4883 m — :c - ZD o ^~ — cr> 3 = =4= o 7 ^ ^= > 3 ^ 2 = ■ ^ 8 = — o ^^^ 1 — 7 — .y. ■V IM' ytiiw^iiiii; ^:r V'-' .ijd UA •yi. s f, 'i; VTl Wki ^*i M f M' M %' ,3,¥.U,M.£i,:.fe-^^ ER BOOKSELi-l THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES H.I SUPPLEMENTARY VERSES, BY LORD LEI G H. W A R \\' I C K : rRINTED BY HENRY T. COOKE, HIOIT STHEET. M.DCCCXLIIL /5f CON 'l' E N T S. - VKV.V. The Walk on a Dnj- in Suuinipr, 7 Ifyniii. ........ 21 Linos on tlip Great Ouk, . . . . 27 THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER ? THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER ? I rose anon and thought I would gone Into the wood to hear the birds sing, When that the mist}' vapour was agone, And clear and faire was the morrowing. Cliaucrr Visible good, by nature shewn, accords With human action, ill defined by words: On such a day as this, with primal glow. Light had invested Eden — heaven below : Then the first orisons in strove and fflade Aerial voices sang — ere man was made. 8 THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER. On such a day as this the Poet pure* Pour'd forth his grateful verse, that will en- dure As long as the revolving seasons bring Those changes Avonderful he loved to sing. As a saloon-frequenting poet vain. Struts Chanticleer before his cackling train. Rising o'er flowery meads soft gales up- bearf A thousand odours through the bahny air ; Pure is that air as love of seraphs, sweet The flowers that freshly rise our steps to greet. Hence Poesy, as Flora deck'd the earth, Bodied her rosy-bosom'd hours forth. * Thomson. f Auiarumque leves aiiima; — Lucretius, Lib. v, v. 237. THK WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER. 3 And brightest things that chilling winds de- stroy. To-day are on the wing elate with joy ; Thus fashion's minion, while on his affairs Smiles fortune, Avantons — with her frown, despairs. Though fortune smiles again, his day is past ; He irrecoverably loses caste. Familiar nods, how eloquently mute ! Of high-born friends no more the youth sa- lute. But petrifying as Medusa's locks, His nerves the stare unrecognizing shocks. The wentle stream flows on like human life When undisturbed (how rare) by pain or strife ; The ripples on it glittering in the beam. Like healthy movements of employment seem. Here all is natural joy, the even flow Of happiness, of love the genial glow. 10 THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER. Roses are wreathed around the cottage walls. And ivy o'er the crumbling ruin falls ; Thus blooms the rose on rural maiden's cheek. And age looks cheerful though infirm and weak. The sweetest flower is shelter'd from our gaze. The bird most tuneful shuns the solar blaze ; Oft wines that sparkle in translucent glass In flavour those gemm'd goblets hold surpass. Like many-colour'd schemes, all fancy-born. Of youth, is gone the " opal-colour'd" morn. As noon advances deepens to the view Intensely through the skies one azure hue : And thus ambition gives its hue alone To manhood, tints enchanting youth are gone ! Float in the suntide gorgeous insects bright In colours as an idle carpet-knight. IHE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMEr'. 11 Far as the eye may distant views command. Here — there — vast oaks in pride of foliage stand : Thus view we through the vista of past ages Those cokimns bright of fame, Athena's sages. Temple and tower decay, the winter's blast Kends forests — works of genius perish last : Through generations Kghts transmitted down. Till o'er the world oblivion's pall is thrown. They, as this glorious day's pervading charm Delights the sense, the mind illume and warm. As feudal chieftains o'er their vassals spread Protection, thus far -branching overhead Trees of columnar growth their underwood Shield from the thunder storm's down rush- ing flood : Thus woiild high-minded man protect from harms Fair woman, timid with her thousand charms. 12 THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER. Woman, whatever orbs this world illume. Here give to life " its lustre and perfume ! " A beauteous plant, hereafter to arise And flourish in her second paradise With everlasting verdure, fresh as May — For aye to-morrow lovely as to-day. Beautiful objects that around us shine. Above, below — flowers, gems, and light divine. Illustrate faintly, faintly words express The radiant charms of female loveliness. The lofty fir, as sunshine gilds its bark. E'en towering o'er the oak in grove, or park. Stands like some high-born Thane whom ex- ercise Has bronzed, and health irradiates his eyes. Like boding ravens among birds who sing As if life was for them one endless spring. THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER. 13 Ascetics haunt not our green fields but towns. And social mirth there trembles at their frowns. He who deems rites all powerful to save. An overweening self-esteem may have : May boast of realms from sway of error won, Yet would with lights on earth enlarge the sun ! Thus Preachers eloquent, who well discern Pure gospel-truths, to pride their incense burn. Astrology has had its day, but now Thousands to vainer superstitions bow : And ceremonial pageant supersedes Heart-worshix"), vital principle of creeds ! Oh not to acts external grace is given. But to integrity of thought, by Heaven. 14 THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER. Sun of the soul is truth, though oft the cloud Of pride obscures it — mists of passion shroud. If knowledge Avere the all in all, the good Supreme, then Lucifer unchanged had stood ; Had still above angelic hosts outshone Myriads who brighten round the sapphire throne, Countless, as ocean-waves seen far and far Glowing beneath the Day-God's blazing car. But knoAvledge is to good or ill allied As colour'd by humility or pride. As wave atlantic, urged by wintry gales, A mural pile of porphyry assails ; Thus mob-impell'd, ambitious spirits strive Old institutions from their base to drive : Prophets of woes themselves create, disdain To aid their living instruments of gain. THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMTR. 15 And burdens that they ought themselves to bear ■. . : . . ' :■ '.. On others shoulders place, and fix them there. They, as the swallows that perplex the eye With rapid and erratic movements fly. With tortuous fancies, useless to mankind, Vex, dazzle, and distract the public mind. Panting for fame, these spirits soar above The sober flights of charity and love ; While lightnings flashing round their course presage Commotions on the earth, and civic rage ! Though zealous for the public good, they deem Self sacrifice to be an idle dream. (The Priest refused his money to the knave That ask'd for alms, and yet his blessing gave.) 16 THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER. Balm to hurt minds their eloquence affords Cheap virtue is humanity in words. Brilliant as sunbeams are the sons of song (As transient too,) the stirring crowd among, Ere revolution darkens to deform The moral world — they perish in the storm. But shadow like, more solemn things appear. Such as fatigue the To-vvn year after year ; Their looks by fashion trimm'd have such pretence, They almost seem to be informed with sense : Why may they not, though seldom they tin- lock Theu" cabinets of wit, possess a stock For gaudy days, reserved as presents, then To be profusely lavished — Heaven knows when ! THE WALK ON A DAY IX SUMMER. 17 The flush of summer clouds that evening gilds, Excels in splendour shrines that grandeur builds ; Or famed Cleopolis, with golden spires That glitter through mid-air like spiral fires. Art is but art, even when to taste allied It rears a palace for imperial pride. If on this earth such rays of glory fall. What splendours, where God's presence glad- dens all. Through regions of interminable day, Unveiled as spirits onward progress, play ! There gifts of grace are as the stars untold, And rich as fabled groves of verdant gold : And minds reflect, as mirrors of the sky Its hghts, a brighter day-spring from on high. June, 1842, HYMN. HYMN, SUNG BY THE SCHOOL CniLDIlEX, OX L.VYIXG THE FOUNDATION STONE OF THE CHAPEL OF EASE ON "VVESTWOOD HEATH, IN THE PARISH OF STONELEIfJH. Wc lift to God our hands and lu-arts"- He comes — prepare the Avay : He to our risiug- church imparts His o'race this blessed day. *■ '* fc^ursuni cord?). 22 HYMN. To Thee, to whom all nations bow, A house for prayer we raise ; Our handy- work O prosper Thou, Accept our humble praise. Thy blessings shall our labours crown ; And when our work is o'er. Here we shall worship and fall down Before Thee, and adore. Our children, too. Thy holy word Shall hear with awe and love ; Here shall the sacred song be heard. Ascend to Thee above. Tor Thee, within the city's round, While lofty temples rise, The lowliest place where truth is found Js sacred in thine eyes. HYMN. 23 Though shrines are for thy service given That all may join in prayer ; Thy footstool earth — thy throne is heaven. Thy presence everywhere. A while we sojourn on the earth, Like shadows soon arc gone ; Our offerings all are nothing worth ; We trust in Thee alone. The want of all we wish to give Thou only can'st supply ; Our pure heart-worship keep alive, And raise our thoughts on high. THE GREAT OAK. THE GREAT OAK O dia Quercus quo; uemorum sinus Superbienti vertice despicis, Et brachia ad veatum coriiscas Regifico tenebrosa fastu. Wellesleij. This mighty oak, By whose immovable stem I stand, and seem Almost annihilated — not a prince In all that proud old world beyond the deep. E'er wore his crown as loftily as he Wears the green coronal of leaves with which Thy hand has graced him. Br;/ant. Monarch of all this world of shade, Of full-leaved trees, on hill, in glade, * The Oak that is the subject of the following stanzas, stands at about two hundred yards to the north of the old Abbey gate-wuy entrance, at Stoneleigh Abbey, contiguous to a path leading to the village of Stoneleigh. 28 THE GREAT OAK. There separate, here massed ; Or nobly towering, rank o'er rank. Along the gently swelling bank, Or in the river glassed — It proudly stands, 'mong many more Coeval oaks, now, as of yore, Majestic in repose : And maidens fair, knights j^i'oud and brave. Their plighted troth received and gave Beneath its ample boughs. See, where pre-eminent it rears Its swelling foliage o'er compeers. Like patriarchal sage. Thus looked the matchless Shakspere, placed Among those master -bards, who graced Eliza's golden age. THE GKFAT OAK. 29 Our j)resent race it will survive, By those who may hereafter live In veneration held : . . ; . I If by the lightning's stroke unrent, Still flourishing, too prominent In grandeur to be fell'd. And youth elate, in sportive mood, Uutrushing from the deep'ning wood That bounds the interspace So green, where couch the antler'd deer, Shall strive with laughter-moving cheer The giant to embrace. How many changes, dark and bright, Shadow and sun-burst, has the flight Of years around it cast ! It flourishes, while things decay That had their birth but yesterday. It braves the tempest's blast. 30 THE GREAT OAK. How many hearts shall beat with joy. And cease to beat, ere time destroy Its storm-defying frame : How many scenes of weal and woo Shall acted be, ere earth will shew No vestige of its name. This forest-scenery among Hise others beautiful and strong ; Perchance in after times. As yon untiring sun returns. To canopy a bard who mourns In meditative rhymes. Of their columnar greatness proud, Their leafy fulness, like a cloud Of verdure to the eye ; Outlasting rising hall or tower. They unborn Dians will embower. As summers onward fly. NOTES. NOTES, TO THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER. P. 7. 1. 5, 6. Then the first orisons in grove and glade Aerial voices sang — ere man was made. "Sole and responsive each to others note Singing their great Creator.' Milton, hook Ath, line 683. S4 NOTES TO THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER. P. 8. 1. 7, 8, 9, 10. Oil such aday as this the Poet pure Poiir'd forth his grateful verse, that will endure As long as the revolving seasons bring Those changes ivondcrful he loved to sing. The Poets Burns and Collins have hallowed the memory of Thomson in some beautiful stanzas. The late accomplished Sir George Beaumont was wont to say that it were better for the young Artist to copy from the des- criptions in Thomson's Seasons, in painting his landscapes, than even from the works of the greatest masters. The Castle of Indolence is, in my humble opinion, far superior to the Seasons. There is an admirable comparison of the respective merits of Cowper and Thom- son in Campbell's selection of the Poets, vol. v. page 217. P.- 11. 1. 53. 54. Thus view we through the vista of past ages Those columns bright of fame, Athena's sages. NOTES TO THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER. 35 Temple and tower decay, theuinter's blast Rends forests — works of genius perish last : Throtigh generations lights transmitted down, Till o'er the world oblivion's pall is thrown. *' When time is old and hath forgot itself, And blind oblivion swallowed cities up, And mighty states characterless are grated To dusty nothing," The works of the great writers of antiquity consecrated by the admiration of ages : the universally acknow- ledged models of excellence, shall be studied and illustrated bs'' unborn crenerations in distant lands that are yet untrodden by the foot of man. Thousands will read with delight the " (T.dipus Coloneus " when Athens shall be no more. P. 14. 1. 107, 108. As ware athintlr, urged hi/ n-inlri/ gales, A mural pile of porpligrg assails. But the most sublime scene is where a mural pile of porphyry escaping the progress 36 NOTES TO THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER of disintegration that is devastating the coast, appears to have been left as a sort of ram- part against the inroads of the Ocean ; the Atlantic when provoked by wintry gales bat- ters against it with all the force of real artil- lery, the Avaves having in their repeated assaults forced themselves an entrance. — Ly- eWs '■'■Principles of Geologxj^'' vol. ii. p. 41. Sixth edition. P. 10. 1 128. Cheap virtue is humanity in words. " II en coute " says the " Garcon barbier " in Gil Bias " trop pour acquerir le fonds des vertus : on se contente aujourd'huid'en avoir les apparences." or, as Joseph Surface says in " The School for Scandal," the silver ore uf pure charity is an expensive article in the catalogue of a man's good qualities, whereas the sentimental French plate I use instead, makes just as good a show and pays no tax. NOTES TO THE WALK ON A DAY IN SUMMER. 37 P. IG. 1. 133. But shadow like, more solemn things appear, Shakspear probably alludes to these "walking Gentlemen about Town" in the "Merchant of Venice," where Gratiano says " There are a sort of men whose visages Do cream and mantle, like a standing pond. And do a wilful stillness entertain. With purpose to be dressed in an opinion Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit ; " The species in these days may be some- what different ; " At genus immortale manet." P. 17. 1. 148. Unveiled as spirits omimrd progress. In these principles, says the eloquent Author of " Saturday Evening," there is com- prehended a provision never to be exhausted for supplying new enjoyments to pure and intelligent beings. It is evident that to 38 NOTES TO THE WALK ON A DAY IN SU MMER. active natures, endowed with the power and desire of advancement, the eras of protracted duration must impart continually fresh ac- cessions of capacity for discerning the per- fections of the Infinite God. That which might not be at all known or conceived of in an early stage, may be com- prehended in a stage more advanced; and thus the Boundless Felicity which none shall ever fathom, will be to all and for ever a spring of perpetual pleasures. Saturday Evening, p. 431. N T E. NOTE ON THE GREAT OAK? Page 30, stanza 6 and 7. " Oh couldst thou speak. As on Dodona once thy kindred trees Oracular, I woidd not curious ask The futm'c, best unknown, but at thy mouth Inquisitive, the less ambiguous past. Coioper^s Yardley Oak, MAY, IN 1843. MAY, IN 1843. Largus item liquid! fons luminis, aetherius Sol Inrigat assidue caslum candore recenti, Sujipeditatque novo confestira lumine lumen. Lucretius, Lih. v. v, 22. Now garlands for her daughters pleasure wreathes, Sweet odours beauty love-inspirhig breathes : Now life is sprightly up, and cheering morn Laughs out, and Nature is as 'twere new- born. 46 MAY, IN 1843. Now through saloons young maidens brighten, gay As young gazelles, and beautiful as May. On pamper'd steeds of their fair riders proud. The park at six what lovely Dians crowd ! Now moves the pageant near the Serpentine, Of equipages gay a double line. Where is distress ? here all is life and joy ! Yet ills at home may fashion's trajn annoy. Where is distress ? in several alleys moan Thousands, in garrets wretched, friendless, lone. And lives through misery waste, and minds decay. That while hope cheer 'd them had been bright and gay. MAY, IN 1843. 47 Vainly for them now smiles the morning's dawn; The light that pierc'd though life's dull cloud withdrawn. Oh ! there is sympathy at feasts with those Who are in want while round the goblet goes; If you would hope that charities might thrive. Equivalents in fetes and dinners give. — And then with self-laudation hearts dilate; That talisman subscriptions to inflate. Oft is a spirit of exclusion shewn By territorial magnates plumed in town : And country neighbours -whom they lov'd to greet In fields, are scarce acknowledged in the street. 48 MAY, IN 1843. There what, our wits would call hucolic worth At zero is, if not upheld by birth. Blown by young bards gay fancy's bubbles first Mount, glitter in the sun of glory, burst : Ambition's next by statesmen are upblown, Swell as they mount, till more inflated grown. They suddenly dissolve, as nations stare At their portentous grandeur, into air. Now science is enthron'd in sun-bright halls. Though somewhat pamper'd at great festivals, Where men are tempted to prefer display Of wit's gay lights to truth's more sober ray. Yet poesy may with her golden hue Colour dcvelop'd facts sublimely true. MAY, IN 1843. 49 Gifts to the altar fair Armonia brings, Of grateful science the fine oiferings : While with a radiance pure devotion gilds The system science -loving Avoman builds. Through the long vista arch'd by green boughs gaze, See, where it terminates, the solar blaze. Thus through the eye of reason through the glass Of faith we lights behold that suns surpass. Men who their own vile interests pursue. Boast that they have the public good in view With what contentious spirit is display'd Fierce agitation for, against, free Trade! Each hates his brother, striving to restrain Or ope the ports for import free of grain. 50 MAY, IN 1843. Each disputant liis opposite by turns Dazzles with wit or with invective burns : As the logomachists in fencing mood Stand, and pour forth of eloquence a flood, Sage against sage by Commons back'd or Lords, Shoots forth his arrows, even bitter words. Many that strive to win the people's love. Most doubtful, onward 'gainst their conscience move : Yet much would grieve if theories they hail With loud applause, in practise should prevail. The selfish hope is theirs, that in their day The storm impending might not come — it may- The millionaire commercial, the proud squire Ruffled like game cocks crow with mutual ire ! MAY, IN 1843. 51 At market-place, in jjulpits is the song Of triumph heard free-trading crowds among Caught in the "Liberator's" artful fold Pants Erin, he will ne'er relax his hold, While thousands at his feet their offerings pour, And as a god the demagogue adore. Repeal the Union, Erin shouts repeal ! Repeal the Corn Tiaws for the public weal ! The word Repeal hereafter may disclose More ills than from Pandora's box arose. Now Adam Smith is oft invok'd extreme Opinions to support — to prop a scheme! Appeals to passion, poor attempts at wit. Mar subjects for calm reasoning most fit. 52 MAY, IN 1843. Old institutions, that unhurt oppose The force collective of assailing foes. Worn by the ever-undermining stream Of time decay while yet untouched they seem. Who would in permanence of systems trust ? The feudal fabric crumbles into dust. Still speculation on untiring wing Flies round the world home fancied wealth to bring. Commerce a richer crown adorns thy brow — And China is an El Dorado now. While Albion boasts that streams of silver run Into the coffers of her merchant-son. Yet other nations rush her spoils to share, Sowing the seeds of future contests there. MAY, IN 1843, 53 Again ambitious to become the scourge Of nations — strife beyond her confines urge, France may relume the war-torch, shake the throne. When from this world her master-mind is gone. Then all the fiery spirits that by peace For years have been enchain'd shall strife release : While rising from the nether world in swarms Shall hell's black agents heighten earth-born storms : And claims of state, that mutual fears suspend. Shall like the warring elements contend. As rose the giant Andes, thus the power Of Russia rose old nations to o'er-tower; Destin'd perchance to sink beneath the Aveight Of some new empire yet in embryo state. 54 MAY, IN 1843. Though such sad bodings anxious bosoms fill. Visible good outweighs contingent ill. Not yet from Israel is her glory gone ; Homaged by all smiles virtue on the throne : And full of hope religion bears the tome Of priceless value to each cottage-home. Far where the flag of Britain is unfurl'd Triumphant, gospel-truths pervade the world : There millions will proclaim with general voice One God, one Saviour — in the Word rejoice. The Word that shall redeem them from the grave And their sons' sons, — omnipotent to save. Lands, where the savage war-cry late was heard, [cheer'd. With hymnings to the Prince of Peace are MAY, IX 1843. 55 Where once the seed is sown it will renuiin, A thousand times is multiplied the grain. Onward runs emigration's restless tide, Hope is the young adventurer's star-like guide. His rising family, of wealth a mine, I^ ot doom'd o'ertasked in penury to pine, Draw, while increase of gain o'er-pays the toil, Exhaustless riches from a virgin soil. And distant lands regarded late as waste Shall furnish plants to suit capricious taste ; Some herb, or esculent perchance to change The course of commerce, or extend its range. Oh may the spirit from above dethrone The brute-god in our breasts, ihere rule alone. — 56 MAY, IN 1843. Then stars that have their lustre lost, to cheer The world with pristine light may re -appear Shedding their influence, till all shall be From the enchantments base of mammon free- Howards will walk the earth with port erect, And heart to heart by ties of love connect. As vernal sun with equal warmth supplies Multiform flowers that in communion rise ; Thus pure benevolence, our sun below, Difliises through the world a genial glow ; And never rests, its energy unspent. With its transmitted effluence content ; But daily renovates its vii'tue, still Created things with joy intense to fill. NOTES. NOTES TO MAY, IN 1843. P. 45. 1. 3. 4. Noiv life is spriyhtli/ up, and clieering morn Latighs out, and Nature is as 'twere newliorn. " So when the cheerfulness of the people is so sprightly up." — Milton. The besy larke, the messager of day Saleweth in hire song the morwe gray ; And firy Phebus riseth up so bright That all the orient laugheth of the sight, And with his stremes drieth in the greves The silver dropes, hanging on the leves. Chaucer, — The Knight'' s Tale, ve?'se \'\93, Folio Editio?i. go NOTES TO MAY, IN 1843. P. 48. 1. 5. Ambition's next by statesmen are upblow n. Mon enfant quel Eclair sinistre ! C'etait I'astre d'un favori, Qui se croyait un grand ministre Quand des nos maux il avait ri. Ceux qui servaient ce dieu fragile Ont deja cache son portrait — Encore un etoile qui file Qui file, file et disparait. — Beranger. " It has long been known that certain stars are liable to great and periodical fluctuations in splendour, and Sir J. Herschel has lately as- certained (January, 1840,) that a large and brilliant star, called alplia Orionis, sustained in the course of six weeks, a loss of nearly half its light." It is no difficult matter me- taphorically to apply this fact. NOTES TO MAY, IN 1843. gj P. 48. 1. 13. 14. Yet poetry may with her yoldcu hue Colour develop' d facts sublimely true The admirable articles written by Sir John Leslie, in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, on various subjects of natural and chemical sci- ence, combine the truth of science with the poetry of romance ; " clothing the palpable and familiar In golden exhalations of the dawn." In eloquence of description, and beauty of language, few works of fiction excel Lyell's comprehensive work on Geology. P. 49. 1. 3. 4. While icith a radiance pure devotion gilds The system science-loving ivoman builds. How simple yet sublime the conclusions of 62 NOTES TO MAY, IN 1843. Mrs. Somerville's excellent work, on the Physical Sciences. These formulae, emblematic of Omniscience condense into a few symbols the immutable laws of the Universe. This mighty instru- ment of human power itself originates in the jjrimitive constitution of the human mind, and rests upon a few fundamental axioms, which have eternally existed in Him who implanted them in the breast of man when he created him after His own image. Somerville on the Physical Sciences, p. 418. P. 51. 1. 1. 2. At market-place, in pulpits is the song Of triumph heard free-trading crowds among ! " These things indeed, you have articulated, Proclaim'd at market crosses, read in churches," Shakspere, Henry IV, Act v. scene i. NOTES TO MAY, IN 1843. 63 I deprecate the application of the lines that follow. Who can forget the Tyrtsean odes of Dr. Bowring — " quo non pra3stantior uUus jEre ciere viros, Martemque accendere cantu."? Or the oratory of Messrs. Cobden and Bright those " idols of the theatre " in Drury Lane and elsewhere ? " Who was so firm, so constant that this coyl Would not infect his reason? not a soul But felt a fever of the mind." * * * * However, the subject of the vexata quaestio of the Corn Laws to be discussed fairly, should be discussed with temper, and not made a handle for furious invective against Landlords. Self-love seduces us all to take a one-sided view of any question in which our own par- ticular interests are involved ; nor do I see any particular virtue in the '^ Leaguers " 64 NOTES TO MAY, IN 1843. that exempts them from this common infir- mity of human nature. The honesty of Land- lords is, at least, on a par with the honesty of those by whom they are arraigned. The cold calculations of the political (Economist are opposed to those feelings that should animate the breast of the Poet, but no doubt Mr. Cobden would complain of the unfairness of that speaker who would quote the beautiful lines of Campbell, on " revisit- ing the banks of the Clyde," as a fair illus- tration of the manufacturing system; yet, Mr. Campbell is not (I believe) a Landlord. P. 51. 1. 3. Caught in the Liberator' s artful fold. The antients beheved that the volcanic moun- tain Chimsera was presided over by an Aga- thodaemon that rendered its flames innoxious, thus the wise in their generation fancy that NOTES TO MAY, IN 1843. 65 the " Liberator " controuls by his restraining influence the fiery disposition of his country- men that would otherwise flame out into rebellion : a restraining influence, similar to that which is exercised by an equestrian worthy in Hyde Park, While his oflf heel insidiously aside Provokes the caper which he seems to chide. P. 52. 1. 5. 6. Who would in perma>ience of sijsteins trust ? The ftudal fabric crumbles into dust. " A day will arrive in the progress of the human race when every record or trace of our existing establishments will be regarded with the same curiosity with which we now regard those of the Roman power before its decline. — The feudal arrangements which sprung up and overspread its ruins, are in their 66 NOTES TO MAY, IN 1843. turn, decaying and giving place to other ideas and principles ; and in this slow, but certain succession of one system of human affairs to another, like the successive formations of rocks in geological science, the philosopher and the truly pious man hail in every change an evident amelioration of the moral and physical condition of mankind, a wonderful advance in morality, religion, good govern- ment, and well being, and leave to the bigots in legislation and religious forms the incon- sistent and fruitless attempt to hold back this mighty movement of divine and beneficent will for the improvement of the moral and physical condition of its creatures." — Laing^s Notes of a Traveller^ 8^J0. p. 408, " We have often thought that the motion of the public mind in our country resembles that of the sea when the tide is rising. Each successive wave rushes forward, breaks, and rolls back, but the great flood is steadily coming in. A person who looked on the waters only for a moment might fancy that they were retiring. A person who looked on NOTES TO MAY, IN 1843. 67 them only for five minutes, might fancy that they were rushing capriciously to and fro. But when he keeps his eye on them for a quarter of an hour, and sees one sea-mark disappear after another, it is impossible for him to doubt of the general direction in which the ocean is moved. Just such has been the course of events in England. In the history of the national mind, which is in truth, the history of the nation, we must carefidly distinguish between that recoil which regularly foUows every advance and a great general ebb. — Critical and Historical Essays, hy Thomas Bahington Macaulay, vol. 2. p. 228-9. There is certainly, . at present, a "recoil;" the utilitarian system, whether it be for good or for evil is now out of fashion. Sic volvenda aetas commutat tempora rerum. Quod fuit in pretio : fit nullo denique honore : Porro aliud succedit, et e contemtibus exit, Inque dies magis appetitur, floretque repertum Laudibus, et miro'st mortaleis inter honore. Lucretius . 68 NOTES TO MAY, IN 1843. It is, however, a good " sign of the times " that the works now in demand with our Booksellers are those that are published for the spiritual as well as physical well-being of the people, works on religion and agriculture. Even the Author of " Past and Future," that extraordinary book, truth-telling in many re- spects ; yet unpalatable to the few who un- derstand it, admits that " a sacred religion," "if you like the name, does live in the heart of strange froth-ocean, not wholly froth, which we call Literature ; and will more and more disclose itself therefrom ; not now as scorching fire : the red smoky scorching fire has pu- rified itself into white sunny Light." — "Past and Present" by T. Carlyle, page 317. Our Kebles and our Wordsworths are now more highly honoured than our Byrons, and Maturins. As the elegant author of "L'Espagne sous Ferdinand VII " truly says, — " Ce qui fait le bonheur des socidtes ce n'est pas telle ou telle institution, c'est 1' irresistible adoucissement des moeurs, c'est NOTES TO MAY, IN 1843. 69 le progres des id^es communes a tout le genre humain. — Les peuples les plus avanc^s sur cette route sont les peuples sincerement religieux." P. 54. 1 9. 10. There millions will proclaim ivit/i general voice Ojie God, one Saviour — in the Word rejoice. In prophetic anticipation of this glorious consummation of all things the Poet Cowper rises to an elevation unusual even with him, and bursts out into the following rapturous strain — " One song employs all nations, and all cry, " Worthy the Lamb for he was slain for us." The dwellers in the vales, and on the rocks Shout to each other, and the mountain tops 70 NOTES TO MAY, IN 1843. From distant mountains catch the flying joy. Till nation after nation taught the strain Earth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round. Behold the measure of the promise fill'd. See Salem built, the labour of a God! Bright as a sun the sacred city shines ; All kingdoms and all princes of the earth Flock to that light ; the glory of all lands Flows into her ; unbounded is her joy And endless her increase." Again — " Eastern Java there Kneels with the native of the farthest west, And Ethiopia spreads abroad the hand And worships." — Cowper, The Task, Book 6. The winter walk at noon. See Fareham's Travels in the Western Prairies, vol. ii. p. 129, where he describes the devotions of the Indians in Oregon. " A wandering Savage in Oregon calling upon Jehovah in the name of Jesus Christ." " The Indian family engaged in their even- ing devotions, and singing a hymn in the Nez Perces language J'^ NOTES TO MAY, IN 1843. 71 Thus " the stream of divine knowledge unobserved, is flowing in new channels, wind- ing its course among humble valleys, refresh- ing thirsty deserts, and enriching with far other and far higher blessings than those of commerce the most distant climes and na- tions, until, agreeably to the prediction of the prophecy the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the whole earth." — Kobert Hall. FAITH, HOPE. FAITH, HOPE. As mind toward uncreated Light Upsprings from bondage free^, Still Faith and Hope attend her flight, Where truths evolved shall be. Progressively unveil'd appear New glories, more remain Yet unreveal'd, bright hope to cheer ; Faith's ardour to sustain. 76 FAITH, HOPE. Through grades of endless life the mind Still rises, higher — higher — Fresh trial there for faith to find ; For hope, encr eased desire. NOTE NOTE TO FAITH, HOPE. As the perfections of God are infinite they are capable of being eternally manifested : and after all manifestations, there must be an infinitude of perfections still to be brought to view. — Adam Clarke. GENIUS. GENIUS. Genius or with pure light brightons- E.ay, no mist can shroud ; Or with glare sinister lightens Through passion's sanguine cloud. Genius is the talent given, Still to be improved, Rather lent to Man, of Heaven, If misused, unloved. 84 GENIUS. Genius witli high aspirations Man ennobles here. Faith-infusing intimations Of a nobler sphere. 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