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Wylde Mrs. York his Grace the Archbishop of.. .3 copies. Young Mrs. b TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE VISCOUNTESS ANSON, MADAM, IT would be indeed a difficult task to express in my own words my sense of your Ladyship's condescension and kind- ness, in allowing me to usher this little work into the world under your protection. But the immortal Tasso has furnished me with lines so appropriate to my circumstances 20 that by transcribing them I shall best ex- press how gratefully A am, Madam, Your Ladyship's obliged Servant, THE AUTHOR. 21 Tu, magnanimo Alfonso, il qual ritogli Al furor di fortuna, e guidi in porto Me peregrin o errante, e fra gli scogli E fra l'onde agitato 6 quasi absorto Queste mie carte in lieta fronte accogli, Che quasi in voto a te sacrate i'porto. Forse un di fia che la presaga penna Osi scriver di te quel ch'or n'accenna. PREFACE. AS the following little volume is not designed to meet the Public eye, to the Public no apology can be due from its humble Author. But it may serve to soften any severity of remark which its defects may provoke, even among the few into whose hands it will fall, if they are reminded that by far the greater part of it is the production of a very early age — that it was composed ex- clusively for the amusement of a family circle — and that its Author has not felt at liberty to borrow from the duties of her station that time which a due preparation for the press would de- mand. Her hope is, that those whose kindness has prompted them to become subscribers to it, will exercise the same kindness in judging of its 24 contents. The work is printed with a very dif- ferent object from that of literary fame : and if that object be accomplished, and the comfort of those she loves be promoted by her little book, the Author will thank a merciful Providence and her kind Friends, and feel no regret at not ob- taining that praise to which she forms no pre- tensions. CONTENTS. Page Introduction 27 Corinth 31 Lines on Lord Anson q\ What is Life ? (j5 To the Memory of his late Majesty 07 Epistle from Bonaparte to Maria Louisa 71 The Maniac's Tale.... 76 Hymn 88 The Adieu 90 Impromptu on a Nosegay of Roses 92 Conclusion , 94 Notes. — On Corinth 99 On Lines on Lord Anson 107 to the Memory of his late Majesty 108 On Epistle from Bonaparte 110 On the Maniac's Tale ibid. INTRODUCTION. IF the light heart to mirth incline Go seek a gayer page than mine ; Though time has been when morning's ray Scarce waked a heart more light and gay ; When evening's beam scarce sank to rest Upon a more unthinking breast : But now the glittering dream is o'er ; I'm Laughter's giddy child no more ; And if to mirth I tempt the Muse, The chords their earlier theme refuse, 28 INTRODUCTION. And pour upon the startled ear Strains which the giddy shun to hear. Then if to mirth the heart incline, Go seek a gayer page than mine, And chase the sorrowing strain away Which sings of woe and swift decay ; Of withering glories' summer wreath ; Of ancient honours quenched in death ; Of the proud state whose early place The learned wanderer scarce can trace ; Whose pillared ruins bid him pause And sighing say, ' How great she was ! ' But if some gentler spirits chance Upon this youthful page to glance, INTRODUCTION, 29 Who echo back the mourner's groan, And bleed for sorrows not their own ; To them I consecrate the song Which lingers these sad themes among, And bid them tread with me the vale Where Contemplation loves to dwell — And bid them spare the feeble line Of such a trembling hand as mine, Which urges but an infant claim, And sues for pity, not for fame. CORINTH. ARGUMENT. Situation of Corinth described — The Muse is invoked to relate the actions of Cypselus, and to describe the former grandeur of Corinth — Corinth not only powerful in war, but eminent in arts of peace — Story of the Maid of Corinth — Vice the main cause of its decay — Timoleon appears : laments over his country — The Gospel preached there by St. Paul — Its invasions by Amurath the Second and Mohammed the Second — The inroads of Moham- medanism compared to the eruption of a volcano — The benefit Corinth is likely to derive from the British Mis- sionary exertions. CORINTH. Where to the east Saronic eddies rave, And westward Crissa rolls her gentle wave ; Where, swelling from the dark blue ocean's bed, The rocky Isthmus lifts its barren head, Whose tottering pillars whiten in the sky, The last sad wrecks of ruined majesty ; There Corinth stands — and there the traveller strays To trace the glories of her early days. 34 CORINTH. Once steel-clad warriors thronged her tented plain, And anchored navies sprinkled all the main ; Calm Science wandered in her narrow vales, And roving Commerce spread her thousand sails : Mighty in feats of arms, and arts of peace, The Isthmian sceptre swayed the half of Greece. Illustrious daughter of the Dorian line, O what a flood of endless woes was thine ! Rolled in the dust, abased thy princely head, Thy riches, honours, valour, glory, fled ! — Come, Muse of Greece, assist me to record The ruthless triumphs of the invader's sword In lowly strain ; and with untutored hand To track the steps of ruin through the land ! CORINTH. 35 First let the Muse in strains exulting sing The lofty exploits of her ancient king : Tell how great Cypselus the sceptre won, And lodged the power of many chiefs in one ; Foiled the high lords of the Bacchei'an race, And doomed them exiles from their native place ; Dashed into air the oligarchic chain, Content within his people's hearts to reign. E'en ere on Athens Solon shed the ray Of law and science, ushering in the day ; Ere yet Lycurgus reared his country's fence 'Gainst every foe, by laws of abstinence ; O'er prostrate kingdoms Corinth stretched her hand, And envying nations eyed the favoured land. 36 CORINTH. Her shining vessels ploughed the furrowed seas, Her pennons fluttered in the Ausonian breeze : Phoenicia's crowded ports her sails receive, iEgean billows with her treasures heave : Girdled in Neptune's arms, she seemed to rise The queen of cities, daughter of the skies. : Aspiring monarchs at her games contend, And grateful millions hail her as their friend : E'en fabled gods there chose their bright abodes, And Corinth stood the darling of the gods ! Nor foremost only in the fields of strife : Hers were the arts which sweeten private life, Which in soft fetters angry passions bind, And soothe, by gentle touch, the harassed mind. CORINTH. 37 Wherever genius plied his busy hand, She 'lured the labourer to her wealthy strand, Proffered her gold, the prize of skill to buy, Gave what rash man terms immortality. — Then rose the maid to whose fond skill we owe The art which bids the silent canvass glow ; Bids the cold marble that dear face restore Which friendship's eye must hang upon no more ; Snatches each feature from the grasp of death ; Gives life, expression — all, alas ! but breath ! Yes, fair one ! those who round the funeral bier Pour, in big drops, the agonizing tear, With gushing eyes their gratitude proclaim, And pay their homage to Eudora's name, Who fixed the vision of the sparkling eye, And bade the dying image never die. 3H CORINTH. J I nt, ah ! too soon these glories all decay, And sudden night extinguishes the day : Vice rears her altar, sheds her incense round, Sows the rank seeds of crime on holy ground ; Pollutes the low ; ascends the lofty throne ; Reigns, as she ever seeks to reign, alone ; Dwarfs every faculty to smallest span, Pampers each lust, and brutalizes man. Then Heaven, indignant, speeds its high command: Wild Rapine's wheels roll o'er the fated land, Crush her high walls, her fairest fields deface, In one vast ruin 'whelm her guilty race. Though once her valour stemmed Barbarian pride, And Persian arms and Persian gold defied ; Though once, while her assembled senate sate, Kings from their nod their dubious lot await ; CORINTH. 39 She yields her once predominating sway, Of foreign arms and private vice the prey. Then sank the fabric of her naval pride ; Commerce deserts her unproductive tide. Her sons no more, in mould heroic cast Firm as their mountains, breast the autumnal blast ; Turn to the arrow's point, or quivering dart, The unshrinking bulwark of a freeman's heart. — Thus, rushing onward with resistless flow, Rolls the dark current of Corinthia's woe ; Sunk in deep infamy, her name expires, Extinct each passion that inflamed her sires. But, hark ! methinks thro' midnight's thickest gloom An awful form ascends, as from the tomb : 40 CORINTH. Unearthly sounds I hear, and to my eyes Catania's guardian genius seems to rise ! Tis he ! I know the terrors of his lance, Timoleon's mighty shade arrests my glance : The blush of shame burns on his martial cheek, And from his lips these sorrowing accents break : — " Alas ! how fallen, since in warlike pride Thy countless armies marshalled at my side, Since when Trinacria's blushing damsels gave The hard-earned guerdon to the matchless brave ; When from Epipolas's commanding height They viewed with throbbing breasts the doubtful fight ; When fathers, sons, and husbands waked their cares, And a whole nation leaned upon their prayers ! Vain the fierce efforts of Elisa's land ; Her shattered vessels strewed the Punic strand. CORINTH. 41 Then press'd thy colonies the distant plain : Thy subject islands sparkled on the main. Could the fierce conquerors of the Dardan plains Survey their cherished country's sad remains, O could Bellerophon his Corinth see Low to the Sangiac bend the supple knee, Rent from their faded brow each victor's wreath, Each laurelled ghost would die a double death ! — Degraded city ! and shall none arise To fan the spark of honour, ere it dies ; To warm thy bosom with its ancient fires, And make the children emulate their sires ? Ah, no ! Destruction hovers o'er thy head, There the last vial of her woes to shed !" — He said, and sank into the silent grave, To mourn the land his counsel could not save. 42 CORINTH. But not at once did Corinth's power decay, Not at one glance her glories fade away. — What though, adjured by Philip's warlike son, She paid the homage which his valour won ? Sweet is the homage which we pay the brave — The slave of heroes is but half a slave ; — Though Mummius' eagles glittering from afar Shook from their wings the mortal shafts of war, While shuddering maidens and affrighted dames Wept for their gods, their city wrapped in flames;— Though, every proud defence of war o'erthrown, The conquering Latins sacked the ruined town ; Yet, in that hour of woe, a ray of light Shot through the darkness of this thickest night. CORINTH. 4.3 In Juda's skies a lingering star arose : O'er the dark world a cheering beam it throws, And where lost Corinth, 'whelmed in ruin, lay, Poured the mild lustre of a sacred day. Then " he of Tarsus " sought her in her chains, Planted the Cross amidst her mouldering fanes ; With sacred touches calmed the unquiet soul, And gently bade the wounded heart be whole. Oh ! had she known, in that her day of grace, The things which minister to life and peace ; Had not foul error from her misty hand Shook doubt and darkness o'er the troubled land; Had not apostacy and swift decay Swept truth's fair school and temples all away ; Lighted in Heaven, the beam of truth had shed Enduring lustre on her blighted head ; 44 CORINTH. Then had her bulwarks every foe defied, And Corinth triumphed in " the Crucified." But ah ! not long Religion's hallowed force Checked the wild torrent in its angry course ; Neglected, she to other regions flies, And sheds her light on more propitious skies. Then sacred Justice bares her red right hand ; A darker tempest sweeps the guilty land : Loud through the air the shout of wrath is heard ; The Moslem rushes at the signal word. Rude Amurath his Janizaries pours In countless numbers o'er the groaning shores : The second Mah'med rears his sanguine crest ; His ruthless train the drooping land invest : CORINTH. 45 Venetia's free-born hosts in vain oppose ; The cloud has burst — she sinks beneath her woes. As, down the steep of ^Etna's ashy side The scorching lava pours its flaming tide, The stream of terror sweeps along the ground, Spreads o'er the vale and 'whelms the landscape round, And, as in floods descends the fiery shower, The toils of ages perish in an hour : Thus Moslem fury pours its horrid flood, All warm and crimsoned with a nation's blood ; Thus o'er the star of Greece the Crescent rose, Prophetic emblem of a thousand woes, Of iron servitude and swift decay, Of that long night which never knows the day. 46 CORINTH. But is the \ final doom of Corinth sealed ? Is her rent bosom never to be healed ? Is hers the night on which no sun shall rise ? Such as the past, her future destinies? See in the main, where sinks the orb of day, Where chalky cliffs reflect the last fond ray, An Island brightens in the sparkling wave : Hers is the lot poor prostrate Greece to save. See from her breast the Gospel herald spring, And, borne from earth on love's seraphic wing, Spurn all the comforts of his native land, Brave all the horrors of a foreign strand, To lift the torch of sacred wisdom high, And cleanse the dens of foul idolatry. CORINTH. 47 Nor vain his saintly zeal — where'er he roves His steps are marshalled by the God lie loves : He bears a talisman of sovereign power To chase the clouds which all around him lour ; To cheer the wretched, break the captive's chain, To bring the wanderer to the fold again, O'er the lone heart the tide of joy to roll, And shed the day on man's benighted soul. A British vessel cleaves Ionia's tide ; A precious burden loads her heaving side ; High on her deck a Missionary stands, And hails the approaching shore with outstretched hands ; Exulting hope beams from his generous brows, A martyr's feeling in his bosom glows ; 48 CORINTH. lie longs to pour upon the astonished sight Of prostrate millions, joy, and life, and light ; The soothing mandate of the Skies to give, And bid the supplicant " believe and live." But who is this, the herald of the Skies ? — Say, Muse, ere yet thy harp's poor cadence dies. The young Aristus, where the sun's soft ray Gilds the swift Severn, first beheld the day ; Just at the point where Deva's flood by stealth Adds to the mother stream her watery wealth. A child of nature, the delighted boy Found in her face a poignant source of joy. Now with his shepherd reed he courts the shade ; Now leads Elmira to the flowery glade, CORINTH. 49 To catch the glories of the rising day, Or milder lustre of the setting ray ,• Then turned awhile to scan the lettered page Where poets trifle, or where critics rage. — At length where Camus rears his sedgy head, The path of Science he aspires to tread ; He pants, he toils — till Learning's choicest crown, Her spoils and glittering glories, are his own. And now Ambition all the man inspires : He quits the safer country of his sires : On classic ground he seeks a loftier name, And nobler record on the lists of Fame ; Treads where Athenian Stuart fondly strayed ; New feats and toils of classic might essayed ; Wandered o'er dull Boeotia's sleepy shore, And wept for heroes, seen, alas ! no more 50 CORINTH. Then tracked with daring foot the Oneian chain, And rests at last upon the Isthmian plain. Much has he learned — But much, alas ! forgot- AU the pure lessons which a mother taught ; The creed, the promises, the high command, Breathed from the altar of his native land. No grateful knee to highest Heaven he bends ; With sacred truth the foulest error blends ; Jove, or Jehovah, all as one adored ; Now hymns an idol, now exalts the Lord : The mantling cup of pleasure madly quaffs ; Lives for the present — for the future laughs. While bartering thus the soul for guilty fame, The Spirit of the God he called not, came. CORINTH. 51 For, as o'er Corinth's desert wilds he trod, Where scarce a streamlet rolls its summer flood, Where not a harvest on the soil is shed, And sinking Want depends her weary head — A wanderer there — when, once, the angry storm Bared its red arm, with living lightnings warm, In a lone cot he sought his head to rest, And, entering, found himself a welcome guest. — Within the cot, stretched on the bed of pain, Its master lies, no more to rise again; A cherub infant lifts its little hand, And lisps, in accents of its native land, A prayer to God, to soothe a parent's woes, And in his own good time to give repose. — Soft on its head his hand the father laid, And thus, in fond, though trembling, accents said : 52 CORINTH. ' God will display a father's love, my son, ' And keep thee when thy earthly father's gone : ' But then, dear boy, O seek thy gentle Lord ' Amidst the pages of his sacred word ' — More he had said, but deep Aristus sighed ; And ' whence this hope, this confidence ?' he cried. The dying man, 'midst death itself amazed, Exclaims, as on his doubting guest he gazed ; ' From Albion's Isle, and yet demand of me ' Whence the bright hope of immortality ! 1 From your blest country first the preacher came ' Who kindled in my breast this holy flame ; ' Who warned me, taught me, fed me, soothed my woes, ' And bade this desert blossom with the rose : ' Graved on my soul this Heaven-directed line, 1 And shed the comforts of his soul on mine. CORINTH. 53 ' He taught me, too, that on this desert shore { Apostles preached, where truth is heard no more. ' These hopes and joys are now my dying trust, ' And, still though swiftly sinking to the dust, 1 They bid me hope those blessings may revive, ' And Corinth's wretched sons " arise and live." A sudden light beamed on Aristus' soul — It seemed as though his Lord had said ' Be whole.' He bent his knee, the prayer of faith to raise ; He gave his heart to swell the song of praise ; Cast at the feet of Jesus all his fear, Dried at His altar every anxious tear. 1 Oh ! what,' he cries, * the lettered stores of Greece ' To faith and hope and never-dying peace? ,04 CORINTH. 1 1 thank Thee, Lord, that 'neath this recreant sky * I learn the wisdom of Eternity : ' O may my future days bespeak me one ' Rescued by Heaven, to live for heaven alone.' He seeks his native land. Again her skies Burst with delight upon his anxious eyes. But sorrow waits upon his sad return ; He comes exulting, but he comes to mourn : His tender mother on the last sad bed Of fatal malady has laid her head ; She only lives to urge the fond request On him, her first loved, last loved, loved the best, No longer in the wilds of sin to cove, But seek a refuge in his Saviour's love. CORINTH. 55 Oh ! what the transport of her dying hour, To hear him tell of that transforming Power Whose magic hand has broke the hidden s.pell, And snatched a victim from the grasp of hell ! Whilst the sad son his gladdening tale reveals, A smile of rapture o'er her features steals ; The sudden joy exhausts the fleeting breath, Dying she smiles, and still she smiles in death. — That smile how soothing to his aching eye ! A darling mother's richest legacy. Cloudless she smiles, like evening's purest ray, To rise in regions of eternal day. The last demands of filial duty paid, Aristus sighs for fair Cenchrea's shade ; 56 CORINTH. Elmira, too, would see the blest abode Where first her brother learned to seek his God. Together, then, they plough the watery way, And safely ride in fair iEgina's bay. There has Aristus trained a mountain band ; There on the Sabbath you may see him stand ; In his loved country's ritual breathe his prayer, And smooth by words of love the mourner's care : Or, Heaven-commissioned, Heaven's loud thunders roll In solemn accents on the hardened soul ; But oftener wins, by tender calls of love, The contrite wanderer, never more to rove. Nor prays nor toils the man of God in vain : Where'er he comes he bursts the captive's chain, CORINTH. 57 Opes the blind eye ; the hardened heart unseals, With heavenly balm the wounded conscience heals ; The broken spirit owns his healing hand ; And streams of joy shoot o'er the darkened land. O speed the hour when this auspicious ray, Shall swell and brighten into perfect day ! When the blessed word of peace and joy and truth, No longer whispered by a single mouth, Shall fill the voice of thousands ; and when Greece Shall bow, believe ; shall love, and be at peace ! Long has thy large and richly-gifted hand Poured light and wisdom o'er our duller land ; We pay thee back in strains of life and love — Strains sung by spirits in the courts above ; ->8 CORINTH. Strains sent from Heaven to bless the sons of earth ; Strains which can give the dying second birth. O ! welcome, prostrate Greece, the gladdening voice Of Him who bids the sons of woe rejoice ! Haste to the port, thou lost, and tempest-driven; Come, taste on earth the joys to angels given ! Rise from the dust, once pride of nations ! rise ! Shake off thy chains, and spring into the skies ! * Count all ' thy former ' gains ' and trophies ' loss,' And come, with us, and worship at the Cross ! MISCELLANEOUS PIECES ON LORD ANSON. Fair blew the breeze, and gaily dawned the day, When Anson's vessel sped her glorious way : Hope's eager hand unfurled the swelling sail, And spread his fluttering pennons to the gale : A nation smiles where'er his eve he turns : A patriot's ardour in his bosom burns. Brave Drake and Frobisher! your foemen's dread; Vespucius ! hang your now-diminished head. <)!> ON LOUD ANSON. 'Twas yours, 'tis true, ye brave, by deeds of might The foe to awe, and turn the tide of fight ; Or rush with daring keel on unknown seas, And dimly point to future victories : But his the highest fame, and noblest praise, Who twined the laurel with historic bays ; Who, not content by force of arms to bind, Sought for new empire in the realms of mind ; Roved round the world in quest of work undone, And bore our sceptre to the setting sun. See the bold chief careening o'er the deep ! The foaming flood his towering navies sweep ; Through frozen wastes of sea, till then unknown, Track the vast regions of the Antarctic Zone. ON LORD ANSON. (J3 Sooth 'twere to tell how humbled Gaul admired The man before whose frown her fleets retired ; How Jonquire felt, when yielding up his sword, But half a captive, who had such a lord. The proud Biscayan felt the hero's might, When Finisterre beheld the desperate fight, Which to its centre shook Iberia's throne And left the world of waters all our own. O ! when glad Albion saw his whitening prows, Then all her millions cast away their woes : His conquering hand the grateful monarch pressed, Planted new honours on his sparkling crest ; Bade every roof with Anson 's glory ring ; Thanked him in language worthy of a king. 04 ON LORD ANSON. At last, no more with thirst of conquest fired, The hero to the Muses' shade retired ; Like him of old, who sank from war's alarm To the cool refuge of his Sabine farm. — Ye nodding groves, ye sweetly verdant glades, Where pensive Science woos the evening shades ; Still is your name a country's boast and pride, For 'midst your sacred shades a hero died ; Still on your flowerets double lustre glows, The former garlands of a hero's brows. But, though removed from this terrestrial scene Amidst his blushing fame and honours green, England's sad sons the hero's worth attest, His noblest monument each British breast. 65 WHAT IS LIFE? Say, what is life? " A mere Utopian scheme, A shadowy void, a visionary dream, A rash pursuit of never-captured bliss, A few years' tossing in a troubled sea, Short joys, slow hopes, and lasting misery ; The happiest, dull; all others, deep distress." So speaks the man whose fleeting hopes and fears Begin and finish in this vale of tears ; Whose sceptic creed a future world denies ; Who feels no mercy in the chastening rod, Who tastes no comfort in a present God, Nor seeks, when here, a passage to the skies. CS WHAT IS LIFE? Not such his answer who has built his nest 'Midst the high rocks of light and life and rest ; Who waits on God from dewy morn to even ; Who through the cloud a Father's face discerns, Who with desire to see a Saviour burns, And counts this world his avenue to heaven. Ask him his estimate of life, he cries, 1 Life is not any thing below the skies : ' This fleeting hour is but the breaking dawn ; 1 Of heaven's pure wisdom the tempestuous school 1 Of heaven's high temple the low vestibule ; ' That the bright day, and this the cloudy morn. 67 TO THE MEMORY OF HIS LATE MAJESTY. Behold, commingling with sepulchral dust Sleep the frail relics of the good and just ! What though disease had dimmed his mental ray, And to his sightless orbs obscured the day ? The ten long lustres of his fair renown Break thro' the mournful cloud that veiled the throne; And Britain still with fond affection clings To the loved memory of the best of kings. Fair Purity has rent her robes of white ; Justice has veiled her brow of radiant light, 6H TO THE MEMORY OF Let fall the balance from her equal hand, And mourned the sorrows of the fated land ; Forth bursts the dew from Charity's soft eye. E'en Fortitude's strong breast heaves deep the sigh: Each lovely sister-grace has met to shed Her mingled fragrance on his hoary head. Sweet Caledonia now forgets to smile ; Loud wails the harp through Erin's emerald isle ; Wild Cambria's echoes hear the mournful sound, And hoarse Atlantic's waves the woe rebound, Roll the sad tidings to Canadia's hills o To share the grief with which sad Albion thrills. Say, what avails from Actius' line he came Or that the monarch owned proud Guelpho's name? HIS LATE MAJESTY. THE MANIAC'S TALE. Mine is a song of woe, and wild ; For Sorrow early claimed her child, Reared o'er my head her snaky crest, And ruled with iron sway my breast ; Stamped many a sad and painful truth Upon the open brow of youth, And often made me almost own That man was born to woe alone. THE MANIAC'S TALE. 77 Oft have I basked in Fortunes ray, And gaily chased the hours away ; Sported in Pleasure's summer-stream, Or, rapt in Fancy's airy dream, Painted each glowing scene more bright, And viewed the future with delight ; — Still lent the sympathetic ear The saddened Muse's strain to hear, And echoed back the pitying groan — But grieved for others' woes alone. — But now no triumph wakes my lyre; Extinct is all a poet's fire; In mournful cadence, long and low, I only raise the notes of woe ; Dejected view the day's return, Sweep the sad string, and live to mourn. 78 THE MANIAC'S TALE. While on that flowery path I strayed, And round me gayest visions played, Smooth on life's stream I hoped to glide ; But, rolling on a darkling tide, I sought to stay on friendship's name ; Then cruel disappointment came, With envious hand, to point the dart And fix it in my throbbing heart : Disease with iron hand assailed ; All whom I loved beneath it quailed : Grim death advanced with ghastly stride, And all Affection's care defied. Then gazed I on a parent's woes And felt a daughter's keenest throes ; THE MANIAC'S TALE. 79 Then, when I heard the bursting sigh, And anxious marked the tearful eye, On the fair retrospect I glanced, And memory each past joy enhanced. — But there was one whose spirit bowed And owned her Maker's chastening rod, Bent meekly to the storm her head, My mind to resignation led, Dried from my cheek the streaming tear, And soothed with all a mother's care. Then from above a holy ray Of comfort beamed a milder day, Benignly shone upon our road, Displayed the presence of a God ; Bade Faith and Hope again arise, And seek a rest beyond the skies. UO THE MANIAC'S TALE. No pleasures graced our humble cot, For such are not the exile's lot ; But dove-eyed Peace her pinions spread, Scattered her fragrance round our head. The turbid storm seemed past and o'er — When gathering clouds began to lour ; Poured forth their torrents' rapid flow, And 'whelmed us in a stream of woe. But a sad harp this tale must tell And horror all its accents swell ; I feebly touch the trembling wire, The half-struck chords in woe expire, Or, thrilling into sound again, Pour forth a melancholy strain. THE MANIAC'S TALE. 81 And said I that my failing hand Refused the task my woes command ? And said I that I could not speak What bids my heart with sorrow break r No ! Fancy paints the glazing eye That spoke a father's misery, Rests on a mother's shuddering frame, Whilst from his lips these accents came : ' O that before this fatal blow ' The vital tide had ceased to flow ! 1 Oh ! had I followed to the grave 1 The child I would have died to save ; ' Had death's rude hand destroyed her bloom, ' And given her to an early tomb , ' Or had the moment of her birth ' Restored her to her parent earth ; E 82 THE MANIAC'S TALE. 1 Light then had been my deep distress, ' And sorrow's self been happiness. ' Then had not dawned the fatal hour ' Which gave her to the spoiler's power ; 1 Then had not sped the ruthless dart ' Which deeply pierced my wounded heart !- ' But, God of mercy, Thou canst spare : ' O make this erring child Thy care ! ' Canst pardon, if in transient thought e 'Gainst Thy decrees I murmur ought ; ' Canst check the accents of my woe, 1 And soothe the anguished tears that flow.' But I, unhappy, still must mourn, And vainly sigh for her return ; THE MANIAC'S TALE. 83 And ponder on each glowing charm : The ardent breast with feeling warm, The winning smile, the tender sigh, The dark blue lustre of her eye. But why describe her matchless face, When beauty was her smallest grace, The polished casket of a mind Which spoke each sentiment refined ? With every virtue glowed her breast — Ah, painful memory ! spare the rest ! The partner of my childish plays ; Companion of my guileless days ; The kind consoler of my grief, In her fond arms I found relief: 84 THE MANIAC'S TALE. She shared alike each youthful joy, Or loved the kindling tear to dry. My wavering mind she still would lead To seek religion's fairest meed ; And still of virtue's themes she sung, While on her lips I fondly hung. And could she sever all these ties, Nor in her breast compunction rise ? Could she with fickle mind depart From each best feeling of her heart ? Vainly attempts the mental eye This saddest mystery to descry : My clouded mind in vain would ask, My trembling lyre would shun the task. THE MANIAC'S TALE. 85 Return, dear wanderer, to thy nest ; Repose thy sorrows on my breast; Let me but act a sister's part, And win thine alienated heart. Now Time his constant wheel moves on, And many hapless years have flown ; And varying seasons ceaseless roll, But none can soothe the troubled soul. Thus oft we see the rifted oak, Scathed by the vivid lightnings stroke, Sudden its leafy honours shed, Droop to the storm its towering head, Though, stemming bold the mountain flood, Full many a winter's rage it stood, 80 THE MANIAC'S TALE. Oftime repelled the howling blast, But owns the tempest's sway at last. Though suns arise, and breezes gay And mildest zephyrs gently play ; Reviving shrubs send forth again, Their odours o'er the blushing plain ; No more this blasted tree shall rise, Nor spread its verdure to the skies ; The lifeless trunk, despoiled and bare, Lies a mute emblem of despair. And thus the keenly-feeling mind Sinks when to anguished woe resigned, The venom of the empoisoned dart Has rankled in the drooping heart : And thus our blooming honours shed, A mournful veil surrounds our head ; THE MANIACS TALE. 87 And gloomy horrors still entwine The heart where grief has raised her shrine. So struggles the believer's breast, By darkening elouds of care oppressed, Till his freed soul unshackled flies To claim its birthright in the skies, Where thoughts of Heaven alone controul The calmed contentions of the soul. 8a HYMN. O .did my breast with holy fervour glow ! Could I, like Mary, all my cares forego ; Still on my Saviour's blessed words attend, And on my Maker's guardian care depend ! But, ah ! my erring soul to earth confined, What ceaseless trifles fill my thoughtless mind! How transient and how faint devotion's flame ; How vain my thoughts, how low my highest aim ! HYMN. 89 Like cumbered Martha, anxiously I stand, And still I claim my God's supporting hand ; When at thy throne I bend the suppliant knee, God of the helpless, hear and strengthen me ! Saviour, impart a ray of grace divine ; O check my wanderings ! make my spirit thine ! O suffer not my erring thoughts to rove, But fix them on thy everlasting love ! .00 THE ADIEU. See, trembling on its spray, the fading rose, Which o'er the scene a mournful fragrance throws ; Transient, yet sweet; lovely, though pale its hue — So sweetly mournful is the last Adieu. Now the keen blast in brumal horror reigns, Condensing nature in its frozen veins ; It rudely o'er the painted rosebush blew— So sadly-sudden seems the last Adieu. THE ADIEU. 91 When nature blooms no more in verdure gay, The leaf yet lingers ere it fades away, And scents the gale which swept it as it flew — So gently soothing is the last Adieu. But as the budding rose when glowing bright, Returning beauties meet our ravished sight ; He-union shall the banished joys renew, And chase from painful thought the last Adieu. 92 IMPROMPTU ON A NOSEGAY OF ROSES. Ye loveliest of Creation's hand, Whose budding beauties just expand And then as quickly fade ; Still will your fragrant odour live, Though scarce your tarnished charms survive The praises that we paid. IMPROMPTU ON A NOSEGAY, 93 So, Adeline, the sparkling eye, Or glowing cheek of ecstasy, A transient charm appears ; But mind's rich culture still will live, And Virtue's radiant joys survive The withering touch of time. <)4 CONCLUSION. Farewell the saddened harp, the Doric reed ; Farewell the smile, the humble poet's meed ; Farewell to empire's evanescent dream, The patriot hero's high heroic theme ; Farewell to those who shun the curious scan, Forget the scholar, and retain the man ; And farewell those who bend the Critic's eye The untaught Muse's errors to descry ; Who in nice scale the faulty numbers weigh, Nor guess the motive that inspired the lay. — CONCLUSION. c>5 Oh ! could I bid farewell to all my woes, And bring my weighty sorrows to a close Dry with kind hand the often-falling tear Which stains the cheek of those I hold so dear ; ■ How would my grateful heart exulting tell The long, the cheerful, and the last Farewell ! NOTES. NOTES ON CORINTH. NOTE I. p. 33. Where to the east Saronic eddies rave, And westward Crissa rolls her gentler wave. Corinth is situated exactly between the Saronic Gulf, now called the Gulf of Engia, and that of Lepanto. The Crissean Gulf is north-west of Corinth, and south of Phocis. NOTE II. p. 34. Calm Science wandered in her narrow vales, And roving Commerce spread her thousand sails. Corinth in the early ages of Greece surpassed even Athens with respect to commerce, riches, and the extent of her naval power. There learning also early flourished. NOTE III. p. 34. Illustrious daughter of' the Dorian line ! Corinth claimed the same Doric origin as most of the cities of the Peloponnesus. 100 NOTES NOTE IV. p. 35. Tell how great Cypselus the sceptre won. The government of Corinth, after the aholition of the ori- ginal monarchy, was usurped by a numerous branch of the royal family called the Bacchiadie. This Oligarchy was destroyed by Cypselus, a mild and gentle ruler, 659 B. C. He was the son of Eetion and father of Periander, famed as one of the seven wise men of Greece. NOTE V. p. 36. E'en fabled Gods there chose their bright abodes. Jupiter was nursed at iEgium on the Corinthian Isthmus- Venus, Bacchus, Neptune, and Phoebus had famous temples there, the ruins of which may still be seen. NOTE VI. ;>. 37. Then rose the maid to whose fond skill we owe. Dibutades, a potter of Sicyon, formed likenesses in clay at Corinth ; but he was indebted to his daughter for the invention. Her lover being likely to leave her for a distant country, she traced the lines of his face from his shadow on the wall by candle-light. Her father, filling up the lines with clay, formed a bust, and hardened it in the fire with the rest of his earthen -ware. ON CORINTH. 101 NOTE VI r. p. 40. Timoleoris mighty shade arrests my glance. Timoleon rescued Syracuse from the tyranny of Dioni- sius the Younger and the Carthaginians, with the small force of a thousand men. — He died 337, B. C. NOTE VIII. p. 40. Since when Trinacria's blushing damsels gave. Trinacria was one of the names appropriated to Sicily, from its three promontories, Lilybaeum, Pachynum, and Pelorum. NOTE IX. p. 40. When from Epipola's commanding height. One of the quarters of Syracuse was thus denominated. NOTE X. p. 41. O could Bellerophon his Corinth see. Bellerophon was the son of Glaucus King of Ephyre, or Corinth, much famed in the fabulous Grecian History for his extraordinary exploits. NOTE XI. p. 41. Low to the Sungiac bend the supple knee. Sangiac, a title appropriated to some of the governors under the Ottoman Porte. 10*2 NOTES NOTE XII. p. 42. What though adjured by Philip's warlike son. Alexander always treated the Greeks in a manner worthy of a brave nation ; and though they were completely under his subjection, his policy was so liberal that they were materially benefited by his government and enjoyed more practical freedom than when under the factious controul of their own demagogues. NOTE XIII. p. 42. Though Mummim eagles glittering from afar. Corinth was destroyed by Lucius Mummius, a Roman Consul, 146 B. C. The riches found there were exceedingly great. NOTE XIV. p. 44. The Moslem rtishes at the signal word. Every one who is acquainted with the despotism and cruelty of the Turkish government, and the demoralizing tendency of its false religion, will be aware how deplorable must be the state of its distant provinces. The situation of modern Greece affords a lamentable example of the baneful influence which the " Sublime Porte " extends over its sub- jects. The A r abian and Persian authors give an unfavour- able representation of the Turks, whom they describe as rude and brutal. In one of their old volumes is the following ON CORINTH. 103 sentence : " Though a Turk or a Tartar should excel in every branch of the sciences, yet would barbarism still remain the ground-work of his character. " NOTE XV. p. 44. Rude Aimirath his Janizaries pours. Passing over the ravaging of Corinth by Alaric, and the long lapse of years which intervened, we come to the period when, in common with other parts of Greece, it suffered from the invasion of Amurath the Second. NOTE XVI. p. 44. The Second Malimed rears his sanguine crest. Mohammed the Second, still more cruel than his father Amurath, besieged and took Corinth (after long disputing its possession with the Venetians) in 1459. NOTE XVII. p. 45. Venetians free-born sons in vain oppose. Corinth was under the dominion of Venice so late as the year 1715, at which period they were obliged to yield it to the Turks. It is, in common with the rest of Greece, in the most abject slavery. Ignorance is one of the constant fruits of slavery, and the superstitious of servile Greece abound in 104 NOTES the most unmeaning and ridiculous ceremonies : they attach much faith to prodigies, auguries, and dreams ; and, though Ihey severely censure the worship of images, are so absurd as to pay that homage to pictures of their favourite saints. So much is the ancient character degraded, that the Greeks are said to be covetous, hypocritical, cowardly, and in every way base; and are so much despised by the Turks, that they do not value a Greek even if he turn Mohammedan. An affecting, yet interesting instance of the contempt of the haughty conquerors for the Greek Christians, is given by an elegant modern traveller. " En allant au bourg des Grecs, j'admirai des tombeaux Turcs, qu' ombrageoient de grands, cypres aux pieds desquels la mer venoit se briser. J'apercus par mi ces tombeaux, des femmes enveloppees de voiles blancs, et semblables a des ombres : ce fut la seule chose qui me rappela un peu la patrie des Muses. Le cimetiere des Chretiens touche a celui des Musulmans : il est delabre, sans pienes sepulchrales et sans arbres ; des melons d'eau qui vegetent sur ces tombes abandonnees, ressemblent par leur forme et leur p&leur a des cranes hu- mains qu'on ne s'est pas donne la peine d'ensevelir. Ilien n' est triste conime ces deux cimetieres oil Ton remarque jusque dans l'egalite et l'independance de la mort, la dis- tinction du mailre, et de V enclave" ON CORINTH. 105 NOTE XVIII. p. 49. Treads where Atheniun Stuart fondly strayed. James Stuart, commonly called Athenian Stuart, from his interesting researches into the antiquities of Athens. NOTE XIX. p. 50. Then tracked with daring foot the One'ian chain. The Isthmian games were celebrated on the mount Oneius. The chain of mountains of that name stretches as far as Bceotia and Cithaeron, from the Scyronian rocks on the road to Attica. NOTE XX. p. 55. Aristus sighs for fair Cenchrea's shade. Cenchrea, now Kenkri, a sea-port town on the Isthmus of Corinth. It cannot but be interesting to the Christian reader from its connection with the holy labours of the Apostles. NOTE XXI. ;;. 57. O speed the hour nhen this auspicious ray. The concluding part was written under the supposition, that, by the blessing of God on the strenuous efforts making in this country to promote the cause of Revelation abroad, the desired end might be effected : and that Islamism in par- 106 NOTES TO THE ticular, that superstition which has ever been the bitterest enemy to the Christian faith, may retreat before the per- vading influence of the Gospel; so that Britain may be instrumental in communicating to the now enslaved nations that freedom which she herself so eminently enjoys and which is the birth-right of every human being. That every banner raised against Truth, may be speedily overwhelmed, and the Cross of Christ elevated on the ruins of contending faiths, is the earnest prayer of the humble and unknown Author. MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 107 NOTES TO THE MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. LINES ON LORD ANSON. NOTE I. p. 63. How Jonquirefelt token yielding up his sword. The celebrated victories and discoveries of this great man are too well known and too gratefully acknowledged by all his countrymen to be particularized ; but it may be accept- able to insert the reply of the French Admiral, who, pre- senting his sword to his gallant conqueror, said, " Vous avez vaincu {'Invincible, et la Gloire vous suit ;" alluding to two of his defeated ships. King George the Second, in presence of all the courtiers, took Lord Anson's hand and warmly thanked him lor his unparalleled services. 108 NOTES TO THE NOTE II. p. 64. Like him of old, who sank from war's alarm. Marcus Annius Curius Dentatus, a celebrated Roman, who after enjoying the consulate and other honours, and gaining many splendid victories, retired to his cottage, and was found, by the ambassadors of the Samnites, pursuing the most rustic employments. NOTE III. p. 64. But though removed from this terrestrial scene. This great man died suddenly at his seat, Moor Park, in Hertfordshire. TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE KING. NOTE I. p. 68. Sat/, what avails, from Actius 1 line he came. Our present Royal Family derives its origin from the Actii, a noble Roman family distinguished in the time of Tarquinius Priscus, and who claimed their descent from one of the followers of iEneas. They retired during the repub- MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 1()9 lican government to Este in Lombardy, the Dame of which place in later years they assumed. Ferrara, Tuscany, and many other Italian principalities, were in subjection to their family. Azo the Fourth succeeded his ancestors in their paternal dominions in 1046, and married Cunegunda daughter and heiress of Guelpho the Fourth, from whom our Royal Family are lineally descended. An interesting description of the family of Este is contained in the Seventeenth Canto of " La Gerusalemme Liberata." NOTE II. p. 69. The peaceful chorus or the zvarlike strain. Our beloved Monarch's fondness for music is well known. It is said, that during the greatest aberrations of his intellect he was soothed and cheered by the performance of Handel's Music. j 10 NOT liS TO THE EPISTLE FROM BONAPARTE. p. 71. The duplicity of the tyrant's character is designed to be displayed in the foregoing lines; but it is hoped they will not displease the English reader, as they are intended to convey a tacit compliment to the superiority of his own country, which by the blessing of God was made the im- mediate instrument of re-establishing the Bourbon dynasty, and of depriving the tyrant of the sceptre he had so un- justly usurped. THE MANIAC'S TALE. p. 76. The facts on which this little tale is founded were related to the Author as follows :— A family of distinction in France had, at the period of the Revolution, taken refuge in this country, where, after various vicissitudes, they hoped to live in calm though humble retirement; but soon had the unspeakable misfortune of losing their eldest daughter in a very mysterious manner. The only intelligence they ever MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. HI received was, that she had emharked for the continent with a person of specious appearance, but of abandoned character. The shock had such an effect on the remaining sister that she lost her reason, and the foregoing lines are supposed to have been written during one of her lucid intervals. FINIS. iillerton and Henderson, Printers, Johnson's Couit, London. Los Angeles This book i$ DUE on the last date stamped below. MAR 1 6 1988 Form L9-32m-8,'5S(5876s4)444 INV-SOV^ Humboldt - liS09 Corinth ajad Hoolc othp.r poems r JW JUL Mil 3 1158 III mi 1251 039 I PR 4809 H881c UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 376 817 3