 
 
 Careful alone that the essential good 
 
 Should clearly, thoroughly be imderstood! 
 
 Bold the conception; and the impulse warm 
 
 That gave conception entity and form; 
 
 And having fashioned it, that gave it spring. 
 
 And watched the sailing of its infant wing; 
 
 And urged its vigour's growth, its spirit's fire, 
 
 And would have harmonized it with its sire. 
 
 At length beyond the reach of shaft it soars. 
 
 And shelters with the object it adores. 
 
 Sinewed and ligamented as 'tis seen 
 
 And firmly jointed as it long hath been.
 
 Book v.] CHRISTIAN SOCIETIES. 289 
 
 Now bearing honours of the rival schools 
 Where integral of excellency rules. 
 Auxiliaries at every point arise; 
 And each when formed as quickly multipHes, 
 To join the parent system's weight and worth 
 And make it more efficiently go forth. 
 Hundreds of separate bodies coalesce 
 To give this christian work complete success; 
 Till strengthened, cherished, reverenced, and approved, 
 Rooted in faith, it never shall be moved. 
 Let none be idle — each with heaven in view 
 Is called upon within his sphere to do. 
 The mite of service may go forth to prove 
 An ingot-segment of support and love. 
 Surely 'tis good and joyful thus to see * 
 Brethren of Christendom in unity ! 
 To the triumvirate of modest worth. 
 To whom the institution owes its birth, 
 * Psalms cxxxiii. 1. 
 
 u
 
 <MI INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Be life prolonged to see its growth mature, 
 And promise give 'twill vigorously endure ! 
 " I saw " saith Inspiration's voice, " on high 
 " Another Angel through mid-heaven fly, 
 " Having the evarlasting Book, to each 
 ** And all the habitants of earth, to preach ; 
 " To every nation, people, kindred, tongue " * 
 The theme to tell, the glory to prolong. 
 
 Brethren associated of elder date ! 
 Whose steady progress all must venerate; 
 Whose base is firmly rivetted in time; 
 Whose fruits are ripening in full many a clime; 
 Give the right hand to fellowship — embrace 
 This lovely genuine offspring of your race; 
 Partake with them the honours of a deed 
 That rises from our elemental creed. 
 Nor troubled be, if like all self, 'tis prone 
 To bear distinctive character, its own. 
 
 • Rev. xiv. 6.
 
 Book v.] CHRISTIAN SOCIETIES. 291 
 
 No rivalry it knows — ^no adverse band 
 Wages with you possession of the land^ — 
 Its object, properties, and love the same, 
 Though raised upon a more extensive frame. 
 " Go, teach all nations," is the high behest; 
 No method given — it is as men see best. 
 Order J for Churches local, all respect: 
 But means must first a local Church erect. 
 High is our preference of the British school : 
 But simple teacliings should take genuine rule — 
 The Bible is alone the theory 
 
 To which all christians as a stand can flee. 
 
 This points the way and makes tuition sure; 
 
 This shows man's turpitude and shows the cure; 
 
 Grafts upon nature — and for passion's throe% 
 
 The Spirit's energies divine bestows. 
 
 Let but primordial excellence take root. 
 
 Its branches soon will laden be with fruit; 
 
 And minds of christian zeal, sincere and warm, 
 
 Will gratulate a Church though void of form. 
 
 u2
 
 292 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Give it to be — give it all beings source — 
 
 And once erected, let it take its course 
 
 All controversial points to judge, as free 
 
 As generations since the flood — as We. 
 
 Foes to the Church of England are well pleased 
 
 To see its clergy passion-split and teized, 
 
 Rankling, and party-clad, and in the toil 
 
 Of proud tenacity and selfish coil. 
 
 See them advance forgetful of the spring 
 
 From which their every strength they ought to bring I 
 
 Inviduous sentiments can never rest 
 
 Within the genuine christian's single breast; 
 
 Wisdom would never rend the seamless coat, 
 
 But give forbearance and sweet peace its vote. 
 
 While we are jealous in our narrow sphere 
 
 To hold unhurt Establishment so dear, 
 
 We still should hold it, subject to defend 
 
 And hasten its acknowledged christian end. 
 
 We still should hold it as the instrument 
 
 In man's salvation to be greatly spent,
 
 Book v.] CHRISTIAN SOCIETIES. S93 
 
 And all co-operation ardent prove 
 That is consistent with its pristine love. 
 This ought to be its holy joy and pride ! 
 For this its Author left his heaven — and died ! 
 
 Ye Orthodox ! embodied for the care 
 To spread at large our British Form o*" Prayer, 
 And, from neglect oblivious, bid arise 
 Our vital principles — the Homilies; 
 Give them to circulation and to health 
 And acceptation of the common-wealth — 
 Who Priests themselves the many, still are led 
 To send their flocks to drink at foimtain head, 
 To see its springing waters, and to know 
 If what they hear proceeds from limpid flow; 
 To specify the doctrines that are sound, 
 And bid them feel they tread on solid ground — 
 Who own with awe their mission is to teach, 
 And wishwhat they have reached, their flocks should reach —
 
 294 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Who to their Church affectionate and true 
 
 Are anxious all her sons should love it too; 
 
 Should jealous be for its best interest, 
 
 And habited in its transparent vest — 
 
 We hail the wisdom, worth, and faithfulness 
 
 That grant a wandering people such access; 
 
 That furnish genuine meahs in each abode 
 
 For pious minds to " Know their fathers' God ! '* * 
 
 These are the systems that support the state 
 On which prosperity and union wait. 
 Wreathed with unfading laurels be the brow 
 That lays the tyrant of the nations low ! 
 But inefficient must its ardours be 
 Without the mandate sure of sovereignty. 
 Commanders may have prowess, conduct, skill, 
 And men efficient to 6bey their will; 
 Our arch-foe arrogant, may humbled be, 
 And when he hoped to conquer, forced to flee; 
 
 1 Chron. xxviii. 9.
 
 Book v.] CHRISTIAN SOCIETIES. 89d 
 
 Allies victorious send one general shout 
 Echoing the Continent around, throughout ; 
 Resounding Albion's rocky shores among 
 And animating her internal song: 
 But God, thus England favours, England loves, 
 Because her aims religious he approves; 
 Preserves her midst the wreck of empires near, 
 Because she worships him in love and fear; 
 Exalts her by his special Providence 
 His glorious saving gospel to dispense; 
 And keeps her for a rallying point, a rest, 
 A haven for the nations driven, oppressed. 
 
 Thus hath the Muse attempted on her way 
 Religious differences to display. 
 Their natures, separations without end, 
 And offsets, which at every point they send, 
 As chosen mean from numberless, that stream 
 For illustration of her chosen theme.
 
 296 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Who then not individual? who does not 
 Look round, abroad, from his immediate spot. 
 Feel himself privileged through mortal chase 
 To hold a proper — an appropriate place. 
 See for himself whate'er within his reach 
 Can animate, arrest, amuse, or teach. 
 Extract his own conclusions of the end 
 To which such involutions seem to tend, 
 And act upon them through each added year 
 Of his important temporal career? 
 
 Sight intellectual is bestowed on each 
 In kind, in combination, and in reach; 
 Not by inheritance, as titles, name, 
 Demeans, and privilege of legal claim — 
 Not by inheritance through nature's law 
 By which resemblance animal we draw — 
 Talent would thus go down as Hindoo cast 
 Through future lineage closely, as through past;
 
 Book v.] INNATE IDEAS. 297 
 
 And gloomy borderers still from line to line 
 Would hope of native right at once resign. 
 Not by transmissive act of well-proved lore 
 From ripened generation gone before; 
 From rattle's noise, mere eyesight to engage, 
 Till eyesight empties erudition's page; 
 Though like fermenting dress to earth, such force 
 Must quicken nature's germinating course. 
 This is the flint that strikes the kindred steel, 
 And by the action does the sparks reveal : 
 But strength inmate must lodge within the brain, 
 To make the child the solid stroke sustain ; 
 And did not act creative first endow, 
 No mortal labour could the fire bestow.^ 
 The infant must be nourished — but it must 
 Be first supplied with vital fimctions just. 
 Without external objects to excite 
 We could no comfort feel, no joy, no light : 
 But still external objects would not prove 
 Our comfort and our joy, our light and love,
 
 298 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Unless upon the retina of mind 
 
 They could perceptions answerable find. 
 
 Let fancy for a moment have command. 
 
 On uninhabited and desert land 
 
 Were infant thrown — ^the lacteal draught to share 
 
 With bestial young — -and equal fostering care — 
 
 Would he not find his own in fortune's spite — 
 
 His hands to handle, feet to stand upright. 
 
 Eyes as a medium only to his thought, 
 
 And intellect with bold invention fraught? 
 
 Would he not, as matured his growing mind, 
 
 Perceive, associates he had left behind; 
 
 And far as barren scenery would permit 
 
 Contrive the several thing his wants to fit; 
 
 Till those who followed, would have instant sense 
 
 That there a man had known a residence? 
 
 In multiplied examples has there more 
 
 Been done by Aborigines of yore? 
 
 Improvements on the sciences and arts 
 
 On rudiments that earlier man imparts,
 
 Book v.] INNATE IDEAS. 8M 
 
 Have less of genius howsoe'er imbued, 
 
 Than that which launched them first, however rude. 
 
 Refinement grows on social life; but known 
 
 Intrinsic thinking's course to mortals lone. 
 
 Yes ! intellect's degree is heavenly gift 
 
 Ere earth felt chaos into order lift. 
 
 Tuition has a wondrous skill, to sound. 
 
 And act upon, capacity's fixed bound : 
 
 But those accustomed tender thought to guide 
 
 Will soon on future hope for each decide. 
 
 What prompts perplexing question of the child 
 
 And shows dissatisfaction when beguiled? 
 
 And what as years advance gives bent and choice 
 
 In opposition to parental voice? 
 
 And what makes shades of promise, when the flock 
 
 Bom and first nurtured by its parent stock 
 
 Are thence sent forth to pass through public school. 
 
 Subject to equal system, care, and rule, 
 
 Yet offering at the end of their career 
 
 Distinctions manifold, and strong, and clear ?
 
 300 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Why do some plainly, ere informed, discern. 
 
 Whilst others find it drudgery to learn? 
 
 Have these from any source but nature cause — 
 
 From Individuality's just laws? 
 
 If power transmissive, inborn power controls, 
 
 Ah ! shed its influence o'er yonder souls 
 
 Whose vacant laugh, and lolling of the tongue. 
 
 And eyeballs all around as ceaseless flung. 
 
 And reason's lovely ray as never seen. 
 
 Betray that nature has unfaithful been ! 
 
 And as the seed is in itself innate. 
 
 So is its bias, virtue, season, weight. 
 
 Here it surprises by its sudden shoot, 
 
 And there it equal bears the promised finit. 
 
 Some prodigies appear in early time 
 
 To disappoint the hope for coming prime. 
 
 Whilst some collect their stores from age to age, 
 
 And spread them to inspirit later stage; 
 
 As splendors that with soft Aurora rise 
 
 Are veiled by vapours of the noon-tide skies,
 
 Book v.] INNATE IDEAS. SOI 
 
 Or, oft excluded through the vapoured day, 
 
 Give to the far horizon, setting ray. 
 
 Favoured they may be by a contact force 
 
 To urge their native vigour into course, 
 
 Or doomed by manual labour, rugged toil, 
 
 Such energies of glory to despoil : 
 
 But still exists the talent and degree. 
 
 Improved or lost, as wisdom may decree. 
 
 Say what the imagery of the soul ? 
 
 What fancy, glow, invention? What the whole 
 
 That scorning rules pedantic, system's lore, 
 
 On intuition's pinions greatly soar, 
 
 Kindle at spark of nature's genuine fire 
 
 And in ethereal light alone respire? 
 
 Sweet Bard of Caledon ! whose raptured mind 
 
 Could not by drudging tillage be confined; 
 
 Who not " the Moimtain Daisy " could uproot 
 
 But with reflection's sympathy acute; 
 
 Nor, wearied with " the thresher's flingin-tree," 
 
 Could sit " by ingle cheek " fi'om musings free —
 
 S08 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Say whence did " Coila, heavenly-seeming fair," 
 Genius of Scotia's bards, attend thee there? 
 Whence had she marked " thine embryo tmieM flame, 
 Thy natal hour," and wide-responsive fame? 
 Whence rose thy good beyond " Potosi's mine ? "— 
 Ah ! whence thy " fancy's meteor-ray divine ? 
 
 This then of sum and substance the amount 
 Of man's profound indelible account. 
 Possessed of space, capacity, and will. 
 Creation's setded purpose to fulfil, 
 Far as his fallen nature will admit. 
 Far as the great artificer sees fit, 
 'Tis his to think, digest, compare, reduce. 
 And bring to general and special use. 
 Endowments given him to disclose aud nurse 
 By Him who reins revolving universe. 
 This great demand on him is more or less 
 As he may talents high or low possess;
 
 Book v.] RESPONSIBILITY. 90S 
 
 As close or comprehensive is his ken; 
 As he improves by that of other men ; 
 And as the incidents that round him roll 
 Excite or check the fervors of his soul. 
 Some pent within a hazy atmosphere 
 Whate'er their vision, have no medium cleai*; 
 Others though upwards looking and around 
 On cloudless concave vast, with' azure bound, 
 Seem to have no perception of the light 
 And love as well obscurity of night. 
 Hosts bom idolaters in Pagan world 
 Ne'er blest by view of Deity unftirled, 
 Can never be responsible to Heaven 
 For what in wisdom's way was never given: 
 But those whose infant eyes at once embrace 
 The men most privileged of human race — 
 Imbibe their morals and with healthful gale 
 Their laws, religion, polity inhale- 
 Accustomed are to hear the wondrous plan 
 Proposed, accepted, wrought for fallen man:
 
 304 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Yet having been habitually brought 
 
 Their ears are dull — they still remain untaught. 
 
 The great deficiency throughout is sense — 
 
 They have the whole except experience; 
 
 They have the theory but not the thing: 
 
 They bring the scheme but don't the spirit bring; 
 
 Thus darkness deep encompasses the throng 
 
 Of those who chaunt in churches Sion's song, 
 
 As that within idolatries' dread havmt 
 
 Where Sion's song they never knew to chaunt. 
 
 But blandished man must undergo a change, 
 
 However humbhng this — however strange ! 
 
 No natal claim can set aside the need 
 
 To sound the depth of his ostensive creed; 
 
 To see its fallacies and all abjure; 
 
 Or feel its truths divine, and all ensure. 
 
 Clear revelation points efficient charm 
 
 The witcheries of matter to disarm ; 
 
 The trials rising from the force and curve 
 
 Of temper physical — of various nerve —
 
 Book v.] FROM WHAT, VARIOUS VISION. 303 
 
 The palpable depravity innate — 
 It teaches to discern and subjugate. 
 Is it not evident that men possess 
 More than enough of intellect to bless 
 Were his poor toilsome circumscribed career 
 To be confined to this terrestrial sphere ? 
 Would not this waste of thought, this overstock, 
 Serve but the drudgeries of life to mock. 
 Wake but keen relish for celestial joy, 
 The taste for time to vitiate and destroy? 
 Do we not think that nought is made in vain 
 Though 'tis beyond us often to explain ? 
 And do not nature's ample laws make known 
 To man, resuscitation as his own? 
 Why then a moment hesitate to dive 
 For truth, which tells us we shall death survive? 
 
 Alas! for those who will not — who ne'er shrink 
 From sporting on the dizzy slippery brink 
 
 X
 
 30« INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Of the unfathomable dark abyss, 
 
 The gloomy nothing — Hell's contracted bliss, 
 
 Although their plumb-line yet has never found 
 
 With all their stretch of art, the play of ground — 
 
 Although no promises of Stygian guide 
 
 Induce a wish to reach the farther side. 
 
 Who hovering ever murky vapour o'er, 
 
 Know not the cheer on buoyant wing to soar, 
 
 Know not to raise anticipating eyes 
 
 And see the break of glory in the skies. 
 
 But such the difference again, between 
 
 Man's optics, danger's horrors are not seen; 
 
 Nor has the brightness of meridian day 
 
 For eyes that close themselves, one pervious ray. 
 
 Useless it is on sunshine to insist, 
 
 With those that wiU affirm it don't exist. 
 
 What prompts such various vision — what the cause — 
 
 From what profound, primordial, certain laws ? 
 
 Whether from nature's operative bent, 
 
 Or Holy Agency expressly sent
 
 Book v.] TRUST IN DIVINE LOVE. 807 
 
 Is it, that objects of immediate sense. 
 That articles of plain intelligence, 
 Should make such widely-different impress 
 Upon ductility of consciousness? 
 Is it of old determined so to be, 
 Or is it offspring of volition free ? 
 That so it is, discernment daily proves. 
 Though hard to point the force by which it moves. 
 Mean while on individual man, on all. 
 The Scriptures forcibly, distinctly call; 
 Give warning voice with turpitude to strive, 
 And high-inciting voice to take and live. 
 Each is to voyage o'er life's turbid road. 
 Disowning it as his supreme abode; 
 Each is to feel himself the object dear 
 Of Providence Omnipotent and near; 
 To be assured that in a Saviour's name 
 To blest inheritance he has a claim. 
 And that his heavenly Father will be just 
 To requisitions of his faithful trust. 
 
 X 2
 
 398 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Thus ceding fruitless labour to explore 
 
 All prescient and predestinating lore 
 
 Useless, presumptuous, irritating — vain 
 
 To those who can't admit it, to explain — 
 
 Each, acting singly upon Scripture ground, 
 
 Will surely 'midst the host redeemed be found. 
 
 'Tis those who seek will find, who ask will have, 
 
 Who look beyond the present o'er the grave. 
 
 Will draw from thence an influence to disarm 
 
 Things visible of their adhesive charm. 
 
 When heavenly things with strength attract the heart, 
 
 'Tis easy from the dross of earth to part ; 
 
 Once force the citadel of unbelief. 
 
 And evidences will ensure relief. 
 
 Grace is the stream that growth divine bestows, 
 
 And prayer the chartered way through which it flows. 
 
 Still does it man's prerogative appear 
 Within the circuit of his mortal sphere
 
 Book v.] FREE AGENCY. 909 
 
 To make his own survey, define his views, 
 
 To take the evil and the good refuse, 
 
 To take the good and to refuse the ill. 
 
 The Spirit's strivings to assist or chill, 
 
 Nature or Revelation to embrace, 
 
 As medium the Creator's ways to trace. 
 
 To give his bias its appropriate bent, 
 
 Or 'gainst such bias every strength present. 
 
 Salvation has a universal scope ; 
 
 It holds for every one an equal hope; 
 
 All men its object; and to all men given 
 
 Grace, which encoiu^aged, would convoy to Heaven: 
 
 But grace requires a welcome — 'tis a good 
 
 That owes its worth to being understood. 
 
 For this no talents are required, no sound 
 
 Of erudition's deep and dark profound ; 
 
 No circumstance fortuitously fair; 
 
 No special excellence; no favour rare; 
 
 The means are simple, suited to the need; 
 
 Who wishes may attain, who runs may read.
 
 SIO INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Who reads will pray, who prays will surely find 
 Faith to wake confidence, and love to bind. 
 God sets the whole to work, and gives to man 
 To forward or retard his bounteous plan. 
 
 Religion's schemes, are most prolific source 
 That generate in man, from man divorce. 
 Their jealous controversies, hairs-breadth schisms. 
 Perversions, subdivisions, sectuarisms. 
 Seem at all points to multiply and spread 
 In myriad numbers from their proper head. 
 And morals, politics, arts, sciences, 
 Climates, and nations, and alliances, 
 Professions, studies, recreations, schemes. 
 Habits, connections, stations, day-light dreams. 
 In combinations ever changing, new, 
 And in proportions ever changing too, 
 These and much more, which bafHe skill to quote. 
 Are elements that character denote;
 
 Book v.] MAN'S INFINITE DISTINCTIONS. fit 
 
 Are elements that character create, 
 
 And ever on the man will operate. 
 
 What is the man ? His high appropriate dower 
 
 Is faculty — is intellectual power: 
 
 But disproportioned in the same degree 
 
 That fills the measure of extremity : 
 
 But with such prominences strong imbued 
 
 Tliat prove distinction wheresoever viewed. 
 
 These, while so self-constituent, so plain, 
 
 AH powers of calculation so disdain, 
 
 The changes on them never can be rung, 
 
 The numbers multiplying never sung; 
 
 The transposition of their mazy lines 
 
 Through endless systems, symmetries, designs, 
 
 Mock at the human mind's contracted reach, 
 
 And baffle equally the power of speech. 
 
 If aught to wildered scrutiny can give 
 
 Idea suitably comparative, 
 
 'Tis multiplying power of added beU, 
 
 Its variations musical to tell;
 
 312 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book Y 
 
 Or changes wonderful, to which are set 
 The elements of words, the alphabet. 
 These in all languages have equal change. 
 Excite in faculties of man their range. 
 All harmony, all fancy, thought convey. 
 And give inteUigence the blaze of day. 
 
 What is man's tenement, his house of time, 
 The structure animal for spark sublime; 
 The mediiun of his passions, actions, thought. 
 The vehicle that is on atom wrought 
 To bear through its probationary state 
 The soul, the individual create ? 
 What is man's corporeity, his foi*m. 
 Anatomy, and vital fVmctions warm ? 
 Increased diumally from earliest stag^ 
 Supported too the same to latest age. 
 By aliment from several source derived 
 As God in his Omniscience has contrived.
 
 Book v.] MAN'S RESIDENCE. 313 
 
 But this variety of kindly juice 
 
 Does different animal eflPect produce, 
 
 As drugs administered with skill, ensure 
 
 The remedy designed them to procure. 
 
 Such is the simple difference — the fixed — 
 
 But when component parts throughout are mixed, 
 
 Dissimularity of figure, face, 
 
 Health, spirits, temper, tendency we trace, 
 
 Which as maturity advances, aid 
 
 The individual character pourtrayed. 
 
 The soul, the principle, the conscience lives 
 
 Abstractedly from life the body gives, \ 
 
 But takes its trials through the progress way 
 
 Of nature's growth, perfection, and decay; 
 
 From causes complicate, no eye can see 
 
 No thought can compass — from infinity. 
 
 Where is man's residence? 'neath storied height 
 Where day auxiliar is to threaded night;
 
 314 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Where artificial slender twinkling rays 
 
 Have preference to the sun's embodied blaze; 
 
 Where narrow pent-up avenues of brick 
 
 Shelter the murderer, the infectious sick; 
 
 And fumes of vice and pestilence pervade 
 
 Society of every class and shade. 
 
 Where dictates prompt of sterling common sense 
 
 Are bartered for parade and consequence; 
 
 And education's systems far renowned 
 
 To terminate in pleasure's ways are found. 
 
 Where lucre is the deity revealed, 
 
 Aud arts to get it the great mystery sealed, 
 
 And all appear devoted to the end 
 
 How to embezzle it, and how to spend; 
 
 Increasing mania interrupting peace 
 
 As property and dignities increase. 
 
 All is contagion, and in every street 
 
 Men come in contact with the men they meet. 
 
 Association is deceived, deceives. 
 
 Teaches, is taught, communicates, receives,
 
 Book v.] MANS RESIDENCE. 315 
 
 Yet each that forms it, finds with each, the point 
 
 Of plain distinction, of professed disjoint. 
 
 Each is made up of all, though so unlike 
 
 The difference instantly the eye must strike. 
 
 Man's residence is also in the rude 
 
 And silent haunts of utter solitude. 
 
 Disgusted with the arts of court intrigue; 
 
 Wearied with pohtics quick-shifting league; 
 
 Adverting painfully to former things — 
 
 To equal rights of Commons, Lords, and Kings; 
 
 Convinced how vain the hope, endeavoiu: vain 
 
 The pure established spirit to sustain ; 
 
 Yet jealous for its fainting energies — 
 
 Yet still solicitous to yield supplies — 
 
 He seeks in scenes of nature's lovely hue 
 
 The principles to first creation true. 
 
 And solace for his disappointment takes 
 
 Where blindfold patriotism ne'er awakes. 
 
 Arid those of contemplation high, whose taste 
 
 Is natural, and eminent, and chaste —
 
 316 INDIVIDUALITY, [Book V. 
 
 Whose habits intellectual and refined 
 
 Rise from a quick and comprehensive mind — 
 
 Such make retirement their decided choice; 
 
 In leisure and tranquillity rejoice; 
 
 Select the wisest heads, best hearts, and hold 
 
 Communion intimate with men of old; 
 
 Through works of genius recently sent forth 
 
 Form mental friendships with distinguished worth, 
 
 Partake its prime attainments, chosen views, 
 
 See o'er their circled ken its light diffuse, 
 
 Mourn o'er their own depravity innate, 
 
 Tell from whence evils such originate, 
 
 Yet deem it most secure to shun the world 
 
 Where vice in blazoned honour is unfurled. 
 
 Rural their every sense; to weary feet 
 
 Lichen and harebell give a carpet meet ; 
 
 And branches interwoven, foliaged, spread 
 
 Impervious shade and shelter for the head. 
 
 No eleg^ijce that art and wealth supply 
 
 Like nature's elegance can charm their eye;
 
 Book v.] MAN'S TASTE. «17 
 
 The pendant waving woods, the sweeping vale. 
 
 The lake translucent, the inflated sail. 
 
 The dizzy height that downward vision mocks, 
 
 The cataract, the peak, the rifted rocks, 
 
 These with resistless power, and soft control 
 
 First rivet, then entrance the captured soul. 
 
 So to their ear the wild notes of the spring, 
 
 Tlie harmonies that through the forest ring. 
 
 The warble of the thrush, the tuneful swell 
 
 And trill subduing of sweet Philomel, 
 
 Are melodies more soothing, more complete 
 
 Than fine strung instruments' fiiU concert tr6at; 
 
 And bid affections kindly to rejoice 
 
 More than the CatalanVs polished voice. 
 
 The artificial mischievous perfume 
 
 To strike the sense in hall and drawing-room. 
 
 To hall and drawing-room they gladly yield, 
 
 Wliile from the white thorn bush, and blossomed field 
 
 The May flower and the bean flower fragrance breathe 
 
 For Zephyr's soft volation to bequeathe.
 
 318 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 Odours through petals of a thousand dyes, 
 From fi'esh and fecund earth salubrious rise, 
 Pure as delicious, ambient too as pure, 
 Of ailments antidote, relief, and cure. 
 Here, for their palates undepraved, is spread 
 O'er wall, espalier, bush, and humble bed, 
 Repast of cooling power, of flavour high ; 
 Gust that the epicure in vain would buy! 
 Round as the seasons roll, again they view 
 The promise of supply to culture true; 
 Mark how it germinates, Mid buds, and blows, 
 How firm it sets in fruit, distends, and glows; 
 Reap as they ripen each successive kind, 
 And health, and appetite, and plenty find. 
 But though this leading feature may conduce 
 To think of minds congenial, each recluse. 
 It is as probable that only here. 
 In this one point, resemblance may appear; 
 And that on abstract subjects all unlike 
 As they occurred, they variously would strike.
 
 Book v.] MAN'S CONNECTIONS. Sl« 
 
 The prominences of the man alone 
 Must for distinctions lateral atone. 
 
 What man's connections? multifarious, wide, 
 Embracing distant climes on every side; 
 Reaching to either India's trading boast, 
 Or dropping anchor on the golden coast; 
 Each quarter of the globe, each continent, 
 Sees him with eager hope and labour spent, 
 Far as he navigates to either pole, 
 And east to west where tropic billows roll. 
 Soldier, and sailor, merchant, those who roam 
 For pleasure or for knowledge far from home. 
 Each for himself ingrafting as he moves 
 Whate'er of foreign manners he approves. 
 Brings back a character enlarged, but known 
 To be matured distinctly as his own. 
 Long years of absence may his form Tiave changed, 
 May from his friends and country have estranged,
 
 J20 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book V. 
 
 But never superseded nature's rights, 
 
 Or stamp effaced, in which she so delights. 
 
 Soon as parental joy on his return 
 
 Calmly can question, clearly can discern, 
 
 The features of their child they find the same, 
 
 However bronzed in honours, wealth, or fame. 
 
 And those around, who on the spot where bom 
 
 See through their lives successive waking morn — 
 
 Their lives protracted to unusual length, 
 
 Defended too with more than common strength, 
 
 For seeming purposes no other than 
 
 To rise, eat, drink, and then lie down again — 
 
 These will investigating minds observe 
 
 Never from simple rudiments to swerve. 
 
 Below the poorest of the poor, or higher 
 Than of the high, the highest can aspire — 
 Extremes of either kind, thus far prevent 
 Comparison's sound wholesome temperament:
 
 Book v.] MAN'S CONNECTIONS. 391 
 
 But all within these points, associate 
 
 With their comparatively small and great; 
 
 And have for kindred, some of influence, 
 
 Of elevation, and of common sense, 
 
 And some in humble station useful, plain; 
 
 And some of narrow minds and straitened brain. 
 
 These in young life they note as they appear. 
 
 See them from month to month, from year to year, 
 
 Yet see them still in prime, matured, grown old. 
 
 The same as when they saw them first imfold. 
 
 The infant is impelled by phlegm or spleen; \ 
 
 In childhood's state the future man is seen; 
 
 The powers may be suppressed, or led astray. 
 
 But hiunan dawn portends the human day. 
 
 Those who have seen a generation rise. 
 
 Marked them with fond discriminating eyes, 
 
 Have known them near, watched them with jealous love, 
 
 Can from experience the assertion prove..
 
 M2 NDIVIDUALITY. [Book T. 
 
 Lives Individuality — howe'er 
 Its branch more healthy, and its fruit more fair. 
 Its owner may well cultivate the soil, 
 May give it the advantages of toil, 
 May give it the advantages of prayer, 
 May see it answered — see himself the care 
 Of Him, the power who bade him first to be, 
 May feel himself strong, flourishing and free. 
 May rapid shoot his leading branch to heaven, 
 Blessing at every bud, the vigour given. 
 May spread his boughs wide o'er the neighbouring land, 
 Shade, shelter, and security command. 
 Gather the dews, and gladden in the ray, 
 And with the zephyr bid his fohage play, 
 But 'tis the work of grace — a grafted good, 
 Upon the wild, corrupt, and native wood; 
 The stock, with all its characters the same, 
 But giving channel to its higher claim; 
 Its latent properties retaining still, 
 And ever striving for their work and wiU.
 
 Book v.] INDIVIDUALITY UNCHANGEABLE. 88S 
 
 Nor is this all— e'en in the day of grace 
 It bears aloft its faculties and face. 
 Blends its inherent features, does and says 
 Whate'er is done or Said, its special ways. 
 Grace dresses, tills, Calls forth a harvest strange, 
 But never, spark original can change! 
 As clay, of nature sterile, crude and cold) 
 May wear appearance of the richest mould 
 Wrought up with generous matter, fecund earth-*' 
 With juices saturant of compost worthy 
 Thus tempered, cultured by the tiller's skill, 
 And left to fermentation to distil, 
 The seed soon swells, and sends its healthful rOot| 
 And germinates, and pushes vigorous shootf 
 Consistent growth and bearing yields the eye 
 And gladdens in a hundred fold supply: 
 But in proportion as the power expends, 
 Unless the husbandman new virtue lends 
 Sufficient to returning seed'-time's need* 
 A harvest answerable must succeed; 
 
 Y 3
 
 324 INDIVIDUALITY. [BookV< 
 
 And failure such persisted in, exhaust 
 By just privation, till the whole is lost — 
 Till seed in vain attempts to force its way, 
 And starves within adhesive native clay. 
 So when this agent shall rejected flee, 
 Man will soon prove his cold sterility, 
 
 Or worse, his active principle, decreed 
 
 To propagate the useless noxious weed. 
 
 Grace turpitude unmasks, but don't expel; 
 
 Evil subjects, but leaves the tyrant fell; 
 
 Shews man his work, but calls him to perform; 
 
 Enlightens, but to prompt his effort warm. 
 
 Grace is to nature contrast, discord, hate. 
 
 And cannot therefore mingle with its state; 
 
 It makes man on the highest themes agree, 
 
 But leaves the medium still through which they see. 
 
 "Who, in the narrow and familiar bound 
 Where dearest objects of the heart are found,. .
 
 Book v.] NO FACES ALIKE. «5 
 
 Ever discovered parallel so true 
 
 That persons twofold but as one they knew? 
 
 Or if to circuit larger, sight they lend. 
 
 Where observation nice can ne'er extend — 
 
 Where superficial knowledge speaks in haste, 
 
 And judgment oft deluded is by taste — 
 
 E'en here, in such a various motley throng 
 
 That to all ranks, vocations, views belong, 
 
 Who would on simply surface-features, tell 
 
 That two possessed them strictly parallel? 
 
 They may some traits of striking likeness know, 
 
 But soon dissimilarity will show. 
 
 'Tis rarely that two faces semblance bear 
 
 So strong, as side by side they may compare; 
 
 Or should such fact in families be known, 
 
 'Tis recogni2ed by stranger's eye alone, 
 
 Those well acquainted with the countenance 
 
 Will tell the individuals at a glance. 
 
 So shepherds, that long used their sheep to watch. 
 
 The lineaments of every face will catch,
 
 M« INDrVIDUALlTT. [BooJk V. 
 
 Know them distinctly — whether fixed in gaze. 
 
 At ease recumbent, or as free they graze; 
 
 Describe them accurately when they stray^ 
 
 And recognize them wheresoc'er they may. 
 
 Beasts of more magnitude of course possess 
 
 Peculiarity's more plain impress; 
 
 And fishes, birds, with all the insect tribe. 
 
 To searching eyes a difference will describe. 
 
 And minds have equal compass -vast and free 
 
 To form their Individuality. 
 
 Nor is it animated life alone 
 
 That calls such nice distinguishments her owu. 
 
 The vegetable world the truth will tell 
 
 To those adapted to examine well. 
 
 No trees throughout their branches, growth, the same; 
 
 No leaves a draught exact of veins esn claim ; 
 
 No blades of grass will at all points agree; 
 
 No seeds have equal shape and property. 
 
 The kingdom mineral advances too 
 
 With all her beauteous family in view
 
 Book v.] INANIMATE DISSIMILARITY. S87 
 
 Of metals, earths, and concretes, each their class, 
 
 Granites large, rude, and vari^ated mass, 
 
 Corals and crystals, gems and marcasites. 
 
 Stones, marbles, jaspers, spars, and porphyritei* 
 
 CapiUaried with fine meandering flow. 
 
 And giving every colour's richest glow, 
 
 With every shade and quahty, that change 
 
 Can endlessly exhibit in such range. 
 
 To bear her testimony, bring her proof. 
 
 Fling through the warp her shuttle's binding woof. 
 
 And tell mankind that in Almighty work 
 
 No inconsistency, untruth, can lurk. 
 
 All is created on a general plan. 
 
 With the materiaUty of man. 
 
 One wonderful co-operating whole 
 
 Trial at once, and solace of his sovd. 
 
 A medium heaven if truth and virtue dwell — 
 
 If perfidy and vice, a medium hell. 
 
 All is of God who gives to each the mind 
 
 For the immediate consequence designed;
 
 328 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book Y* 
 
 Who chooses variations infinite 
 His purposes beyond our reach to fit, 
 And makes each atom of the Universe 
 His wisdom, power, and glory to rehearse. 
 
 END OF THE FIFTH BOOK.
 
 INDIVIDUALITY. 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 3llrgumcnt» 
 
 Subject of the Poem concluded — Scripture Millenium, 
 
 Difference of conduct, and reciprocal misappre- 
 hension, the natural result of Individuality — Man 
 not to slight the degree of harmonious character 
 afforded liim, because it does not equally vibrate at 
 all points — but rather to appretiate, forgive, and 
 embrace those with whom he can hold sweet com- 
 munion without despoiling it by inordinate desire — 
 Congeniality what — The charm of it — Acute sensi- 
 bihty at war with its enjoyment — Philosophical re- 
 search determines its material incapacity for entire- 
 ness — Such research in itself not sceptical — Address 
 to Congeniality — Every object in the universe its 
 owTi center — And in possession of its own sphere — 
 Sympathy a primary law of nature — Address to
 
 330 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book \I, 
 
 Susceptibility — The infrequency of congeniality arise* 
 from corruption and deficiencies of ourselves — Exa- 
 mination of the heart reconmiended — Certain efficacy 
 resulting from it — Millenium knowledge and assimi- 
 lation its fruits — Perfect union the bliss of Heaven 
 — Millenium rises — Its figurative description — The 
 spiritual watchmen alert and exulting in the view- 
 Apostrophe to England on her instrumentality in 
 the great work of evangelizing the nations — Suppli- 
 cation that the present generation may see the reality 
 of millenial blessings — The signs of the times excite 
 their expectations and enliven hope — Progress of 
 Christianity in India — Advancing system for the con- 
 version of the Jews — Growth and efficiency of the 
 Bible Society — God's care of his church — The same 
 yesterday, to-day, and for ever — Those who read to 
 believe have a right to deduce and conclude — Time 
 still travelling with prophecy — Triumphing in its 
 fiilfilment — and claiming the confidence of man for 
 its grand and faithfiil conclusion — God, of whose 
 attributes man can form but imperfect ideas — main- 
 tains with majesty the purposes declared in his word 
 — That word will be at length called in, sealed with 
 the fulness of His Kingdom come — The true spin-
 
 Book VI.] ARGUMENT. SSI 
 
 tual millenium preceded by the heavenly host — The 
 Mighty Voice announces itself — by calling in the 
 Gentiles — re-establishing the Jews — and admonishing 
 the christian church — The Lord's annimciation of 
 his speedy coming — succeeded by an awful pause — 
 The pause by repeated peals of grateful praise and 
 Hallelujahs, which pervade ethereal regions, and 
 reach our planetary atmosphere, and animate to 
 christian exertion — The millenium commenced — In- 
 dividuality will be at length resolved into universa- 
 lity — and praise will be oneness to all eternity.
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 And is it so? and does it then appear 
 
 That Individuality is clear? 
 
 Is it determined that no two are fraught 
 
 With equal principle, and act, and thought? 
 
 That those most similar, at distance thrown, 
 
 Are often to each other quite unknown; 
 
 Or known, for want of frequent intercourse 
 
 Losing the spirit of congenial force? 
 
 What follows but that each his way pursues 
 
 As causes stimulate, as means amuse, 
 
 As bias turns, till hopeless 'tis they should 
 
 Be mutually and fully understood. 
 
 It seems as though it were a bliss too high 
 
 For mortal knowledge, beings born to die;
 
 SS4 INDIvroUALITY. {Book VI. 
 
 Reserved for spiritual communion fair, 
 
 The perfect apprehension angels share, 
 
 Who knowing, known, one heart, one rapture raise, 
 
 One song of triumph, one of endless praise. 
 
 But thus unsuited for experience here 
 Which only rises in a brighter sphere, 
 Shall we be childishly perverse and coy 
 To profit of a sweet, though tempered joy? 
 Shall we the solace of our years reject — 
 Charm of associated intellect, 
 Rehef which from participation flows. 
 Encouragement that fortitude bestows, 
 The soothing harmonies of friendship's eye. 
 And charities of broad humanity- 
 Yield them, because inordinate the mind 
 Its blandishments at every point to find—' 
 Because occasionally discord flings 
 Its jar o'er sensibilit3r's quick strings.
 
 Book VL] CONCLUSIVE MATTER. ISf 
 
 And gives a short suspence to equal tone, 
 To make it more effectively its own? 
 
 Oh no! let those who happily oft hear 
 The sound of plaintive playful echo near — - 
 Who listen to its softly dying tone 
 Till it again reverberates their own — 
 Again pronounces the accepted strain, 
 And pours the fuU acknowledgment again — 
 Let them forgive the tongue, that may anon 
 Demur to speak the thing that they have done; 
 Forgive the mind that cannot quite agree 
 Upon the motive they so clearly see; 
 Forgive the heart, that, zealous where it feels, 
 A too-impassioned sympathy reveals ! 
 Let them remember, that in equal way. 
 Though not fi"om equal som-ces, Ihey may stray; 
 Excite in turn the same regret received 
 And others grieve in places where the^ grieved.
 
 S36 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 Let them remember, instances are few 
 In which they need unkindred thinking rue, 
 Compared to those that wake the ready start 
 At once to offer welcome, and impart. 
 Where'er a close concurrence is denied, 
 
 The distance is alike on either side; 
 
 Each from the point of union gives offence, 
 One by dissent, one by accepted sense. 
 
 Sure 'tis a cordial of no trifling kind 
 
 A cincture with no healing power confined. 
 
 To meet upon the road of busy life 
 
 The frequent shelter from the storms of strife; 
 
 To know, to own, while buffeting without 
 
 A din of scoff, of heresy, of doubt, 
 
 A tasteful, comfortable fortress home, 
 
 That stays the heart, e'en while compelled to roam; 
 
 That holds the sight, while other things are seen, 
 
 And wakes 'midst wild commotion, thoughts serene ! 
 
 Congeniality's specific worth 
 
 Whatever principle may call it forth
 
 Book VI.] CONCLUSIVE MATTER. 837 
 
 Is genuine, but diifers in degree: 
 In those of steril cold philosophy 
 *Tis simply an agreement of the head — 
 A coalition logical and dead; 
 An axiom union, which plain numbers give, 
 All mathematical, demonstrative. 
 To those whose fancy bears them out of sight 
 To other colours, and to other light 
 Than such afforded to the senses plain — 
 Whose images, so wandering and vain, 
 So fascinating, warm, and beautiful, 
 Give man the flowers adventurous which they cull; 
 It is the shadow that gross matter screens; 
 The glow that burnishes their brightest scenes; 
 The impulse that distends their ample wings; 
 The power from which creative magic springs. 
 It sees chimera, subtile ether cleave, 
 And tales of visionary texture weave; 
 And it alone can press upon her flight, 
 And bear the splendour of her ambient light. 
 
 Z
 
 338 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 To men whose labour has supplied the brain 
 
 From books profound, famed libraries contain; 
 
 Whose vast acquirements circle time and space, 
 
 And revolutions of the human race; 
 
 Who languages original conceive. 
 
 And erudition's highest work aphiqye; 
 
 Congeniality has virtue meet 
 
 To render their accomplishments complete. 
 
 It is a judgment adequate alone 
 
 That can the wonders of their skill make known; 
 
 Can estimate their hterary claim 
 
 And give to generations down their name. 
 
 On all, whate'er their talents, rank, and views. 
 
 It sheds impartially its wholesome, dews : 
 
 But for the christian bond resery^§, the zest 
 
 Of apprehension eminently best. 
 
 It knows 'tis subject to the least alloy 
 
 And gives to highest theme the highest joy. 
 
 As journeying onward to celestial land. 
 
 When Christians can each other understand.
 
 B«elt VI.] CONCLUSIYK MATTER. «•» 
 
 Their conversation unconstrained and free 
 From heart to heart flows in simplicity. 
 Tis not alone the knowledge they reveal. 
 But that on things of faith they put their seal ; 
 *Tis not alone the doctrine they approve, 
 But that it teaches them to walk in love. 
 Love is of faith the fruity the test, the sign, 
 Love comprehensive, himian and divine; 
 No jealousy on rival talents grows; 
 No envy towards renown disturbs repose; 
 But tolerance, and scripture charities, 
 Display their soundest finest energies. 
 All have at heart one object, one desir^ 
 The heathen nations to inform, inspire. 
 And heathen countrymen to teach the things 
 Possessing for them healing on their wings. 
 Imagination, converse will adorn 
 With all of beauty, taste-illusive — born 
 Philosophy accompanied, will soar 
 With greater pleasure to pervade, explore— 
 
 z3
 
 340 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 Learning on solid ground collegiate 
 Will tread with surer dignity and weight — 
 But union spiritual on christian theme 
 Affords exchange the sweetest — peace supreme. 
 
 Congeniality ! what charm awakes 
 To soothe the wearing of continual aches 
 At sound of thee ! what rest diffuses o'er 
 The mind all dislocated just before ! 
 All fevered with contention's strenuous way! 
 All exigent to welcome such allay ! 
 Idea, that the word alone reveals 
 Through vital currency tumultuous, steals, 
 Bids the impassioned motion to subside, 
 And in its channel soft and smooth to glide; 
 Calls to opposing enemies to cease. 
 And speaks the nervous system into peace. 
 No fitful season, inconvenient hour. 
 Salute repulsive, or capricious lower,
 
 Book VI.] CONGENIALITY. 341 
 
 Tliy genius knows; what qualities you claim 
 
 Are always ready, always are the same; 
 
 At every gentle call responsive speak, 
 
 And energies for fit occasion seek. 
 
 The earnest hopeless wish to perfect thee 
 
 First gave the Muse her theme of minstrelsy. 
 
 Early she valued thee, and time of length 
 
 Has only added to such value strength; 
 
 Early she proved thee too, and years of prime 
 
 But led such dancing pleasure on through time. 
 
 Yet sensibility will oft create 
 
 Uneasinesses of a transient date ! 
 
 Fond expectation rises in demand; 
 
 Assumes exorbitant tenacious stand; 
 
 And while encompassed by the choicest sweets 
 
 Itself of their enjoyment clearly cheats. 
 
 Refinements upon delicacy pine, 
 
 Till they coiTupt the thing they would refine; 
 
 Till they exchange the nature imawares, 
 
 And see that delicacy roughness shares;
 
 342 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 Till hair-breadth differences they split, re-split. 
 
 And render difficult the search for it. 
 
 Replete with inconsistency they would 
 
 Apparent inconsistencies make good; 
 
 Would stretch attachment sometimes to the point 
 
 At which it clearly would be out of joint; 
 
 At which the ligaments by over-strain 
 
 Would fill the body with disease and pain. 
 
 And rob it of its own elastic force — 
 
 The free-will kindness of its constant course. 
 
 Aught that from nature comes is lovelier 
 
 Than all that coy compliance may confer; 
 
 And acts or words spontaneous, that accord 
 
 With fine perceptions others' nerves afford. 
 
 Strike on such vibratory strings refined, 
 
 And leave soft cadence ever on the mind. 
 
 Possessed of love's essentials, why distress 
 
 For points of little consequence, and less? 
 
 Why lose the real good in fancied ill? 
 
 Why suffer warm attachment e'er to chill?
 
 Book VI.] CONGENIALITY. i4» 
 
 One thing it proves — no policy is there, 
 No cold contrivance the regard to share, 
 But judgment, high prerogrative ! runs wild, 
 And makes the man mature appear a child; 
 High impulse loses for a while its glow 
 And settles in affections selfish, low. 
 Dishonest arguments will next advance 
 And all is error and extravagance. 
 Romance in ardent youth its friends expect. 
 And know not how to curb what they detect: 
 But veteran experience, on its brow 
 Ought not the slight that's fancied to allow. 
 *Tis weakness palpable, 'tis plain offence 
 'Gainst every argument of common sense. 
 Man needs to be stirred up to every care. 
 To watchfulness, to sorrow, and to prayer. 
 That iungous obstacle should be removed 
 To view the objects fairly long approved. 
 One mean to clear the vision, is to trace 
 The causes and effects on human race;
 
 344 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 To see the whole of matter that combines — 
 Through all the pores of nature intertwines — 
 Producing all we love, and all we see 
 Of beauty, usefulness, and harmony. 
 This bold conception will throughout appear 
 The difficulties more minute to clear; 
 And to our pleasure and our peace, unfold 
 All we would apprehend, embrace, behold. 
 
 Hushed be the voice of censure ! biassed mind 
 Tow'rds subjects metaphysical, refined, 
 Can never sceptical be deemed, unjust 
 To highest objects of its faith and trust, 
 Except by those who do not choose to think, 
 And from fair harmless disquisition shrink. 
 Restraint unnatural upon the mind, 
 Makes it impatient as it is confined — 
 Makes it to chaff at friction of the bond. 
 To mourn imprisoned, thinking, and despond.
 
 Book VI.] RESEARCH NOT SCEPTICAL. 345 
 
 It all things sees without, and longs the more 
 As flitting through them, to believe, adore; 
 Loves the wild range of nature to maintain, 
 And far as reason can, to use, explain; 
 And where beyond attainment, to resign 
 In admiration lost of power divine. 
 The exercise of intellectual dower 
 As gift exalted of Omniscient power, 
 Is but our duty — is enlargement just 
 Of talents such, committed to our trust. 
 All evil centers in abuse of good ; 
 All good, in rendering it well understood; 
 And light it is, to see our God with awe 
 While we sincerely love his sacred law. 
 E'en when the region of pure faith it nears 
 No need of hostile words and jealous fears; 
 Mysteries decreed ere earth its orbit ran 
 Must stand their purposes, though little man 
 With all his prejudice and towering pride 
 Continues to distort and to deride.
 
 <*• iNDIVibUALITy. [BookVl. 
 
 Grace ciii protect frbhi every danger nigh 
 And license pleasures of philosophy. 
 The voice of nature faithful— reason's voice, 
 With that of inspiration may rejoice, 
 May give the glory and the homage meet 
 To render the high symphony complete. 
 
 Induced, through musings on the Ivays of man. 
 His various character at large to scan, 
 Inquiry has enriched With many a rule 
 Pride, prejudice and temperametit to school. 
 And fix all boast in its peculiar place — 
 In simple nature and in simple grace. 
 
 Hail to fhee, prompt Gbiigeniality ! 
 From artifice and provocation fi-ee: 
 Hail to thee! all-imperfect as thou art, 
 Invigorating comfort of the heart ; 
 No fiiture interval can be forlorn 
 Do thou but point the good, and blunt the thorn-;^
 
 Book VI.] CONGENlALmr. M7 
 
 No whelming misery can aught reveal 
 Art thou but near to understand and feel! 
 Where'er the path, do thou the steps attend; 
 Thy taste, thy sentiments, thy talents blend; 
 Tread the soft sod, and break through tangled way, 
 And climb the rock, and in the beech-wood stray; 
 Wake with the dawn, and till the dawn again 
 Pour thy continued never-wearying strain; 
 Warble o'er life's decline thy melodies; 
 Give them o'er lengthening shadows to iuise; 
 Cheer the grey twilight with their soothing flow, 
 To silence sorrow for departed glow; 
 Hover o'er broken pulse and faltering breath. 
 And sigh thy dulcet harmonies in death ! 
 
 But whatsoe'er the qualities, the bent 
 Congenial wanted, each should be content, 
 As semblances at all points close, we aee 
 With possibility cannot agree
 
 348 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 Upon the principles Omniscient, vast, 
 On which the moving universe is cast — 
 Each should be well contented who has found 
 The characters in which his own abound. 
 All into centers and their orbs resolve. 
 The Universe is one complete revolve. 
 Planets possess their satellites, and learn 
 To act as satellites themselves in turn. 
 Systems are but as suns, and take their place 
 As such, in the illimitable space. 
 These congregated, form a mass of light 
 Which gives the constellation to our sight; 
 And constellations infinite, but roll 
 Round their creative God, their sun, their soul. 
 So, to descend, is individual man 
 The special center of his narrow span; 
 Throws his own radius o'er his circling sphere 
 And coalesces with the circle near. 
 Where'er his conduct as in rays goes forth, 
 It mingles with specific vice and worth;
 
 Book VI.] CONGENIALITY. 349 
 
 Strikes on its kindred bearings here and there, 
 
 Though union cannot hope entire to share; 
 
 Acts upon others, and again is still 
 
 Acted upon by them, his part to fill; 
 
 And nature ever true, is ever prone 
 
 To seek, to love, to consort with its own. 
 
 It is a sympathy so just and clear 
 
 That childhood gives it strongly to appear ; 
 
 And leaves us from analogy to draw 
 
 That life throughout is subject to its law. 
 
 The less of consciousness have minds, of course 
 
 The less they feel its operating force; 
 
 While those of quick perception, want to find 
 
 Its zest in every chamber of the mind ; 
 
 And all who own its pleasure, will allow 
 
 From it the sweets of social being flow. 
 
 However man with man promiscuous blends, 
 
 He chuses and is chosen by such friends 
 
 Whose minds have opened as occasion taught 
 
 The countciparts of self, its tongue, its thought.
 
 SSO INDIVIDUALITY. tBook VI. 
 
 The more of this same self is found, the more 
 
 Is motive penetrated to its core; 
 
 The more the mind obtains the generous food 
 
 Of being accurately understood. 
 
 Food which the power of language can't supply, 
 
 Though issuing freely from the speaking eye. 
 
 With all thy disappointments and thy foes. 
 Thy impulse- weaknesses and; overthrows, 
 "Welcome, Oh ! ever welcome may'st thou be^ 
 Buoyant and frank Susceptibility ! 
 Thy noble nature active, ardent, bold, 
 Cannot communion with suspicion hold, 
 But springs at all that's promising or fair. 
 That may with what it ownsj or loves, compare. 
 Disdaining order, oft will thou o'erleap 
 The bounds that formal ceremonies keep: 
 Oft millitate against the little law 
 That strikes the disingenuous mind with awe;
 
 Book VL] SUSCt^PTlBILITY. 361 
 
 Feel the quick matter pulse within the brain, 
 
 Nor can the full rebounding force restrain. 
 
 But promptly such offences wilt requite, 
 
 Whilst far beyond these evils, thy delight. 
 
 All thy appropriate pleasures as they wing 
 
 O'er thee their showers of rosy gladness fling; 
 
 And though, as promptly, cypress leaves may shed. 
 
 Their fatal pungencies around thy head, 
 
 Yet far the blessings of our days, transcend , 
 
 The sorrows that occasionally blend; 
 
 From every point, in every shape they come, 
 
 And call acknowledgment and comfort home. 
 
 With such a stimulus to seek, to warm, 
 To aid the languid spirit and inform. 
 The kind emotions of the hmnan breast 
 Will lull despondency and gloom to rest. 
 Hope, sanguine and alert, shall take the lead 
 And bid the search in fruitfulness succeed.
 
 352 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 Lo ! where she anchors in the world of strife, 
 The mart of energies, the realm of life ; 
 Thousands with eager look, and open stare, 
 And tongue interrogating, close you there. 
 Where novelty appears all ranks are flown 
 Whilst all betray a novelty their own. 
 Do none attract you there ? Do none agree — 
 None offer pleasant something fit and free? 
 Have you well searched, and cannot you yet find 
 The qualities responsive of your mind? 
 Is it not rather that your own lies waste, 
 That others' excellence you cannot taste? 
 Have you not fearful reason to suspect 
 In you, not them, exists the sad defect? 
 Prove yourself well abandon art, disguise, 
 In faithfulness your bias analyse; 
 See what you are, and what you ought to be. 
 Dare to behold the fault that you should flee; 
 Say which the principle of nature's claim — 
 Which Individuality's own name;
 
 Book VI.] TO EXAMINE SELF. S58 
 
 And what are the engraftments — if they're fair, 
 
 And likely to distend and flourish there. 
 
 Your mental muscles exercise, and try 
 
 If what you have not, you may not supply ; 
 
 If what you have, you rather would retain ; 
 
 If of its consequences you complain ; 
 
 If genuine your traits, or counterfeit ; 
 
 If to yourself you're honest, or a cheat. 
 
 Is this an ordeal trial? Be assured 
 
 You have but to go through it, to be cured. 
 
 Cured of all narrowness, caprice, and spleen, 
 
 Of sickly self, irregular and mean ; 
 
 Cured of encouraging desires too high 
 
 To live within the regions of the sky; 
 
 Of groveling tempers, sordid habits cured, 
 
 And all the worst of ills by man endured. 
 
 Did all but struggle thus, and thus obtain, 
 What a millenial knowledge we should gain ! 
 
 2A
 
 36*., INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 Those would assimilate who never knew 
 What to assimilating powers are due; 
 And those who knew so much of them before - 
 They were dissatisfied to know no more, 
 Would wisdom prove to value what they have, 
 And bear the treasure faithful to the grave. 
 That fearful passage past— and freed from weight 
 That frets and harasses. our mortal state, 
 Pure apprehension will on vision pour, 
 And give them love's fruition — to adore. 
 
 Mean while 'tis something to be well aware 
 We have as much of good as we can bear ; 
 That fuller union would advance on earth 
 Appropriate happiness of heavenly birth ; 
 That junction perfect never can arise 
 But from redemption's tenfold harmonies. 
 
 That bright millenium rises ! — not in light 
 Upon the black profound of heavy night,
 
 Book VI.] THE MILLENIUM. 855 
 
 In which the mind without apparent hope 
 Gives to despondency a deadly scope: 
 But all arrayed in pure and cheering boon : 
 Wliich while it is the surety of high noon, 
 Goes forth from steady twilight, that hath kept 
 Its equal guardianship whilst nations slept; 
 That hath to wakefulness been fond repose 
 Oft as desire hath sought prophetic close; 
 Like that when Summer solstice pours its day 
 Continued, giving night its ebbing ray. 
 That Word in which the promises are seen 
 Affords the faithful, intei*val serene; 
 Arrests their confidence, informs their view, 
 But bids them all impatience to subdue; 
 Inspires their energies, but speaks control 
 To wild impetuosity of soul ; 
 Has shewn for ages past the coming bliss. 
 But its commencement has reserved for this. 
 
 2 a2
 
 S56 INDIVIDUALiry. [Book VI. 
 
 The bright millenium rises 1 — ^glowing morn 
 Is borne upon the soft diffiisive dawn, 
 And tells that in its proper hemisphere 
 The sun of suns is in its full career; 
 In glory's broad effulgences it moves, 
 And promise of a second advent proves. 
 And where o'er convex line this source unfolds, 
 The searching sight a little cloud beholds. 
 To all appearance small as human hand,* 
 Which henceforth will the fruitful shower command. 
 Above the hills exalted, in its might f 
 Established, on the top of mountain's height, 
 The mountain of the temple of the Lord 
 In perfect time its covert shall afford, J 
 O'er heathen lands its ensign rear unfurled 
 And ope its portals to a wandering world. 
 From Zion's tower prepared for work so high 
 Soon as the watchmen hail the novel sky 
 
 * 1 Kings XTiii. 44. + Is, ii. 2, 3. t Is. xi. 10, 11.
 
 Book VI.] THE MILLENIUNf. SVt 
 
 With promptitude and concord sweet, each voice * 
 
 Uplifted is, in prospect to rejoice: 
 
 For eye to eye they shall behold it, when 
 
 The Lord shall bring his chosen seed again.f 
 
 No sleep their eyelids knew, when once appeared 
 
 The spreading glory of their King revered; 
 
 But casting round upon the teeming fields :J: 
 
 Which, promise white to coming harvest yields-^ 
 
 In suitable defensive armour clad, 
 
 Loins girt about with truth, a temper glad, 
 
 Breast plate of righteousness, the Spirit's sword, $ 
 
 The shield of faith, the essence of the Word, 
 
 Full with the Gospel's preparation shod 
 
 They cry aloud with strength, " Behold your God ! " || 
 
 How beautiful upon the mountain's height. 
 
 The feet of those who lift the veil of night, 
 
 Promulgate peace, and tidings glad proclaim 
 
 For all who hear them, in a Saviour's name! 
 
 • Is. lii. 7, 8. i Is. liii. 10. X ^o^ >▼• ^^' 
 
 S Epheg. Ti. 13—17. { Ig. zl. 9.
 
 358 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 Ten thousand times ten thousand hearts delight 
 
 In such a cause triumphant to unite; 
 
 In cities, counties, and from shore to shore 
 
 To talk the wondrous subject o'er and o'er, 
 
 And trust that time and judgment may fulfill 
 
 The mandate of Onmiscient jealous will,* 
 
 No longer shall the Church in mournful strain 
 
 Of numbers separated, small, complain — 
 
 Cry " Woe is me ! as summer fruits when gone 
 
 *' As sad grape-gleanings of the vintage won " f — 
 
 But " Clusters hang my highest taste to suit 
 
 " And longing is appeased with first-ripe fruit." 
 
 And England owns this interest high, sublime. 
 That rises o'er the ravages of time — 
 Possesses in its zenith christian day, 
 And shoots on circling error solar ray ! 
 All mortal boast is evil ! e'en the glow 
 That patriotic energies bestow 
 
 * Ex. XX. 3, 4. + Mic. vii. 1.
 
 BookVI.] £NGL\NL). SS^ 
 
 Has for its root corruption : but if aught 
 Of human is with genuine virtue fraught, 
 It is the glory of our Nation's boast 
 Of all that we admire aud love the most. 
 England as such is justly eminent. 
 Hers is acute perception; high intent; 
 Sanguine endeavour ; persevering toil ; 
 Courage, that scorns from peril to recoil; 
 Ardour, through perils suffered, to proceed; 
 Wisdom, to animate by glory's meed; 
 Riches, to generous purpose' full supply ; 
 And generous purposes that never die. — ' 
 Who can abstain from boast of thee, sweet Isle ! 
 That bears a sentiment devoid of guile ? 
 That carries impulse, honesty, and fire, 
 That calls thee Mother, and thy vii'tues Sire, 
 That feels within her veins thy current ride, • 
 And would not wish to stem the dancing tide ? 
 Who can abstain from praise of thee, who draws 
 Protection from thy hospitable laws —
 
 380 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 The multitudes who, from their countries forced. 
 
 Are secretly content to be divorced, 
 
 While in your bounty, polity, and trade. 
 
 They find provision, kindness, shelter, shade? 
 
 Who on the European continent 
 
 Amidst the potentates belligerent 
 
 Ventures at England's faith to hurl the stone? 
 
 Far better, were her policy their own ! 
 
 As open enemy, or honest friend 
 
 Her interests she ever will defend: 
 
 But scorns the breach of compact, artful league. 
 
 And all the littleness of base intrigue. 
 
 Ask through her settlements in India found. 
 
 And through th^ intersecting states around. 
 
 What think they (rf our land's integrity — 
 
 Would they from such enlightened rule be free? 
 
 Ask as you journey o'er the coast of gold, 
 
 Where human strength inhumanly is sold — 
 
 Its limbs examined, nmscles put to stretch, 
 
 To make of brother man a very wretch —
 
 Book VI.] ENGLAND. 361 
 
 And when from country dear and kindred torn 
 
 And to the Islands miserably borne, 
 
 Ask them what foreign land they love the most — 
 
 " Oh ! take me," they would say, " to England's coast ! 
 
 " Let me within its rocks once bend the knee, 
 
 ** Once touch the shores whose magic makes us free ! " 
 
 Splendid as are these honours on the page 
 
 That history will transmit to future age, 
 
 The first, best, purest jewel of thy crown 
 
 Shall be thy christian deeds of sweet renown ; 
 
 And of those christian deeds, the energies 
 
 That would a sordid world evangelize ! 
 
 Blest period ! good anticipated, haste ! 
 Let present man thy joys millenial taste ! 
 Let him an infant glimpse obtain of life, 
 Freed from the bitterness of care and strife ! 
 Show lis thy glory. Lord! thy goodness make* 
 To pass before our eyes, for thy name-sake ! 
 
 * £x. xxziii. 18, 19.
 
 362 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 Let us behold thy kingdom come; behold 
 The aliens compassed in one happy fold ! 
 One Shepherd over them to watch and tend,* 
 The lambs to gather with his arm, defend. 
 To bear them in his bosom, soothe, and feed, 
 And gently those that are with young to lead ! 
 Give us to know all savage passions tamed ! f 
 All tempers scorning social faith, ashamed; 
 Safely e'en in the wilderness to dwell ; J 
 Sleep in the woods, nor dread ferocious yell; 
 To see the beasts of prey have actions mild. 
 And led promiscuous by a little child; § 
 Broken the battle axe, the sword, the bow ; || 
 And war and enmity and lust laid low ! 
 To see the feeble knees, weak hands, at length % 
 Established in thy self-imparted strength; 
 The fearful heart amidst the faithful throng 
 Sinewed by grace, and in assurance strong ! ** 
 
 ♦ Ezek. xxxU. 23. + Is. Ixv. 25. J Ezek. xxx'iv. 25. ^ Is, xi. 6. 
 H IIos. ii. 18. 5 Is. XXXV. 3, 4. •• Ezek. xxxiv. 30.
 
 Book VI.] MILLENIUM. 365 
 
 Give us one comprehension to possess 
 Of all to which our knowledge has access ; 
 To send one great, one universal voice, 
 In choral Hallelujahs to rejoice ! 
 
 Are all these empty words, or do men read 
 To see, believe, and bravely own their creed? 
 If so, they're looking to the growing scope 
 Of vision, answerable to their hope ; 
 And far as corresponding signs appear 
 They have a right to judge their vision clear. 
 A time of sure commencement there must be * 
 To set the Israehtes and Heathens free; 
 And arduous constancy must intervene 
 Through generations many yet unseen. 
 Ere such a warfare, and on such a plan, 
 May be accomplished through appointed man : 
 Yet still it stands the object of desire ; 
 And every possible should each inspire 
 
 • Acts i. 6, 7, 8,
 
 S64 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI, 
 
 To aid the harmonics of christian theme, 
 
 And prove this work sublime, no more a dream. 
 
 This bright millenium rises ! Albion's spires 
 Are brilliant with the glory of its fires. 
 Its purple peaks their radiant tints unfold 
 Sparkling with lustre, and imbued with gold. 
 Upon its fortress' cliffs from east to west, 
 The beams of ancient prophecy are prest; 
 And summits of its mountains yield their pride 
 Before the coming mountain deified.* 
 See issued from Prerogative's resort, 
 From judgment of an ample triune court. 
 The Bill that opens to Hindostan's eyes 
 Of God's high calling the intrinsic prize ! 
 The mean, where rages superstition's strife, 
 To plant the tree of knowledge — tree of life, 
 And bid to circulate through every vein, 
 O'er India, and o'er Asia's vast domain, 
 * Is.xi. 10.
 
 Book VI.] MILLENIUM. 365 
 
 The truth efficient, imcorrupt, divine, 
 
 As when it first diffiised through Palestine. 
 
 See under noble, royal patronage, 
 A fit society of men engage 
 Commissioned by the King of kings, to prove 
 For ancient Israel faithful care and love ! 
 See with dispatch, astonishing, the fane 
 Upreared, advanced, and in progressive train. 
 With christian Testament in Hebrew tongue 
 Translated, published, Judah's sons among. 
 To bless the Israehtes with joyful sound, 
 That their anticipated Lord is found — 
 That Gospel facts each prophecy sustains * 
 And that their own Messiah ever reigns ! 
 See congregated proselytes in haste 
 Forsaking the cold cheerless wildering waste, 
 And praying for the period when once mwe 
 Their God his chosen people shall restore ! 
 
 • Acts X. 43,
 
 366 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 See schools established, manufactures swell, 
 
 Recovered sons of ancient love to tell, 
 
 And christians of all orders lend the voice 
 
 For them, and with them, promptly to rejoice ! 
 
 See youths of promise, aliens but of late. 
 
 Instructed saving truths to promulgate. 
 
 And glowing with the hope, through strength divine,- 
 
 As honoured instruments of light to shine ! 
 
 God ! from whom all primordial virtue springs 
 
 Despiseth not the day of little things.* 
 
 He maketh small the water-drops, to pourf 
 
 In vapour subtile, sure, the arid o'er; 
 
 He bids the clouds to weigh their gathered fill, 
 
 And upon man abundantly distill. 
 
 "He" will not, "shall not break the bruised reed":^ 
 
 (Thus for himself, he of himself decreed) 
 
 " The smoking flax shall he not quench, but fan 
 
 " To judgment and to truth " the spark in man. 
 
 * Zcch. iv. 10. + Job xxxvi. 27, 28. ^ Matt. xii. 20.
 
 Book VI.] MILLENIUM. J67 
 
 Though small be the beginning, yet the end* 
 With large increase — with harvest ripe shall bend. 
 Deem not as nothing then the infant hour,f 
 But watch the rising of the gracious power ! 
 The scarcely visible, the shade of light, 
 That wakes from non-existence heavy night, 
 If contemplated justly, is the dawn 
 That promises a bright celestial mom. 
 
 Full of the knowledge of the Lord, shall be % 
 The earth, as waters overspread the sea ! 
 The eye refreshes at a thousand rills 
 That wind salubriously from British hills, 
 And point their lengthening way of freedom, worth. 
 To farthest parched and barren ends of earth : 
 f"r But none appears so steadily to flow. 
 None such high privileges to bestow, 
 None is so comprehensive in its will. 
 Or so efficient purpose to fulfill, 
 
 ♦ Job viii. 5—10. + Hag. ii. 3. t Isaiah xi. 9.
 
 S88 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book YI. 
 
 As that of sending into every land 
 The Bible, in the tongue they understand. 
 The Scriptures pure are given to be received, 
 Are code of truth to be beheld, believed ; 
 They bid us wear them in our heart, to teach 
 Our children's children, all within our reach;* 
 To talk of them when sitting round our hearth; 
 When walking by the way to sound their worth; 
 When lying down, for safety and for rest, 
 And rising up in sweet refreshment blest. 
 They bid us bind them on our hands as sign, 
 Between our eyes as frontlets all divine, 
 Write them upon the door-posts of abode, 
 And on our gates proclaim The Lord our God. 
 
 The Church, the Word, the Spirit, and the band 
 Called to promulgate truth throughout the land, 
 Kept by Omnipotence whose own they are,f 
 Still the same witness, the same essence bear, :|: 
 
 * Deut, vi. 6. 9. i Rev. xxii. 13. J Acts t. Si.
 
 Book VI. J MILLENIUM. 399 
 
 Speak with the same authority, and hold 
 
 Tlie promises and threatenings, as of old ; * 
 
 In operation too, as they were then 
 
 These promises divine of yea, amen ! 
 
 To the same testimony, law, and Word, 
 
 Be our attention and our trust preferred ! 
 
 Preserved through perils many, and concealed 
 
 But with refulgence new to be revealed, 
 
 Time still with ceaseless faithful course has run 
 
 And triumphs in prophetic records won. 
 
 Time travels still with ceaseless faithful course 
 
 Prophetic records bearing to enforce, 
 
 And claims the confidence of reasoning man 
 
 For equal finish on the mighty plan. 
 
 He, who without beginning, form, or gpace, 
 Does matter universal see, embrace, 
 Sustain, control, pervade — who calls forth man; 
 Meteth the heavenly regions with a spanjf 
 
 • Rev, ixii. 16— «0. f Isaiah xl. 12—22. 
 
 2B
 
 ro INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 The ocean in the hollow of his hand; 
 Numbers upon its beds and shores, the sand; 
 Mountains and hills into his balance flings; 
 Takes up the isles as very little things; 
 Upon the circle of the planets sits; 
 And to infinity himself commits — 
 He, whose essential attributes are known 
 To his stupendous sovereignty alone — 
 Who bids the searching for them to deride* 
 His creature's insignificance and pride — 
 He, all that our ideas can of vast 
 Into perfection at his fiat cast; 
 Through circling tune has poized them by his will, 
 And bids Eternity this law fulfill. 
 In His entire survey the atom class 
 Is dear, is known, as that of hugest mass ; 
 Since all extension, vague importance gives. 
 With Him, who through unbounded matter lives. 
 » Isaiah Ix. 13, 14.
 
 Book VI.] MILLENIUM. »7l 
 
 Distinction higher He to man accords, 
 
 To reason's eye Himself revealed, affords; 
 
 Revealed for all the purposes of good, 
 
 That by man's finite powers are understood. 
 
 His purposes in endless circle move, 
 
 EflScient to his wonder-working love. 
 
 He still immutably his word declares, 
 
 And answers all the promises it bears; 
 
 Will still declare, and answer, and reveal, 
 
 To those who His designs revere and feel; 
 
 And will eventually call it home. 
 
 Sealed with the fulness of His Kingdom come ! 
 
 Preceded by the heavenly host its gleam — 
 Myriads of the redeemed announce the theme. 
 As they advance, the motion of their wings * 
 A noise like that of mighty waters brings. 
 As voice of the Almighty is the noise — 
 That voice which speaks to crumble worlds, or poize. 
 
 • Ezek. i. 24. 
 2b3
 
 872 INDIVIDUALITY, [Book VI. 
 
 They stand; let down their wings; and o'er their heads,* 
 
 The firmament as throne of sapphire spreads; 
 
 Issuing as noise of host, the voice divine, 
 
 While all around the Godhead glories shine. 
 
 Hark! the great trumpet of the Lord is blown, f 
 
 Sounded by seventh angel of the throne ! if 
 
 The seventh angel pours his vial there ; § 
 
 Thunders and lightnings rend the ambient air; 
 
 And earthquake was, of such a mighty birth, 
 
 As was not, since inhabited the earth. 
 
 Voices are multiplied as ocean's roar,l| 
 
 As sounds reverb'rated from shore to shore; 
 
 And harpers harping with their harps, are heard; 
 
 And chorusses symphonious of the Word. 
 
 The prelude to the mighty voice is won. 
 The mighty voice determines " It is done." H 
 
 ♦ Ezck. i. 28. T Isaiah xxvii. 13. | Rev. xi. 15. 
 
 V Rev. xvi. 17, 18. H Rev. xiv. 2. . f Rev. xvi. 17.
 
 BookVI.l MILLENIUM. J1S 
 
 Proclaims that He is God, and only He;* 
 No other Saviour but the One in Three ; f 
 None but himself the universe hath cast,:}: 
 He, Alpha and Omega, first and last ! § 
 The great beginning and the faithful end ! 
 He vindicates himself his creatures' friend ; 
 He gives them a new city, a new earth; || 
 Calls them to sonship by a second birth ;1[ 
 And gives his spirit to each willing ear,* * 
 A witness in itself, his truths to hear. 
 
 Thus saith the Lord, unto the sons of men : 
 " Gather yourselves to my great sacrifice ! 
 " Be strong and work, for I am with you still ! 
 " Proclaim the year acceptable of God ! 
 " Fear not ! yet once, it is a little while, 
 " And I will shake the heavens, and the earth, 
 " The sea, dry land, and I will shake all nations, 
 " And, of all nations ' The Desire,' shall come, 
 
 • Isaiah xlv. 21, 22. + Isaiah xliii, 11, :f John i. 3. ^ Rev. zxii. IS 
 Ij Isaiah Ixv. 17. ? Johu i. 12. • » Rom. viii. 15, 16.
 
 374 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 " Full of my glory ! saith the Lord of Hosts. 
 
 *' And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; 
 
 " I will destroy the strength of heathen kingdoms ; 
 
 " And set up One that never shall decay. 
 
 " I will o'erthrow the chariots; those who ride; 
 
 " The horses and their riders shall come down; 
 
 " All thy strong holds, thy witchcrafts, soothsayers; 
 
 " Thy graven images will I cut off; 
 
 " Thy standing images from midst of thee ; 
 
 " Cut off the idols' names from out the land; 
 
 *' The makers of them shall confounded be, 
 
 " And thou no more shalt worship work of thine. 
 
 " Beneath the clifts of rocks, in vallies fair, 
 
 " No more thou shalt thy sons and daughters slay; 
 
 " Nor sacrifice — abomination vile ! 
 
 " To Moloch, making them to pass through fire — * 
 
 *' I will pluck up thy groves from midst of thee, f 
 
 " Will make ashamed of oaks ye have desired, t 
 
 " Confounded for the gardens ye have chosen, 
 
 " And plant the cedar, myrtle, and the pine. § 
 
 ♦ Lev. XX. 2. + Mic. v. 14. t Isaiah i. 29. ^ Isaiah xli. 19.
 
 Book VI.] MILLENIUM. S7i 
 
 " Behold, a new thing I will do; will make 
 
 " An highway, even in the wilderness; 
 
 *' And in the desert rivers cause to flowj 
 
 " And I will bring the blind an unknown way; 
 
 " I will make darkness light; fools shall not err; 
 
 " And every valley shall exalted be; 
 
 " And every mountain, hill, shall be made low; 
 
 " The crooked straight, and the rough places plain. 
 
 " My glory shall throughout revealed be; 
 
 " All flesh shall see it; I have spoken it. 
 
 " Arise, shine ; thy light is come ; even now, * 
 
 " The glory of the Lord is risen upon thee ! 
 
 *' I give thee for thy guide the morning star ; f 
 
 " The unknown god worshipped in ignorance, J 
 
 " I now make known ; I, even 1, am He. § 
 
 " Is there a God beside ? 1 know not any. || 
 
 " I will betroth thee unto me for ever, 
 
 " In judgment, mercy, and in righteousness. 
 
 " Call those my people, which were not my people; 
 
 • Isaiah Ix. 1. + Rev. ii. 28. J Acts xvii. 28. ^ Isaiah xliii. 11. 
 fl Isaiah xliv. 8.
 
 376 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 " Thy maker is the Husband, Father, Friend. 
 
 " I ani found out of those who sought me not ; 
 
 " Disclosed to those not called by my name; 
 
 " Before they call upon me, I reply; 
 
 " And while they yet are speaking, I will hear. 
 
 " No more shall men be taught to know the Lord ; 
 
 " For from the least of them unto the greatest 
 
 " They shall all know me, saith the Lord of Hosts. 
 
 " And thou, O tower of the flock, strong hold * 
 *' Of Zion's daughter, unto thee shall come 
 *' Even the first dominion ; the kingdom 
 " To the daughter of Jerusalem ! 
 " Comfort, comfort ye my people, saith your God ! f 
 " Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem ! 
 *' Cry, that her warfare is accomplished; 
 " That her iniquity is pardoned ! 
 " Lift up thy voice with strength : be not afraid : 
 *' Say unto Judah's sons, Behold your God ! 
 " The Lord shall comfort Zion, her waste places ; % 
 
 * Mic. iv. 8. + Isaiah xl. I. X Isaiah li. 3—12.
 
 Book VI.] MILLENIUM. VII 
 
 " Like Eden he will make her wilderness; 
 
 " Her desart like the garden of the Lord ; 
 
 " Blessing and gladness shall be found therein, 
 
 " Thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. 
 
 " The Lord's redeemed with singing shall return, 
 
 " With everlasting joy upon their head. 
 
 " No more shall it be said, ' Liveth the Lord * 
 
 " Who brought from Egj'pt's land his chosen seed — * 
 
 " But ' the Lord liveth, who fiom countries wide 
 
 " Where He had driven them, hath brought them up, 
 
 " And bid them in their promised blessings dwell.' 
 
 " I, even I, am He that comfortetli ! 
 
 " As the resuscitation of dry bones f 
 
 " To hfe and energy, so Israel lost 
 
 " Is called, reanimated, brought again, 
 
 " Filled with the spirit, placed where they desire, % 
 
 " E'en in a better country — heavenly; 
 
 " A city blest: prepared for them by God. 
 
 " Their children also be as aforetime ; § 
 
 ♦ Jer. 3txiii.7,8. + Ezek. xxxvii. 11. J Heb. xi. 16. ^Jer. xxx.21.
 
 *r» INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 " Their congregation be established ; 
 
 " Their nobles shall be of themselves; 
 
 " Their governors proceed from midst of them ; 
 
 "To them a Son be given; the mighty God; 
 
 " The everlasting Father ; Prince of Peace. 
 
 " A covenant of strength I make with them, 
 
 " An everlasting covenant; will place 
 
 ** My sanctuary 'mongst them for evermore; 
 
 " Will be their God and they shall be my people. 
 
 " And Jacob's remnant shall be as the dew,* 
 
 *' And as refreshing showers upon the grass. 
 
 " Israel's iniquity be sought in vain,f 
 
 " The sins of Judah, they shall not be found. 
 
 *' Long scorned as outcasts, have my people said, 
 
 " ' Rejoice not o'er me O mine enemy ! % 
 
 " Fallen, I shall arise ; in darkness sit, 
 
 *' But know the Lord shall be a light to me. 
 
 *' The indignation of the Lord I bear, 
 
 " Because against his favour I have sinned. 
 
 ♦ Mic. ▼. 7. + Jer. 1. ?0. :j: Mic. vii. 8.
 
 Book VI.] MILLENIUM. , 8T» 
 
 " But He will cover my reproach with love, 
 
 *' And make me to behold his righteousness.* 
 
 " And thus unto thee health I will restore,* 
 
 " And faithfully will heal thee of thy wounds. 
 
 " Although of others a full end I make, 
 
 " Yet will I never make full end of thee. 
 
 " No more ' Forsaken ' shall thy name be known, 
 
 " No more thy kingdoms ' Desolate * be called, 
 
 " A new name thou shalt bear of choice divine, 
 
 " Become a crown of glory in mine hand; 
 
 " A royal diadem to please thy God. 
 
 " Thee have I loved, with everlasting love,f 
 
 " Therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. 
 
 " Is Ephraim my dear son, a pleasant child? 
 
 " I surely then upon him will have mercy. 
 
 " The year of my redeemed is come." % 
 
 " Wake from their lethargy the Christian Church 
 " Of every name and nation. Bid them seek 
 
 ♦ Jer. XXX. 17. t Jer, xxxi. 3. % Isaiah Ixiii. 1—4.
 
 S80 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 ** For simple truth where it alone is found, 
 *' And practise it from every error free. 
 " Arrest his hearing, ' He that hath an ear ' * 
 *' To what the Spirit to the churches saith. 
 *' He knows their works of every kind, degree, 
 *' And brings profession to the christian test. 
 " Acknowledges of one its patience, toil, 
 ** Yet has against it somewhat for reproach 
 *' Because it has forsaken its first love. 
 *' Bids it remember weU from whence 'tis fallen; 
 " Bids it repent, and do as at the first, 
 ** Or He will quickly come, and from its place 
 " Remove its candlestick. To one he saith 
 " Thou livest by thy name, but thou art dead ! 
 " Remember therefore how thou hast received, 
 *' And heard, and hold fast, and repent, and watch. 
 " Thou shalt not know the hour I come upon thee. 
 " E'en thou hast still a few names undefiled, 
 *' And they shall walk with me, for they are worthy. 
 • Rev. ii. 7.
 
 Book VI.] MILLENIUM. S81 
 
 *' He to another saitli, I know thee well, 
 
 " Thou art not cold nor hot; I nauseate thee; 
 
 " Thou sayest I am rich ; increased with goods ; 
 
 " Have need of nothing ; and knowest not, alas ! 
 
 " That thou art wretched, naked, poor, and blind. 
 
 " Buy of me gold that's purified in fire ! 
 
 " Be clothed in raiment of my righteousness ! 
 
 " Anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou seel 
 
 " Those whom I love, I chasten and rebuke : 
 
 " Who hears my voice with him I will abide. 
 
 *' And to a fourth, He that is holy, saith, 
 
 " Behold an open door before thee stands, 
 
 *' Which none can shut: thou hast a little strength, 
 
 " Hast kept my word, hast not denied my name, 
 
 " I will keep thee from fell temptation's hour, 
 
 " Tliat shall assail the earth's inhabitants, 
 
 " And make them know that I have loved thee. 
 
 *' Behold I come ! let no man take thy crown !
 
 382 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 " Behold I quickly come ! blessed is he * 
 " That keeps the sayings of this sacred book ! 
 " Behold I quickly come ! with my reward, 
 " To give to each according to his work : 
 " Come ye ! the spirit and the bride say come ! 
 " Let him that heareth, and athirst is, come ! 
 " Come, gather to the supper of your God ! 
 " Blessed are they thus to the supper called ! 
 " The seals are opening, and as each unfolds, 
 " A voice still speaks in thunder ' Come and see ! ' 
 " See the Heavens rent, the mountains flowing down, 
 " The church enlarged, the nations flowing in,f 
 " Eyes opened of the blind, deaf ears imstopped, 
 " The creature's earnest expectation glad:}: 
 " In that the Sons of God are manifest ! 
 " See Him to whom the gathering of the people ! 
 " See gathered from all quarters of the earth, 
 " As time has fulness, every thing in Christ ! § 
 
 * Rev. xxii. 7. + Isaiah ii. 2. J Rom. viii. 19. ^ Ephes. i. 10.
 
 Book VI.] MILLENIUM. 188 
 
 " See my pure spirit poured upon thy seed,* 
 
 " My blessing on your offspring ! see them spring 
 
 *' As willows by the water courses ! 
 
 *' Hear them exclaim ' too strait for me the place, 
 
 " Give room that the inhabitants may dwell ! ' 
 
 " See kings and states as nursing parents given ! 
 
 *' See but one body, spirit, hope, and faith,f 
 
 " One baptism, Lord, God, Father of you all ! 
 
 " See my rest glorious ! glory full revealed ! | 
 
 *' See my dominion reach from sea to sea, 
 
 " From the great river to earth's utmost bounds ! 
 
 " Lo ! I am with you, even to the end ! " § 
 
 # * * * # 
 
 # * » * * 
 
 # # * * # 
 
 The mighty voice is still; awe holds a pause; 
 Mute reverence with acclamation wars. 
 • Isaiah jcliy.3,4. t Ephes. iv.4. J Isaiah xi. 10. ^ Matt.xxviil. 20.
 
 S84 INDIVIDUALITY. [Book VI. 
 
 The Hallelujahs trembling on the tongue 
 
 Now in one peal of gratitude are rung. 
 
 The firmament returns the rolling sound, 
 
 And spreads it by reverberation round. 
 
 Forth in mid-heaven with rapid outstretched wings,* 
 
 An angel the eternal Gospel brings, 
 
 To preach to every people, kindred, land; 
 
 To tell their great salvation is at hand; 
 
 To bid with voice resounding God to fear; 
 
 To give him glory; to behold him near; 
 
 To see in Him the Being, at whose nod 
 
 The earth, the sea, the heavens, beheld their God ! 
 
 Loud Hallelujahs rise; the hosts in Heaven 
 
 Unite in strains of triumph as 'tis given : 
 
 " The kingdoms of this world are become 
 " The kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, 
 " And He shall reign for ever and for ever ! 
 " We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, 
 * Rev. xiv. 6.
 
 Book VI.l MILLENIUM. SSi 
 
 " Which art, and wast, and art to come ; because 
 " Thou takest to Thee thy great power and reignest. 
 " Worthy the Lamb that was slain, to receive 
 " Power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, 
 " And honour, and glory, and blessing ! 
 " For Thou hast created all things, and for 
 " Thy pleasure, they are and were created. 
 " And the voices said. Amen ; Hallelujah ! 
 " The voice of many angels round about 
 " The throne ; the voice of a great multitude ; 
 " And as the voice of many waters, 
 " And as the voice of mighty thunderings, 
 " Ten thousand times ten thousand 
 " And thousands of thousands, saying, Hallelujah ! 
 ■" For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth ! 
 " And every creature which in Heaven, on earth, 
 " Beneath the earth, and such as in the sea, 
 " And all that are in them, are heard, saying 
 *' Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, 
 " Be unto Him that sitteth on the throne, 
 
 2 C
 
 386 INDIVIDUALITY. (.Book VL 
 
 " And to the Lamb for ever and ever f 
 
 " And the voices said, Amen ; Hallelujah ! 
 
 " And they rest not day and night saying 
 
 " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, 
 
 " Which was, and is, and is to come. 
 
 " Lo ! a great multitude innumerable 
 
 " Of every nation, people, kindred, tongue, 
 
 " Standing before the throne, before the Lamb, 
 
 " Clothed in white robes, and victory in their hands 
 
 " Cried with loud voice. Salvation to our God 
 
 " Which sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, 
 
 " Amen : blessing, and glory, and wisdom, 
 
 " Thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, 
 
 " Be unto our God for ever ; Amen ! 
 
 " And the voice of much people said Hallelujah ! 
 
 " Salvation and glory and honour 
 
 " And power unto the Lord our God : 
 
 " For true and righteous are his judgment&t 
 
 " Faithful is He that calleth you 
 
 "Who also will do it: Arise O Lord
 
 Book YI.] M ILLEMIUM. 387 
 
 " Into thy rest, Thou and the ark of thy strength ! 
 " And again they said Hallelujah ! " * 
 
 The choral broad magnificence of sound 
 Has so imbued space infinite around, 
 That still it holds its raptured harmonies: 
 Gently it reaches the ethereal skies. 
 Gives to the planetary atmosphere. 
 Spreads the exulting adoration near. 
 Extends to mortals its exalted taste. 
 And animates their labours in the waste. 
 Peace sheds o'er earth her choice balsamic dews ; f 
 And acts of highest social love diffuse. 
 
 ♦ Rev. iv. 2, 11 ; v. 11—13; vii. 9—12; xi. 15, 17; xiv. 6,7 5 
 xix. 1—6 ; Ps. cxxxii. 8 ; 1 Tbes. v. 24. 
 -f- Luke ii. 14. 
 
 2c2
 
 ?88 INDIVIDUALITY. £.B«oK VI. 
 
 When terminable things at length resolve 
 Into that Kingdom's perfect full evolve — 
 When one the pure felicity supplied — 
 One the great object to be glorified — 
 In love consummate, adoration high, 
 Will sink all Individuality. 
 Praise will be oneness ! with complete accord 
 One plaudit will be sounded to the Lord; 
 One everlasting plaudit, to the bounds 
 That God's pure essence ever more surrounds. 
 One great original throughout will shine; 
 The Alpha and Omega all divine!
 
 NOTES.
 
 NOTES TO BOOK FIRST. 
 
 Note 1, page 43, line 17. 
 Leave self, which quits its tenement of clay. 
 The primordial, individual, and perpetual essence of man. 
 
 Note 2, page 53, line 11. 
 Created blameless, judgment he had none — 
 Judgment. — The power of discerning the relations between one term, 
 or one proposition and another. Johnson's Dictionary. 
 
 Note 3, page 53, line 18. 
 
 He knew — by disobedience when undone : 
 
 " And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, to 
 
 " know good and evil ; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take 
 
 " also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever." Genesis iii. 22.
 
 NOTES TO BOOK SECOND. 
 
 Note 4, page 64, line 11. 
 Where full acerras yield a rich perfume, 
 Acerra, — Censer is chiefly used in speaking of the Jewish worship. 
 Among the Greeks and Romans it is more frequently called Thuribulum 
 and Acerra. Rees^s Chamb, Cyclop. 
 
 Note 5, page 67, line II. 
 Witness the Gallic fabulist of fame! 
 It is a well-authenticated fact that La Fontaine used to write his loose 
 tales with a hair-cloth next his skin all the time as a punishment for so 
 doing. 
 
 Note 6, page 69, line 6. 
 
 The pains of the departed to assuage. 
 
 In Ireland is a place called St. Patrick's Purgatory, where, as the 
 
 legend affords, at the prayers of St. Patrick, bishop of the place, there 
 
 was made a visible reprei^entation of the pains which the wicked 
 
 undergo after death, in order to deter sinners, &c. Cyclop. 
 
 Note 7, page 110, line 9. 
 With blue Lunaria's emblematic Jiower ; 
 Lnnaria — ^honesty — sattin-flower, or moonwort. 
 
 Millers' Gardener's Dictionary.
 
 NOTES TO BOOK THIRD. 
 
 Note 8, page 114, line 5. 
 Great Dominic the saint — fanatic vain ! 
 It bas been generally said that the tribunal of the Inquisition was the 
 invention of St. Dominic, and first erected by him in the city of Thou- 
 louse ; that consequently he was the first inquisitor ; and that, although 
 the year of its institution is uncertain, it was undoubtedly confirmed in 
 a solemn manner, by Innocent III, in the council of the Lateran, in 
 the year 1215. 
 
 See Limborch's History of the Inquisition, by Chandler, book I. 
 chap. 10. 
 
 Note9, page 118, line 5. 
 ^n host, to which the Harpies ovoe their birth. 
 Harpies — a rapacious impure sort of monsters, of the bird kind, men- 
 tioned among the poets. 
 
 Mr. Bryant supposes that the Harpies were a college of priests in 
 Bythynia, who, on account of their repeated acts of violence and 
 cruelty, were driven out of the country. Their temple was called Arpi, 
 and the environs Arpiai. And he observes farther, that Harpyia was 
 certainly of old the name of a place. 
 
 uinal, of Anc. Mythol. vol. II. page 4. 
 
 Note 10, page 121, line 6. 
 Told oft the tale of prisoners by the sound 
 Of shatten lock repeated in the round 
 *• I was likewise convinced that there was a great number of pri- 
 " soners besides myself; the profound silence which reigned within the 
 " wails of the building having enabled me to count the number of doors 
 " which were opened at the hours of meals." 
 
 Dellon's Narrative of his Imprisonment — as brought forward in 
 Dr. Buchanan's Christian Researches, page 142.
 
 394 NOTES. [Book III. 
 
 Note 11, page 128, line 5. 
 Who, sovereigns illustrious ! have thought fit 
 Themselves and their dominions to submit. 
 This tribunal has arisen to such a height in Spain, that the king of 
 Castile, before his coronation, subjects himself and all his dominions by 
 a special oath to the most holy tribunal of the Inquisition. 1478. 
 
 Note 12, page 132, line 14, 
 In perfect ignorance reciprocal. 
 Geddes's Tracts, vol. I. page 423 — 429. Limborch's Hist, of the 
 Inquisition, by Chandler, page 147. 
 
 Note 13, page 150, line 8. 
 When prison cells are full, and festival 
 Of special kind for this regale doth call, 
 Geddes's Tracts, vol. I. page 425 — 429. 
 
 For the leading features of the Inquisition here brought forward, see 
 Limborch's Hist, of the Inquisition, by Chandler passim, Mosheim's 
 Eccl. Hist. vol. III. page 113, &c. 8vo. And Picart's religious cere- 
 monies under its own head. 
 
 Note 14, page 150, line 18. 
 For Romish and Judaic heresy. 
 See Picart's religious ceremonies of the Roman Catholics. Vol. II. 
 page 356. 
 
 Note 15, page 155, line 18. 
 Elsewhere pursue the anguished sickening theme. 
 See Act of Faith. Geddes's Misc. Tracts, vol. I. page 442. Lim- 
 borch's Hist, of Inquisition, Book IV. ; and Picarts' religious ceremo- 
 nies. 
 
 Note 16, page 167, line 14. 
 Narekha terrifies through Hindoo ears. 
 Narekha is the name given to the infernal regions, which are sup- 
 posed to be divided into a variety of places adapted to different de- 
 grees of punishment. 
 
 Craufurd's Sketches of the Hindoos, vol. I. page 168.
 
 NOTES TO BOOK FOURTH. 
 
 Note 17, page 176, line 20. 
 jimenable to such fell tyranny ! 
 
 " The author had learnt from every quarter that the tribunal of the 
 ** Inquisition at Goa was still in operation, though under some restrictions 
 " as to the publicity of its proceedings ; and that its power extended to 
 " the extreme boundary of Ilindostan. That in the present civilized state 
 •' of christian nations in Europe, an Inquisition should exist at all under 
 " their authority appeared strange: but that a papal tribunal of thischa- 
 '* racter should exist under the implied toleration and countenance of the 
 " British Government ; that christians, being subjects of the British Em- 
 " pire, and inhabiting the British territories, should be amenable to its 
 " power and jurisdiction, was a statement which seemed to be scarcely, 
 " credible; but if true, a fact which demanded the most public and 
 " solemn representation." Buck. Chris. Res. Asia, pp. 129, 130. 
 
 In a note in the same book, page 132, the author says, " He was in- 
 '* formed that the Viceroy of Goa has no authority over the Inquisition, 
 " and that he himself is liable to its censure. Were the British Govern- 
 " ment for instance to prefer a complaint against the Inquisition to the 
 " Portuguese Government at Goa, it could obtain no redress. By the 
 " very constitution of the Inquisition, there is no power in India which 
 " can invade its jurisdiction, or even put a question to it on any subject." 
 
 The author having given the public a most interesting but dreadful 
 detail of the particulars concerning the Inquisition at Goa which he had 
 in hit own person obtained, assigns as his chief reason for so doing 
 *' that the English nation may consider, whether there be sufBcient 
 " ground for presenting a remonstrance to the Portuguese Government 
 " on the longer continuance of that tribunal in India; it being noto- 
 " rious that a great part of the Romish Christians are now under British 
 
 "protection." A censure is passed on our government for 
 
 their indifference to this subject. 
 
 Edinb. Rev. No. 32, page 449. Chris. Res. Asia, page 153. 
 
 Since the passage was written, for the elucidation of which the above
 
 396 NOTES. [Book IV. 
 
 notes were selected, the author has joyfully to congratulate the world 
 on the abolition of the very system that she has brought forward with so 
 much concern and reprehension. With an erasure of so much moment 
 to the happiness of mankind, she would gladly have erased the painful 
 representation of it, but for the inability to attribute to the interference 
 of the British Government any share of the credit of this act — and but 
 for the hope that a lively sense of this recent stigma may henceforth 
 incite to the exercise of its most powerful influences at home and abroad, 
 for the best health, privileges, and security of its subjects. 
 
 Note 18, page 186, line 8. 
 How infinite their ever-rising springs 
 That schismaiize from system head of things ! 
 Ananda Rayer, afterwards converted by a Romish priest, and finally 
 settled in the pure Protestant faith by Dr. John of Tranquebar, a 
 Brahman, had in the early period of his sincerity, applied, (as many 
 Brahmins and other Hindoos constantly do) to an older Brahman of 
 some fame for sanctity, to know " what he should do that he might be 
 " saved ?" The old Brahman told him that " he must repeat a certain 
 " prayer four lack of times ; " that is 400,000 times. This he per- 
 formed in a Pagoda in six months ; and added many painful ceremo- 
 nies. Buck. Chris. Res. page 69, 
 
 Note 19, page 187, line 1. 
 Men erudite in general are agread, 6^c. 
 " From a close and attentive consideration of whatever has been 
 " published in Europe, or imported from Asia, relative to the religion 
 " and religious books of the Hindoos ; many learned men are of opi- 
 " nion that all their excellencies are derived from the books of the Old 
 " and New Testaments. Any unprejudiced reader must discern this ; 
 " and he will have a satisfactory proof of it, from the consideration 
 " that, where their writers obviously copy the sacred Scriptures, they 
 " are consistent and rational ; and where they do not follpw them, they 
 " are irrational, absurd, and ridiculous. Did time permit, a thousand 
 " proofs of this might be furnished from works already published, and 
 " from the /our Fedas, Maha Barut, and several others." 
 
 Fuller's Apology for the late Christian Missions to India, part II. 
 pp. 81, 82.
 
 Book IV.] NOTES. Sd7 
 
 After an inserted description of their gods, with their strange contra* 
 dictory qualities by the same author, page 89, be says, *' But this onlj 
 " proves, that when they borrow from the fountain of truth they are 
 " correct ; but are plunged into error and absurdities, as soon aa they 
 " attempt to think for themselves." 
 
 In passing through the regions of the East, and surveying the various 
 religious systems which prevail, the mind of the Christian traveller can- 
 not fail to be impressed with the strong resemblance which some of 
 them bear to doctrines, which are familiar to him. However varied or 
 disguised they may be, there are yet some strong lines, which constantly 
 recall his thoughts to the doctrines of revelation, and seem to point to a 
 common origin. 
 
 The chief and distinguishing doctrines of Scripture may be considered 
 the four following : viz, the Trinity in unity ; the incarnation of the 
 deity ; a vicarious atonement for sin ; and the influence of the divine 
 spirit on the mind of man. Now if we should be able to prove that 
 all these are represented in the systems of the East, will any man ven- 
 ture to affirm, that it hapi:ens by chance? 
 
 Dr. Buchanan then proceeds to give a minute and clear comparison 
 of these important and elementary points at once curious and satisfac- 
 tory ; but being too loug with their notes for transcription in this 
 place, we can only refer our readers to his Chris. Res. Asia, page 243. 
 
 Note 20, page 187, line 17. 
 Finds in their Vedas,* Shasters,"^ Poorans 3 high, 
 
 1. TheVeds, or, as pronounced in some parts of Hindostan, Beds, and 
 on the coast of Coromandel Vedams, contain all the principles of 
 their religion, laws, and government, and are supposed to be of divine 
 origin. 
 
 2. Some of the Sastras are commentaries on the Veds, and have been 
 written by different ancient Pundits. The Neetee Sastra is a system of 
 ethicks. The Dharma Sastra treats of religious duties, &c. 
 
 S. Pooran, which we often find mentioned, literally signifying an- 
 cient, is a title given to a variety of works which treat of their godg 
 and heroes. Craufurd's Sketches of the Hindoos, Sketch 5, f'ige 125. 
 
 But the lower classes in India have not these doctrines taught to them. 
 It is death, and one of the most cruel deaths a person can die, for an
 
 am NOTES. [Book IV. 
 
 individual of the lower class to hear their moral lessons read. If one 
 of the Soodra cast hears them, or reads them, he is in the one case to 
 have heated wax poured into his ears, and in the other to be put to 
 death in some other way. And this explains the seeming mystery of the 
 case ; because it would be exceedingly strange indeed, if such pure and 
 moral lessons were the general lessons of the religion, and yet the effects 
 upon (he people be such as they are seen to be. 
 
 Sir James Mackintosh has stated as follows : In a charge which he 
 made to the Grand Jury of Bombay, in 1803, he remarked, that if he 
 had not gone to India, he could not have credited the depravity which 
 he found to be prevalent among the natives. He particularly adverted 
 to the frequency of perjury, and other crimes of an equally enormous 
 nature. A corroboration of this is afforded in a case tried before Sir 
 James Mackintosh at Bombay, and inserted in the Asiatic Register of 
 1805, where it appeared that a female witness had been detected in 
 committing a perjury. She was asked whether she did not deem such 
 an offence to be extremely enormous; to which she answered, that she 
 understood that the English so regarded it, but that it was thought 
 nothing of in her country. 
 
 Note 21, page 18T, line 17. 
 Arms constantly extended o'er the head, S^c. 
 For the authenticity of penances, see Craufurd's Sketch on Devotees. 
 Fuller's Apol. Part II. pp. 40, 41. Picart's Religious Ceremonies. 
 Buchanan in his Journal at Juggernaut, &c. &c. 
 
 Note 22, page 189, line 14. 
 From which the highly-luminated rose. 
 D'Herbelot says, " The sect of the Illumines had its origin in the 
 " East." Craufurd's Sketches, vol. I. page 249. 
 
 Note 23, page 190, line 7. 
 Amradda ! prince of poicer and vast domain. 
 The leading features of this tale, given for the same purpose of elu- 
 cidating the superstition to which it relates — in Craufurd's Sketch on 
 the Hindoo Mythol. page 215.
 
 Book IV.] NOTES, ^ 
 
 Note 24, page 193, line 7. 
 ITiere where the Banian branches broad and high 
 The Burghat, or Banian, often measures from 24 to 30 feet in girth. 
 It is distinguished from every other tree hitherto known, by the very 
 peculiar circumstance of throwing out roots from all its branches. 
 These being pendant and perfectly lax, in time reach the ground, which 
 they penetrate, and ultimately become substantial props to the very 
 massy horizontal boughs, which, but for such support, must either be 
 stopped in their growth, or give way from their own weight. Many 
 of these quondam roots, changing their appearance from a brown rough 
 rind to a regular bark, not unlike that of the beech, increase to a great 
 diameter. They may be often seen from four to five feet in circumfer- 
 ence, and in a true perpendicular line. An observer, ignorant of their 
 nature, might think them artificial, and that they had been placed for 
 the purpose of sustaining the boughs from which they originated. They 
 proceed from all the branches indiscriminately, whether near, or far 
 
 removed from the ground .The height of a full grown banian may be 
 
 from 60 to 80 feet ; and many of them I am confident cover at least 
 two acres. Their leaves are similar to but rather larger than those of 
 the laurel. The wood of the trunk is used only for fuel ; it is light and 
 brittle : but the pillars formed by the roots are valuable, being ex- 
 tremely elastic and light, working with ease, and possessing great 
 toughness; it resembles a good kind of ash. 
 
 Oriental Field Sports, vol. II. page 1 13. Note in Curse of Kehama. 
 
 Note 25, page 194, line 2. 
 The tasteful Dewul of a varied form, 
 Dewul, or temple, called by the Europeans Pagodas. 
 
 Craufurdh Sketches, vol. I. page 107. 
 
 Note 26, page 202, line 15. 
 His secret slept through ages — and then met 
 Narration from an holy anchoret. 
 The same story which is likewise mentioned in Fatlier Bouchet, in 
 his letter to 'M. Hnet, Bishop of Avranches, {to be found in " Lettres 
 « Edif. et Cur. tome 12, page 170, edit, de Paris, 1781") undoubtedly 
 furnished the hint to M. de Moncrif, for his late beautiful tale of '' Les
 
 400 NOTES. [Book IV. 
 
 ** Ames Rivales." See Oeuvres de Moucrif, tome 2, page 17, edit. 
 Paris, .1768. Note annexed to this superstition referred to before. 
 
 Note 27, page 203, line 8. 
 Did not truth sterling in the medium live ! 
 See the full account related by the Rev, Claudius Buclianao, D. D. 
 who was an eye-witness of the whole, in his journal for May and June, 
 1806. Chris. Res. ^sia, pp. 17 to 35. 
 
 Note 28, page 203, line 13. 
 Pilgrims, from Indians farthest bounds proceed. 
 
 From Orissa, the correspondents of the Baptist Mission have written 
 that the worship of the idul Juggernaut had been more numerously at- 
 tended than usual. " You would have been astonished " say they, " to 
 " see the vast number of pilgrims crossing the river at Cuttack. As 
 *' far as the eye could reach, we could not see the end of the ranks ; it 
 " put us in mind of an army going to battle." — " You can easily con- 
 " ceive what a multitude of men, women, and children, must have 
 " been assembled at the temple, for 150 or thereabouts to have been 
 " killed in the crowd. They trod one upon another in approaching 
 " the temple gate. Ten Sepoys per company from all the battalions 
 " from Barackpore to this station had permission to visit the temple. 
 " A famine was produced in the country, and great numbers of the 
 " pilgrims died of hunger and thirst. We talked to some of them, but 
 " it was of nou se. They said, ' Whether we survive or not, we will see 
 " the temple of Juggernaut before our death.' Numbers killed them- 
 " selves by falling under the wheels of the idol's car. They laid them- 
 " selves flat on their backs for the very purpose of being crushed to 
 " deatli by it." Buch. Apol. page 38. 
 
 In addition to the above, is Dr. Carey's testimony. In a letter lately 
 received, he thus expresses himself: 
 
 " Idolatry destroys more than the sword, yet in a way that is scarcely 
 " perceived. The numbers who die in these long pilgrimages either 
 " through want or fatigue, or from dysenteries and fevers caught by lying 
 " out, and want of accommodation, is incredible. I only mention one 
 " idol, the famous Juggernaut in Orissa, to which 12 or 13 pilgrimages 
 *' are made every year. It is calculated that the number who go thither
 
 Book IV.] NOTES. 401 
 
 •* is, on some occasions 600,000 persons, and scarcely ever less than 
 ** 100,000. I suppose, at the lowest calculation, that, in the year, 
 " 1,200,000 persons attend. Now, if only one in ten died, the mortality 
 •' caused by this one idol would be 120,000 in a year; but some are of 
 " opinion that not many more than one in ten survive, and return home 
 " again. Besides these, I calculate that 10,000 women annually burn 
 " with the bodies of their deceased husbands, and the multitudes de- 
 " stroyed in other methods would swell the catalogue to an extent almost 
 " exceeding credibility." Periodicnl Accounts of Baptist Mission, No. 
 23. Buck. Apol. pp. 39, 40. 
 
 Note 29, page 205, line 19. 
 " Made by what poterr ? " — Ah ! vchy such question ask ? 
 
 " The temple of Juggernaut is under the immediate control of the 
 " English Government, who levy a tax on pilgrims as a source of re- 
 " venue. See ' A Regulation (by the Bengal Government) for levying 
 " a tax from pilgrims resorting to the temple of Juggernaut, and for 
 " the superintendance aod management of the temple.' Passed April 
 "3, 1806." 
 
 " The province of Orissa first became subject to the British Empire 
 " under the administration of the Marqnis Wellesley, who permitted 
 " the pilgrims at first to visii Juggernaut without paying tribute. It 
 " was proposed to his Lordship soon after, to pass the above regulation 
 •' for the management of the temple, and the levying the tax ; but he 
 " did not approve of it, and actually left the government without 
 " giving his sanction to the opprobrious law. When the measure was 
 " discussed by the succeeding government, it was resisted by George 
 •' Udny, Esq., one of the members of the Supreme Council, who 
 " recorded his solemn dissent on the preceedings of government, for 
 " transmission to England. The other members considered Juggernaut 
 " to be a legitimate source of revenue, on the principle, 1 believe, 
 •' that money from other temples in Hindostan had long been brought 
 " into the treasury. It is just that I should state that these gentlemen 
 " (though their opinion on this subject will difier so much from that of 
 " their countrymen at home) are men of the most honourable principles, 
 *' and of unimpearhed integrity. Nor would any one of them I 
 " believe (for I have the honour to know them,) do any thing whidi 
 
 8D
 
 ^0* NOTES. [Book IV. 
 
 " he thought injurious to the honour or religion of his country. But 
 " the truth is this, that those persons who go to India in their early 
 " youth, and witness the Hindoo cusfoms all their life, seeing little at 
 " the same time of the Christian religion to counteract the effect, are 
 " disposed to view them with complacency, and are sometimes in dan- 
 " ger of at length considering them even as proper or necessary." 
 
 Buck. Chris. Res. Asia, pp. 31, 32. 
 
 Note 30, page 207, line II. 
 This act proposed to Welksley was disdained ; 
 Referred to the preceiling note. 
 
 Note 31, page 207, line 15. 
 Udny too, plaudit claims for equal view — 
 Referred as above. 
 
 Note 32, page 216, line 16, 
 Christians so called can coolly witness it — 
 " Lest it should be supposed that the rites of Juggernaut are confined 
 ** to the temple in Orissa, or that the Hindoos there practise a more 
 *• criminal superstition than ihey do in other places, it may be proper 
 " to notice the effects of the same idolatry in Bengal. The P^nglish 
 " nation will not expect to hear that the blood of Juggernaut is known 
 " at Calcutta : but alas ! it is shed at the very doors of the English, 
 •' almost under the eye of the Supreme Government. Moloch has many 
 "a tower in the province of Bengal; that fair and fertile province 
 " which has been called ' the garden of nations.' Close to Isher.i, a 
 " beautiful villa on the river's side, about eight miles from Calcutta, 
 " once tiie residence of Governor Hastings, and within view of the 
 " present Governor-General's country house, there is a temple of this 
 " idol thfit is often stained with human blood. At the festival of the 
 " Rutt-Jattra in May, 1807, the author visited it, on liis return from 
 ** the SoHth of India, having heard that its rites were similar to those 
 " of Juggernaut." Here follows the description of the scene to which 
 the author was eye-witness, dated Juggernaut's Temple, near Ishera, 
 on the Ganges: Rutt Jattra, May, 1807. 
 
 Buch. Chris. Res. Asia, pp. .32, 33.
 
 Book IV.] NOTES. 40S 
 
 Note S3, page 217, line 5. 
 
 Not that in lehich the sonn of Albion give 
 
 Their yearly thousands that such things may live; 
 
 Annual expenses of the idol Juogeknaut, presented to tlie English 
 
 Government. 
 
 [Extracted from the Official Accounts.] 
 
 Rupees. Pounds Sterling. 
 
 1. Expenses attending the table of the Idol. .36, IIS., .or ...4,514 
 
 2. Ditto of his dress or wearing apparel 2,T12 339 
 
 3. Ditto of the wages of his servants 10,057 1,259 
 
 4. Ditto of contingent expenses at the dif-j 
 
 ferent seasons of pilgrimage 
 
 5. Ditto of his elephants and horses 3,030 378 
 
 6. Ditto of his rutt, or annual state carriage 6,713 839 
 
 I 10,989 1,373 
 
 Rupees 69,616 Pounds 8,702 
 
 " In item third, ' wages of his servants,' are included the wages of 
 " the courtesans, who are kept for the service of the temple. 
 
 " Item sixth. — What is here called in the official account ' the state 
 '* carriage,' is the same as the car or tower, Mr. Hunter informed me 
 " that the three ' state carriages ' were decorated this year (in June, 
 •' 1806) with upwards of 2001. steiiing worth of English broad tloth. 
 
 " Of the rites celebrated in the interior of Juggernaut, called the 
 *^ daily service, I can say nothing of my own knowledge, not having 
 " been within the temple." Buch. Chris. Res. Asia, page 31. 
 
 Notk34, page 218, line 17. 
 How inconsistent is the tenderness 
 That for all sentient beings they profess ! 
 The boasted humanity of the Hindoo system to all sentient beings is 
 but ill supported when we come to a close examination of the customs 
 which it tolerates, the precepts which it enjoins, or the actual conduct 
 of its votaries. Though it be admitted that some of their horrid cus- 
 toms are a violation of their w ritten code, yet there are other practices 
 equally shocking to which it affords its immediate sanction. The public 
 encouragement held out to aged pilgrims who drown themselves in the 
 
 2 D 2
 
 404 NOTES. [Book IV. 
 
 Ganges, under the notion of acquiring religious merit, is repugnant to 
 reason and humanity. No less than four or five persons have been seen 
 drowning themselves at one time, with the view of performing a reli- 
 gious sacrifice of high value in their own estimation, and that of man; 
 thousands who attend this frightful solemnity. Fuller's Apology for the 
 late Christian Missions to India, part II. page 64. 
 
 Quoted from Dr. Tennant's thoughts on the British Government in 
 India. 
 
 Note 35, page 219, line 5. 
 Where Ganges rolls its full magestic tide. 
 
 The Bore is the rapid influx of the tide of the ocean into the Ganges. 
 That river is wide at the mouth ; but suddenly narrowing, the accumu- 
 lated waters seek their level, and run forward in a continued billow, 
 ■with a mighty rushing noise, a hundred miles up the country. 
 
 Note Buck. Memorial. Apol. S^c. page 83. 
 
 The descent of the Ganges is related in the Remayuna, one of tiie 
 most sacred books of the Bramins. This w ork the excellent and learned 
 Baptist Missionaries at Serampore are at this time employed in printing 
 and translating. One volume has arrived in Europe. 
 
 Note 36, page 219, line 17. 
 
 There to the goddess of thy sacred source. 
 Great numbers of infants also are thrown into the river, as ofFeringt 
 to the goddess ; 
 
 By willing not the lacteal draught prepared — 
 
 Jn wicker work suspended high and bared, 
 
 The carrion bird no mercy has to grant. 
 
 Nor fly's proboscis, nor sharp-stinging ant, 
 and others who refuse their mother's milk are frequently hung up in a 
 basket on the branch of a tree to be devoured by ants, or birds of 
 prey ! ! Fuller's Apol. Christian Missions, part II. 
 
 If a child newly born will not suck, it is exposed to death in a 
 basket hung on a branch of a tree. One day as Mr. Thomas and I 
 were riding out, we saw a basket hung on a tree, in which an infant 
 had been exposed, the scull of which remained, the rest having beea 
 devoured by ants. Periodical Accounts of Baptist Missionaries.
 
 B«»ok IV.] NOTES. 405 
 
 Note 37, page 220, line II. 
 To Ganges aged pilgrims fainting com* 
 To srek Kithin its waters final home; 
 Referred to n«te 34. 
 
 Note 38, page 220, line 15. 
 And helplessness tcitkout a pang is torn 
 From those it fostered, loval^-and thither borne 
 The cruel treatment of tlie sick, (he aged, and dying, if not a pre- 
 cept, is a practical result of their degrading system, far more universal 
 than any of those already mentioned : it is of a nature which the most 
 moderate share of humanity would prompt any person to use very zea- 
 lous efTitrts to remedy. As soon as any mortal symptoms are discovered 
 in the stale of a patient by his pliyt-ician, or by his relations, he is, if in 
 Bengal, removed from his bed, and carried to the brink of the Ganges, 
 where he is laid down witli his feet and legs immersed in the river: 
 there, instead of receiving from his friends any of the tender consola- 
 tions of sympathy, to alleviate the pain of his departing moments, his 
 month, nose, and ears, are stuffed with clay, or wet sand, while the 
 bystanders crowd close around hira, and incessantly pour torrents of 
 water upon ills head and body. It is thus, amidst the convulsive strug- 
 gles of sutfocation, added to the agony of disease, that the wretched 
 Hindoo bids farewell to his present existence, and finally closes his 
 eyes upon the jufl'erings of life. Thoughts on the British Government in 
 India, by Dr. Tennant— quoted in Fuller's Apol. Chris. Mist, to India^ 
 part II. page 65. 
 
 Note 39, page 222, line I. 
 But is not female immolation worse-" 
 Constraint to bum a more decided curse f 
 The recommendation given to a favourite wife to burn herself on the 
 same funeral pile with the dead body of her husband aflfords not an 
 unfrequent spectacle of deliberate cruelty which cannot perhaps be 
 equalled in the whole annals of superstition. Thoughts on Brit. Govemm. 
 India, by Dr. Tennant, in Fuller's Jpol. for Chris. Missions to India, 
 part. II. page 64.
 
 4Q6 NOTES. [Book IV. 
 
 Note 40, page 222, line 13. 
 Instances are, of those who with the dead 
 Alive have been sepulchred to their head; 
 
 Some Hindoos, though few, bury the dead; and it is said that among 
 these it is the duty of the widow to bury herself with the body of her 
 husband. The religious ceremonies being performed, she descends into 
 the grave with him, and taking the body in her arras, is with it covered 
 with the earth. I cannot recollect in the countries in which I have 
 been, to have heard of more than two instances of tliis horrid cere- 
 mony. Craufurd^s Sketches, vol. II. page S7. 
 
 A note subjoined to the above is as follows — 
 
 Bernier, after speaking of women who burn themselves, says: " Ce 
 " sont certaineraent des choses bien barbarcs et bien cruelles ; mais ce 
 "que font les Brahmcns dans quelques endroits des Indes est bien 
 " autant, ou plus. Car, an lieu de bruler ces femmes, qui veulent 
 " mourir apres la mort de leur maris, ils les enterrent peu a peu toutei 
 " vives jusqu' a la gorge, et puis tout d'un coup se jettent deux ou trois 
 " dessus, leurs tordent le cou, et les achevent d'etouffer. See likewise 
 Voyages de M, Dellon, en 1668, tome I. page 143, &c. 12mo. edit. 
 Amsterdam. 
 
 Notf41, page 226, line 7. 
 Now marriage forms preliminary, trace 
 For this general account of the ceremonies and festival of the mar- 
 riages of the higher cast of Hindoos, see Craufurd's Sketches' concerniog 
 them, from page 6, vol. II. 
 
 Note 42, page 226, line 17. 
 
 Fine chintz and linen line the Pandal wall. 
 
 And flowers in garlands decorate the hall. 
 
 Besides the usual rooms for receiving visitors, a large area is covered 
 
 and formed into a pandal, or great temporary hall, which is lined with 
 
 white linen or chintz, and hung round and decorated with garlands of 
 
 flowers. Sket. Hind. vol. II. page 6.
 
 Book IV.] NOTES. 407 
 
 Note 43, page 230, line 11. 
 HU only wife ZeibnUsa dear had been ; 
 For the inatter-of-fuct circumstances of this relation as far as con> 
 cerns the ceremony of burniog — see Holwell's Mythol. and Cosmog. of 
 the Oentoos : (or Hindoos.) 
 
 Note 44, page 23T, line S. 
 
 Now taries large and wide-mo ut he d, spread around 
 Their deep, their mournful, penetrating sound ; 
 A tary is a trumpet of great size, and most lugubrious sound, which 
 they sometimes use to announce tiie death of persons of distinction, and 
 constantly at their funerals. 
 
 Note 45, page 237, line 11. 
 ?'//.• beins^ vibrations thtir assistance lend; 
 The mention of this instrument by Sir William Jones, has given it 
 oolcbrity. 
 
 Note 46, page 241, line 10. 
 yind drown the shrieks of burning agonies ! 
 " We are told that these sacrifices are volnntary : but this is but par- 
 " tially true. Tiie poor creatures are forced to submit to this cruel 
 " death by a dread of the slow torment of a wretched life, prolonged 
 " only to feel insult, and to be pursued by reproach and obloquy, to 
 " wbirli every woman is subjected who refuses to resign herself to this 
 '• barbarous superstition. In most cases they are compelled to devote 
 ** themselves to death, to avoid the scorn and resentment even of their 
 " own nearest relations. Theso sacrifices are encouraged by the Brah- 
 " mins; and, shocking to say, they have considerably increased since 
 ♦' India has been under our government. The Mohammedans, as we 
 •* are told by Bernier, would never permit them to take place without 
 " previous notice. The same author states, that when women who have 
 " been goaded by the dread of scorn to devote themselves to the flames, 
 *' have, on approaching the fatal pile, wished to recall the consent they 
 " had given, (hoy were not allowed to do so. The Bnihmins were seen 
 " forcing the wretched victims to ascend the pile, and pushing them into 
 " the mass of flame with long poles, while their agonizing shrieks were 
 " drowned by the noise of drums, and the savage shouts of the lur-
 
 408 NOTES, [Book IV. 
 
 '' rounding multitude. We can hardly have an idea of the levity and 
 " indifference which prevail among the Hindus who attend such spec- 
 " tacles, a circumstance which of itself proves their common occurrence, 
 ** These sacrifices are not made with the solemnity which we might 
 "expect to accompany a religious rite; indecent mirth and laughter 
 " are its constant accompaniments ; and the nearest relations of the 
 " sufferer — the very son who wilh his own hand kindles the pile, arc 
 " seen talking with gaiety and unconcern; the whole scene presenting 
 " an appearance similar to that furnished by a fair, or rustic merry 
 *• meeting in tiiis country. 
 
 ♦' Attempts have recently been made to ascertain the number of 
 " females thus burned alive. In 1803, an inquiry was set on foot by 
 " means of Dr. Carey ; and by an actual enumeration it was found 
 " that in a small district round Calcutta, 273 burnings took place within 
 *' six months ; and it was estimated, that in all the Bengal provinces, 
 " no fewer than 10,000 persons were thus consigned to deiith in the 
 " course of the year. But w hether it be 10,000 women, or a somewhat 
 " smaller number who are thus burned alive, is it not dreadful that in 
 " any part of the territories of the King of Great Britain, such a 
 *' system should exist ? and that when, by the operation of natural 
 ♦' causes, a family loses one parent, they should be left doubly orphans, 
 " deprived by a barbarous superstition of the other ? Under these cir- 
 « cumstances is it to be made a matter of charge and complaint against 
 " us, that we wish distinctly to mark our anxiety to enlighten our fellow 
 " subjects, to give them useful knowledge, to instruct them in the arts 
 " of civilized life, and to infuse into their minds the doctrines of chris- 
 *' tianity? " Extract from Mr. Wilberforce's splendid speech in the par' 
 liamentary discussions on Christianity in India, on the22d of June, 1813. 
 
 It must be here remarked that Mr. Wilberforce in an early part of 
 his speech, introduces his competency to the subject in the following 
 manner: "Sir, on this question, I cannot say that I have the local 
 *' knowledge of the Hon. Bart. (Sir Henry Montgomery) but certainly 
 " I do not rise to offer my sentiments to the House, without long study, 
 " and anxious preparation — having for many years turned my thoughts 
 " to the subject, given it much of my attention, and laboured to obtain 
 " ail the information tliat could be obtained upon it. And I hope to 
 " shew this House before I have done, that if the Hon. Baronet really
 
 Book IV.] NOTES. 409 
 
 " thinks the moral character of the Hindus better than that of his own 
 " countrymen, it will become him to prove that his ideas have not been 
 " warped by his own philosophy.*" 
 
 Bernier tells us, that he witnessed with his own eyes the Brahmins 
 pushing the women into the fire with their long poles ; though at that 
 very time, the Mahometans took stronj;er measures for the suppression 
 •f this practice than any we have hitherto used. 
 
 Note 47, page 241, line 11. 
 Convulsed is nature at the monstrous act .* 
 Do Britons scarcely credit it as fact ? 
 Or reading and believing such things jvere. 
 Do they refuse their credence that they ark ? 
 Or seeing that they are, will they conclude 
 That RARELY 'tis such instances intrude 7 
 immolation of females. 
 Before the author proceeds to shew the happy effects of Christianity 
 in those provinces of India where it has been introduced, it may be 
 proper to mention in this place, that other sanguinary rite of the 
 Mindoo superstition, the Female Sacrifice. The report of the number 
 of women burned within the period of six months, near Calcutta, will 
 give the reader some idea of the multitude who perish annually in India. 
 ♦ Report of the number of women who were burned alive on the 
 ' funeral pile of their husbands, within 30 miles round Calcutta, from 
 ' the beginning of Bysakh (15th April,) to the end of Aswin (15ih 
 
 * October,) 1804. 
 
 * Women burned alive. 
 
 * From Gurria to Barrypore; at 11 different places 18 
 
 * FromToUy'sNullaMouth to Gurria; at 17 diff"erent places 36 
 
 ' From Barrypore to Buhipore ; at seven places 11 
 
 ' From Seebpore to Baleea ; at five places 10 
 
 * From Baleea to Bydyabattee ; at three places 3 
 
 * From Bydyabattee to Bassbareea; at five places 10 
 
 * From Calcutta to Burahnugur(orBarnagore); at four places 6 
 
 * FromBurahnugurtoChanok(or Barrackp(ire);atsixplaces 13 
 ' From Chanok to Kachrapara ; at four places 8 
 
 ' Total of wcBiL-n burned alive in lix months near Calcutta 115
 
 410 NOTES. [Book IV. 
 
 * The above Report was made by persons of the Hindoo cast, deputed 
 ' for that purpose, under the superintendance of the Professor of the 
 ' Shanscrit and Bengalee languages in the College of Fort William. 
 
 * They were ten in number, and were stationed at different places 
 
 * during the whole period of six months. They gave in their accounts 
 ' monthly, specifying the particulars of each immolation, so that every 
 
 * individual instance was subject to investigation immediately after its 
 ' occurrence. 
 
 ' In the foregoing Report, it will be perceived that no account was 
 ' taken of buinings in a district to the west of Calcutta, nor further 
 
 * than twenty miles in some other directions; so that the whole number 
 
 * of burnings within thirty miles round Calcutta must have been consi- 
 ' derably greater than is here stated.' 
 
 The following account will give the reader some idea of the flagitious 
 circumstances which sometimes attend these sacrifices. 
 
 SACRIFICE OF THE KOOLIX BRAHMI-V's THREE WIVES. 
 
 Calcutta, Sept. 30, 1807. 
 ' A horrid tragedy was acted on the 12th inst. ne^r Barnagore (a 
 ' place about three miles from Calcutta.) A Koolin Brahmin of Cornmar- 
 
 * hattie, byname Kristo Deb Mookerjee, died at the advanced age of 
 ' ninety-two. He had twelve wives ; * and three of them were burned 
 ' alive with his dead body. Of these three, one was a venerable lady, 
 ' having white locks, who had been long known in the neighbourhood, 
 ' Not being able to walk, she was carried in a palanquin to the place 
 ' of burning; and was then placed by (he Brahmins on the funeral pile. 
 ' The two other ladies were younger ; one of them of a very pleasing 
 ' and interesting countenance. The old lady was placed on one side of 
 ' the dead husband, and the two other w ives laid themselves down on 
 ' the other side ; and then an old Brahmin, the eldest son of the de- 
 ' ceased, applied his torch to the pile with unavcrted face. The pile 
 ' suddenly blazed for it was covered w ith combustibles ; and this human 
 
 * sacrifice was completed amidst the din of drums and cymbals, and the 
 ' shouts of Brahmins. — A person present observed, ' Surely if Lord 
 
 * The Koolin Brahmin is the purest of all Brahmins, and is privi- 
 leged to marry as many wives as he pleases. The Hindoo families ac- 
 count it an honour to unite their daughters with a Koolio Brahmin.
 
 Book IV. NOTES. 411 
 
 * Minto were here, who is just come from EnglaiiJ, and is not used to 
 ' see women burned alive, he would have saved these three ladies.' 
 ' The Mahomedan Governors saved whom they pleased, and suffered no 
 
 • deluded female to commit suicide without previoui> investigation Of 
 ' the circuDLstanccs and official permission.' 
 
 Buch. Chris, Res. Asia, pp. 35 — 38. 
 
 Lit. and Phil. Intell. Chris. Obs. June 1813, pa^e 398. 
 " A Report has recently arrived in this country, printed at the press 
 " of the Missionaries at Serampore, of the number of the immolations 
 " of females on Ihe funeral pile, which took place in a particular part 
 " of Bengal in the months of May and June 1812. The part to which 
 " tlie Report refers lies between Cossimbazar, about 200 miles above 
 *' Calcutta, and the mouth of tiie Hooghly." 
 
 Here follow the particulars— the places, females' names, age, chil- 
 dren left, and husbands' cast. The number of women sacrificed in so 
 small a space of time and distance amounts to seventy, leaving one 
 hundred and eighty four orphans. 
 
 " It is well known how vigilant our Government in India is in super- 
 " intending the operations of the press; and we may therefore presume 
 " that unless the above account had been well authenticated it would 
 " not have been permitted to circulate at Calcutta. But we have no 
 " occasion to have recourse to this assumption to show the truth of the 
 " statement. The name and age of every woman are given ; the places 
 •' where the burnings took place, and where the 184 orphans live, are 
 " also specified. The accuracy of the facts therefore may be ascer- 
 " tained to the satisfaction of those wlio are most incredulous on this 
 " subject." 
 
 To authenticate the fad in all the horrors and repetition of its exist- 
 ence, is indispensably necessary in proportion as it seems the prevalent 
 bias to contradict and disbelieve it. It is suitable to do so for many 
 desirable but iransitory ends. The work which afi'ords the above intel- 
 ligence is thus mentioned in the Preface to Dr. Buchanan's Apology. 
 
 " Perhaps the honourable members above alluded to are not aware 
 •' that a work has been recently published in Bengal, in four volumes 
 " quarto, entitled, ' An Account of the Writings, Religion, and Man- 
 " ners of the Hindoos, including translations from their principal
 
 41S NOTES, Book IV.] 
 
 " works; by WiJliam Ward, one of the Baptist Missionaries at Seram- 
 *' pore;' wliicii has been bought up with avidity in India, has already 
 " passed tiirough two editions, and is now republishing in this country. 
 " It was printed under the immediate eye of the Supreme Government 
 " (as it necessarily must be) and possesses an unquestionable anthenti- 
 " city, generally, on the various subjects concerning which it treats. 
 " It takes the high ground of literal translations from the Hindoo books, 
 " recent events, and living witnesses. — Now, this work not only con- 
 " firms the statements in ray volumes, in most points which were con- 
 ♦' troverted, but it goes far beyond them. It describes, for example, 
 " the atrocities connected with the burning of women, self-torture, and 
 •' the impurity of the Hindoo worship, in such a manner as shows that 
 " I have scarcely entered the vestibule of their temple. It states, that an 
 " attempt was made to ascertain the number of widows wh» were 
 " burned alive, within thirty miles around Calcutta, in the year 1803, 
 " and that the return made a total of four hundred and thirty-eight. 
 " And, in regard to the circumstances of horror which sometimes attend 
 " these scenes, I beg the reader will accept the two following exam- 
 " pies. The first has already been noticed in the House of Commons, 
 " in answer to an opposing statement which asserted the ' filial piety * 
 " of the Hindoos. 
 
 " About the year 1796, the following most shocking and atrociouii 
 " murder, under the name of suhumurunu (burning of women) was 
 " perpetrated at Mujilupoor, about a day's journey south from Cal- 
 •' cutta. Vancha-ramu, a Brahmun of the above place, dying, his 
 " wife went to be burnt with the body ; she was fastesed on the pile, 
 " and the fire was kindled. The funeral pile was by the side of some 
 " brushwood, and near a river. It was at a late hour when the pile 
 " was lighted, and was a very dark rainy night. When the fire began 
 " to scorch this poor woman, she contrived to disentangle herself from 
 " the dead body, crept from under the pile, and hid herself among the 
 " brushwood. In a little time it was discovered that only one body 
 *' was on the pile. The relations immediately took the alarm, and 
 *' began to hunt for the poor wretch who had made her escape. After 
 ♦' they had found her, the son dragged her forth, and insisted upon her 
 " throwing herself on the pile again, or that she should drown or hang 
 " herself. She pleaded for her life at the bands of her own son, and
 
 Book IV.] NOTES. 413 
 
 <* declared she could not embrace so horrid a death. But she pleaded 
 " in vain; the son ur^od that he should lose his cast, and that therefore 
 " he would die or she should. Unable to persuade her to hang or 
 *' drown herself, the son and the others then tied her hands and her 
 *' feet, and threw her on the funeral pile where she quickly perished." 
 
 The other example which far exceeds the foregoing in awful enor- 
 mity is the following: — " Goopinat'hu, a Bramhun employed in the 
 " Serampore printing-office, in the year 1799, saw ttvenly-ttco females 
 " burnt alive with the remains of Ununtu, a Bramhun, of Bagnuparu, 
 " near Nudeeyu. This Koolinu Bramhun had more than a hundred 
 *' wives. At the first kindling of the fire only three of these wives 
 *' bad arrived. The fire was kept kindled three days ! ! When one or 
 •' more arrived, the ceremonies were gone through, and they threw theirv- 
 " selves on the blazing fire ! On the first day three were burned ; on the 
 " second and third days nineteen more. Among these women some were 
 " as much as forty years old, and others as young as sixteen. The three 
 " first had lived with this Bramhun, the others had seldom seen him. He 
 " married in one house four sisters ; two of these were among the num- 
 " ber burnt." 
 
 Dr. Buchanan's reasoning on the above statements is as follows, and 
 appears conclusive. 
 
 " Now, if the horrible transaction here related did not take place, 
 " it is very easy to ascertain the fact. Nudeeyu, or as it is commonly 
 *' called Nuddeea, is at no great distance up the river above Calcutta. 
 " The event is said to have occurred in the year 1799. If it did take 
 " place in that year, hundreds of people now alive must have witnessed 
 " it. The Brahmiu who had a hundred wives, must have been well 
 " known. Let the inquiry tiien be made; and let the credit of the 
 •' work, generally, rest on the result. I know nothing of the merits of 
 " the book, but I depend on the characters of the authors, and the 
 " circumstances under which it is published ; and I say that the proba- 
 " bility of the truth of the transaction just related is as great .is the 
 " absurdity would be of supposing the following case, viz. ' That an 
 *' author could be found in England, who should publish a work in 
 " four volumes quarto, in which it should be stated, that in the year 
 " 1799, twenty-two women were burnt alive on the banks of the
 
 414 NOTtS. [Book IV. 
 
 " Thames at Richmond, and that the fire was kept burning three days ; 
 " and, moreover, that the book was published with the express leave 
 " of the king under the eye and responsibility of his government." 
 
 The note which is attached to this passage is much to the purpose. 
 
 " As certain gentlemen from India have been accused in parliament 
 *' of ' pertinaciously denying facts as the easiest mode of resisting the 
 " religious improvement of India,' it is proposed to do them justice, 
 " and to prove their sagacity, by the investigation of the above sacrifice 
 *' of twenty-two women on one pile; and their attention should be 
 " steadily fixed in the contemplation of the subject, until they or their 
 " parliamentary accusers shall have obtained the victory. Or if they 
 *' should like the investigation of the following fact better, it may be 
 •• adopted with equal propriety : the event occurred in May or June of 
 •' last year at Chunakuli, not far from Calcutta; and the account of it 
 " was soon after printed and published in Bengal. A Rooleen Brah- 
 *' min died at Chunakuli,' who had married twenty-five women, thirteen 
 *' of whom died during his life-time: the remaining twelve perished 
 *' with him on the funeral pile, leaving thirty children to deplore the 
 " fatal effects of this horrid system.' The same printed account imme- 
 " diately states the following fact as illustrative of the system : ' Some 
 " years ago a Kooleen Brahmin of considerable property died at 
 " Sookachura, three miles east of Seramporc (where the missionaries 
 " live.) He Imd married more than forty women all of whom died 
 *' before him, excepting eighteen. On this occasion a fire extending 
 " ten or twelve yards in length was prepared, into which the remaining 
 •' eighteen threw themselves, leaving more than forty children, many of 
 " whom are still living." 
 
 " Or, if the case of the seventy women, who were sacrificed in May 
 *' and June of last year, within two hundred miles of Calcutta, of 
 " whom the twelve above mentioned are a part, and of whom a list and 
 " particular account, recording name and place, was lately inserted in 
 " tlie public paper.-, should be thought a more suitable subject for in- 
 " quiry, it may be undertaken. This, indeed, appears to be the fittest 
 " case of all for trial and actual proof; for it is slated that there are 
 " ' one hundred and eighty-four' Witnesses, who may be produced; 
 *' namely, the one hundred and eighty-four orphans of tlie deceased
 
 Book IV.] NOTES. 415 
 
 " fathers and sacrificed mothers. The places where these witnesset 
 " reside have all been printed; and are not, in general, far from 
 " Calcutta." Pages 11—17. 
 
 Note 48, page 242, line 1. 
 That not alone they're frequent, but increased 
 Since Britain has held empire in the east ? 
 See the opinion of Mr. Wilberforce in the early part of the quotation 
 before given from his parliamentary speech in June 1813. 
 
 Note 49, page 246, line 19. 
 ^nd pledged himself to urge the righteous cause 
 As long as he bore influence on the laws. 
 It is indeed unnecessary to annex the name of Wilberforce as the ap- 
 pointed agent under God for the abolition of the Britisii slave trade; 
 though it may not be equally so to acknowledge with gratitude the 
 magnanimous efforts of the late lamented Granville Sharpe, Esq. and 
 the Rev. Thomas Clarkson, his able and zealous colleagues.
 
 NOTES TO BOOK FIFTH, 
 
 Note 50, page 254, line 5, 
 " Until the Bengal government supreme 
 " Shall utterly impracticable deem 
 " Until the supreme Government in Bengal shall declare that it is 
 " utterly impracticable to lessen the frequency of the immolation of 
 " Females by any means, the author will wot cease to call the 
 " attention op the ENGLISH NATION TO THIS SUBJECT." Christian 
 Researches in jlsia by the Rev. Claudius Buchanan^ D. D. page 42. 
 
 Note 51, page 253, line 1 1. 
 
 He says, and him tee readily believe 
 
 Because he has no motive to deceive, 
 " Of the accuracy of the facts stated in the Memorial, (To Lord 
 " Minto) I think there can be little doubt. T challenged inquiry 
 " before I left Calcutta : but the Government did not think it neces- 
 *' sary to investigate them. They vrrote their Letter to the Court of 
 " irectors while I was yet on the spot, without communicating their 
 " sentiments to me in any manner, although I was on terms of per- 
 " sonal civility with every member of the administration : and they 
 •' sent the letter home without my knowledge by the same fleet which 
 " conveyed myself. Nor did I ever see it until it was recently printed 
 by order of the Honourable the House of Commons. 
 
 " The second remark I woald make refers to the charge of ' disre- 
 " spect ' which is preferred against me, in the Letter alluded to, for 
 *' addressing Government at all on the subject; and to which they fre- 
 " qnently revert with lively sensibility. lam not at all anxious about 
 " self-justification in this matter, except as tlie honour of religion may 
 *' be concerned ; and I hope little personal feeling will be visible in 
 " these Remarks. But in regard to the charge in question, I only
 
 Book v.] NOTES. 417 
 
 ** request that the Bengal GoYeniment will look bark to the transac- 
 ** tion, and survey the nature of the subject, and Ihe circumstances in 
 " which I stood. Let them say whether 1 had any personal interest in 
 " the cause at issue. Did I address Government for my own advan- 
 *• tage? Was it to recommend myself lo the favour of the Court of 
 " Directors when I returned home } No. It was not my own cause, 
 " but that of Revealed Religion which I maintained. Christianity had 
 " been dishonoured. Its teachers were oppressed and silenced ; and 
 " there was nobody to appear for the truth. I stoo<l, for a moment 
 " the Representative of ' Him who is higher than the highest.' And is 
 *' this to be denominated disrespect; especially when the words of my 
 ** address are perfectly re<ipectful ? 1 think that, in the judgment of 
 '* candour and of enlightened minds, it will be thought that I barely did 
 ** my duty. The public voice in the settlement of Calcutta was cer- 
 " (ainly in my favour ; for the proceedings against the missionaries 
 " were very generally condemned." Buck. Remarks, Apol. pp. 96, 97. 
 When I was appointed a Chaplain for Bengal in 1796, I received a 
 public charge from the Court of Directors on the occasion. I was 
 desired to attend the Court in my clerical robes; and the Chairman, 
 Sir Stephen Lushington, addressed me on the importance of my office, 
 and on the duties imposed on a minister of religion in India. His 
 speech, which was evidently composed with much care, occupied 
 about a quarter of an hour or more in the delivery. The venerable 
 Baronet observed, that French principles were sapping the foundations 
 of Christianity and social order ; and he earnestly inculcated on me 
 the duty of defending and promoting the principles of the Christian 
 Religion, by every proper means. I was much affected by the solem- 
 nity of the occasion, and by the energy and feeling with which the 
 address was delivered ; and the subject of the charge itself made a great 
 impression on my mind, particularly when meditating on it afterwards, 
 during my voyage. I trust that my whole life in India has been one 
 continued act of obedience to that charge. If the public have received 
 any useful information, or the cause of truth any support from my 
 writings, it has been owing, in a great degree, to that admonitory 
 address, delivered to me soon after my leaving College, and entering on 
 the ministerial office. I doubt not that some of the members of the 
 
 2£
 
 418 NOTES. [Book V. 
 
 Honourable Court have the circamstance in their recollection. I well re* 
 member a gentleman who was then, and is now, a Director, coming into 
 the Waiting Room, after I had witlidrawn from the Court, and telling 
 me that the Directors had been congratulating their Chairman on his 
 * excellent sermon.' 
 
 It will be satisfactory to the public to see that my endeavours to 
 promote Christianity in India (in any degree that these may have 
 been approved) originated in an especial manner with the East 
 India Company itself. 
 
 jipology Sfc. by Rev. Claudius Buchanan^ D, D. pp. 119, 120. 
 
 ** Dr Buchanan did not act like a man who wished to deceive the 
 *' public, and to obtain their assent to a false proposition ; for he pub- 
 " lished that very work which states most fully and'particularly all the 
 " great circumstances of Hindu enormity, while he yet resided in 
 " Bengal, and the book was in circulation there two or three years 
 " before he quitted that country. He himself presented to the Su- 
 *' prerac Government of India a copy of this work, I mean his memoir 
 " in favour of an Ecclesiastical Establishment for India ; by which he 
 *' drew as much attention to the subject as he could, and at least mani- 
 *' fested his desire that the real truth should be'ascertained. And here- 
 " injustice to Dr. Buchanan I must observe, that notwithstanding the 
 *' unjust and illiberal aspersions which have been thrown out in a 
 " general way against him, I have never yet heard him distinctly 
 •* charged with any specific mistatement of any fact which he hai 
 " brought forward." 
 
 Wilberforee, in the Debates on ttiis subject — June tSlS, 
 
 Note 52, page 234, line 1, 
 He says, and proves, that frequent are these things i 
 Plain references^ placed on record brings ; 
 Referred to note 4T. 
 
 Note 53, page 254, line S. 
 Speaks of the possible to quash such sceneSf 
 And names the Brahmans to appoint the means.
 
 Book y.} NOTES. 419 
 
 That the ahoHtion is practicable hae been demonstrated: and that 
 too, by the most rational and lenient measures ; and these means have 
 been pointed out by the Brahmins themselves.* 
 
 Had Marquis Wellesley remained in India, and been permitted to 
 complete his salutary plans for the improvement of that distant Empire, 
 (for he did not finish one half of the civil and political regulations 
 which he had in view and had actually commenced) the Female Sacri- 
 fice would probably liave been by this time nearly abolished, i- 
 
 Chris. Res. Jaia. p^e 40. 
 
 In reference to Colonel Walker's abolition of infanticide, Mr. WiU 
 berforce thus proceeds in his speech on christianizing India: 
 
 " In like manner might another horrid practice, that of burning 
 '' women on the funeral pile of their husbands be put a stop to. What- 
 " ever difficulties may exist, I feel confident, that had Lord Wellesley 
 *' continued in India but one year longer, the frequency of such scenes 
 " would have been diminished." 
 
 Further on Mr. W. proceeds as follows. 
 
 " I am not a little struck. Sir, with the great resemblance which ths 
 '^ objections to this measure bear to those formerly used agaiust the abo- 
 " lition of the Stave Trade. But, Sir, I trust we shall live to see the 
 " day when all, with equal exultation, will triumph in the success of the 
 " measure we are now considering. We were told, that the abolition 
 " of the Slave Trade would be productive of numerous evils. We 
 " were told by West Indians, that the slaves would confound emauci- 
 " pation with abolition, and that insurrections must follow. We 
 " were told by men who had passed a life time in Africa, tliat the 
 " Slave Trade was a source of happiness to that country. We were 
 *' told by almost the whole body of West Indians, by naval and mili*^ 
 " tary commanders who had resided there, that the slaves in those 
 
 ♦ See them detailed in memoir on the expediency of an Ecclesiastical 
 Establishment for British India, and the ultimate civilization of the 
 natives by their conversion to Christianity. By Rev. C. Buchanan, 
 page 49j 
 
 f Ibid, page 47. 
 9eS
 
 420 NOTES. [BookV. 
 
 " islands were as happy as the day was long, and far happier than the 
 " lower classes in this country, for they "were dancing all night. How 
 •' had these assertions and predictions been made good ? In every 
 *' instance, it appeared that those who made them had formed er- 
 *' roneous ideas on the subject; and it is sonsewhat remarkable that 
 " since the passing of the Abolition Act, as if providentially to take 
 " away even the colour of a pretext for maligning that measure, no in- 
 " surrection of any kind had occurred. Scarcely ever before has so 
 " long a period passed without an insurrection in one or other of our 
 *' colonies as has elapsed since that measure was carried. So, I trust, 
 " it will be with the assertions and predictions which are employed on 
 *• the present occasion." 
 
 Note 54, page 255, line I. 
 And teith exkausttess course he travelled nfer 
 Peninsulaen land from shore to shore ; 
 " As contradictory accounts were given by different writers con- 
 " cerning the real state of the numerous tribes in India, both of 
 " Christians aad Natives, the author conceived the design of devoting 
 *' the last year or two of his residence in the East, to purposes of local 
 " examination and inquiry. With this view, he travelled through the 
 " Peninsula of India by land, from Calcutta to Cape Comorin, a conti- 
 " nent extending through fourteen degrees of latitude, and visited 
 " Ceylon thrice. And he soon discovered that a person may reside all 
 *' his life in Bengal, and yet know almost as little of other countries in 
 " India, for instance, of Travancore, Ceylon, Goa, or Madura, of their 
 *' manners, customs, habits, and religion, as if he had never left England. 
 *' The principal objects of this tour, were to investigate the state of 
 " Superstition at the most celebrated Temples of the Hindoos ; to 
 " examine the churches and libraries of the Romish, Syrian, and Protes- 
 '* tant Christians, to ascertain the present state and recent history of 
 " the Eastern Jews ; and to discover what persons might be fit instru- 
 " ments for the promotion of learning in their respective countries, and 
 *' for maintaining a future correspondence on the subject of disseminating 
 " the Scriptures in India. In pursuance of these objects the author 
 " Ti»ited Cuttack, &c."
 
 Book v.] NOTES. 421 
 
 After thit tonr, the author returned to Calcutta, where be remained 
 about three quarters of a year longer: and then visited the Jews, and the 
 Syrian Christians, in Malabar and Travancore, a second time before hit 
 return to England. Introd. Chris. Re». pp. 6, 7, 8. 
 
 Note 55, page 255, line 5. 
 What has been done by missionary zeal 
 Independent of the rich fruits of their labours in the best cause 
 hundreds of thousands of natives having been converted to Christianity, 
 the public are much indebted to their abilities for general intelligence 
 concerning the natives of India. Ziegenbalg, and his fellow missionaries, 
 first gave the only satisfactory account of the manners and religion of the 
 South of India. It was to be expected that the present missionaries in 
 Bengal would give the most particular account of the North. In every 
 heathen nation the missionaries are generally best qualified to delineate 
 the character of the inhabitants : both in tlie Eastern and Western 
 Ilemispheres the religious men have described the country and manners 
 of the people. Jiuch. Apol. Pref. page 17. 
 
 Note 56, page 255, line 13. 
 Say, what could such afford intelligent 
 0/ Hindoo systems, manners, morals, bent. 
 Were they in settlement, S^c. 
 The commercial men in the East know, in general, very little on these 
 subjects. Resident generally in towns or on the sea>coast, and occupied 
 by foreign avocations, they rarely penetrate into the interior, to inves- 
 tigate under a meridian sun the manners and customs of the people. As 
 to the literary men, again, who merely consult books, their advantages 
 of information are confessedly very far inferior to those of the mis- 
 sionaries. Of this general ignorance of English residents in India con- 
 cerning native scenes, we have lately had some remarkable examples in 
 the evidence delivered at the bar of the House of Commons. Gentlemen 
 who had occupied high official situations in that country betrayed a 
 defect of information respecting the state of the natives, and tbe progress 
 of Christianity in different provinces, which has been contemplated by 
 m.-iny with utter astonishment. The circumstance, however, may be 
 accounted for in some degree, by the following consideration. India is
 
 49» NOTES. [Book V. 
 
 not less than three thousand miles in extent. Now the Shetland Islands 
 tire on)y seven hundred miles from London ; but a merchant in London 
 knows very little about the manners and customs of the Shttland Isles. 
 Thus it is in Plindostan. A merchant in Bengal knows in general very 
 little of what is passing seven hundred miles from that province. But, 
 if the question respects a distance of two thousand or three thousand 
 miles, it is much if he have a map of the country. In the time of Go- 
 vernor Hastings the life and acts of the illustrious Swartz, hfs contem- 
 porary, and of his learned predecessors and their transactions at the 
 Courts of Tanjore and Mysore, and the progress of Christianity in the 
 Southern regions and Ceylon, were all of them circumstances nearly as 
 much unknown in Bengal, as the transactions of the Catholic missionaries 
 at the Court of Pekin, or the state of Christianity in the interior of 
 China. 
 
 The great extent of Hindostan in longitude and latitude may also 
 account, in some degree, for the discrepancy of relations concerning the 
 Hindoo people; for in the nations between Ceylon and Cabul, there 
 are as great diiferences in manners, customs, and religion, as in those 
 between the Shetland Isles and Constantinople. Our nation has lately 
 wondered at the flattering account given of the Hindoos at the bar of 
 the House of Commons, by some eloquent advocates for the continuance 
 of their existing state. But the above consideration, of the great extent 
 of the Indian Continent, may suggest the possibility, that, in some 
 favoured region, a people may exist differing in certain respects from 
 the Hindoos in general. Buck, jipol. Pref. pp. 17 — ^20. 
 
 Note 57, page 255, line 9. 
 
 To superficial glance 
 Of those whose sordid eye looks out askance 
 With jealous watchfulness and fear, lest aught 
 Of public good their private ends should thwart. 
 In consequence of the inquiries, sanctioned by the Marquis Wellcsley, 
 into the history and literature of the Syrian Christians at Travancore, 
 some ancient manuscripts were announced, and also certain ' Brasa 
 Tablets' of great antiquity, containing the privileges of these ancient 
 Christians, asserting their rights of nobility, and declaring withal that 
 they had a King. Your Lordship can hardly conceive the appre*
 
 Book v.] NOTES. 423 
 
 hensions which were excited by this discovery, in the minds of those 
 who have been lately alarmed by the Prophecies. Even at the first, it 
 vra« accounted an ominous mission to go " to rake up the ashes of 
 " Christianity " in the very midst of the Hindoos. But when it was 
 announced that there were " glowing embers," nothing less seemed to 
 be expected than that all Hindostan would shortly be " in a flame." 
 For if it was true that Christianity once flourished in Hindostan, it 
 followed (hat it might flourish again. It was devoutly wisheil " that 
 these Christian Tablets might sink to the bottom of the sea," and even 
 the curiosity of the Hindoo Antiquaries was quenched in this horror of 
 Christianity« * 
 
 That your Lordship may be assured that this alarm was real, and 
 not fictitious, it is only necessary to add, that when the article of 
 literary intelligence published in the Bombay Gazette, containing the 
 account of these ancient Christians, + and of these " brass plates" 
 (which account was certainly interesting to the Christian world in 
 general, and to men of letters in particular) arrived at Calcutta, it 
 was suppressed, by authority, as something dangerous to the state ; 
 and the Bishop of Llandaff's Letter on the Civilization of India, { had 
 nearly shared the same fate. Buck. Mem. Apol, pp. 86, 87. 
 
 Note 68, page 257, line 8. 
 
 The truths of revelation pure erect ; 
 
 Minds covered with gross darkness radiate ; 
 
 " To give the Christian Scriptures to the inhabitants of Asia, is indeed 
 
 " a work which every man, who believes these Scriptures to be from 
 
 " God will approve. In Hindostan alone, there is a great variety of 
 
 " religions; and there are some tribes which have no certain cast or 
 
 '* religion at all. To render the revealed religion accessible to men who 
 
 * These brass tablets are now deposited in the public library of th« 
 University of Cambridge. 
 
 + It had been previously published in the Bombay Gazette, by 
 which means it reached Europe. It was published afterwards in 
 England by the late Bishop of London. 
 
 { See Christian Researches, at conclusion.
 
 *9* NOTES, 
 
 [Book y. 
 
 " ' desire' it; fo open its eternal sanctions, and display its pnremoraU 
 " to those who ' seek a religion,' is to fulfil the sacred duty of a 
 " Christian people, and accords well with the humane and generou* 
 " spirit of the English nation ." 
 
 Par. 11 " Chris. Institution." Buck. Mem. note page 68. 
 It is to be hoped for the credit of British India that the next generation 
 of gentlemen returning from that country will not expose themselves to 
 the severe and pointed remark of Lord Milton, the son of Earl Fitz- 
 william in his speech in the House of Commons. " I want no more," 
 said he, <' to convince me of the necessity of the religious improve- 
 " ment of India, than the sentiments which have been uttered this 
 " evening by gentlemen returned from that quarter." 
 
 Debate of the 11 t,h June 18U. 
 
 Note 59, page 257, line 13 f 
 Still urging on their parent kingdom heed 
 To give the teaching which they so much need; 
 " It is an object of earnest desire, that, at this era of Christian 
 " investigation, the East India Company will vindicate the honour of 
 " the nation, and of their own government in India, by directing that 
 *' the College of Fort William shall patronize as it formerly did, 
 " translations of the Scriptures in the various languages of the East; 
 " and particularly, that the Insular languages cultivated by their Pro- 
 '* fessor, the late Dr. Leydon (into each of which he has translated the 
 " Gospel of St Matthew) may not be permitiedto sink again into obli- 
 " vion for want of encouragement. The College of Fort William 
 " expends a monthly sum at this time under sanction of the Court of 
 " Directors, for translations from the mythology of Brahma (witness 
 " the fabulous Ramay una, ^c.) ; butnothingisgiven that we have heau'd 
 " of, for the honour of Christ." Note in Buch. Jpol, page 94, 
 
 " I do not know whether your Lordship has been informed that there 
 *' are two Roman Catliolic missions in Bengal, and the provinces adja- 
 " cent. They have existed for a long period of time and have been^ 
 *'• tolerated by the Mahomedan, Hindoo, Seik, Nepaul, and Tibet 
 " Governments. They have preached and published what they pleased, 
 *' without any ofiScial restriction that we have ever heard of; and they 
 ' now continue to follow their functions under the protection of the
 
 Book v.] NOTES. 425 
 
 ** English Government, while the Protestant Missionaries arc restrained 
 " and their theology is subjected to an official licence. 
 
 Buck. Mem. jipol. page 82. 
 
 " If instruction " says Mr. Wilberforce, ^'^ can begiven to our native 
 " subjects without danger, as I have proved it can, I need not detain you 
 *' with shewing that it ought to begiven. It is pulitically necessary to the 
 ** security of India, which at present we do not hold by a very secure 
 " tenure. By becoming Christians, (he natives will become attached ill 
 ** heart to the British, to whom they will have been indebted for the 
 *♦ greatest of all obligations — a knowledge of the Gospel. Tliis I regard 
 " as an indisputable consequence; and if so, never was a duty so clear', 
 " so strong, so imperious, so irresistible as that which calls upon us to 
 " instruct the people of India. To the performance of tnis great duty, 
 " we ought to suffer nothing to operate as a bar. And shall (his House 
 " then endeavour to prevent the Government from doing that which 
 " we propose, namely, to permit iustruction to be given ? Can it be, 
 " Sir, that it is in a British House of Commons that I am forced io enter 
 '< into this length of argument on such a subject, and (hat too in a session 
 " of Parliament, when a claim on the part of the Catholics to equality 
 " of rights with ourselves, has been favourably considered, and refused 
 *' at last, on jour part I am sure, Sir, and on that of the House, with 
 " pain ? Is it at such a period as this (hat we arc to reject this claim' 
 " which has been preferred on behalf of the natives of India? Shall we 
 '* refuge to permit the endeavour to improve them? &c. 
 
 " Would it not accird with the dictates of the soundest wisdom to allsw 
 " Christian Schools to be established where the children of poor Mahome- 
 " dans may find their vindictive views subdued ? The good effec(sof this 
 " would be felt before one generation pass away. The adult Hindoo 
 " will hardly depart from his idol, orthe Mahomedan from his Prophet 
 " in his old age, but his children, when left destitute, may be bronght 
 " up Christians if the British Parliament please." Buck. 3Iemoir. 
 
 Note 60, page 258, line IS. 
 Bearing fair protnis* o'er Atlantic wave 
 But finding for their principles a grave. 
 It was a phrase of Mr Burke's, that Christiana seem?d to become 
 unbaptized when they got (o India.
 
 4«d NOTES. i^ottk y. 
 
 Note 61, page 260, line 1. 
 
 Responsibility's attached, as Jit, 
 
 To ill tee do — to goodthat we omit ; 
 
 And to withhold utilitifs broad plan 
 
 For narrow cause, is perfidy in man. 
 " The annual waste of human life, from the causes that have been 
 " mentioned, in the territories under the dominion of the Honourable 
 *' the East-India Company, is a subject of appalling contemplation. 
 " Every friend of humanity must be often putting the question, Is this 
 *' scene to continue for ever ? Can there be no melioration of human 
 ** existence in India ? Are there no means of mitigating the anguish of 
 " reflection in England, when we consider that the desolations of 
 " Juggernaut exist under our government ? Yes, we answer, there 
 " are means. We have seen with what avidity the Holy Scriptures 
 " are received by the pilgrims. These pilgrims come from every part 
 " of India : some from Cabul, a distance of 1600 miles, and some from 
 " Samarchand. They are the representatives of a population, amount- 
 " ing, as we have seen, to ' two hundred millions.' They are of every 
 " caste,'and many of them of no caste at all. The Bible is, by the 
 " inscrutable Providence of God, at hand : it has been translated into 
 *' the languages of India. Would it not then be worthy of the East- 
 " India Company to order ten thousand copies to be distributed annually 
 " at Juggernaut, in any manner that prudence would justify, and ex- 
 " perience direct, as a sacred return for the revenue we derive from 
 " it, if it should be thought right that that revenue should still be con- 
 ** tinned ? The Scriptures would thus be carried to the extremities of 
 " India and the East. Is it possible that the shadow of an objection 
 " should arise against such a measure, innoxious, as it is humane and 
 " heavenly in its tendency ? Are we afraid, that ' the wretches who 
 *' come to lay their bones within the precincts of Juggernaut' would 
 " mutiny and take away our dominion ? Would not the consequence be 
 •' rather, that, ' the blessing of Him that was ready to perish ' would 
 *' rest upon you ?" The close of Dr. Buchananh first Letter to the Qs^^t of 
 Directors. Apol. pp. 42 — 44.
 
 Book v.] NOTES. 4«T 
 
 Note 62, page 260, line II. 
 Then let the legions of petitions — each 
 Marbled with names a legion — 
 AboDt nine hundred petitions signed probably by nearly half a million 
 of persons of intelligence and respectability, sufficiently testify the deep 
 interest which the thinking part of the British population feel in a ques- 
 tion so intimately involving the honour of God, and the happiness of 
 our fellow-men. Chris. Obs. May 1813, p. lOT. 
 
 Note 63, page 265, line 3. 
 One missionary sowed the fertile seed. — 
 
 Aware that there are persons who will question our right to interfere 
 with tlie faith or the regulations of other nations — I would simply reply. 
 What right had St. Paul (who I shall take it for granted, according to 
 the learned theory of the present Bishop of St. David's, first preached 
 the Gospel in Britain) — what right had He to visit this country whrn the 
 thick film of Pagan darkness involved the minds of its inltabitants? 
 What right had he, to oppose himself to the horrid customs and savage 
 manners of our ancestors, to throw down by his doctrines their akars 
 stained with the blood of human sacrifices, and to regenerate the code 
 of their morals, disgraced by the permission of every crime which can 
 brutalize and degrade human nature? What right had he to plant by 
 such a procedure, the seminal principle of all our subsequent glury and 
 prosperity as a nation, our boasted liberty, our admirable code of law, 
 the whole inimitable frame and constitution of our government iu 
 Church and State ? 
 
 Extract from the speech of John Scandrett Harford Esq. Jun. at ti)e 
 formation of the Bristol Church Miss. Soc, June 25, 1813. 
 
 Mr. Stephen in the debate of the House last June on this subject takes 
 occasion to ask " Were it conceived that the professors of the Druidical 
 " religion in this country were less bigotted in their superstitions 
 " than the Hindus? In the propagation of Christianity throughout the 
 " North of Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries, had any other 
 " means than the ordinary human means been resorted to ? He would 
 '^ rail upon Gentlemen to look also to the instances of Greece and of 
 *' Rome ; to the testimony of Dr Robertson on this subject ; and would 
 '* finally point out to tbem what that eminent and respected indivtdna)
 
 428 NOTES. [Book V. 
 
 " Dr. Paley had written on this very topic of the conversion of the 
 " Hindus." (Mr. Stephen read the extracts from Dr. Paley's Evidences 
 of Chrititianity, in which it was shown that there existed in Europe, 
 in the early ages, the same blind and indignant contempt and hatred 
 for Christianity as it was now said existed in India ; there was also 
 the same disgusting idolatry, and the same fanatical adherence to the 
 ancient modes of worship. All these, however, were gradually over- 
 come, and the blessings of Christianity were finally established upon 
 a foundation never to be shaken ; and these blessings, by the same 
 means and the same perseverance, would doubtless, he argued, be at 
 length conferred upon the populace of the widely extended regions 
 of Hindostan.) 
 
 Note 64, page 266, line 16. 
 Let Christian knowledge be exported ere 
 There can be need of British form uf prayer — 
 And the Gospel must first be published among all nations. 
 
 , Mar1( xiii. 10. 
 
 Note 65, page 269, line 5. 
 But broad Philanthropy is tcide awake — 
 »♦•••» 
 
 It never will solicitude repress 
 Until consummated this teork to bless. 
 " From the anxiety which pervades all parts of the kingdom to ad- 
 *' minister to the comfort and improvement of our fellow-subjects io the 
 " Eastern Hemisphere, it will be felt, that the present is a call which 
 " ought not in prudence to be resisted. Let no man think that the 
 " Petitions which have loaded the table of this House, have been produ- 
 ♦' ced by a burst of momentary enthusiasm, or that the zeal which 
 " actuates the Petitioners will soon be expended. No, Sir, it will be 
 *' found to be steady as the light of Heaven, While the sun and moon 
 *' continue to shine in the firmament, so long will this object be pursued 
 " with unabaiing ardour, until the great work be accomplished. Unless 
 " Gentlemen wish that the whole country sliould ring from one end of 
 " it to the other with loud and reiterated calls for the adoption of thii 
 " measure, they will now accede to it ; for the earnestness of those wh*
 
 Book y.) NOTES. 429 
 
 " now raise Ihclr voices in its favour will never be repressed until the 
 *' sacred and holy cause prevail, until that consummation which ihey 
 " so devoutly seek be completely attained." 
 
 Conclusion of fVUbtrforce's splendid speech on this subject in June 1813. 
 
 Note66, page 271, line 15. 
 In pious spirit to thy memory dear 
 The name of Swartz will carry with it sufficient apology for the 
 introduction in this place of the inscription on his monument at Madras, 
 which was dictated by the Court of Directors. " It forms of itself a 
 full reply to all the vague declamation respecting impracticability, 
 danger, pledged faith, fanaticism, &c. &c. to which of late our earg 
 have been so much accustomed." 
 
 SACRED TO THE MEMORY 
 
 of the Rev. Frederick CaRisTiAN Swartz 
 
 Whose life was one continued effort to imitate the example of hii 
 
 BLESSED MASTER. 
 
 Employed as a Protestant Missionary from the Government of 
 
 Denmark, 
 
 And in the same character by the Society in England for the 
 
 Promotion of Christian Knowledge, 
 
 He, during a period of Fifty Years, " went about doing Good ;" 
 
 Manifesting, in respect to himself, the most entire abstraction 
 
 from temporal views, 
 
 But embracing every opportunity of promoting both the temporal 
 
 and eternal welfare of others. 
 
 In him Religion appeared not with a gloomy aspect 
 
 or forbidding mien, 
 
 But with a graceful form, and placid dignity. 
 
 Among the many fruits of his indefatigable labours was 
 
 the erection of the CnuRcn atTANJORE. 
 
 The savings from a small salary were, for many years, devoted 
 
 to the pious work. 
 
 And the remainder of theexpence supplied by Individuals, 
 
 at his solicitation. 
 
 The Christian Seminaries at Ramnadporam, and in
 
 430 NOTES. [BookV^ 
 
 The TiNNEVELLY provincc were established by him. 
 
 Beloved and honoured by Europeans, 
 
 He was, if possible, held in still deeper reverence by the Natives 
 
 of this country, of every degree, and every sect ; 
 
 And their unbounded confidence in his Integrity and Truth 
 
 Was, on many occasions, rendered highly beneficial 
 
 to the public service. 
 
 The Poor and the Injured 
 
 Looked up to him as an unfailing friend and advocate; 
 
 The Grkat and PowerfCl 
 
 Concurred in yielding him the highest homage ever paid on this 
 
 Quarter of the Globe to European virtue. 
 
 The late Hyder Ally Cawn 
 
 In the midst of a bloody and vindictive war with the Carnatic 
 
 Sent orders to his Officers, " to permit the venerable Father Swartz 
 
 to pass unmolested, and show him respect and kindness, 
 
 For he is a Holy Man, and means no harm to my Government." 
 
 The late Tuljaja, Rajah of Tanjore, 
 
 When on his death-bed, desired to entrust to his protecting care 
 
 His adopted Son Serfogee, the present Rajah, 
 
 With the administration of all afifairs of his Country. 
 
 On a spot of ground granted to him by the same Prince 
 
 two miles east of Tanjore, 
 
 He built a House for his Residence, and made it an 
 
 Orphan Asylum. 
 
 Here the last 20 years of his life were spent in the Education and 
 
 religious Instruction of Children, 
 
 Particularly those of indigent parents — whomhe gratuitously 
 
 maintained and instructed ; 
 
 And hereon the 13th of February, 1798, 
 
 Surrouuded by his infant flock, and in the presence of several of 
 
 his disconsolate brethren. 
 
 Entreating them to continue to make Reugion 
 
 the first object of their care, 
 
 And imploring with his last breath the Divine Blessing 
 
 on their Labours, 
 
 He closed bis truly Christian Career, iu the 72d year of his age.
 
 Book Y.l NOTES. 431 
 
 The East-India Compant 
 
 Anzions to perpetuate the memory of suchtrancendent worth. 
 
 And gratefully sensible of the Public Benefits which resulted 
 
 from its influence, 
 
 Caused this Monument to be erected, Aon. Dom. 1807. 
 
 With the reviewer of the Christiao Observer, we may here, while 
 the tear is just fallen as a tribute of sensibility to so much truly apostolic 
 faith and love, ask — " Who could suppose that after this, it would 
 " ever have been made a question, whether Christian Missionaries 
 ** should be permitted to reside in India !! " 
 
 The following passage was extracted from a letter of the above 
 venerated character to repel the assertions of Mr. Montgomery Campbell 
 on a former occasion, and was laid for that purpose on the table of the 
 House of Commons in the Debates of last June on this subject. " Asser- 
 " tions are in this country hazarded on very slight authority indeed. 
 " Representations are made, so little founded in fact, so distorted and 
 " coloured, and placed in a light so different from that in which they 
 " originally stood, that it is very difficult to recognize them." This 
 letter which refutes so many of the statements of the opponents of this 
 measure was circulated at Madras, and in the neighbourhood where 
 Mr. Swartz resided, without ever having been contradicted. It bore 
 indeed as many internal marks of simplicity and int^rity, as any pro- 
 duction he (Mr. William Smith) had ever seen. It was dated Tanjore, 
 Feb. 19, 1794, and was written with the express intention that it should 
 be made public, and at a time when Mr. Swartz was stretched on the 
 bed of sickness. 
 
 Note 67, page 274, line 17. 
 Making it murder, and the verdict death, 
 To stop by various ways, their children's breath. 
 The humanity and intrepid spirit of the Marquiss Wellesley abolished 
 this most criminal practice which was considered by the Hindoos as a 
 religious rite, and consecrated by custom, I mean the Sacrifice of 
 Children. His Lordship had been informed that it bad been a custom 
 of the Hindoos to sacrifice children in consequence of vows, by drowning 
 them, or exposing them to sharks and crocodiles, and that twenty three
 
 432 NOTES. [Book V. 
 
 persons had perished at Saugor in one month (Jan. 1801,) many of 
 whom were sacrificed in this manner. He immediately instituted an 
 inquiry into the principle of this ancient atrocity ; heard what Natives 
 and Europeans had to say upon the subject ; and then passed a law, 
 " declaring che practice to be murder, punishable by death." The law 
 Is entitled, " A Regulation for preventing the Sacrifice of Children at 
 " Saugor and other places ; passed by the Governor General in Coun- 
 *' cil on the 20th of August 1802 ! " The purpose of this regulation was 
 completely r ffected. Not a murmur was heard on the subject : nor had 
 any attempt of the kind come to our know ledge since. It is impossible 
 to calculate the number of human lives that have been saved during the 
 last eight years by this humane law of Marquis Wellesley, Now it is 
 well known that it is as easy to prevent the sacrifice of women as the 
 sacrifice of children. Has this fact ever been denied by any man who 
 Is competent tp offer a judgment on the subject ? Christ. Res. pp. 41, 42. 
 
 Note 68, page 277, line 12. 
 Sure but to mockery it can belong 
 To talk of fear of giuing the best good 
 " Mr. Smith adverted to various inconsistencies which had marked 
 *♦ the conduct of the opponents of this measure. He had even heard 
 " the alarm of danger from attempting to persuade the Hindus to be- 
 <* come Christians sounded by men who had not scrupled to seize the 
 " idol, and the ear of Juggernaut, for the sake of securing some paltry 
 •' tribute. He would call on the house to let their fears operate where 
 "they ought to operate; namely, to deter them from injuring, not 
 " from benefiting, their Eastern subjects. There had been no fear of 
 " the prejudices of the natives when our pockets were to be filled, or 
 " our dominions extended. We had placed our feet without fear on 
 " the necks of tiie native princes. We had crushed their power and 
 " overturned their thrones, and seated ourselves in their place without 
 " the expression of a single apprehension ; and now we trembled at 
 *' the idea of making to them the offer of the greatest blessing which 
 " we could bestow on them. Let us not show fear in the cause ia 
 " which, above all others, we should show courage; while we display 
 " rashness when forbearance would have better become us." 
 
 Debates on Christianizing India, June 18 13.
 
 Book v.] NOTES. 4SS 
 
 Note G9, page 291, line 5. 
 " Go, teach all nations," is the high behest. 
 No exception is made by (his high authority to the sixty millions of 
 hrnnan beings under British influence in India. 
 
 Note 70, page 296, line 17. 
 
 Talent would thus go down as Hindoo cast. 
 
 What Englishman, who knows to appreciate the blessing of being 
 
 such, will not respond to the words of Mr. Wilberforce when speaking 
 
 on this subject ? " For my own part I cannot so far divest myself of all 
 
 ' my English feelings, as not to feel that the very distinction of cast is 
 
 ' an outrage against the rights of our common nature. Is it to be 
 
 *■ tolerated that there should be a community in the British dominions, 
 
 ' in which (he bulk of the lowest orders are no more capable of rising 
 
 * out of their degraded state, than the inferior animals can rise to the 
 
 * level of the human species; a set of people not only not protected 
 ' in their degradation, but with laws made against them, and which are 
 ' more harsh, more cruel, more severe, in proportion as the people are 
 ' low and degraded ? When money is lent at interest, a person of the 
 ' lower class is to pay double what those of the higher classes are to 
 ' pay; and so it is in every particular, always unjust, always tyranni- 
 ' cal. Is this a couditioa in which you would be content to leave these 
 
 * people?" 
 
 9F
 
 NOTES TO BOOK SIXTH. 
 
 Note 71, page 343, line 19, 
 
 One mean to clear the vision, is to trace 
 
 The causes and effects on human race ; 
 
 To see the whole of matter that combines — 
 
 2'hrough all the pores of nature intertwines — 
 
 Producing all we love, and all we see 
 
 Of beauty, usefulness, and harmony. 
 " Many worthy men entertain indeed strong prejudices against these 
 "pursuits; but let it be recollected that reflective understandings are 
 *' naturally metaphysical. It happens, we believe, to almost every 
 ** man of a vigorous intellect, at some period of his life, and generally 
 " very early, to feel considerable curiosity respecting the nature of his 
 " faculties, and the modes of exercising them j to arrest the progress of 
 " his thoughts, for the purpose of contemplating them more accurately ; 
 " to consider with some anxiety the manner of his existence; what it is 
 " he means when he speaks of his ideas, thoughts, sentiments; what 
 "life is; what is death ; what time; what eternity; what space, and 
 " matter, and motion. Good men who discern, or who fancy they dis- 
 " cern, the danger attending such speculations, may warn the young 
 " and inquisitive: but it is impossible for those who have a glimpse of 
 " light to rest contentedly in darkness ; and surely it is more rational 
 " fairly to ascertain, by a well-directed course of inquiry, what can 
 " be known respecting these things, and what must remain hidden, than 
 " to suffer the mind to run out into every sort of vagrant theory, or 
 " sink, after a few excursions, into that senseless scepticism which is 
 " really the refuge of indolence, not the resting place of manly thought 
 " and candid investigation." 
 
 Eev. Slewarfs Phil. Essays, Chris. Obs, Sept. 1812, page 591.
 
 Book VI.] NOTES. 4S5 
 
 NoieTS, page S44, line 9. 
 
 Hushed be the voice of censure I biassed mind 
 Tow'rds subjects metaphysical, refined. 
 Can never sceptical be deemed— unjust 
 To highest objects of its faith and trust. 
 Except by those who do not choose to think. 
 And from fair harmless disquisition shrink, 
 ** What is meant by scepticism ? If that word is used to denote a 
 *• habit of mind slow and cautious In forming its conclusions, suffici- 
 " ently distrustful of itself to be desirous of knowing what can be 
 " argued against the inferences which it inclines to adopt, and even so 
 " far diffident of its performances as to be perfectly willing, upon the 
 ** appearance of new lights, to re-examine those positions which had 
 " been adopted upon no slight investigation : if this, or any thing like 
 " this meaning, belongs to the word scepticism, we cannot hesitate to 
 '♦ say, that those who object to the metaphysical studies on such grounds 
 *• pass upon them in the form of a censure a very high eulogium. There 
 " is hardly any habit more pernicious, not merely in scientific re- 
 " searches, but daily and hourly in every department of life, than that 
 "loose indolent way which men have of jumping upon their cone! u- 
 " sions in all sorts of subjects, and accepting almost without examina- 
 " tion, sentiments and maxims of the most extensive practical import. 
 '* If on the other hand by scepticism is intended a disposition of mind 
 " unfavourable to the cordial reception of the truths of religion, upon 
 " what evidence is it asserted, that metaphysical studies have the ten- 
 " dency imputed to them ? 
 
 " Galileo was sent to a dungeon in his old age, not for any specula* 
 " tions on mind, but for the discoveries he had made respecting the 
 " constitution of nature. So late as the days of Sir Thomas Brown, 
 " that learned and eloquent writer informs us, that the physicians had 
 ** long been generally supposed to entertain opinions unfavourable to 
 " the truth of Christianity ; and he published his Religio Medici to 
 " rescue himself from the imputation which attached to his profession. 
 ' And in our own time the greatest Naturalist in Italy professed 
 " Atheism. It may therefore perhaps be fairly said that in respect of 
 '♦ any supposed tendency to scepticism, the evidence of history i< full 
 
 2si
 
 4S6 NOTES. BookVI.] 
 
 " as strong against natural philosophy as against metaphysics ; yet who 
 " ever dreamed of proscribing the natural sciencies ? Let us at least be 
 "just, and either condemn the researches of Galileo and Newton, or 
 " acknowledge that neither the philosophy of mind nor the philosophy 
 " of nature have any natural alliance with scepticism, though sceptics 
 " may occasionally be found among the students of both. 
 
 ♦ ••♦♦♦*♦ 
 
 " The end of all knowledge is to enable us better to understand the 
 " will of God, and more perfectly to obey it. Uns^uctified by these 
 " principles, &c. &c. 
 
 " In the pursuits of le.trning, if we would be wise to any purpose, 
 " the glory of God must be our great aim ; the advancement of practi- 
 " cal holiness ip our own hearts, and in the world, an object continually 
 " present to our thoughts. Directed towards such ends the value of 
 " learning is unquestionable, and is indeed now doubted only by weak 
 " and ignorant enthusiasts. Difi'erent pursuits may be suited to different 
 " understandings and conditions of life; some studies may be in their 
 " nature more practically profitable than others : but in the circle of 
 " useful sciences we cannot hesitate to include the philosophy of the 
 " human mind : we see many reasons for expecting advantages to result 
 " from its cultivation, and none of any real moment for proscribing it. 
 
 Reviexv of Stewart's Phil. Essays. Chris. Obs. Sept. 1812, pp. 595, 596k 
 
 Note 73, page 354, line 17, 
 That bright MiUenium rises • 
 The Millenium, according to Dr. "Whitby, is a glorious state of the 
 Church commencing after the fall of Antichrist ; and the subsequent 
 conversion of the Jews to the Christian faith in which it shall flourish 
 in peace and plenty, in righteousness and holiness, and in a pious 
 offspring, for a thousand years, under the undisturbed, though not per- 
 sonal government of Christ, over both Jews and Gentiles, which shall 
 then be united in one Millenium — compounded of mille a thousand and 
 annus a year ; a term, literally signifying a thousand years ; chiefly 
 used for the term of our Saviour's ej^pected second appearance, and 
 reign on earth.
 
 Book VI.] NOTES. 4St 
 
 Notk74, page 368, line 1. 
 As that of sending into every land 
 The Bible, in the tongue they understand. 
 Dr. H. More who wrote on the prophecies above a handred years 
 since, has this remarkable passage : 
 
 As soon as there appears a polity of truly evangelical, or apostolic 
 Christians, not superstitious, nor idolatrous, nor persecutive, nor bloody, 
 breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the true disciples of 
 Christ, but such as join heartily with one another in the plain points of 
 religion, and make no other fundamentals than the undoubted meaning 
 of the word of God requires, and leave men free in the rest ; that as 
 soon, I say, as such a polity as this is}iH bting, the 42 months of the 
 beast may be said to expire as to the entireness of his reign, because 
 there is that set on foot which will certainly be his ruin. 
 
 Note 75, page 368, line 17. 
 Kept by Omnipotence whose own they are 
 
 Josiah in the eighteenth year of his reign (anno 631 before Christ), 
 laid his commands upon Hilkiah the High Priest, to see the money col- 
 lected for the repairing the Temple properly laid out in the doing of 
 the work. The High Priest in pursuance of this order took a general 
 view of the house to see what was necessary to be done, and while he 
 was thus examining every place, he found the authentic copy of the 
 Law of Moses. This ought to have been laid up on the side of the Ark 
 of the Covenant in the most Holy Place, but it was taken out thence, 
 and hid elsewhere in the time of Manasseh, as it is conjectured, that it 
 might not be destroyed by him in the time of his iniquity. This book 
 Hilkiah sent to the King by Shaphan the Scribe, who on his delivering 
 of it to the King, did by his command read some part of it to him. 
 The book of the law being found in the 15th ^ear of Josiah's reign, its 
 seclusion must have been 12 years, or thereabouts. 
 
 Prideaux's Connec. part I. pp. 45, 46. 
 
 In the time of Josiah, through the impiety of the two preceding 
 reigns of Manasseh, and Ammon, the Book of the Law was so destroyed 
 and lost, that besides that copy of it, which Hilkiah found in the tem- 
 ple, there was then none other to be had. For the surprize which Hilkiah 
 is said to be in at the finding of it, and the grief which Josiah expressed
 
 438 NOTES. [Book VI. 
 
 at the hearing of it read, do plainly show, that neither of them had 
 ever seen it before. And if the King and the High Priest, who were 
 both men of eminent piety, were without this part of Holy Scripture, 
 it can scarce be thought that any one else then had it. But so religious 
 a prince as King Josiah could not leave this long unremedied. By his 
 order, copies were forthwith written out from this original, and search 
 being made for all the other parts of Holy Scripture, both in the col- 
 leges of the sons of the prophets, and all other places where they could 
 be found, care was taken for transcripts to be made out of these also, 
 and thenceforth copies of the whole became multiplied among the peo- 
 ple, all those who were desirous of knowing the law of their God 
 either writing them out themselves, or procuring others to do it for 
 them. So that, though within a few years after, the Holy City and 
 Temple were destroyed, and the authentic copy of the law, which was 
 laid up before the Lord, was burnt and consumed with them, yet by 
 this time many copies both of the law and the prophets, and all the 
 other sacred writings, were got into private hands, who carried them 
 with them into their captivity. That Daniel had a copy of the Holy 
 Scriptures with him in Babylon is certain ; for he quotes the law, and 
 also makes mention of the Prophecies of the Prophet Jeremiah, which 
 he could not do had he never seen them. And in the sixth chapter of 
 Ezra, it is said, that on the finishing of the temple in the sixth year of 
 Darius, the Priests and the Levites were settled in their respective 
 functions, according as it is written in the law of Moses : but how could 
 they do this, according to the written law, if they had not copies of 
 that law then among them ? And this was nearly 60 years before Ezra 
 came to Jerusalem. And further in the eighth chapter of Nehemiah, 
 when the people called for the law of Moses to have it read to them, 
 they did not pray Ezra to get anew dictated to him, but that he should 
 bring forth the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had com- 
 manded to Israel ; which plainly shows that the book was then well 
 known to have been extant. Prid. Connec, part I. book 5. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 C. n«ldw'm. Printer, 
 New r.ridge-street, London.
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Paee «1, line 2, for me read we. 
 
 75, 18, the words With such, defective in some copiei. 
 
 91, 1, for dose read doze. 
 
 115, 14, for good read goad. 
 
 18? 4, for short read sheoi. 
 
 188, 14, for and the read aid <*«. 
 938, 4, insert is after this. 
 
 •28?, 15, for rfrwrfger read rfrtMfge«. 
 17, for insanity read inanity. 
 
 132, S3, for ear read ipar.
 
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