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THE
SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY;
OR,
THE CONQUEST
or
A rOEM, IX nVE BOOKS:
WITH NOTES, HISTORICAL AND ILLUSTRATIVE.
nv THE
REVEREND WM. LISLE BOWLES,
Prebendary of Salisbury,
And Chaplain to liis Roya! Highness the Prince of Wales.
E CONSPECTU SICUL-E TF.LI.UR1S, IN ALTUM. VIRGIL.
BATH, PRINTED BY R. CRUTTWELL;
AND SOLD BY
CADELL AND DAVIES, STRAND, AND J. MAWMAN,
rOL'LTRY, LONDON.
1801.
t
THE
SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY;
OR,
THE CONQUEST
OF
OCEAK.
A POEM, IN FIVE BOOKS.
TO WHICH ARE ADDED,
SMALLER SEA-PIECES, AND EPITAPHS;
INSCRIBED TO HER GRACE
THE DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE.
RUBENS' LANDSCAPE:
A POEM, WRITTEN IN LONDON; 1803,
TO
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS
GEORGE PRINCE OF WALES,
THIS POEM,
ON A SUBJECT CONNECTED WITH THE GREATNESS
AND RENOWN OF
THE BRITISH EMPIRE,
IS HUMBLy AND GRATEFULLY
INSCRIBED,
■ Y HIS noYAI. IIIGHNESS'S
DEVOTED AND OBEDIENT SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
DONHEAD, NOV. 3, 1804.
BOOK I.
The Vision of the Ark.
BOOK II.
JEgyptians and Phcenicians.
BOOK III.
The Fall of Babylon, to the Founding
Alexandria.
BOOK IV.
Progress of Discovery, in the Atlantic,
Cape of Good-Hope, America, Sec.
BOOK V.
Gkneral Recapitulation, and Conclusion.
ERRATA.
Page 6, line 5, for lifts, read raises.
II, 1. 5, for to brave, read to stem.
— — ■ 60, 1. II, for OfCerne, and the green Hesperides,
read Forsaken of the green Hesperides.
71, 1. 7, for thy poor, read the poor.
■ 86, 1. 16, for Pope, read Bryant.
■ 96, 1, 16, for Junkseilon, read Ceilen.
— — iiz, 1. 7, for upon, read on.
1. 10, for saw read seen.
- 1 1 J, at the top, To ReJleBions suggested by, add
the Conclusion of the last Book.
• 144, 1. 2, for were, read where.
148, 1. 2, {or gently stern, read nobly stern.
- 1 50, 1. 3, for Love upon the prow, read Love, a blooming toy.
1. 7, for regions, read scenes.
158, 1. 10, for duty, read duly.
162, I. II, for but nought around is dark,
read nought around is marked. Sec.
161, 1. last, iox guardian in waters,
read guardian in the wastes.
191, 1. I, for of life, read of love.
1. :?, for to move, read no more.
192, 1. I, for devasting, read destroying.
The sense requires zfull stop at " speaks nothing,'^ page 149, last
line but one : — a comma at " beneath " p. 147, 1. 16 : — p. 146,
1. 20, there is a word too many.
INTRODUCTION.
1 Need not perhaps inform the reader, that I had
before written a Canto on the subjeft of this
poem; but I was dissatisfied with the metre, and
felt the necessity of some conne6ting idea that
might give it a degree of unity and coherence.
This difficulty I considered as almost inseparable
from the subjeft; I therefore relinquished the de-
sign of making an extended poem on events,
which, though highly interesting and poetical,
were too unconneded with each other to unite
properly in one regular whole. But on being
kindly permitted to peruse the sheets of Mr.
Clarke's valuable work on the History of Navi-
[ viil ]
gallon, I conceived (without supposing historically
with him that all ideas of navigation were derived
from the ark of Noah) that I might adopt the
circumstance poetically, as capable of furnishing
an unity of design ; besides which it had the ad-
vantage of giving a more serious cast and cha-
racter to the whole.
To obviate such objeftions as might be made
by those who, from an inattentive survey, might
imagine there was any carelessness of arrange-
ment, I shall lay before the reader a general ana-
lysis of the several books j and, I trust, he will
readily perceive a leading principle, on which
the poem begins, proceeds, and ends.
I feel almost a necessity for doing this injustice
to myself, as some compositions have been cer-
tainly misunderstood, whore the connexion might,
by the least attention, have been perceived. In
going over part of the same ground which I had
taken before, I could not always avoid the
use of similar expressions.
I trust I need not apologize for having, in some
instances, departed from stri6t historical fads. It
[ ix ]
is not true that Camoens sailed with Da Gama,
though, from the authority of Voltaire it has been
sometimes supposed. There are other circum-
stances for which I may have less reason to
expeft pardon. The ^Egyptians were never, or
but for a short time, a maritime nation. In
answer to this, I must say, ihat history and poetry
are two thingsj and though the poet has no
right to coiitradid the historian, yet, if he find
two opinions iipon points of history, he may
certainly take that which is most susceptible of
poetical ornament, particularly if it have sufficient
plausibility, and the sandion of respeftable names.
In deducing the first maritime attempts from
Thebes, so called from Thebaoth, the Ark,
founded by the sons of Cush, who first inhabited
the caves on the granite mountains of Qi^thiopia,
I have followed the idea of Bruce, which has
many testimonies, particularly that of Herodotus,
in its favour. In making the ships of Ammon
first pass the straits of Babelmandel, and sail to
Ophir, I have the authority of Sir Isaac Newton.
But still these points must, from their nature, be
[ X ]
obscure; the poet, however, has a right to build
upon -them, whilst what he advances is not in
direSi contradidion to all historical admitted fa6ts.
He may take what is sbadcnuy, if it be plausible,
poetical, and coherent with his general plan.
Having said ingenuously thus much, I hope I
shall not be severely accused for having admitted,
en passant, some ideas (which may be thought
visionary) in the notes, respefting the allusion to
the ark in Theocrytus, the situation of Ophir,
the temple of Solomon, and the algum tree.
I must also submit to the candour of the critic,
the necessity I sometimes felt myself under of
varying the verse, and admitting, when the sub-
je£l seemed particularly to require it, a break
into the ode measure, as where the Siege of Acre
is introduced. He will consider, as this poem
is neither dida6tic, nor epic, that might lead on
the mind by diversity of characters, and of pros-
pects; it was therefore necesssary (at least I
thought myself at liberty so to do) to break the
uniformity of the subjeft by digression, contrast,
occasional change of verse, &c. But after all.
[ xi ]
at a time so unfavourable to long poems, I
doubt whether the reader will have patience to
accompany me to the end of my circum-na'vigation.
Jf he do, and if this much larger poetical work
than I have ever attempted, should be as favour-
ably received as what I have before published has
been, I shall sincerely rejoice.
At all events, in an age which I think has pro-
duced genuine poetry, if I cannot say " Ed lo,
anch'i, sono pittore r it will be a consolation to me
to refleft, that I have no otherwise courted the
muse, but as the consoler of sorrow, the painter
of scenes romantic and interesting, the hand-maid
of GOOD SENSE, UNADULTERATED FEELINGS, and
RELIGIOUS HOPE.
It was at first intended that the Poem fliould
consist of six books j one book being assigned
to Da Gama, and another to Columbus. These
have been compressed j which I was the more in-
clined to do, as the great subj eft of the Disco-
very of America is in the hands of such poets
as Mr, SouTHEY and Mr. Rogers.
[ xH ]
There are some inaccuracies and verbal errors,
which the author need not point out. He has,
however, no objection to the striftest investigation
of the faults of this Poem, if it be pursued in the
spirit oifair criikism, and the opinions conveyed
in the language of a gentleman!
The reader is requested to peruse the Poem
the first time, passing o'ver the Notes, which per-
haps had better have been printed at the conclu-
sion of the whole.
ANALYSIS
or
BOOK THE FIRST:
GENERAL SURVEY, and INTRODUCTION.
nPHE Book opens with the resting of the Ark on
the mountains of the great Indian Caucasus, con-
sidered by many authors as Ararat: the present state
of the inhabited world, contrasted with its melancholy
appearance immediately after the flood. The poem
returiis to the situation of our forefathers on leaving
the ark; beautiful evening described. The angel of
destrudion appears to Noah in a dream, and informs
him that although he and his family alone have es-
caped, that the very Ark, which was the means of
his present preservation, shall be the cause of the fu-
ture triumph of Destrudlion.
[ xiv ]
In his dream, the evils in consequence of the discovery
of America, the slave-trade, &c, are set before him.
Noah, waking from disturbed sleep, ascends the sum-
mit of Caucasus. An angel appears, tells him the
appearance in his dream was permitted by the
Almighty; that he is commiffioned to explain every
thing: he presents to his view the shadoiu of the ivorld
as it exists; regions are pointed out; the dispersion
of mankind; the rise of superstition; the birth of a Sa-
viour, and the triumph of Charity: that navigation
shall be the means of extending the knowledge of
God over the globe; and though some evils must
take place, happiness and love shall finally prevail
upon the earth.
BOOK THE SECOND
Commences with an ardent wish, that as our Fore-
father viewed the world clearly displayed before him
in a vision, so we of these late days might be able,
thro' the clouds of time, to look back upon the early
ag s of the globe; we might then see, in their splen-
dour, Thebes, Edom, &c.; but the early history of
mankind is obscure, the only certain light is from the
sacred writings. By these we are informed of the
[ xvli ]
tlhpersion of earth's first inhabitants, after the flood.
The descendants of Ham, after this dispersion, accord-
ing to Bruce, having first gained the summits of the
Ethiopian mountains, there form subterraneous abodes.
In process of time they descend, people JEgypt, build
Thebes; obscure tradition of the Ark; first make
Toyages, See.
Ophir is not long afterwards discovered. This
Bruce places, with most respedable authority, at
Sofala; I have ventured to place it otherwise, but
still admitting one general idea, that when the way
to it over land was attended with difficulties, an easier
course was at last opened by sea. Asto Ammon's ex-
ploits, I must shelter myself under the authority of Sir
Isaac Newton. After a sacrifice, by the Egyptians,
the monsoon sets in. The ships follow its diredion,
as the mariners imagine a God leads them. Hence
the discovery of so much of the world by sea. Re-
flexion on Commerce. The voyage of Solomon. A
description of the glory of Tyre, the most commercial
mart of the early world. Tyrian discoveries in the
Mediterranean; voyages to the coast of Italy and
Spain, to the Straits, and from thence to Britain.
Tyre is destroyed, and the thought naturally arises,
tlut Britain, which, at the time of the splendour of the
b
[ xviii 3
mafitime Tyrianst was an ohscure island, is now at the
fUTftmit of 7nar'iti7ne reno-ivn; while Tyre is a place
where only " the fisherman dries his net." This leads
to anEULOGiuM ON England; and the book concludes
with the triumphs of her fleets and armies on that
rery shore, where science, and art, and commerce,
and MARITIME RENOWN, first aiosc.
This digression, introducing the feige of Acre, ap-
peared to the author not only natural, but in some mea-
sure necessary, to break, the uniformity of the subje(5l.
THE THIRD BOOK
Commences with the feelings excited by the conclu-
sion of the last, by a warm wish that England may for
ages retain her elevated rank. This leads to the consi-
deration of her NAVAL OPULENCE, which carries us
back to the subjeft we had left — the fate of Tyre.
The history of the empires succeeding Tyre is
touched on : the fall of her destroyer, Babylon ; the
succession of Cyrus ; the charader of Cyrus, and his
want of enlarged policy, having so many means of en-
couraging commerce; his ill-fated expedition to the
£ast>Indies.
Alexander the Great first conceives tlie idea of
establishing a vast maritime empire: in his march
of conquest, proceeds to the last river of the Panjab, the
Hyphasis, which descends into the Indus, the sources
of which are near the mountains of Caucasus, wher?
thS; ark rested.
The Indian account of the Peluge, it is well known,
resembles most wonderfully the historyofMoses. When
Alexander can proceed no farther, poetical fiction intro-
duces the person of a Brahman, who relates the historyof,
the Deluge : viz. that one sacred man ivas, in this part of
the world, miracuhusly preserved by an ark; tlie farther
march of the conqueror, towards the holy spot, is de-
precated ; his best glory shall be derived from the sea,
and from uniting either world in commerce.
Alexander is animated with the idea; and his fleet,
under Nearchus, proceeds down the Indus to the sea.
This forms a middle, conneded with the account of
the deluge, book first.
BOOK THE FOURTH.
NEARCHUS' voyage being accomplished, and
Alexandria now complete. Commerce is represented
standing on the Pharos, and calling to all nations.
[ XX ]
The tide of commerce would have flowed still in tlic
track pointed out by the sagacity of Alexander, but a
wider scene, beyond the ancient world, opens to
the view of Discovery. The use of the magnet
is discovered; and Henry of Portugal prosecutes the
plan of opening a passage along die coast of Africa
to the East. One of his ships in its return from the
expedition has been driven from Cape Bojador (the
formidable boundary of the Portuguese research) by
a storm at sea. The isle, afterwards called Porto
Santo, is discovered. The circumstance related ; but
the extraordinary appearance of a supernatural shade
over the waters at a distance excites many fears and
superstitions. The attempt, however, to penetrate the
v'ystery, is resolved on. Zarco reaches the island of
Madeira ; tomb found ; which introduces the Episode.
At the tomb of the first discoverer (whether this be
fanciful, or not, is nothing to poetry) the Spirit of
Discovery casts her eyes over the globe ; she pursues
Da Gama to the East ; history of Camoens touched
on ; Columbus; sees with triumph the discovery of a
?!cix) nuorld^ and from thence extends her ideas till the
great globe is encompassed ; after which she returns to
the " tranquil bosom of tlie Thames," with Drake,
the first circumnavigator, wliose ship, after its various
[ xxl ]
perils, being laid up in the Thames, gives rise td
some brief concluding reflections.
BOOK THE FIFTH.
HITHERTO we have described only the triumphs of
Discovery; but it appears necessary that many inci-
dental evils, particular and general, should bementioned.
Fate, and miserable end, of some great commanders,
— of our gallant and benevolent countryman. Cook.
After the natural feelings of regret, the mind is lead
to contemplate the great advantages of his voyages;
the health of seamen; the accessions to geographical
knowledge; the spirit of humanity and science; his
exploring the East part of New-Holland; and being
the first to determine the proximity of America to
Asia. This circumstance leads us back from the point
whence we set out — the ark of Noah; and hence
•we are partly enabled to solve, what has been for so
many ages unknown, the difhculty respedling the
eartli's being peopled from one finnily.
The Poem having tlius gained a middle and end,
the conclusion of the whole is, that as this uncertainty
in the physical world has been by Discovery cleared
up, so allthe apparent coiuradictions in the moral world
[ xxii ]
shall be reconciled. We have yet many existing evils
to deplore; but when the Supreme Disposer's plan
shall have been completed, then the earth, which
has been explored and enlightened by discovery and
knowledge, shall be destroyed; but the mind of man,
rendered at last perfedt, shall endure through all ages,
and " JUSTIFY his ways from whom it sprung.'*
Such is the outline and plan of the following Poem.
I have felt myself obliged to give this hasty Analysis,
thinking that self-defence almost required it, lest a
careless reader might charge me with carelessness of
4irraf!ge7}jetJt.
I must again beg it to be remembered, that History
and Poetry are Hvo thing? ; and that the Poet has a
right to build his system, not on what is exa<5t truth,
but on what is, at least, plausible; what will form, in
the clearest manner, a whole; and what is most sus-
sceptible of poetical ornament.
BOOK THE FIRST.
SPIRIT
DISCOVERY BY SEA.
Introdufljon allusive to the Author's early Poems,
Awake a louder and a loftier Strain!
Beloved Harp, whose tones have oft beguil'd
My solitary sorrows, when I left
The scene of happier hours, and wander'd far,
A pale and drooping stranger; I have sat
(While evening listen'd to the convent's bell)
On the wild margin of the Rhine, and woo'd
Thy sympathies, " a-weary of the world,"t
And I have found with thee sad fellowship,
Yet always sweet, whene'er my languid hand
t Slukespcare.
B
SPIRIT OF
Subjed proposed. View of the Ocean.
Pass'd carelessly o'er the responsive wires,
While unambitious of the laurell'd meed
That crowns the gifted bard, I only ask'd
Some stealing melodies the heart might love.
And a brief sonnet to beguile my tears !
But I had hope that one day I might wake
Thy strings to higher utterance ; and now
Bidding adieu to glens, and woods, and streams.
And turning where, magnificent and vast,
Main Ocean bursts upon my sight, I strike, —
Rapt in the theme on which I long have mus'd,-
Strike the loud lyre, and as the blue waves rock.
Swell to their solemn roar the deep'ning chords.
Lift thy indignant billows high, proclaim
Thy terrors. Spirit of the hoary seas !
I sing thy dread dominion, amid wrecks.
And storms, and howling solitudes, to Man
Submitted: awful shade of Camoens*
Bend from the clouds of Heav'n !
* Set the beautiful Nava; Poem of Camoens.
DISCOVERY BY SEA.
Address to the great naval Poet, Camoens.
By the bold tones*
Of minstrelsy, that o'er the unknown surge
(Where never daring sail before was spread)
Echo'd, and startled from his long repose
Th' indignant Phantomf of the stormy Cape;
O let me think, now in the winds I hear
Thy animating tones< whilst I pursue
With ardent hopes, like thee, my vent'rous way.
And bid the seas resound my song! And thou,
Father of Albion's streams, majestic Thames,
Amid the glitt'ring scene, whose long-drawn wave
Goes noiseless, yet with conscious pride, beneath
The thronging vessels' shadows, (nor through scenes
More fair, the yellow Tagus, or the Nile,
" That ancient river," winds.) Thou to the strain
Shall haply listen, that records the might
Of OCEAN, like a Giant at thy feet
Vanquish'd, and yielding to thy gentler state
The ancient sceptre of his dread domain!
# I hope tills idea may be allowed, though Camoens did not sail
with Da Gatna, and it is not historically true.
t Sec his description of the dreadful Phantom at the Cape of Good Hope,
SFIRIT OP
Ark resting after the Flood.
All was one waste of waves, that bury'd deep
Eartli and its multitudes: the ark alone,
High on the cloudy van of Ararat,
Rested ; for now the death-commission'd storm
Sinks silent, and the eye of day looks out
Dim through the haze, while short successive gleams
Flit o'er the face of deluge as it shrinks,
Or the transparent rain-drops, falling few,
DistiniSt and larger glisten. So the Ark
Rests upon Ararat; but nought around
Its inmates can behold, save o'er th' expanse
Of boundless waters, the Sun's orient orb
Stretching the hull's long shadow, or the Moon
In silence, through the silver-cindur'd clouds.
Sailing, as she herself were lost, and left
In Nature's loneliness!
But oh, sweet Hope,
Thou bidst a tear of holy extacy
Start to their eye-lids, when at night the Dove,
Weary, returns, and lo ! an olive leaf
Wet in her bill : again she is put forth.
When the sev'nth morn shines on the hoar abyss : —
DISCOVERl BY SEA.
RefleeiLons on the State of tlie World immediately after the Fkod.
Due ev'ning comes: her wings are heard no more!
The dawn awakes, not cold and dripping sad,
But cheer'd with lovelier sunshine ; far away
The dark-red mountains slow their naked peaks
Upheave above the waste: Imaus* gleams :
Fume the huge torrents on his desert sides :
Till at the awful voice of Him who rules
The storm, the ancient Father and his train
On the dry land descend.
Here let us pause. —
No noise in the vast circuit of the globe
Is heard; no sound of human stirring; none
Of pasturing herds, or wandering flocks ; nor song
Of birds that solace the forsaken woods
From morn till eve ; save in that spot that holds
The sacred Ark : There the glad sounds ascend.
And Nature listens to the breath of Life.
The fleet horse bounds, high-neighing to the wind
That lifts his streaming mane ; the heifer lows ;
* Part of the mountainous range of the vast Indian Caucasus
wl'.crc tlic Ark rested.
sriRIT OF
Contrasted with the btaie of the VVorld at present.
Loud sings the lark amid the rain-bow hues;
The lion Hfts him muttering: Man comes forth —
He kneels upon the earth — he kisses it;
And to the GOD who stretch'd the radiant bow,
He lifts his trembling transports :
From one spot
Alone of earth such sounds ascend: How chang'd
The human prosped ! when from realm to realm,
From shore to shore, from isle to farthest isle
Flung to the stormy main, man's murmuring race,
Various and countless as the shells that strew
The ocean's winding marge, are spread; from shores
Sincnsian,* where the passing proas gleam
Innum'rous m.id the floating villages ;t
To Acapulco west, where laden deep
With gold and gems rolls the superb galleon
Shadowing the hoar Pacific : from the North,
Where on some snowy promontory's height
The Lapland wizard beats his drum, and calls
* china.
t Owing to the great populntion of China, many live almojt ccnstantiy in
buat.s, which form a sort of vii)a;_'t on the water.
DISCOVEilY BY SEA.
Refleftion continued, particularly relating to Ships.
The spirits of the winds, to th' utmost South,
Where savage Fuego* shoots Its cold white peaks.
Dreariest of lands, and the poor Pecherais§
Shiver and moan along its waste of snows.
So stirs the Earth ; and for the Ark that pass'd
Alone and darkling o'er the dread abyss,
Ten thousand and ten thousand barks are seen
Fervent and glancing on the friths and sounds ;
From the Bermudianf that, with masts inclin'd.
Shoots like a dart along, to the tall ship
That, like a stately swan, in conscious pride
Breasts beautiful the rising surge, and throws
The gather'd waters back, and seems to move
A living thing, along her lucid way
Streaming in lovely glory to the sun !
Some waft the treasures of the East; some bear
Their country's dark artillery o'er the surge
Frowning;"— some in the Southern solitudes.
* Tlic farthest iiiluliited land to the South of the American Continent ,
perhaps the most horrid spot in the globe.
^ See Bougainville's Voyage.
f The swiftest uf all vessels, built at Bermudas ; the masts arc shorf,
and inclining to\f ,\rds the stern.
o SPIRIT or
Return to the situation of those presirvtd in the Ark.
Bound on discovery of new regions, spread,
Mid rocks of driving ice, that crash around,
Their weather-beaten mainsail ; or explore
Their perilous way from isle to isle, and wind
The tender social tic; conneding man.
Wherever scatter'd, with his fellow-raan.
How many ages roll'd away ere thus,
FromNATURE's general wreck the world's great scene
Was tenanted ! See from their sad abode,
At Heaven's dread voice, heard from the solitude,
As in beginning of created things, •
The sad survivors of a bury'd world
Come forth ; on them, though desolate their seat.
The day looks down as sweet, as lo the sun,
That to the West slopes his untir'd career.
Hangs o'er the water's brim. The aged Sire,
Now rising from his evening sacrifice.
Amid his offspring stands, and lifts his eyes.
Moist with a tear, to the bright bow : The fire
Yet on the altar burns, whose trailing fume
Goes slowly up, and m;irks the lucid cope
Of the soft sky, where distant clouds hang still
DISCOVERY BY SEA.
Dtsci iption of a pljcid Evening succeeding the general Wreck.
And beautiful. So placid Evening steals
After the lurid storm, like a sweet form
Of fairie follov/ing a perturbed shape
Of giant terror, that in darkness strode.
Slow sinks the lord of day; the clust'ring clouds
More ardent burn ; confusion of rich hues'
Crimson, and gold, and purple, bright inlay
Their varied edges ; till before the eye,
As their last lustre fades, small silver stars
Succeed; and twinkling each in its own sphere,
Thick as the frost's unnumber'd spangles, strew
The slowly-paling heav'ns. Tir'd Nature seems
(Like one, who struggling long for life, had beat
The billows, and scarce gain'd a desert crag)
O'er-spentto sink to rest: the tranquil airs
Whisper repose. Now sunk in sleep reclines
The Father of the world ; then the sole moon
Mounts high in shadowy beauty ; every cloud
Retires, as in the blue space she moves on
Amid the fulgent orbs supreme, and looks
The queen of heav'n and earth. Stilly the streams
Retiring soun4; midnight's high hollow vault
Faint echoes; stilly sound the distant streams.
10 SPIRIT OF
Phantom addresses Noali in hLs sleep.
When hark, a strange and mingled wail, and cries
As often thousand thousand perishing!
A Phantom, mid the shadows of the dead,
Before the lioly Patriarch, as he slept.
Stood terrible: — Dark as a storm it stood
Of thunder and of winds, like hollow seas
Remote, meantime a voice was heard: — " Behold!
" Noah, the foe of thy weak race; my name
" Destruction, whom thy sons in yonder plains
*' Shall worship, and all grim, with mooned horns
" Paint fabling:* When the flood from off the earth
*' Before it swept the living multitudes,
** I rode amid the hurricane; I heard
** The UNIVERSAL SHRIEK of all that liv'd.
*' In vain they cHmb'd the rocky heights: — I struck
*' The adamantine mountains, and like dust
*' They crumbl'd in the billowy foam. My hall,
" Deep in the centre of the seas, rcceiv'd
" The victims as they sunk! Then, with dark joy
" 1 sat amid ten thousand carcases,
* 6ec account of Haiagraiva, the Eastern ped of Destruflion, in Maurice's
JndU^i Antiquities^
DISCOVERY BY SKA. 11
D'cim of Nc?h
" That welter'd at my feet! But tkou and thine
" Have brav'd my utmost fury: What remains
*' But Vengeance, Vengeance on thy hated race; —
*' And be that sheltering shrine the instrument!
** Thence, taught to brave the wild sea when it roars,
" In alter-times to lands remote, where roam'd
** The naked man and his poor progeny,
" They, more instruded in the fatal use
" Of arts and arms, shall ply their way; and thou
" Wouldst bid the great deep cover thee to see
" The sorrows of thy miserable sons :
*' But turn, and view in part the truths I speak."
He said, and vanish'd with a dismal sound
Of lamentation from his grisly troop.
Then saw the just man in his dream what seem'd
A nevv^ and savage land : Huge forests stretch'd
Their world of wood, shading like night the banks
Of torrent-foaming rivers, many a league
Wand'ring and lost in solitudes; green isles
Here shone, and scatter'd huts beneath the shade
Of branching palms were seen ; v/hilst in the sun
A naked infant playing, strctcli'd his hanJ
12 SPIRIT OF
Shadow of the Discovery of America,
To reach a speckled snake, that through the leaves
Oft darted, or its shining volumes roll'd
Amusive. From the woods a sable man
Came, as from hunting; in his arms he took
The smiling child, that with the feathers play'd
Which nodded on his brow ;the sheltering hut
Receiv'd them, and the cheerful smoke went up
Above the silent woods. Anon was heard
The sound as of strange thunder, from the mouths
Of hollow engines, as, with white sails spread,
Tall vessels, hull'd like the great Ark, approach'd
The verdant shores: — They, in a woody cove
Safc-station'd, hang their pennants motionless
Beneath the palms. Meantime, with shouts and song,
A wan and whisker'd race, in garb succinft,
Go forth — the boat rows hurrying to the land ;
Before their fiery tubes the natives fall,
Happy crewhile nor dreaming ill ; nor long
Ere the great sea for many a league is ting'd,
While corpse on corpse, down the red torrent roll'd,
Floats, and the inmost forests murmur " Blobd."
DISCOVERY BY SEA. ]3
and the Slave Trade.
Now vast savannahs meet the view, where high
Above the arid grass the serpent lifts
His tawny crest : — Not far a vessel rides
Upon the sunny main, and to the shore
Black savage tribes a mournful captive urge,
Who looks at Heav'n with anguish. Him they cast
Bound in the putrid hold of the prison-ship,
With many a sad associate in despair.
Each panting chain'd to his allotted space ;
And moaning, whilst their wasted eye-balls roll.
Another scene appears : the naked slave
Writhes to the bloody lash; but more to view
Nature forbad, for starting from his dream
The just Man woke. Shuddering he gaz'd around;
He saw the earliest beam of morning shine
Slant on the hills without; he heard the breath
Of placid kine, but troubl'd thoughts and sad
Arose. He wandered fortli; and now far on,
By heavy musings led, reach'd a ravine
Most wild amid the tempest-riven rocks,
Through whose dark pass he saw the flood remote
Grey-spreading, while the mists of morn went up.
I'i SPIRIT OF
Angel appears to Noali — t,ikes him up to tlic top of ilie t:,''cat Caucasus.
He paus'd; when on his lonely path-way liash'd
A light, and sounds as of approaching wings
Instant were heard. A radiant form appear'd
Coeleftial, and with heavenly accent said ; —
" Noah, I come commission'd from above,
" Where Angels move before the eternal throne
" Of Heav'n's great King in glory, to dispel
" The mists of darkness from tliy sight; for know,
*' Not unpermitted of the Eternal One
" The shadows of thy melancholy dream
" Hung o'er thee slumbering: Mine the task to shew
" Futurity's faint scene j — now follow me."
He said; and up to the unclouded height
Of that great Eastern mountain,* that surveys .
Dim Asia, they ascended. Then his brow
The Angel touch'd, and clear'd with whisper'd charm
The mort;d mist before his 'eyes: — ^i\.t once
(As in the skiey mirage, when the seer
From lonely Kilda's western summit sees
A wondrous scene in shadowy vision rise)
* The Indiin Caucasus.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 75
View of tlie W'oria.
The NETHER WORLD, With scds and shores, appear'd
Submitted to his view : but not as then
A melancholy waste, deform and sad,
But fair as now the green earth spreads, with woods,
Champain, and hills, and many-winding streams
Rob'd, the magnificent illusion rose.
He saw in mazy longitude devolv'd
The mighty Brahma-Pooter; to the East
Tibet and China, and the shining sea
That sweeps the inlets of Japan, and winds
Amid the Curilc and Aleutian isles,
Pale to the North. Siberia's snowy scenes
Are spread ; Jenisca and the freezing Ob
Appear, and many a forest's shady track
Far as the Baltick, and the utmost bounds
Of Scandinavia ; thence the eye returns ;
! And lo ! great Lebanon : abrupt and dark
I With pines, and airy Carmel, rising slow
lAbove the midland main, where hang the capes
|Of Italy and Greece; swart Africa,
Beneath the parching sun, her long domain
Reveals, the mountains of the Moon, the source
Of Nile, the wild mysterious Niger, lost
l6 SPIRIT .OF
Anocl describes tiie situation of fa'l'^M Man.
Amid the torrid sands; and to the South
Her stormy cape. Beyond the misty main
The weary eye scarce wanders, when behold
Plata, through vaster territory pour'd ;
And Andes, sweeping the horison's trad !
Mightiest of Mountains ! whose eternal snows
Feel not the nearer sun; whose umbrage chills
The murmuring ocean; whose volcano-fires
A thousand nations view, hung like the moon
High in the middle waste of Heav'n ; thy range.
Shading far off the Southern hemisphere.
Then like a dusky line appear'd.
So spread
Before our great Forefather's view the globe
Appear'd; with seas, and shady continents,
And verdant islas, and mountains lifting dark
Their forests, and indenting rivers, pour'd
In silvery maze. And " lo!" the Angel said,
" The scenes, O Noah, thy posterity
" Shall people; but remote and scatter'd wide,
" They shall forget their God, and see no trace,
*' Save dimly, of tlitir Great Original.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 17
HU Superstition and Crimes,
*• Rude caves shall be their dwelling : till with noise
*' Of multitudes, imperial cities rise.
** But the Arch Fiend, the foe of God and man,
*' Shall fling his spells ; and, mid illusions drear,
" Blear Superstition shall arise, the earth
" Eclipsing: — Deep in caves, vault within vault
" Far winding; or in night of thickest woods,
" Where no bird sings ; or mid huge circles grey
** Of uncouth stone, her aspedt wild, and pale
" As the terrific flame that near her burns,
" She her mysterious rites, mid hymns and cries,
" Shall wake, and to her shapeless idols, vast
*• And smear'd with blood, or shrines of lust, shall lead
** Her vot'ries, maddening as she waves her torch
*' With visage more expanded to the groans
** Of human sacrifice.
" Nor think that love
*' And happiness shall dwell in vales remote :
** The naked man shall see the glorious sun,
" And think it but enlightens his poor isle,
** Hid in the watery waste; cold on his limbs
*• The ocean-spray shall beat; his Deities
c
18 SPIRIT OF
Improved Condition of Man,
" Shall be the stars, the thunder, and the winds:
" And if a stranger on his rugged shores
" Be cast, his ofFer'd blood pollutes the strand."
* O wretched man ! who then shall raise tliee up
* From this thy dark estate, forlorn and lost?'
The Patriarch said:
The Angel answer'd mild,
** His God, whodestin'd him to noblest ends!
** But mutual intercourse shall stir at first
" The sunk and groveling spirit, and from sleep
*' The sullen energies of man rouse up,
*' As of a slumb'ring giant. He shall walk
*' Sublime amid the works of God : The earth
** Shall own his wide dominion : the great sea
** Shall toss in vain its roaring waves; his eye
*' Shall scan the bright orbs as they roll above
** Glorious, and his expanding heart shall burn,
" As wide and wider in magnificence
♦* The vast scene opens; in the winds and clouds,
" The seas, and circling planets, he shall see
*' The shadow of a dread Almighty move.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. !^
as reclaimed and redeemed by a Su-viour.
*' Then shall the Day-spring rise, before whose beam
" The darkness of the world is past: — For, hark!
" Seraphs and Angel-choirs with symphonies
" Acclaiming of ten thousand golden harps,
** Amid the bursting clouds of heav'n reveal'd,
" At once in glory jubilant — they sing
" GOD THE Redeemer liveth! He who took
" Man's nature on him, and in human shroud
" Veil'd his immortal glory! He is ris'n —
" GOD the Redeemer liveth! and behold
" The gates of life and immortality
" Open'd to all that breathe!"
" O might the strains
" But win the world to love; meek Charity
** Should lift her looks and smile; and with faint voice
*' The weary pilgrim of the earth exclaim,
** As close his eye-Hds, Death, where is thy sting?
** O Grave, where is thy victory?
" And ye,
" Whom ocean's melancholy wastes divide,
*' Who slumber to the sullen surge, awake,
20 SPIRIT OF
Savage Tribes enlightened
"Break forth into thanksgiving, for the bark
** That roll'd upon the desert deep, shall bear
*' The tidings of great joy to all that live,
" Tidings of life and light."
• O were those men,*
(The Patriarch rais'd his drooping looks, and said)
* Such in my dream I saw, who to the isles
* And peaceful sylvan scenes o'er the wide seas
* Came tilting; then their murderous instruments
* Lifted, that flash'd to the indignant sun,
* Whilst the poor native died : — O were those Men
* Instradted in the laws of holier love,
* Thou hast display'd ?'
The Angel meek reply'd,
"Call rather fiends of hell those who abuse
*' The mercies they receive: that such, indeed,
** On whom the light of clearer knowledge beams,
** Should wander forth, and for the tender voice
** Of charity, should scatter crimes and woe,
" And drench, where'er they pass, the earth with blood,
** Might make e'en Angels weep !
" But the poor tribes
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 21
by Means of Intercourse by Sea.
" That groan'd and died, deem not them innocent
" As injur'd; more ensanguin'd rites and deeds*
" Of deepest stain were theirs; and what if God,
" So to approve his justice, and exadt
" Most even retribution, blood for blood,
" Bid forth the Angel of the storm of death!
" Thou saw'st, indeed, the seeming innocence
" Of Man the savage; but thou saw'st not all.
" Behold the scene more near ! Hear the shrill hoop
" Of murderous war! See tribes on neighbour tribes
" Rush howling, their red hatchets weilding high,
" And shouting to their barb'rous Gods! Behold
" The captive bound, yet vaunting direst hate,
" And mocking his tormentors, while they gash
" His flesh unshrinking, tear his eyeballs, burn
" His beating breast! Hear the dark temples ring
*' To groans and hymns of murderous sacrifice ;
" While the stern priest, the rites of horror done,
♦* With hollow-echoing chaunt lifts up the heart
# The bloody rites of the Mexicans, their cruelties to their prisoner*,
their butchering tacrifices, seemed to cail down the vengeance of Heaven,
22 SPIRIT OP
Love ani Benevolence exttncled.
** Of the last viftim mid the yelling throng,
" Quivering, and red, and reeking to the sun!*
*♦ Reclaim'd by gradual intercourse, his heart
*' Warm'd with new sympathies, the forest-chief
*• Shall cast the bleeding hatchet to his Gods
" Of darkness, and one Lord of all adore —
" Maker OF heaven and earth."
" Let it suffice,
** He hath permitted evil for awhile
*' To mingle its deep hues and sable shades
** Amid life's fair perspedive, as thou saw'st
" Of late the black'ning clouds ; but in the end
** All these shall roll away, and evening still
** Come smilingly, while the great sun looks down
** On the illumin'd scene. So Charity
*' Shall smile on all the earth, and Nature's Goo
" Look down upon his works ; and while far off
** The shrieking night-fiends fly, one voice shall rise
*' From shore to shore, from isle to farthest isle,
« Such were the horrid customs and rites of the native Americant.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 23
" Glory to GOD on high, and on earth peacej
" Peace and good-will to Men.
"Thou rest in hope,
" And Him with meekness and with trust adore!'*
He said, and spreading bright his ampler wing.
Flew to the heav'n of heav'ns ; the meek man bow'd
Adoring, and, with pensive thoughts resign'd,
Bent from the aching height his lonely way.
end of the fikst book.
NOTES
TO
THE FIRST BOOK.
NOTES
THE FIRST BOOK.
p. 3- t. 5-
The giant Phantom of the stormy Cape.
V_/AMOENS' description of the speftre that appeared
to De Game off the Cape of Good-Hope, is very poeti-
cal and sublime; perhaps, however, it would have
been more sublime, if the painting of tlie image had
been somewhat less distindt. It was necessary to give
a peculiar African appearance and character, but the
minuteness with which it is described, takes off the
real grandeur; I allude to the " blue rows of teeth."
For the sake of those who may not have read Camoens,
or seen the elegant and masterly traJislatioD, the de-
scription from Mickle is added:—
28 NOTES
" Now prosp'rous gales the bending canvas swell'd;
** From these rude shores our fearless course we held:
*• Beneath the glistening wave the God of day
** Had now five times withdrawn the parting ray,
** When o'er the prow a sudden darkness spread,
" And slowly floating o'er the mast's tall head
*' A black cloud hover'd : nor appear'd from far
*' The moon's pale glimpse, nor faintly-twinkling star;
" So deep a gloom the louring vapour cast,
*' Transfixt with awe the bravest stood aghast.
** Meanwhile a hollow-bursting roar resounds,
** As when hoarse surges lash their rocky mounds ;
" Nor had the blackening wave, nor frowning heav'n
** The wonted signs of gathering tempest giv'n. ^^
*' Amaz'd we stood — O Thou, our fortune's guide,
** Avert this omen, mighty God, I cry'd;
** Or through forbidden crimes advent'rous stray'd,
" Have we the secrets of the deep suney'd,
" Which these wide solitudes of seas and sky
** Were doom'd to hide from man's unhallow'deye?
** Whate'er this prodigy, it threatens more "^
" Than midnight tempests and the raingl'd roar, >
" When sea and sky combine to rock the marble shore. )
TO THE FIRST BOOK. 2§
*' I spoke, when rising through the darken'd air,
" Appall'd we saw an hideous Phantom glare;
** High and enormous o'er the flood he tower'd,
** And thwart our way with sullen aspedl lour'd:
*' An earthy paleness o'er his cheeks was spread,
*• Ered uprose his hairs of wither'd red;
" Writhing to speak his sable lips disclose,
" Sharp and disjoin'd, his gnashing teeth's blue rows;
" His haggard beard flow'd quiv'ring on the wind,
" Revenge and horror in his mien combin'd;
" His clouded front, by with'ring lightnings scar'd,
" The inward anguish of his soul declar'd.
" His eyes red glowing from their dusky caves
" Shot livid fires : F^r echoing o'er the waves
*' His voice resounded, as the cavern'd shore
*' With hollow groan repeats the tempest's roar.
" Cold gliding horrors thrill'd each hero's breast,
*' Our bristling hair and tottering knees confest
*' Wild dread, the while with savage ghastly wan,
*• His black lips trembling, thus the fiend began."
30 NOTES
P. 4- L. 9.
On Ararat reclinest "^c.
See, on this subje<5l:, Mr. Clarke's able Introduction
to his comprehensive and most valuable History of Na-
vigation. From that work I beg to transcribe the in-
teresting passage relating to the spot where the Ark
rested.
" To ascertain the particular part of Asia where this
memorable event of the resting the Ark took place, is
of the utmost importance, Sec. On this subje(5t I have
ventured to differ from general and received opinions,
and have preferred the opinion of Ben Gorion and Sir
Walter Raleigh, who place Ararat at the sources of the
river Indus. This opinion is certainly worthy of more
attention than it has received, and is approved by the
learned Patrick in his commentary. The great Sir
Walter Raleigh gives a variety of cogent reasons for
believing that the long ridge of mountains which runs
through Armenia, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Media, and
Susiana; that is from Cilicia to Paraponisus, was called
by Moses Ararat:, and by Pliny Taurtu"
TO THE FIRST BOOIC. 31
The words of Raleigh are, " We must understand
that Ararat, named by Moses, is not one hill so called:
All that long ledge of mountains, which Pliny callethr
by one name, Taurus ; and Ptolomie both Taurus, Ni-
phates, Coatras, &c. until they cross the mountains of
the great Imaus ; are of one name, and are called the
mountains of Ararat, or Armenia; because from thence,
or tliereabouts, they seem to arise. So all these moun-
tains of Hyrcania, Armenia, Caspia, Scythia, &c. thus
diversely called by Pliny and others, Ptolomy calls by
one name — Caucasus, lying between the seas Caspian
and Euxinus; and as these mountains of Ararat run
East and West, so do the marvailous mountains of
Imaus stretch themselves North and South, &c. All
the mountains of Asia, both the less and the greater,
have three general names — Taurus, Imaus, Caucasus;
drawing near their ways' end they first make themselves
the South border of Bactria, and are then honoured witji
the title of Paraponisus, and lastly of Caucasia, even
where the famous river of Indusy with his principal
companions, Hydaspes and Zarsedus, spring forth.
And here do these mountains build themselves exceed-
ing high, to equal the strong hills, called Imaus, of
Scythia."
32 NOTES
The reader is referred to Mr. Clarke and Sir Walter
Raleigh for the cogent arguments upon this subjedt; I
must, however, quote Major Reynell's words: — " The
highest contiguous ridge of this part appears to be that
which passes by the South-Eastof the Caspian sea and
Hyrcania ; between Asia on the North, and Drangiana
on the South ; and from thence between Bactriana and
the Indian provinces ; where, as it approaches Imaus,
which, as has been said, forms a part of a yet more ele-
Tated region, it swells to a great bulk and height. All
this is properly the Indian Caucasus of the Greeks, in
modern language Hindoo Rho." — Geo. of Herodotus.
Rioted from Mr. Clarke.
p. 5. t. J.
.... Jmaus gleams.
The testimony of Captain Wilfordon this subjeiH:,
from the Asiatic researches, is too singular to be omitted:
" The appellation, (Caucasus) at least in its present
state, is not Sanscrit; and as it is not of Grecian origin,
it is probable the Greeks received it through their in-
tercourse with the Persians. In this supposition the
real name of this famous mountain should be Casus, or
TO THE FIRST BOOK. 33
Cas; for Can or Coti in Persian signifies a mountain.
The true Sanscrit name is C'hagigi, or the mountain
of the Chasas, a most ancient and powerful tribe, who
inhabited this mountain, &c. This denomination is now
confined to a few spots, &c. The immense range is
constantly called in Sanscrit Hhnachd, or snowy moun-
tain, and Himalaya, the abode of snow; from Hi ma,
the Greeks made Imaus, &c.
*' The natives look upon Bameyan, and the adjacent
countries, as the place of abode of the progenitors of
mankind, both before and after the flood, Sec. By Bami-
gan and the adjacent countries they understand all the
country from Sistan to Samarchand, reaching towards
the East as far as the Ganges. This tradition is of great
antiquity; for it is countenanced by Persian authors,
and the sacred books of the Hindus, &c. The summit
of the C'haisa-ghar is always covered with snow; in
the midst of which are seen several streaks of reddish
hue, supposed by pilgrims to be the mark or impres-
sion made by the feet of the Dove, which Noah let out
of the Ark. For it is the general and uniform tradition
of the country, that Noah built the Ark upon the sum-
KUt of this mountain, and there embarked ; that when
D
34 NOTBS
the flood assuaged, the summit of it appeared first above
the waters, and was the resting-place of the Dove. The
Ark itself rested about half way up the mountain, on a
projefling plain of a very small extent; and there a place
of worship was eredted." — Clarke's Introdu^Hon to Na^
vigation, page 23.
I add a passage from St. Jerom : — " Ey the moun-
tains of Ararat, on which the Ark rested, we are not to
understand the mountains of Armenia, but the highest
mountains of Taurus, &c." The same opinion may
be found in Varenius, &c. Bishop Cumberland has
these words : — " Before I leave this country-, I must
call to mind what Dionysius Halicar. tells us, that Atlas
was their first king, and that he came from the mount
Caucasus, which we know to be in the Northern parts
of Asia, and to belong to that vast ridge of moun-
tains among which the rest of the Ark was." — Cumber-
land on Sanchoniatho.
p. 7- I- 3
.... Pecherais. £
" During our absence, some of the natives, in four '
small canoes, had visited the ship. They were de«
TO THE PIBST BOOK. 35
scribed as wretched and poor, "but inoffensive; contrary
to the custom of all the natives in the South Sea, they
were silent on their approach to the ship, and when
alongside hardly pronounced any other word than
** Pass ERA Y." Those whom M. de Bougainville saw
in the straits of Mage LHAiNs, not far from hence, used
the same word, from whence he gave them the general
name of " Pecherais." The children were perfedly
naked, and, like their mothers, huddled about the fire in
each canoe, shivering with cold, and rarely uttering any
other word than Passeray, which sometimes sounded
like a word of endearment, and sometimes seemed to be
an expression of complaint.
*' It is very probable that they are the miserable out-
casts of some neighbouring tribe, which enjoys a more
comfortable life ; and that being reduced to live in this
dreary inhospitable part of Terra del Fuego, they
have gradually lost every idea but those which their
most urgent wants give rise to. They ramble, perhaps,
in quest of food, from one inlet or bay to another, and
take up their winter residence in the most uncomfort-
able spot in this horrid country." — Forster's Voyage
'iiiith Cwky in ^e years 1772, 3i '^t s-
36 NOTES
P. 12. L. ai.
^/i;7(f co/vf o« rorj-^ doivfi the red torrent roWd.
" Neither did the other islands fare better: The
Lusaias they brought to an utter desolation ; and ship-
ping multitudes of men for the mines in Hispaniola,
wanting food for them, the third part commonly pC"-
rished by the way; so that an unskilful pilot might
have learned his way by sea by those floating marks
of Indian carcases. This Spanish pestilence spread
further to the Continent, where the^' spoiled the shores
and the inland countries of people. From Dariena to
Nicaragua they slew four hundred thousand people
with dogs, sword, fire, and divers tortures." — Purchase
from Barth. Casas, an eye-^vitness.
Who can read the horrid account of the cruelties
of the Spaniards in America without exclaiming with
tlae moral and pathetic Cowper:
" Then what is Man ? And what man, seeing this,
*' And having human feelings, does not blush,
" And hang his head, to think himself a Man !."
J
TO THE FIRST BOOK. 3/
P. IZ. L. 17,
Btfore their fiery tuhes^ l^c.
Let it be remembered, however, to the honour of
Columbus,that his conduflwas unstained by cruelties;
it was the crimes of his successors that made America,
after its discovery, a scene of horror and carnage-
p. 14. L. 19.
.... St. Kilda.
Alluding to the second sight in the highlands of
Scotland and the Hebrides. The reader will remem-
ber Thomson's fine description in the Castle of
Indolence :
" As when a shepherd of the Hebrid isles,
" Plac'd far amid the melancholy main,
(" Whether it be lone fancy him beguiles;
" Or that aerial beings sometimes deign
*' To stand, embody'd, to our senses plain)
" Sees on the naked hill, or valley low,
** The whilst in ocean Phoebus dips his wain,
" A vast assembly moving to and fro:
*' Then all at once in air dissolves the wond'rous shew,"
38
*♦ The West of St. Kilda is six hundred fathom above
the surface of the sea." — Description of St. Kilda,
p. 14. L. 14.
.... Great Eartern mountain,
" That tremendous Caff, (according to the Indian
superstition) inhabited by spirits, daemons, and the
griffin Simorg."
p. 14. L. 34.
.... The nvi/d mysterious Niger.
How singular does it appear, that the real course of
the Niger should have been unknown for so many
centuries. After an obscurity of ages, this celebrated
river is descried flowing, as Mr. Parke expresses,
" with a majestic course from the West to the East."
Mr. Parke's description of this " /o;;^-/?//" river, when
he first came in sight of it, is very strilting:
** Looking forwards, I saw with infinite pleasure
the great objed: of my mission — the long-sought-for
majestic Niger, glittering to the morning sun, as broad
as the Thames at Westminster, and flowing slowly to
the east'ward. I hastened to the brink, and, having
TO THE FIRST BOOK. 3g
drank of the water, lifted up my fervent thanks in
prayer to the Great Ruler of all things, for having
thus far crowned my endeavours with success."
The account of Herodotus is thus at last confirmed,
and for this, as well as many other interesting geogra-
phical discoveries, we are indebted to that learned,
liberal, and truly-valuable society, the African Society.
I need not mention the recent discovery of the tem-
ple of Jupiter Ammon in the Oasis of Sawah, by
Horneman, under the auspices of that respeftable and
enlightened body.
I cannot help wishing that the toil, the danger, and
the enterprise of travellers, who have done so much ser-
vice to learning in general, should be remunerated, not
by a private society, however liberal, but by the State.
p. 15. L. 23.
.... Tlie 7?wuntains of the niooii.
Mountains of Abyssinia, from whence the Nile was
supposed to have taken its rise.
40 NOTES
r. 15. L. 8.
.... Brahma-Pooter.
The most magnificent river of the East; unknown to
the ancients.
p. 15. L. II,
.... Curile and Aleutian isles.
Discovered by the Russians, in the Northern Archi-
pelago, between America and Asia. — See Cox^s Rus-
jiaff Discoveries.
p. 15. L. 23.
.... The source of Nile.
*' Et gens si qua latet, nascenti conscia Nilo."
LUCAN.
See Lobo and Bruce. — It appears, however, from
Brown that the true source of the Nile was not visited
by them.
What a poetical use has Theocritus made of the
idea of the undiscovered source of the Nile ! Nothing
can illustrate more forcibly the circumstance of obscu-
rity being a cause of the sublime. Idyll, vii.
TO THE FIRST BOOK. 41
P. l6. L. 4.
Platay through vaster territory pour'd.
Rio de la Plata rises in the heart of South-America ;
and, after receiving many streams in its immense
course, rushes with such violence into the ocean, that
it renders the waters fresh for many leagues.
Guthrie.
p. 16. L. 5.
. . . Andes.
The Andes, or Cordelieras, the highest range of
mountains on the globe; they have several volcanos,
and divide the whole southern parts of America, run-
ning parallel with the Pacific Ocean nearly four thou-
sand three hundred miles.
p. 17. L. 6.
Deep in caves, vaidt 'within vault.
Caverns, labyrinths, dark and mysterious groves,
were the dreadful sanduaries of early superstition in
the first ages of the world, particularly in the East and
in Egypt. Such were the stupendous caverns of Ele-
phonta and Salsette. Groves sacred to religion and
science were famous all over the East. Abraham is
42 NOTES
said to have planted a grove in Beersheba, and to have
called there upon the name of the Lord: but his
degenerate posterity afterwards prostituted the hal-
lowed grove to purposes of the basest devotion. They
were upbraided by the prophets with burning incense,
and offering oblations under every oak and green tree,
to the gods of die Phoenicians; it was against the
groves, polluted by such sacrifices, that the most awful
anathemas of offended Heaven were denounced. —
Maurice's Indian Antiquities.
p. ai. L. 7.
Thou saiv'st, indeedt l^c.
See the account of tortures inflided on their cap-
tives by the Americans.
p. 22. L. 2.
^iivering, and red, and reeking to the sun.
Much as the heart revolts at the accounts of Spa-
nish cruelties in America, we ought to remember at
the same time the bloody chara<5ter of the Peruvians
and Mexicans. The captives taken in war, in every
tribe, were murdered and devoured. " Who that
views Mexico, steeped in her own blood, can restrain
TO THE FIRST BOOK. 43
the emotion which whispers to him — The punish-
ment she suftered nvas the hand of heaven. — By the
number of these sacred butcheries, one would think
that cruelty was the greatest amusement of Mexico.
At the dedication of the temple of Vitzuliputzli,
A. D. i486, sixty-four thousand and eighty human
viiftims were sacrificed in four days. The sculls
of the vidlims sometimes were hung on strings,
which reached from tree to tree around their temples ;
and sometimes were built up in temples, and cemented
with lime. In some of these towers Andrew de Tapia
one day counted one hundred and thirty-six thousand
skulls. During the war with Cortez they increased
their usual sacrifices, till priest and people were tired
of tlieir bloody religion. The method of sacrificing
was thus : Six priests laid the viftim on the altar, which
was narrow at top, when five bending him across, the
sixth cut up his stomach with a sharp Hint; and while
he held up his heart reeking to the sun, the others tum-
bled the carcase down a flight of steps, near the altar,
and immediately proceeded to the next sacrifice. See
Acosta, Gomara, &c. — From Mick/e's Introdu^ion to
the Lusiad, p. 7.
END OF NOTES TO BOOKTIIE FIRST.
BOOK THE SECOND.
Ik
SPIRIT
DISCOVERY BY SEA.
BOOK II.
RefleAions suggested hy the foregoing Book.
CJh for a view, as from that cloudless height
Where the great Patriarch saw the shadow'd world.
His offspring's future seat, back on the vale
Of years departed ! We might then behold
Thebes, from her sleep of ages, awful rise.
Like an imperial shadow, from the Nile,
To airy harpings;* and with lifted torch
Scatter the darkness from the labyrinths
Of death, where rest her kings, without a name,
And light the winding caves and pyramids
In the long night of years ! We might behold
♦ Allusive to tl:c harps found in Uie caverns of Thcbest
48 SPIRIT OP
General Idea of tlit obscf.rit of early llb.toi y
Edom,* majestic in her towery strength,
Shadow the Erithrcan, from the plains
Where Migdol frown'd, and Baal-zephon stood ;-|-
Before whose naval shrine the Memphian host
And Pharaoh's pomp was shatter'd! — As her fleets
From Ezion went seaward, to the sound
Of shouts and brazen trumpets, we might say,
*' How glorious, Edom, in thy ships art thou,
" And mighty as the rushing winds !"
But night
Is on the mournful scene : a voice is heard,
As of the dead, from hollow sepulchres.
And echoing caverns of the Nile, " so pass
"The shades of mortal glory !" One pure ray
From Sinai bursts, (where God of old reveal'd
His glory, through the darkness terrible
That sat on the dread mount) and. we descry
Thy sons, O Noah, peopling wide the scene.
From Shinaar's plain to JEgypt.
* Edom, whose navigators were Amnionians, had licr port on the Western^.
prior to that on the Eastern branch of the Red Sea
t The only certain bittory of the earliest state of man is the Mosaic
DISCOVERY BV SKA. 4g
Tlie Cu'hites in the mountains of Abyssinia.
Let the song
Reveal, who first " went down to the great sea
" In ships," and brav'd the stormy element.
The Sons of Cush.* — Still fearful of the flood,
They on the marble range and cloudy heights
Of that vast mountainous barrier, (that tow'rs
High o'er the Red Sea coast, and stretches on
With the sea-line of Afric's Southern bounds
To Sofala) dclv'd in the granite mass
Their dark abode, spreading from rock to rock
Their subterranean cities, while they heard,
Secure, the rains of vext Orion rush.
Embolden'd they descend, and now their fanes
On ^Egypt's champain darken, whilst the noise
Of caravans is heard, and pyramids
In the pale distance gleam : Imperial Thebes
Starts, like a giant, from the dust; as when
Some dread inchanter waves his wand, and tow'rs.
And palaces, far in the sandy wilds
\ Tlif Cuthitcs inhabited the granite rocks stretching a'onp the Red Sea,
liordcring Ethiopia. Tlieir caves ate fccn to thij day .— tice Bruce.
50 SPIRIT OF
Ark worshipped in itgypt.
Uprise! and still, her fphinxes, huge and high,
Her marble wrecks colossal, seem to speak
The work of some great arm invisible.
Surpassing human strengtli; while toiling Time,
That sways his desolating scythe so vast,
And weary Havoc murmuring at his side.
Smite them in vain. Heard ye the mystic song
Resounding from her caverns as of yore?
" Sing to OSIRIS, for his ark
" no more in night profound,
'* Of Ocean, fathomless and dark,
" Typhon has sunk! Aloud the sistrums ring —
^'OSIRIS!— To our god OSIRIS sing!—
" And let the midnight shore our rites of
" joy resound!"!
Thee,* great restorer of the world, the song
Darkly describ'd, and that mysterious shrine
That bore thee o'er the desolate abyss,
When the earth sunk with all its noise !
J When the Egyptians found the Atk, thtir expression was, " Let u«
lejoicc, we have found the lost Osiris."
* Osirii— Noah.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 51
Voyage to Arai>ia and Opiiir.
So taught.
The bord'iers of theErithraean launch'd
Their barks, and to the shores of Araby
First their brief voyage stretch'd, and thence return'd
With aromatic gums, or spicey wealth
Of India. Prouder triumphs yet await.
For lo ! where Ophir's gold unbury'd shines
Kew to the sun ; but perilous the way.
O'er Ariana's spedred wilderness,
Where scarce the patient Camel scarce endures
The long long solitude and rocks and sands,
Parch'd, faint, and sinking, in his mid-day trad.
But see! upon the shore, great Ammon* stands,
" Be the deep open'd." At his voice the deep
Is open'd; and the shading ships that ride
With statelier masts and ampler hulls tiie seas.
Have pass'd the Straights, and left the rocks and c5ate3
Of DEATH.f Where Asia's cape the autumnal surge
* Ammon, according to Sir Isaac Newton, was the first that bult large
ships, and passed the Str.iiphts.
t The mtrance into the Red Sea was called the Gate of Afflidion, aiul.
the rocks the place of burLil, alludini; to the dan^^ers of tlic navi-
JVition.— Bruce,
52 SPIRIT OF
Sacrifice to Typlion.
Throws black 'ning back, beneath a hollow cove,
Awhile the mariners their fearful course
Ponder, ere yet they tempt the further deep ;
Then plung'd into the sullen main, they cast
The youthful viflim,* to the dismal Gods
Devoted, whilst the smoke of sacrifice
Slowly ascends:
" Hear, King of Ocean, hear,
*' Dark Phantom, whether in thy secret cave
" Thou sittest, where the deeps are fathomless,
*' Nor hear'st the water's hum, though all above
** Is uproar loud; or on the widest waste,
** Far from all land, mov'st in the noon-tide sun,
" With dread and lonely shadow; or on high
*' Dost ride upon the whirling spires, and fume
" Of that enormous volume, that ascends
*' Black to the skies, and with the thunder's roar
** Bursts, whilst the waves far on are still : O hear,
" Dread Power, and save ! lest hidden eddies whirl
-» The ^g5T)tiani sacrificed a beautiful youth, a stranger.— See Plutarcti
Ue hide ct Qsir.
DISCOVERY BY SEA, 53
Sriking Effedts of Monsoon.
*' The helpless vessels down, — down to the deeps
■** Of night, where thou, O Father of the Storm,
" Dost sleep; or thy vast stature might appear
" High o'er the flashing waves, and (as thy beard
*' Stream'd to the cloudy winds) pass o'er their tracft,
"And they ARE seen no more; or monster-birds
" Dark'ning, with pennons lank, the morn, might bear
*' The vidlims to some desert rock, and leave
■" Their scatter'd bones to whiten in the winds!"
The Ocean-Gods, with sacrifice appeas'd,
Propitious smile; the thunder's roar is ceas'd,^
Smooth and in silence o'er the azure realm
The tall ships glide along, for the South-West
Chearlyand steady blows, and the blue seas
Beneath the shadow sparkle ; on they speed,
The long coast varies as they pass, from cove
To sheltering cove, the long coast winds away;
Till now embolden'd by the unvarying gale,
Still urging to the East, the sailors deem
Some Godf inviting swell their willing sails,
S Tlic breaking up of tlic monsoon.
,i Ncc nrtK intermit, nisi tligniis vinUice nodus.
54 spiKiT or
Coast of Malabar and Ceylon.
Or Destiny's fleet dragons through the surge
Cut their mid-way, yok'd to the beaked prows
Unseen!
Night after night the heav'ns' still cope,
That glows with stars, they watch, till morning bears
Airs of sweet fragrance o'er the yellow tide;
Then Malabar her green declivities
Hangs beauteous, beaming to the eye afar
Like scenes of piftur'd bliss, the shadowy land
Of soft enchantment. Now Sahnala's peak*
Shines high in air, and Ceylon's dark-green woods
Beneath are spread; while, as the strangers wind
Along the curving shores, sounds of delight
Are heard; and birds of richest plumage — red
And yellow, glance along the shades; or fly
With morning twitter, circling o'er the mast,
As singing welcome to the weary crew.
Here rest, till westering gales§ again invite
Then o'er the line of level seas glide on,
# The lofty rock of Ceylon, called the foot of Adam.
\ Change of the Monsoon.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 55
Solomon's Temple. — Refleflion on Commerce.
(As the green deities of ocean guide)
Till Ophir's distant hills spring from the main,
And their long labours cease.
Hence Asia slow
Her length unwinds ; and Siam and Ceylon
Through wider channels pour their gems and gold
To swell the pomp of JEgypt's kings, or deck
With new magnificence the rising dome*
Of Palestine's Imperial Lord.
His wants
To satisfy; " with comelier draperies,"
To cloathe his shivering form ; to bid his arm-
Burst, like the Patagonian's,s- the vain cords
That bound his untry'd strength ; to nurse the flame
Of wider heart-ennobling sympathies, —
For this young Commerce rous'd the energies
Of man; else rolling back, stagnant and foul,
Like the great element on which his ships
♦ Temple of Solomon.
S Alluding to the story of Patagonians buisting their cords wlicn taken.
5Q SPIRIT OF
Enterpriza on the coast of Syria.
Go forth, without the currents, winds, and tides
That swell it, as with awful life, and keep
From rank putrescence the long-moving mass:
And He, the sovereign Maker of the world.
So to excite man's high aflivities,
Bid various climes their various produce pour:
On Asia's plain mark where the cotton-tree
Hangs elegant its golden gems; the date
Sits purpling the soft lucid haze, that lights
The still, pale, sultry landscape ; breathing sweet
Along old Ocean's billowy marge, the Eve
Bears spicy fragrance far; the bread-fmit shades
The Southern isles; and gems, and richest ore,
Lurk in the cavern'd mountains of the West.*
With ampler shade the Northern oak uplifts
His strength, itself a forest, and descends
Proud to the world of waves, to bear afar
The wealth colleded, on the swelling tides,
To every land: — Where Nature seems to mourn
Her rugged outcast rocks, there Enterprize
Leaps up; he gazes, like a god, around:
* America.
DISCOVERY BT SEA. 5/
Navigation carried from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.
He sees on other plains rich harvests wave ;
He marks far off the diamond blaze; he burns
To reach the glittering prize; he looks; he speaks;
The pines of Lebanon fall at his voice ;
He rears the tow'ring mast; o'er the long main
He wanders, and becomes, himself though poor,
The SOVEREIGN OF THE GLOBE.
So Sidon rose;
And Tyre, yet prouder o'er the subject waves,
(When in his manlier might the Ammonian spread*
Beyond Philistia to the Syrian sands)
Crown'd on her rocky citadel, beheld
The treasures of ail lands pour'd at her feet.
Her daring prows the inland main disclos'd —
Freedom and Glory, Eloquence, and Arts,
Follow their track, upspringing where they pass'dj
Till lo ! another Thebes, an At h e n s springs,
From the CEgean shores, and airs are heard,
As of no mortal melody, froni isles
* The Cutliites, spreading from jT.gypt along the coast ef Syria, fcrmtri
the great Ammonian natipn.
58 SPIRIT OF
That strew the deep around! on to the straights
Where tow'r the brazen pillarsf to the clouds,
Her vessels ride. But, ah! what shivering dread
Quell'd their bold hopes, when on their watch by night
The mariners first saw the distant flames
Of iEtna, and its red portentous glare
Streaking the midnight waste ! 'Tis not thy lamp^
Astarte, hung in the dun vault of night,
To guide the wanderers of the main ! Aghast
They eye the fiery cope, and wait the dawn.
Huge pitchy clouds upshoot, and bursting fires
Flash through the horrid volume as it mounts ;
Voices are heard, and thunders muttering deep.
Haste — snatch the oars — fly o'er the glimm'ring surge —
Fly far — already louder thunders roll,
And more terrific flames arise. O spare,
Dread Power ! for sure some Deity abides
Deep in the central earth, amidst the reek
Of sacrifice, and blue sulphureous fume
Involv'd. Perhaps the living Moloch* there
t Hilars of Httcules.
Moloch, whose rites of blood are well known, worsliipped along tlie
coast of Syria.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 5g
Bay of Naples. — Dangers.
Rules In his horrid empire, amid flames,
Thunders, and black'ning volumes, that ascend
And wrap his burning throne !
So was the tra6t
To those who first the chearless ocean roam'd,.
Darken'd with dread and peril. Scylla here,
And fell Charlbdis, on their whirling gulph
Sit, like the sisters of despair, and howl,
As the devoted sliip, dash'd on the crags,
Goes down : and oft the neighbour shores a:re strew'd
With bones of strangers sacrific'd, whose bark
Was founder'd nigh, where the red watch-tow'r glares
Through darkness. Hence mysterious dread, and tales
Of Polyphemus and his monstrous rout;
And warbling syrens on the fatal shores
Of soft Parthenope ; — Yet oft the sound
Of sea-conchs through the night from some rude rock
Is heard, to warn the wand'ring passenger
Of fiends that lurk for blood !
t On the Southern coast of Spain, vcliere were ricli mines, supposed by
some to be TarshUh.
6o SPIRIT or
Pass the Gibraltar Straiphts.
These dangers past
The sea puts on new beauties: Italy,
Beneath the blue soft sky beaming afar,
Opens her azure bays ; Liguria's gulph
Is past; the Bastic rocks, and ramparts high,
That CLOSE THE WORLD, appear. The dashing bark
Bursts through the fearful frith : Ah ! all is now
One boundless billowy waste; the huge-heav'd wave
Beneath the keel turns more intensely blue ;
And vaster rolls the surge, that sweeps the shores
Of Cerne,f and the green Hesperides,
And long-renown'd Atlantisjj whether sunk
Now to the bottom of the " monstrous world;"
Or was it but a shadow of the mind.
Vapoury and baseless, like the distant clouds
That seem the promise of an unknown land
To the pale-ey'd and wasted mariner,
Cold on the rocking mast. The pilot plies
+ Mr. Falconer's in!>cn!ons dissertation, and subsequent geographical
♦n-iuiries, have, I think, clearly established the truth of the account ok
tU.ino't voyage.— See Periplus Hanncnis.
i The islan,; dcscrlbjd by Plato; by son>e supposed America.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 6i
State of Ancient Tyre.
Now, toss'd upon Bayona's mountain-surge,*
High to the North his way; when lo! the cliffs
Of Albion, o'er the sea-line rising calm
And white, and Marazion's woody mount
Lifting its dark romantic point between.
So did thy ships to Earth's wide bounds proceed,
O Tyre, and thou wert rich and beautiful
In that thy day of glory. Carthage rose,
Thy daughter and the rival of thy fame,
Upon the sands of Lybia; princes were
Thy merchants; on thy golden throne thy sutc
Shone, like the orient sun. Dark Lebanon
Wav'd all his pines for thee : for thee the oaks
Of Bashan tow'r'd in strength: thy gallies cut
Glittering the sunny surge; thy mariners,
On ivory benches, furl'd the broider'd sails.
That looms of JEgypt wove, or to the oars,
That measuring dipp'd, their choral sea-songs sung-
The multitude of isles did shout for thee,
* Bay of BUcay.
t Marazion, ttill called Market-Jew, st Micliad'i Mount,
62 SPIRIT OP
Her Fall. — Refleftion.
And cast their emeralds at thy feet, and said,
*' ^leen of the Waters, 'wko is like to thee?''*
So wert thou glorious on the seas, and said'st,
*' I am a God, and there is none like me."
But the dread voice prophetic is gone forth.
*' Howl, for the whirl-wind of the desert comes!
" Howl ye for Tyrus, for her multitude
*' Of sins and dark abominationo cry
" Against her," saith the Lord; " In the mid seas
" Her beauty shall be broken ; I will bring
" Her pride to ashes ; she shall be no more."
The distant isles shall tremble at the sound
When thou dost fall ; the princes of the sea
Shall from their thrones come down, and cast away
Their broider'd robes; for thee they shall take up
A bitter lamentation, and shall say,
" How art thou fall'n, renowned city! thou
" Who wert enthroned glorious on the seas,
*• To rise no more "f
t See tlic awful and striking language of Isaiali, Ezekicl, &c.
DISCOVERY BY SEA, 63
Glories of Britain.
So visible, O God,
Is thy dread hand in all the earth ! Where Tyre
In gold and purple glitter'd o'er the scene,
Now the poor fisher dries his net, nor thinks
How great, how rich, how glorious, once she rose !
Meantime the farthest isle, cold and obscure,
Whose painted natives roam'd their woody wilds.
From all the world cut ofF, that wond'ring mark'd
Her stately sails approach, now, in her turn.
Rises a star of glory in the West —
ALBION, THE WONDER OF THE ILLUMIn'd WORLD.
She sees a Newton wing the highest Heav'ns:
She sees an Herschell's* daring hand withdraw
The luminous pavilion, and the throne
Of the bright sun reveal: She hails the voice
Of holy truth amid her cloister'd fane.
Where the clear anthem swells: Sees Taste adorn
Her palaces; and Painting's fervid touch
Bid the rich canvas breathe : Hears angel-strains
Of Handel, or melodious Purcell pour
His sweetest harmonies ; sees Poesy
# Sec Hcrsclicli'i woaUotful iliitoverics relating to the jun.
64 SPIRIT OF
Triumph in the East.
Open her vales romantic, and the scenes
Where Fancy, an enraptur'd votary, roves
At eve : She hears her Shakespeare's voice, who sits
Upon a high and charmed rock alone,
And like the genius of the mountain, gives
His rapt song to the winds, while Pity weeps,
Or Terror shudders at his changeful tones,
As when his Ariel soothes the storm ! Then pause.
For hark ! the lone waves answer, " Lycidas
" Is dead, young Lycidas, dead ere his prime,"t
Whelm'd in the deep, beyond the Orcadcs,
Or where the " vision of tlie guarded mount,
" Belerus holds."*
Nor skies, nor earth, confine,
Albion, thy march of glory ; on she speeds —
The unknown barriers of the utmost deep
Her prow has burst, where the dread genius slept
For ages undisturb'd, save when he walk'd
Amid the darkness of the storm ! Her fleet
+ Milton's exquisite Lycid.is, Iicre introduced, ratl)cr than the iublinic
" Paradise Lost," on account of its maritime cast.
# " The dread vision of the Ruardtd Mount."— Milton.
DISCOVERY BT SEA. 65
Triumphs in the East.
E'en now along the East rides terrible,
Where early-rising commerce cheer'd the scene!
Heard ye the thunders of her vengeance roll,
As Nelson, through the battle's dark-red haze
Aloft upon the burning prow diredts,
Where the dread hurricane, with sulph'rous flash,
Shall burst unquenchable, while from the grave
Osiris AMPLER seems to rise? Where thou,
O Tyre, didst awe the subject seas of yore,
Acre e'en now, and ancient Carmel hears
The cries of conquest: mid the Hre and smoke
Of the war-shaken citadel, with eye
Of temper'd flame, yet resolute command,
His brave sword beaming, and his cheering voice
Heard mid the onset's cries, his dark-browo hair
Spread on his fearless forehead, and his hand
Pointing to Gallia's bafll'd chief, behold
The British Hero stand ! Why beats my heart
With kindred animation ? The warm tear
Of patriot triumph fills mine eye ! I strike
A louder strain unconscious, while the harp
Swells to the bold involuntary song.
66 SPIRIT OF
Epode on the Sitge of Acre,
EPODE
ON
THE SIEGE OF ACREj
AND
BRITISH TRIUMPHS IN THE EAST.
I.
FLY, Son of Terror, fly!
Back o'er the burning desert he is fled!
In heaps the gory dead
Gash'd in the trenches lie J
His dazzling files no more
Flash on the Syrian sands,
As when from JEgypt's ravag'd shore,
Aloft their gleamy falchions swinging.
Aloud their vidtor-pasans singing,
Their onward way the GalHc legions took.
Despair, dismay, are on his altcr'd look,
Yet hate indignant low'rs;
Whilst high on Acre's fuming tow'rs
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 67
and Britkh Triumphs in the East.
The shade of English Richard seems to stand;
And frowning far, in dusky rows,
A thousand archers draw their bows !
They join the triumph of the British band,
And the rent watch-tow'r echoes to the cry,
Heard o'er the rolling surge, — " They fly, they fly!"
II.
*' Winds of the wilderness sweep o'er their bands, ^
" And may their bones whiten the desert wide V
The Mam'luc said, as on red iEgypt's sands.
Gnashing, he clench'd his scymitar, and died!
The war-trump answer'd: O'er the slain
Yea the proud chief took up his taunting strain,
" Vidors of the world we tread —
" From yonder monuments* the dead
** Our glorious march survey
" To Acre — India ! In the sky
** Let the banner invincible fly,
** And our triumphs the trumps to the wilderness bray !"
Pyrsmiib.
68
SPIRIT or
Epode on the Siege of Acre,
Shall Acre's§ feeble citadel,
Vidlor, thy shatter'd hosts repelL?
Insulting chief, despair —
A Briton meets thee there!
See beneath the burning wall
In reeking heaps th' assailants fall [
Now the hostile fires decline.
Now through the smoke's deep volumes shine!
Now above the bastions grey
The clouds of battle roll away;
Where with calm, yet glowing mien^
Britain's viftorious Youth* is seen L
He lifts his eye
His country's ensigns wave through smoke on high,
Whilst the long-mingl'd shout is heard ' They fly, they flyl *
III.
Ancient Kishon! prouder swell,
On whose banks they bow'd, they fell —
4 Acre, situated near Kishon and Catmel.
* Sir Sidney Smith
+ See Song of Deborah ;— " The river Kishon, that an cient river : Oh, my
loul, tliou bast trodden down strength."
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 69
and British Triumphs in tlie East.
The mighty ones of yore, whilst, with pale dread.
Inglorious Sisera fled!
Hoary Carmel, witness thou,
And lift in conscious pride thy brow;
As when upon thy cloudy plain
Baal's prophets cry'd in vain!
They gash'd their flesh, and leap'd, and cry'd,
From morn till ling'ring even-tide.
Then stern Elija on his foes
Strong in the might of Heav'n arose ! —
They died: — He on the altars rent.
As the bkck'ning clouds and rain
Came sounding from the Western main.
Stood, like the Lord of Fate, alone and eminent.
IV.
What triumphs yet remain ?
Was it a groan ? — a herof fell —
On JEgypt's plain
More loud the shouts of battle swell !
■t Sir Ralph Abercrooibic.
70 SriRIT OF
Epode on the Siege of Acre,
Host meets host with direr crash.
Another* pours the red vindidtive flash
of battle: Mourn, proud Gallia, mourn
Thy distant sons scatter'd or slain ;
Whilst from their gory grasp is torn
The ensign hail'd " Invincible" in vain !
What mystic monument,§ to-day restor'd,
Is wrested from the mosque's oblivious gloom ?
It is thy hallow'd tomb,
Scander,t the conqueror of the world, ador'd
A GOD to farthest Caucasus : — the son
Of Ammon, who the crown of glory won,
Immortal, who the seas subdu'd;
And said, (when on the sandy solitude
* Lord Hiitcliinson.
^ Among the A:gyptian antiquities now in the British Museum, there U
a most singular monument, of the rarest and most valuable marble, the
green Brechia, rescued by the activity of Mr. Clarke, the celebrated tra»
veller, from the Frcncli; and supposed by Iiim, for many cogent reasons,
to be the tomb of the founder of Alexandria. His arguments have great
weight ; but whether they are well founded or not, the circumstance is, at
ICMt, highly poetical.
t The Arabic name of Alexander.
DISCOVERY BI SEA. ^1
and British Triumphs in the East.
The new-form'd city's|| gleamy turrets rose)
" Roll, commerce, here, till Time shall close
" The scene of things." Their course long ages keep :
ANOTHERt bears the sceptre of the deep!
O'er wider seas
The sails of commerce catch the breeze;
Thy city's battlements are rent
And Britain's plain
Holds of thy greatness thy POOR last remain —
Thy awful monument.
May she the paths of thy best FAMEf explore,
Till pyramids are dust, and time shall be no more.
II Alexandria. X England.
t Alexander's maritime renovrn;
NOTES
TO
THE SECOND BOOK.
NOTES
THE SECOND BOOK.
p. 47. I- 7-
To airy harpings, £ffc.
Alluding to the pi(5tures of the harps in the ca-
verns of Thebes, described by Bruce. — See Bruce's
Travels, and Burner's History of Musick. — It is sin-
gular, that Denon, visiting the same cavern, and
drawing the same harps, should not have mentioned
Bruce ; the coincidence of the copies, however, suffi-
ciently establishes Bruce's veracity.
p. 48. L. 3.
.... BaalzephoTiy ^c.
A sea idol, generally considered the guardian of the
coast. I suppose, that after ancient Thebes was de-
stroyed by the first shepherds, its scattered inhabitants
76 HOTES
formed a naval station on the Heropolitic gulph, or
Western branch of the Red sea, at Suez, the ancient
Arsinoe. Afterwards the Edomites fortified ports
on either branch, at EHoth and Ezion-Geber. Migdol
"was a fortress that guarded the pass of JEgypt; Moses
speaks of a nation possessing this country before the
descendants of Esau. In the earliest ages Edom must
have been a rich and powerful city and territory. Da-
Tid says, * who will lead me into Edom, the strong city.*
The Horites, whom Moses mentions. Gen. xxxvi. 30,
to be in possession of Edom before the sons of Esau, (of
Sheni's line) were probably of the line of Ham, from
JEgypt, who first established navigation.
The Philistines worshipped Dagon their " sea idol;"
having an idea, derived from ^gypt, of a deity con-
neded with the sea. Now the Philistines certainly arc
reckoned by Moses among the sons of Misram; and
Jeremiah, chapter xlvii. tells us, the Philistines were a
remnant of the country of Caphtor ; which the learned
Bishop Cumberland considered as the place called Sin,
he thinks tb^ ancient Pelusium in JEgypt. It is pro-
bable, therefore, that the Horites io Edom were of the
same stock.
TO THE SECOND BOOK. 77
P. 49- L. 4.
The sons of Ctish. — Still fearful of the flood.
" It is a tradition among the Abyssinians, which they
say they have had from time immemorial, and which
is equally received among the Jews and Christians,
that almost immediately after the flood, Cush, grand-
son of Noah, with his family, passing through Atbara,
from the low country of ^gypt, then without inhabi-
tants, came to the ridge of mountains which still sepa-
rates the flat country of Atbara from the more moun-
tainous high-land of Abyssinia.
" By casting his eye upon the map tlie reader will see
a chain of mountains, beginning at tlie isthmus of Suez,
that runs all along like a wall, about forty miles from the
Red Sea, till it divides in Lit. 13 , into two branches.
The one goes along the Northern frontiers of Abyssi-
nia, crosses the Nile, and then proceeds Westward,
through Africa, towards the Atlantic Ocean. The
other branch goes Southward, and then East, taking the
form of the Arabian Gulf; after which, it continues
Southward all along the Indian Ocean, in the same
manner as it did in the beginning all along the Red Sea,
that is parallel to the coast.
73 NOTES
** Their tradition says, that, terrified with the late
dreadful event, the flood, still recent in their minds, and
apprehensive of being again involved in a similar cala-
mity, they chose for their habitations caves in the sides
of these mountains, rather than trust themselves again
on the plain. It is more than probable, that, soon after
their arrival, meeting here with the tropical rains, which,
for duration, still exceed the days that occasioned the
flood, and observing, that going through Atbara, that
part of Nubia between the Nile and Astaboras, after-
wards called Mero, from a dry climate at first, they
had after fallen in with rains; as those increased in pro-
portion to their advancing Southward, they chose to
stop at the first mountains, where the country was fer-
tile and pleasant, rather than proceed farther, at the
risk of involving themselves, perhaps, in a land of floods,
that might prove as fatal to their posterity as that of
Noah had been to their ancestors.
" This is a conjedlure from probability, only men-
tioned for illustration, for the motives that guided them
cannot certainly be known; but it is an undoubted fadl,
that here the Cuthites, witJi unparalleled industry, and
with instruments utterly unknown to us, formed for
TO THE SECOND BOOK. 79
themselves commodious, yet wonderful habitations, in
the heart of mountains of granite and marble, which
remain entire to this day, and promise so to do till the
consummation of all things."
p. 49. L. 6.
.... Imperial Thehes»
Upper ^gypt was peopled, according to Herodotus,
fromJEthiopia. He mentions, that before the Egyptians
descended into the plains watered by the Nile, which
formed impenetrable morasses, they dwelt on the
mountains bordering on the catarafts. Bruce says, " it
is probable, that immediately upon their success at
Meroc, they (the Cuthites) lost no time in stretching
on to Thebes."— Pocock's description is curious, as
illustrating the idea of Thebes having been built by the
original possessors of the abodes cut out of the marble
rocks on the mountains of Abyssinia. He says, " when
we proceeded a mile to the North, we came to a kind
of street, for the rocky ground rose on each side
about ten feet : it had a row of rooms cut in it, some of
them supported by pillars; and as there is not the least
^ignof raised buildings, I could not help imagining that
■in the earliest times these caverns might serve as houses."
80 NOTES
r. 50. L. 7.
S?»ites them in vain
There is something very grand, allowing for French
exaggeration, in Denon's description of the army halt-
ing involuntarily at the sight of the ruins of Thebes.
" At nine o'clock, turning the end of a chain of
mountains which formed a promontory, the French sud-
denly beheld the seat of the antique Thebes, in all its
developement; Thebes, of which Homer has painted
the extent in a single word, the hundred-gated Thebes
■ — a poetic and empty expression, confidently repeated
through a series of ages. Described in a few pages
didated to Herodotus by the Egyptian priests, and
copied ever since by all other historians; celebrated for
a succession of kings whose wisdom has placed them
in the rank of gods, for laws which were revered with-
out being understood, for sciences confided to pompous
and enigmatic inscriptions (those learned and earliest
monuments of the arts, which time itself has forborne
to injure;) this abandoned sanduary, insulated by
barbarism, and returned to the desert whence it was
conquered ; this city, in a word, perpetually wrapped in
that veil of mystery by which even colossuses are mag-
TO THE SECOND BOOK. 81-
nified; this exiled city, which the mind no longer dis-
covers but through the mists of time, was still a phan-
tom SO gigantic to our imagination, that the army, at
the sight of its scattered ruins, halted of itself, and, by
one spontaneous impulse, grounded its arms, as if the
possession of the remains of this capital had been the
objed of its glorious labours, had compleated the con-
quest of the JEgyptian territory."
p. i6. L. 5.
Si/ig to Osiris
Thebes, so called according to some from the Hebrew,
Thebath, an ark. The hieroglyphicks on the walls are
evidently allusive to the great event of one family pre-
served in a vessel; and Osiris is proved, I think beyond
a doubt, - by Bryant and Mr. Maurice, to have been
Noah. A new source of investigation has indeed been
opened from ,the sacred books of the Bramins ; the
account of the Eastern countries is more accurate ; and
" all our researches," as Sir William Jones says,
*' have confirmed the Mosaic account of the primitive
world." On this interesting subjed I must refer the
reader more particularly to Bryant's learned, though
in many parts fanciful, Analysis; and Mr. Maurice's
G
82 NOTES
Indian Antiquities. The chief points are most judi-
ciously brought together, explained, and illustrated
by Mr. Clarke, in his interesting work on Navigation,
as far as reflates to this subjed. Nothing appears
clearer, from late researches, than that Noah and die
ark were the foundation of many Pagan rites and cere-
monies; and that many particularities attending the
early worship of all nations were derived obscurely
from the tradition of that awful circumstance de-
scribed in the book of Genesis. In Mr. Maurice's words :
** Whatsoever objedions may have been urged by
certain persons, at all times more inclined to cavil
than to commend, against particular portions of the
Analysis of Ancient Mythology, in my humble con-
ception, no facts can be more (irmly established than
the following are, in that most learned and laudable
undertaking; I mean, that the general deluge was the
grand epocha of every kingdom of the ancient world;
that the first post-diluvian king in every country, un-
der whatever title he may have been distinguished,
was the Mosaic Nuh, orNoAH; and that the most
ancient monuments and principal memorials of all
nations allude to the ruin of mankind by the former
event, and to the renewal of the world in one family.
TO THE SECOND BOOK. 83
Every additional step which my subjedl leads me to
take on that hallowed ground of antiquity, which Mr.
Bryant has so ably traversed, confirms my belief, that
in all their varied mythology we must look upon the
great patriarch as the ultimate, in v/hom the his-
tory finally determines. He was the Xisathrus of
Chaldea, the venerable Kpovos of the Phoenicians, the
supreme Osiris of Egypt; the ancient Fohi of China;
the great Dionusus, or Bacchus of the Greeks; and,
doubtless, the Satyaurata, or seventli Menu of India,"
p. 50. L. 12.
*ryphon has sunk ...»
Typhon is considered by Bryant, &c. as signifying
the general deluge, from whose rage the ark of Osiris
was preserved ; hence the great JEgyptian festival, and
the acclamations, Et^f>9%a^>-Hv> 'Lvy-^x^oi/.tnl "We have
found the lost Osiris, let us rejoice together." Among
many circumstances corroborative of his position, not
the least convincing is the very ceremony adopted
during the eiForts of the priests to find the missing
objetft of the research; that of a number of their body
going down by night to the sea-shore, bearing a sacred
84 NOTES
scyphus, in which was a golden vessel, in the form of a
ship or boat, and into which they poured some water
of the river; that this being performed, the shout of
tumultuous joy above-mentioned burst forth from the
croud, and that then Osiris was supposed to be found.
He (Mr. Bryant) winds up the whole of his argument,
by proving from Plutarch, that this ceremony of in-
closing Osiris in his tomb or ark, in memory of his
having been in his life-time thus concealed, in order to
avoid the fury of Typhon, (their known symbol of the
ocean) took place precisely on the seventeenth day of
tlie second month after the autumnal aequinox ; that is,
in fad, upon the very day on which the true Osiris
entered the ark, which, in Scripture, is said to have
taken place in the sixth hundred year of Noah's life, on
THE SECOND MONTH, AND ON THE SEVENTEENTH
DAY OF THAT MONTH." — Maurtce.
The word Typhon is no doubt derived from the
Arabic, Al Tufan, an inundation. Some authors con-
sider it as relating to the Red sea closing over the
JEg^'ptian host. Others consider it as the destrudive
v;ind of the desert ; as Savary, Denon, &c. Colonel
Capper is of opinion, that it means the Khumseea
TO THE SECOND BOOK. 85
wind. That the Greeks understood it in the sense of a
wind, I think is clear from these remarkable words ;
Ex. OS Tvlpxtos a acvi/jiuv (asvos vypr.y asvTuv,
Hosipi Nora, Bo^zu: ri, text A^yi^-oj, Zi^u^h re.
Hesiod. Theogo.
It must be observed that Hesiod uses the word
vyfovj wet.
From Typhon sprung the might of the ivet winds, &c.
Hesiod's description of the terrible deity is very-
sublime :
OttXotxtov T£)£e 'nxt^x Tv^uca yxix vsXupVf
Txprxf!d,Scc. Hesiodi Theogo. 821.
The youngest son of the great earth arose,
Huge Typhon, by the dismal Tartarus
Begot: his hands for mightiest deeds were form'd;
His feet no toil could tire ; a hundred heads
Of dragons from his shoulders sprung, that black
Darted their tongues; dread-fl.ishing from his eyes
A living flame terrific burnt; each liead
86 NOTES
Dire voices utter'd, and a war of sounds
Ineffable, that ev'n the Gods might hear.
W. L. B.
It is probable the general deluge gave rise to the
allegorical fidtion of this terrific deity ; that the word
was afterwards applied to storms in general, and par-
ticularly, at the aequinodtial season, to the Khumseen
wind, wliich blows with such devastating fury.
p. 50. L. 15.
TheCt great restorer of the ivoHJ, the song
Darkly described, and that mysterious shrine, iffc.
Among the more curious and particular circum-
stances allusive to the deluge, in profane history,
Bryant quotes Homer, who, speaking of the rainbow,
has the remarkable passage —
*' Which Jove amid the clouds
** Plac'd as a token to man."
Pope, by using the word " despairing," makes it
approach more near to the Mosaic account:
" Which Jove amid the clouds
" plac'd as a token to despairing man.'*
TO THE SECOND BOOK. 8/
But in Homer there is nothing like the word " des-
pairing;" the words are —
Ev vspsi 'TO^i^s, Ts^xs fjupoTTui xv^f/WTruv. Book X.
" Which Jove plac'd as a sign to distiiiHly-pro-
voipicing mortals"
However visionary some of these coincidences may
be thought to be, I cannot help stating one circum-
stance, allusive to the great event of the flood, and the
particular history of Noah, among the ancient writers,
which I have never heard mentioned; and which seems
to me, all things considered, to be the most striking
circumstance that has been observed. It is in the 7th
Idyll of Theocritus. I will endeavour to explain it.
I believe it will be granted, that the rites of Cabiri,
of Ceres, or the great Demetef, were allusive to the
deluge. I refer to Bryant, to Allwood's Antiquities of
Greece, &c. It will be granted, that the tradition of
this event prevailed particularly in ^gypt, from the
sons of Cuth being settled there. Let us then, in the
first place, recollefl the subject of this eclogue, and
88 NOTES
that Theocritus, who wrote in praise of Ptolemy,
might naturally be supposed to know something of the
peculiar Egyptian traditions. The subjeft of the
eclogue is a party going to the " Feast of the mother
of the Gods," or Demeter; which, I believe, is al-
lowed to be commemorative of the deluge. On their
way the subjevx^) : that he was confined for
for exa^/y one 'whole year; and that he was fed there
by the bees, and preserved. The shepherd ardently
wishes that this Divine Comata had lived in his days.
And to conclude, the observation of the other shep-
herd, after he has heard the tradition, is, " that he also
knows songs, the fame of which go even to the
THRONE OF Jupiter."
90
Aaet a us vox. sdix.ro roy ccivoXov ev^ex Xafia.^
Zwov eo'jtx, x.acxxicriy arwj^oiKiciKTrj uxxkI^*
fls re viv «/ <7iiA.xi Xsiia.ci)vo^s ^e^Cov loicrctt
Kid^ov is x^siccv (AxXxxoiq xv^sa-a-t y.iXi(T(Txi.
Kxt TO xxrcx?^xa^yis is \xpvxxx, xxt ro iJuX.ica'Xv
K*i§ix (pe^CoiJ.£voS) sros w^iov s^ereXsa-a-xs.
Theocritus b. ^. 1. 78^ &c.
I have hastily stated these coincidences, and though
I am fully aware of the deceptiveness of such things,
yet being on the subjedl, I could not avoid pointing
them out. I am no farther tenacious of their proba-
bility, or plausibility.
p. 51. L. 7.
For lo! fwhere Ophir^s gold unlurfd shines.
When I first wrote this part, I was inclined to foU
low the received opinion, that Sofala, on the coast of
Africa, was the ancient Ophirj an opinion supported
TO THE SECOND BOOK. Ql
by such authorities as Huet, Milton, Montesquieu,
D'Anville, Bruce, Vii>cent,&c.
Nothing can be more plausible than Bruce's account
of the voyage of Solomon, as performed by monsoons^
to Sofala, and taking up the exaft time mentioned in
Scripture, three years. He says very justly, " looking
for Ophir we must abide by the words of Scripture ;
the voyage to it must take up three years, neither more
nor less ; it must abound with mines of gold and espe-
cially silver." Sofala produces peacocks, ivory, and
apes; but Bruce says nothing of a peculiar tree, the
algum tree, which must have been of very extraordi-
nary value, as it was brought from so great a distance.
Now I will go farther than Bruce, in pointing out
what I should think absolutely necessary to be required
to mark the situation of Ophir. i. The voyage must
take up three years, a. The country must exhibit the
marks of great mines and excavations. 3. It must
abound with gold, silver, precious stones, peacocks,
apes, and the algum-tree. These things are absolutely
necessary, but Bruce does not mention all. There are
Other designations which I should require.
92 NOTES
That the country should be inhabited by people
possessed of certain arts and civilization, from high
antiquity. That it should have some great temples,
or remains of such, if possible, correspondent with those
that are described by the Scripture in the country
where the gold of Ophir was carried. That it should
also have something correspondent in customs and in
manners with the earlier race of mankind who peopled
the earth after Noah. That it should produce, besides
peacocks, elephants, and apes, (of wliich it must be the
native country) peculiar timber fit for the most durable
purposes of building.
There are other incidental, but minute circumstances,
which, if all added together, would tend very much to
put the question out of doubt. These I shall enume-
rate ; but I beg it to be remembered, I do it with great
deference and respeft for those who differ from me,
and whose learning and habits of enquiry are infinitely
superior to my own.
Bruce's opinion, I confess, had the greatest weight
with me, as his account of the monsoons is so clear
and plausible. But I considered, that for a fleet to take
TO THE SECOND BOOK. QS
advantage of them, it would be necessary to go three
leagues off shore, (I believe this is the case ;) that the
crossing the line must have been a most formidable
barrier, though I do not forget what is said by Hero-
dotus ; that if so rem.arkable a thing had happened,
as crossing the line, it is probable some hint would have
been given of it in Scripture ; and that Sofala, though
it produces the appearances of ancient mines, may
have abounded with gold, silver, &c. still it is not the
peculiar country of peacocks, nor does it more thaa
several other countries abound with elephants. There
is, moreover, no appearance of ancient magnificence;
no marks of former arts and civilization ; no corres-
pondence in chara<5ter, customs, antiquities, and tra-
ditions with the Eastern countries; and there is no
particular tree, unknown to the other parts of the world,
calculated for durability, valuable as timber, and capa-
ble of the highest and most beautiful polish.
All these things, and many other singular and cor-
roborative circumstances, are to be found in Ava, and
the Birman empire, of which we have so particular
and interesting an account by Colonel Synies.
94 NOTES
That Pegu and Slum was the country of Ophir was
the opinion of Purchas, certainly a learned and respedl-
able authority. " The Ophirian voyage," he says,
" it is probable, comprehended all the gulph of Ben-
gal, from Z.ulana to Sumatra, on both sides: but the
region of Ophir we make to be all from Ganges to
Menan, and most properly the large kingdom of Pegu;
from whence it is likely, in process of time, the most
Southerly parts, even to Sumatra inclusively, were peo-
pled before Solotnori'stme" — P. 3a.
This is, perhaps, too extensive; but still I am in-
clined to place Ophir in this part of the world. If I
might venture an opinion, I fhould, perhaps, place
it on the sea coast between Point Negrais (the Temala
province of Ptolemy) and Junkseilon; or it might
have extended to Malacca. But all the commodities
from Ava and the inland countries might be conveyed
down the rivers Ava and Pegu (the Sabiricus and Be-
singa) into the Sabaric gulph, and the communication
wouldnot have been remote from Siam : or the produce
of that country might easily have been conveyed across
the narrow peninsula to Merghi, the Berobe of Ptolemy.
TO THE SECOND BOOK. 05
I see it placed in the same country by Herbert, the
early English traveller, who considers Malacca as the
port of Ophir. " Malacca was known of old by the
name oi Aurea Chersonesus; and the same, if my ayme
deceive me not, Ptolomy calls Facola, and more likely
to be part of Ophir, (from such abundance of gold as
from Pegu, Siam, Borneo, and Sumatra, is and has
ever been ravished;) and in that Ophir and Havilar,
€ons of Jodtan, have resided, &c." This old verse
of Tzetzes points at it:
*' Insula est Indica quam poet^ auream vocant.
Alii vero peninsulam vocant, sed non insulam
Hebraei antem Ophyr lingua sua vocant,
Habet enim metella auri, et lapides omnifarios."
Page 314.
Some years' travels in Africa and Asia, by Thomas
Herbert, esq; Jos. Blanc, printer, 1638.
Nothing can be more singular than the passage cited
by Herbert: — " There is an Indian island which the
poets call the Golden; but others call it a peninsula,
not an island. The Hebrews call it in their own
tongue Ophyr; it has gold and all sorts of precious
Stones." This opinion at one time pretty generally
qS notes
prevailed, but I hasten to the consideration of some
remarkable circumstances in Colonel Symes book;
begging however the reader to keep it in mind, that
the names of countries were called afi;er the first inha-
bitants. That this country abounds with gold, silver,
and precious stones, much more than any other part
of the known world, I imagine, is admitted on all
hands. In this situation is mai-ked by Ptolemy fegio
aureay regio argentea; he has also designated places
on the coaft as emporea: but besides, there are many
peculiarities, according to Colonel Symes' account,
in the manners, antiquities, and customs of the people,
which seem to me to corroborate the idea that this,
after all, may be the country of Ophir ; and if Tarshish
do not signify the sea in general, I should be inclined
to place it at Junkseilon.
Let us first look at the present state of the people
and country: — Here is a great and powerful empire;
people comparatively in a high state of cultivation,
boasting a period of great antiquity, yet unconneifled
in a great degree with the more civilized part of the
world. Such they now are, and such have existed
through a long succession of ages. Here are records
TO THE SECOND BOOK. 97
of their earliest history in numerous sacred books;
monuments of undoubted antiquity, and hieroglyphical
representations of the same nature with those of
^gypt and India. Here are magnificent edifices of a
peculiar character and appearance, distindt from the
generally-known specimens of architeflure, which are
covered with what is called the Tee, or umbrella, an
objedt of particular veneration. These temples are
all gilt, or overlaid with gold, in a more sumptuous
and singular manner than we read of in any other tem-
ples, except the temple of Solomon ; they are built
upon massy pillars, over which is an extensive kind
of platform, on which the majestic and glittering
superstructure is eredted, and crowned with the sacred
Tee. Here are peacocks and apes, natives of the coun-
try, and none more beautiful than the birds so called,
which go wild and in flocks. Here is also a particular
sort of timber in vast forests, not found, I believe, else-
where, which is called the Teak-tree; particularly
calculated for shipping, and works of durability. As
for ivory, it is so distinguished for its elephants ; and
one of the King's titles is " master of the nxihite ele-
phants.'" The word gold Is used as the designation of
supre77ie excellence. The king is called the " golden
H
ns
feet." The great temple of Shoe-Madoo is called
the GOLDEN supreme! The tradition relating to it
is, that it was built by merchants.
All these things put together seem to mark the
country as the very region of" gold, the Ophir of
Solomon. The almug-tree, which has puzzled com-
mentators so long, I cannot help thinking might have
been the teak-tree. The almug, or algum, was cer-
tainly timber of the greatest durability, as it is used for
pillars. The words are, (Kings x.) " The navy of
Hiram which brought gold from Ophir, brought in
from Ophir great plenty of almug-trees ; and the king
made of the almug-trees pillars for the house of the
Lord, and for the king's house." The great quantities
of gold brought from Ophir were used in overlaying
the temple of Solomon, as is the custom this day in Ava.
These considerations I suggest with diffidence, and
I put them down as they occur. I take this opportu-
nity of saying, that all we read, and the more know-
ledge we have of the Eastern countries, confirms every
day more and more the Mosaic history relating to
the restoration and dispersion of mankind j but of this
TO THE SECOND BOOK. QQ
I may say more in another place. I cannot, however,
omit the most remarkable circumstance of the Tee, or
covering, the consecration of which is an adl of high
religious solemnity. Perhaps an idea primarily derived
from the covering of the sacred ark; and another
striking ceremony, that on the 12th of April (which
corresponds with the time assigned to the cessation
of the waters that covered the earth) the women have
a custom of throimng nvater on every person they
meet, which the men retort. A custom so singular,
and preserved with so much attention and regularity,
must have had some extraordinary foundation, and
might be allusive to the restoration of man from that
awful event, traced in the tradition of every nation,
and alluded to by so many circumstances and ceremo-
nies of antiquity.
It remains to say something concerning the tir/ie
taken up in the voyage to Ophir. Bruce's account is
ingenious; but I cannot, for some of the reasons
already assigned, think Ophir was on the South-East
coast of Africa. Ceylon has been considered too near,
and the country of Pegu too distant, for I do not
think a moment of America or China. But might
100 NOTES
not a vessel, with the North wind, proceed down the
Arabian gulph to the mouth of Babelmandel; wait the
change of the monsoon, and receive the South-West
to carry her to the coast of Malabar and Ceylon, (if
this island might be Tarsliish;) wait six months till the
next monsoon, which would take her to the coast of
Ava; she would wait there till the change of the regular
wind, which would be a year and a half; and in the
same time make her return.
This is hastily thrown out, but I think we ought not
to rejedt so many other corroborating circumstances,
because the account of the navigation may be attended
with some difficulty.
If Hippalus, by accidentally discovering the regula-
rity of the monsoons ,boldly stretched across the bay of
Bengal, why may not the same discovery have been
made before, and have suggested the same course?
Let us add the remarkable words on this subjed of a
very able judge : *' Many of the Arabs still cross the
open sea to India without a compass; and indeed
when it is considered that the Indian sea during half
the year is perfedly calm and still; that the sun re-
TO THE SECOND BOOK. 101
mains only a short t5me below the horizon; that the
nights are exceedingly serene, because the brightness
of the stars are never obscured by vapours or clouds ;
that the wind blows invariably from one quarter; and
that the currents never change their course ; it will
readily appear such a passage may be happily efFeded
without the help of that useful instrument." — Paolo
de San Bartolemeo.
Whether these observations are well founded or not,
there is, however, sufficient verislviilitude for poetry.
I suggest also, but with hesitation, whether the An-
daman islands, called the Islands of Good Fortune {bona
fortuna) by Ptolemy, and which are diredly in the
course, might not have had an appellation, like the
Cape of Good Hope, from their being touched at in
the passage to the richer regions of the Chersonese.
p. 51. L. 9.
. . . . Arlana's speBr'd 'wilderness.
The desert of Ariana, along the sea-coast, where the
army of Cyrus, attempting to penetrate to India, pe-
102 NOTES
rished. The long and dreary desert, however, was
constantly passed by caravans from the earliest periods
of known^intercourse with India. — Bruce.
f. 54- L. 5.
T/:e youthful vinini ....
KxKovris. Plutarch de Iside.
f. SS- I- 9-
Palestine's Imperial Lord.
Annexed to Lobo's voyage to Abyssinia, (printed, in
French, at Paris, and at the Hague, by Gosse and J.
JJeaulme, 1728) there are many ingenious dissertations
on subjedts relating to navigation — one on Solomon's
voyage to Sofala, by Le Grand. It does not, how-
ever, give any account of the monsoons, which Bruce,
with so much ingenuity, has brought to prove, that
a voyage from Eziongeber to Sofala 7?iust take up three
years e%aBl] ; and could not have been performed in more
or less. His remarks only prove, that the great distance
and the imperfection of navigation would require a
great length of time to perform the voyage. But his
TO THE SECOND BOOK. 103
reasons are nothing like so satisfadory as Bruce's.
He mentions the commodities — gold, silver; peacocks
there are none, but the word Thuk k'nm might be used
equally to signify parroquets, of which there are
abundance ; and he says, there are forests of trees of
great magnitude and beauty; but they are not specified,
and we have no reason to imagine that they are of a
sort not found in as great plenty in other parts of the
world. — Relation Historique (T Abyssinia.
Let me add, in corroboration of what I have before
said about Ophir, that the language of the South-west
part of Ceylon, though so remote from Siam, is
derived from the language of Siain^ not, as might be
imagined, from India,
p. SS' L. 13.
Bursty like the Patagonians, the vain cords.
From Magellan's account of the first appearance of
the Patagonians: — " They remained for some time in
this desolate region, St. Julian's bay, forty-nine de-
grees South of the fine (America), without seeing a
104 NOTES
human creature. They judged the country to be ut-
terly inhabitable, when one day they saw approaching,
as if he had been dropped from the clouds, a man of
enormous stature, dancing and singing, and putting
dust upon his head, as they supposed in token of peace.
Being treated with kindness he returned with more of
the same stature, two of whom the mariners decoyed
on ship-board. Nothing could be more gentle in the
beginning; they considered the fetters prepared for
them as ornaments, but when they found for what pur-
pofe they were intended, they instantly exerted their
amazing strength, and burst them in pieces." — Quoted
from Goldsmith.
p. 59. L. 12.
Where the red luatch-tonxj' r glares.
Ammonian light-houses, placed in difficult passes.
r, 50. L. 7.
Warhlhig syrens, l5fc.
In the syrens, when their real history is considered,
another and a tremendous obstacle was opposed to
TO THE SECOND BOOK. 105
the enterprise of ancient mariners. Like the cruel
Lamii, these syrens were Cuthite or Canaanitish priests
and priestesses, who Hved chiefly in their temples on
the coast of Campania; and particularly near three
small islands, that were called after them. The fame
of these temples was considerable, on account of the
women who officiated; their cruelty and profligacy
was beyond description. The shores on which they
resided are described by Virgil as being covered witb
the bones of mariners, seduced thither by the plaintive
harmony of the Canaanites, which was exquisitely ex-
pressed in the artful warblings of these syrens. Their
sacred hymns, accompanied by this ancient music, were
too often fatal to the passing crew: Circe, therefore,
advised Ulysses to avoid their places of resort. — Clarke^
r. 60. t. 12, 13.
. . . . ^i/antls, luhether sunk
N01V to the bottom of the " monstrous 'world P
The celebrated passage in Plato referring to the vast
island Atlantis is this :— " These writings relate what
prodigious strength your city formerly repressed, when
a mighty warlike power, rushing from the Atlantic Sea,
106 NOTES
spread Itself with hostile fury over Europe and Asia;
for at that time the Atlantick sea was navigable, and
had an island before the mouth, which is called by you
the pillars of Hercules; but this island was greater than
both Lybia and all Asia together, &c. In this Allan-
tick island a combination of kings was formed, who,
with mighty and wonderful power, subdued the whole
island, together with many other islands, and part of
the continent; and, besides this, subjecfled to their
dominion all Lybia, as far as ^gypt ; and Europe, as
far as the Tyrrhene sea. And when thev were colledted
in a powerful league, tliey endeavoured to enslave all
our regions and yours; and besides this, all those
places situated within the mouth of the Atlantick sea.
Then it was, O Solon, that the power of your city was
conspicuous to all men for its virtue and strength, &c.
But in succeeding times prodigious earthquakes and
deluges taking place, and bringing with them desola-
tion in the space of one day atid nighty all that war-
like race of Athenians were merged under the earth,
and the Atlantick island itself, being absorbed in the
sea, entirely disappeared, &c.
*' This, O Socrates, is the sum of what the elder
critics, repeated from the narration of .S'i'/j?;."
Tajki-'s translation of Thnxits.
TO THE SECOND BOOK. 107
P. 6l. L. 12, 13.
. . . . Lebanon
Wav'd all its pines for thee.
There were very few of her majestic cedars standing,
when this celebrated mountain was visited by Rauwolf.
Volney and later travellers mention, I believe, not above
four or five remaining. RauwolPs account is as follows :
" We found ourselves to be upon the highest point of
the mountain, and saw nothing higher, but only a small
hill before us, all covered over with snow, at the bottom
whereof the high cedar-trees were standing; some
whereof King Solomon ordered to be cut down, to be
employed for the use of building of the temple in Jeru-
salem : and although the hill hath in former ages been
covered over with cedars, yet they are since so decrea-
sed, that I could tell no more than twenty-four, that
stood round about in a circle, and two others, the
branches whereof are quite decayed for age."
Rauiuolf's Travels, p. 229.
BOOK THE THIRD.
SPIRIT
DISCOVERY BY SEA.
JViY heart has sigh'd in secret, when I thought
That the dark tide of time might one day close,
England, o'er thee, as long since it has clos'd
On JEgypt and on Tyre: that ages hence,
From the Pacifick's billowy loneliness.
Whose tract thy daring search reveal'd, some isle
Might rise in green-haired beauty eminent.
And like a goddess, glittering from the deep,
Hereafter sway the sceptre of domain
From pole to pole; and such as now thou art.
Perhaps New-Holland be. For who shall say
112 SPIRIT OP
Refle£lions suggested by
What the Omnipotent Eternal One,
ThatmadetheworId,hathpurpos'd? Thoughts like these,
Though visionary, rise ; and sometimes move
A moment's sadness, when I think of thee.
My country, of thy greatness, and thy name.
Among the nations; and thy charadter,
(Though some few spots be upon thy flowing robe)
Of loveHest beauty: I have never pass'd
Through thy green hamlets on a summer's morn,
Or heard thy sweet bells ring, or saw the youths
And smiling maidens of the villagery
Gay in their Sunday tire, but I have said.
With passing tenderness, " Live, happy land,
*' Where the poor peasant feels, his shed though small,
*' An independence and a pride, that fill
" His honest heart with joy — -joy such as they
*' Who croud the mart of men may never feel."
Such, England, is thy boast: When I have heard
The roar of ocean bursting round thy rocks,
Or seen a thousand thronging masts aspire,
Far as the eye could reach, from every port
Of every nation, streaming with their flags
DISCOVERY BV SEA. H3
Return to the Subjefl;.
O'er the still mirror of the conscious Thames.
Yes, I have felt a proud emotion swell
That I was British-born ; that I hadliv'd
A witness of thy glory, my most lov'd
And honour'd country ; and a silent pray'r
Would rise to Heav'n, that R;me and peace, and love
And liberty, would walk thy vales, and sing
Their holy hymns; whilst thy brave arm repell'd
Hostility, e'en as thy guardian rocks
Repell the dash of ocean ; which now calls
Me, ling'ring fondly on the river's side,
On to my destin'd voyage ; by the shores
Of Asia, and the wreck of cities old,
Ere yet we burst into the wilder deep
With Gama ; or the huge Atlantic waste
With bold Columbus stem ; or view the bounds
Of field-ice, stretching to the Southern pole,
IVlth thee, benevolent, but hapless Cook!
Tyre be no more! said the Almighty's voice:
But THOU too, MONARCH OF THE WORLD,* whose ami
* NebiKliadnezzar, tlic destroyci ofTyre»
1
114 SPIRIT OF
Destruclion of Babylon,
Rent the proud bulwarks of the golden queen
Of cities, throned on hersubjed seas»
Art thou too fall'n?
The whole earth is at rest:*
" They break forth into singing:" Lebanon
Waves all his hoary pines, and seems to say,
" No feller now comes here:" Hell from beneath
Is mov'd to meet thy coming; it stirs up
The DEAD for thee; the chief ones of the earth.
Tyre and the nations, they all speak, and say,
" Art thou become like us ? Thy pomp brought down
*' E'en to the dust? The noise of viols ceas'd,
" The worm spread under thee, the crawling worm
" To cover thee? How art thou fall'n from heav'n,
" Son of the morning! In thy heart thou saidst,
" / nvill ascend to Heav'ti } I luill exalt
" My throtie above the stars of God /" Die, die,
Blasphemer! As a carcase under foot,
Dcfil'd and trodden, so be thou cast out!
And SHE, the great, the guilty Babel — she
* In the sublime passages of Scripture, I have thought it best, as so
n^uch more dignified and ioipressivc, to preserve, as near a; posMble, the
very expressions.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 115
After Tyre.
Who smote the wasted cities, and the world
Made as a wilderness — she, in her turn,
Sink to the gulph oblivious at the voice
Of Him who sits in judgment on her crimes!
Who, o'er her palaces and bury'd tow'rs,
Shall bid the howl hoot, and the bittern scream;
And on her pensile groves and pleasant shades
Pour the deep waters of forgetfulness.
On that same night, when with a cry she fell,
(Like her own mighty idols dash'd to earth)
There was a strange eclipse, and long laments
Were lieard, and mutt'ring thunders o'er the tow'rs
Of the high palace, where his wassail loud
Balthazar kept, mocking the GOD of heaven, "
And flush'd with impious mirth; for Bel* had left
With sullen shriek his golden shrine, and sat.
With many a gloomy apparition girt,
NisROCK and Nebo chief, in the dim sphere
Of mooned Astoreth, whose orb now roU'd
* Assyrian Deities.
Il6 SPIRIT OF
Cyrus succeeds to the Empiic of Babylon.
In darkness: — They their earthly empire mourn'd;
(Meantime the host of Cyrus through the night
Silent advanc'd more nigh) and at that hour,
In the torch-blazing hall of revelry,
The fingers of a shadowy hand distinft
Came forth, and unknown figures mark'd the wall,
*' Searing the eye-balls" of the starting king:
*' Tyre is aveng'd; — Babel is fall'n, is fall'n.
"Bel and her gods are scatter'd!
Prince, to thee,
Call'd by the voice of God* to execute
His will on earth, and rais'd to Persia's throne,
Cyrus, all hearts pay homage. Touch'd with tints
Most clear, by the historian'sf magic art.
Thy features wear a gentleness and grace
Unlike the stern cold asped and the frown
Of the dark chiefs of yore, the gloomy clan
Of heroes, from humanity and love
Remov'd : In thee a sweeter charader
Appears— high dignity, unbending truth —
* " I have called upon Cyrus.' — Isaiah.
t Xenopl'.on's exijiiisite KvpHTTSH^eix,
DISCOVERY BY SEA.
His Ch.iracler — amuble, but impolitic —
Yet Nature ; not that lordly apathy
Which confidence and human sympathy
Represses, but a soul that bids all hearts
Smiling approach : We almost burn in thought
To kiss the hand that loos'd Panthea's chains,t
And bless him with a parent's, husband's tear.
Who stood a guardian angel in distress
To the unfriended, and the beautifial,
Consign'd a helpless slave. Thy portrait, touch'd
With tints of softest light, thus wins all hearts
To love thee ; but severer policy,
Cyrus, pronounces otherwise : She hears
No stir of commerce on the sullen marge
Of waters, that along thy empire's verge
Beat cheerless ; no proud moles arise; no ships,
Freighted with Indian wealth, glide o'er the main
From cape to cape. But on the desert sands
*Hurtles thy numerous host, seizing, in thought
Rapacious, the rich fields of Indostan,
t See the enchanting story of Panthca and Abradntes.
* Cyrus, instead of encouraging commerce, sent his armies to penetrate
into India i but they perished in the dcsi:r(.
118 SPIRIT OF
Opposed to the Charafter of Alexander.
As the poor savage fells the blooming tree
To gain its tempting fruit4 But woe the while !
For in the wilderness the noise is lost
Of all thy archers; — they have ceas'd; — the wind
Blows o'er them, and the voice of judgment cries,
*' So perish they 'u^ko grasp 'with avarice
*' Another's hlessed portion^ and disdain
" That interchange of mutual gwd, that cromons
** The slonu sure toil of covnnerce^
It was thine,
Immortal son of Macedon^ to hang
In the high fane of MARITIME renown
The fairest trophies of thy fame, and sliine
Then only like a god,* when thy great mind
Sway'd in its master council the deep tide
Of things, predestining the eventful roll
Of commerce, and uniting either woRLD,t
Europe and Asia, in thy vast design.
X Images from Montesquieu.
* Alexander assumed the charafter of a j;;od,
t Great design of Alexander, in making yEgyptthe emporium ofthcwcrld.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. HQ
The Conqueror of the East advances,
Now had he, in his terrible career,
Pass'd, like the angel of the hurricane,
Mid thunders and in darkness, o'er the plains
Of ravag'd Indostan ; and far advanc'd
To the bright kingdoms of the morn, beyond
Hydaspes, o'er Panjab; when on the banks
Of green Hyphasis, whitening, far and wide
O'er the rich level land, his murmuring camp§
Was spread. On high he bid the altars rise,l|
The awful records to succeeding years
Of his long march of glory, and to point
The spot, where, like the thunder, roU'd away,
His mighty army paus'd. Now eve came down—
The trumpet sounded to the setting sun.
That look'd from his illum'd pavilion calm
Upon the scene of arms, as if, all still
And lovely as his parting light, the world
Beneath him roll'd; nor clangors, nor deep groans,
Were heard, nor vid'ry's shouts, nor sighs, nor shrieks.
Were ever wafted from a bleeding land
\ The Macedonian! refused to proceed .
n Arse Alexandri, placid as the boundary of his conquest*.
320 SPIRIT OF
Towards the Sources of tlie Indus.
After the havoc of the conqu'ror's sword.
So calm die sun declin'd ; when from the woods
That shone to his last beam, a Brahmin old
Came forth. His streaming beard shone in the ray
That slanted o'er his feeble frame; his front
Was furrow'd. Tow'rd the farewel light he cast
A look of sorrow, then in silence bow'd
Before the conqu'ror of the world. At once
All, as in death, was still. The vidtor chief
Shiver'd, he knew not why ; the trumpet ceas'd
Its clangor, and the crimson streamer wav'd
TMo more in folds insulting to the Lord
Of the reposing world. The pallid front
Of the meek man smil'd for a moment calm,
Though dark and thronging thoughts still seem'd to sweU
His beating heart. — He paus'd — and then abrupt,
" Vi(5tor, avaunt!" he cry'd,
** Hence 1 and the banners of thy pride
" Bear TO the deep! Behold on high
" Yon range of mountains* mingl'd with the sky :
# The Indian Ciucasus, v here tht Ark rcstcdv— Sec Indian account
of tlie DcUce.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 121
A Brahmin declares his Fate.
" It is the place
*' Where the GREAT father of the human race
" Rested, when all the world and all its sounds
^* Ceas'd ; and the ocean that surrounds
" The earth, leap'd from its dark abode
*' Beneath the mountains, and enormous flow'd,
" The green earth deluging! List, soldier, listI
" And dread his might no mortal may resist;
" Great Brahma rested, hush'd in sleep,
" When Hayagraiva* came
" With mooned horns and eyes of flame,
" And bore the holy Vedasf to the deep.
*' Far from the sun's rejoicing ray,
" Beneath the huge abyss, the bary'd treasures lay.
" Then foam'd the billowy desert wide,
" And all that breath'd — they died,
" Sunk in the rolling waters : such the crime
*' And violence of earth. But He above,
" Great Vistnoo, mov'd with pitying love,
" Preserv'dthe pious king, whose ark sublime
* Hiyagraiva, the evilspiritoftlie ocean.
t The sacred vviUings of tlie Hiuiloos,
122 SPIRIT OF
Prophetic View
*' Floated, in safety borne :
** For his stupendous horn,
*' Blazing like gold, and many a rood
*' Extended o'er the dismal flood,
*' The precious freight sustain' d, till on the crest
" Of HiMAKEEL,* yon mountain high,
** That darkly mingles with the sky,
•'Where many a griffin roams, the hallow'd ark found rest."
** And Heav'n decrees that here
*' Shall cease thy slaught'ring spear.
** Enough we bleed, enough we weep,
" Hence, to the deep !
*' E'en now along the tide
" I see thy ships triumphant ride';
*' I see the world of trade emerge
*' From ocean's solitude! What fury fires
*' My breast? The flood, the flood retires,
** And owns its future sovereign. Urge
** Thy destin'd way; what countless pennants stream!
* Caucasus.
t Alluding to the astonisliment of Alexander's soldiers, wlien they first
wiinesjed tlie cffeib of the tide.
DISCOVERY BY SEA . 123
Of his Conquest of the Seas.
(" Or is it but the shadow of a dream f)
" E'en now old Indus hails
*' Thy daring prows in long array,
" That o'er the lone seas gliding,
" Around the sea-gods riding,
** Speed to Euphrates' shores their destin'd way.
" Fill high the bowl of mirth !
" From west to east the earth
*' Proclaims thee Lord; shall the blue main
" Confine thy reign?
** But tremble, tyrant; hark in many a ring,
" With language dread
" Above thy head,
" The dark AssoorsJ thy death-song sing •
" What mortal blow
*' Hath laid the mighty king of nations low?
" No hand: his own despair. § —
*' But shout, for the canvass shall swell to the air,
% Assoors, the evil genii of India.
^ Alluding to th: death of Alexander.
124 SPIRIT OP
Foundation of Alexandria.
" Thy ships explore
*' Unknown Persia's winding shore,
*• While the great dragon rolls his arms in vain.
" And see, uprising from the level main,
" A new and glorious city springs—
" Hither speed thy woven wings,
** That glance along the azure tide ;
" Asia and Europe own thy might ; —
" The willing seas of either world unite. —
" Thy name gives glory to the sands,
** And glitt'ring to the sky the mart of nations stands.'*
He spoke, and rush'd into the thickest wood.
With flashing eyes th' impatient monarch cry'd,
* Yes, bytheLvBiAN Ammon and the Gods
* Of Greece, thou bidst me on, the self-same traft
* My proud ambition pointed ; and for this
* I bade my city rise!* Let death betide,
* My name shall live in glory.'
* Alexander commenced tlie foundation of Alexandria before liis
<;?:pcdition to Indiai
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 125
At his word
The pines descend; the thronging masts aspire;
The novel sails swell beauteous o'er the curves
OflNDUs; to the moderators' songf
The oars keep time, while bold Nearchus guides
Aloft the gallies : On the foremost prow
The monarch from his golden gobletj pours
A full libation to the Gods, and calls
By name the mighty rivers, through whose course
He seeks the sea. To Lybian Ammon loud
The songs ascend; the trumpets ring; aloft
The streamers fly, while on the evening wave
Majestic to the main the fleet descends.
■j- Moderators were people stationed on the poop, to excite with songs
the marhimc ardor, wliile the oars kept time.
i From the historical account by Arrian.
END OF THE THIRI") BOOK.
NOTES
TO
THE THIRD BOOK.
NOTES
THE THIRD BOOK.
p. 119, I.. 6.
.... Hydaspes, Ifjc.
Alexander passed the Hydaspes, the first river
of the Panjab, (the most fertile part of India, so called
from its five rivers) during a hurricane, and in the
midst of thunder and lightning; on which account he
was considered as a supernatural being.
p, 119, L, 7.
.... Hyphasify ^c.
The most Eastern river of the Panjab: the Mace-
donians when they came to it, refused to proceed any
fartlier. Here Alexander ereded his monuments, called,
K
130 NOTES
in the ancient maps, Alexandri ara. The reader will
keep in mind the chief circumstance that gives an unity
to the poem — I mean the resting of the ark, supposed
to be upon the mountains of Caucasus, which extend
towards the sources of the Indus.
p. 121, L. 9.
Great Brahma rested, isfc.
The Indian Account of the Deluge.
" Near the close of the Calpa, (a period of duration
of astronomical origin, stated in the Syrya Siddhanta
as equal to a thousand maha yugs, or grand revolu-
tions) Brahma, fatigued with the care of so many
worlds, fell into a profound slumber. During this
slumber of the Creator, the strong daemon, or giant
Hayagraiva, came near him, and stole the Vedas ; those
four sacred volumes which originally flowed from the
lips of the quadruple deity. With this inestimable
treasure he retired into the deep and secret bosom of
the ocean, &c. Deprived of che vigilant care of Brah-
ma, the world fell into disorder; no longer guided by
the light of the sacred books, the human race became to
the last degree corrupt. They were all consequently
TO THE THIRD BOOK. 131
destroyed in a VAST DELUGE, except a pious king
and his family,which consisted of SEVEN persons, who
floated on thenvaters in a vessel fabricated according to
the express direftion of Vistnu. For this pious monarch,
one day performing his devotions on the sea-shore,
was forewarned of the approacliing calamity by that
preserving deity; and having prepared a vessel as com-
manded, at the appointed time Veeshnu appeared
again in the form of a fish, blazing like gold, and
extending a million of leagues, with one stupendous
horn, to which the king fastened the vessel, by a cable
composed of a vast serpent, and was thus towed in
safety along the surface of the raging elements. When
the waters abated, he and his companions were safely
again landed."
Maurice* s Indian Antiquities ■, vol. ii. p. 276.
p. 132, L. 17.
Thefioodi thefiood retires^ tffc.
Alluding to the astonishment of the soldiers of Alex-
ander, when they first saw the eflFedts of the tide.
*' Being come nearer to the sea, a circumstance, new
and unheard of by the Macedonians, threw them into
132
the utmost confusion, and exposed the fleet to the
greatest danger; and this was the ebbing and flowing
of the ocean. Forming a judgment of this vast sea
from that of the Mediterranean, the only one they
knew, and whose ebbings are imperceptible, they were
astonished when they saw it rise to a great height, and
overflow the country; and considered it a mark of the
anger of the gods, to punish their rashness."
p. 123, L. 5,
Around the sea-gods riding.
This refers to the appearance of the vast inhabitants
of the deep, that sported round the vessel, and asto-
nished the sailors of Nearchus on their voyage. As
the circumstance is romantic, I give it from Clark's
Abstract of Nearchus' Voyage, taken from Dr. Vin-
cent's learned dissertation.
" Nearchus says, that the morning he was ofFKyiza,
rhey were surprised by observing the sea thrown up
to a great height in the air, as if it were carried by a
whirlwind. The people enquired the cause, and were
informed it was owing to the blowing of whales. This
report by no means quieted them; the oars droptfrom
TO THE THIRD BOOK. ]33
their hands. Nearchus encouraged them, and pointed
the heads of the vessels to the creatures, ordering his
sailors to attack them, as they would an enemy, if they
approached. The fleet formed as if going to engage;
when shouting all together, as loud as they could,
Alalay or the cry of war, and dashing the water with
their oars, the trumpets sounding at the same time,
they saw the enemy give way, for the monsters sunk
a-head before the vessels, and rose again astern, where
they continued blowing, without exciting farther alarm."
p. 123, L. 14.
AssQors thy death-song sing.
Assoors are the evil genii of India. After his Indian
expedition, Alexander became superstitious and sub-
je(5t to melancholy, which continued to his death.
L. 125, L, 9.
Attd calls by name the mighty river s^ ^c.
This is copied from the historical account. — "Taking
his station conspicuously on the prow of the ship, the
king then poured libations from a golden goblet, and
solemnly invoked the great rivers, the Hydaspes, the
134 NOTES TO THE THIRD BOOK.
Acesinas, and the Sinde, down whose stream he was
to descend to the ocean. Hercules also, and Jupiter
Ammon, he endeavoured to render propitious by
renewed sacrifice. Immediately, all the trumpets
sounding by signal, the fleet unmoored, and under the
guidance of that experienced mariner, who undertook
their construflion, glided leisurely and majestically
down the tranquiiized current." — Arrian.
END OF NOTES TO THE THIRD BOOK.
BOOK THE FOURTH.
SPIRIT
DISCOVERY BY SEA.
Triumph of Coiiirhercc.
oTAND on the gleaming Pharos,* and aloud
Shout, Commerce, to the kingdoms of the earth;
Shout, for thy golden portals arc set wide,
And all thy streamers o'er the surge, aloft,
In pomp triumphant wave. The weary way
That pale Nearchusf pass'd, from creek to creek
Advancing slow, no longer bounds the track
Of the advent'rous mariner, who steers
Steady, with eye intent upon the stars.
To Elam's echoing port: Meantime more high
* Tlic Pharos was not erecled by Alexander, but Alexandria is here
scp;)Osed to be finished.
t So called, because he was emaciated by his toils.
138 SPIRIT OF
Alexandria comp'ete.
Aspiring, o'er the Western main her tow'rs
The Imperial city lifts, the central mart
Of nations, and beneath the calm clear sky
At distance, from the palmy marge displays
Her clust'ring columns whitening to the morn.
•Damascus' fleece, Golconda's gems, are there.
Murmurs the haven with one ceaseless hum —
The hurrying camel's bell, the driver's song,
Along the sands resound. Tyre, art thou fall'n ?
A PROUDER CITY crowns the inland sea,
Rais'd by his hand who smote thee ; as if thus,
His mighty mind were sway'd, to recompense
The evil of his march through cities storm'd.
And regions wet with blood! and still had flow'd
The tide of commerce through the destin'd tracly,
Trac'd by his mind sagacious, who survey'd
The world he conquer'd with a sage's eye,
As WITH A soldier's SPIRIT; BUT A SCENE
More awful opens! — ancient world, adieu!
Adieu, cloud-piercing pillars,* erst its bounds,
And thou, whose aged head once seem'd to prop
The Heav'ns, huge Atlas, sinking fast, adieu!
* Pillars of Hercules.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 139
Spirit of Enterprise leaves the Mediterranean.
What though the seas with wilder fury rave,
Through their deserted reahn ; though the dread Cape,*
Sole-frowning o'er the war of waves below,
That bar the seaman's search, horrid in air
Appear with giant amplitude; his head
Shrouded in clouds, the tempest at his feet,
And standing thus terrific, seem to say,
Incens'd, *' Approach who dare!" What tho' the fears
Of superstition people the vext space
With spirits unblest, that lamentations make
To the sad surge beyond — yet enterprise,
Not now a darkling Cyclop on the sands
Striding, but led by science, andadvanc'd
To a more awful height, on the wide scene
Looks down commanding.
Does a shuddering thought
Of danger start, as the tumultuous sea
Tosses below? Calm Science, with a smile.
Displays the wond'rous index,§ that still points.
With nice vibration trem'lous, to the Pole.
* Capt EojaUor. « Mariner's Cotnpasj.
140 SPIRIT OF
Magnet.
" And such, she whispers, is the just man's hope
" In this tempestuous scene of human things,
" Ev'n as the constant needle to the North
" Still points, so piety and meek-ey'd faith
" Direft, though trembling oft, their constant gaze
" Heaven-ward, as to their lasting home, nor fear
" The night, fast-closing on their earthly way.
" And guided by this index, thou shall pass
'* The WORLD OF SEAS SECURE. Far from all land,'
" Wiiere not a sea-bird wanders i where nor star,
" Nor moon appears, nor the bright noon-day sun,
" Safe in the wild'ring storm, as when the breeze
" Of summer gently blows; through day, through night,^
" Where sink the well-known stars, and others rise
*♦ Slow from the South, the victok. bark shall ride."
Henry, tliy ardent mind first pierc'd the gloom
Of dark disastrous ignorance, that sat
Upon the Southern wave, like the deep cloud
Tliat lower'd upon the woody skirts, and veil'd
From mortiil search, with umbrage ominous,
Madeira's unknown isle. But look the morn
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 141
Henry of Portugal.
Is kindl'd on the shadowy offing; streaks
Of clear cold light on Sagres' battlements
Are cast, where Henry watches, list'ning still
To the unweary'd surge ; and turning still
His anxious eyes to the horison's bounds.
A sail appears — It swells, it shines : more high
Seen through the dusk it looms ; and now the hull
Is black upon the surge, whilst she rolls on
Aloft — the weather-beaten ship — and now
Streams by the watch-tow'r !
" Zarco, from the deep
« What tidings?"
* The loud storm of night prevail'd,
* And swept our vessel from Bojador's rocks
* Far out to sea; a sylvan islef receiv'd
* Our sails, so will'd the Almighty— He who speaks,
* And all the waves are still!'
"Hail," Henry cry'd,
** The omen : we have burst the sole barrier —
+ Porto SAnto.
]42 SPIRIT OF
First Appearance of Madeira.
*' Prosper our wishes, Father of the world —
" We speed to Asia."
Soon upon the deep
The brave ship rolls again. — Bojador's rocks
Arise at distance, frowning o'er the surf —
That boils for many a league without. Its course
The vessel keeps ; till lo the beauteous isle,
That shielded late the sufF'rers from the storm,
Springs o'er the wave again. Here they refresh
Their wasted strength, and lift their vows to Heav'n.
But Heav'n denies their farther search; for ah.
What fearful apparition, pall'd in clouds,
For ever sits upon the western wave.
Like night, and in its strange portentous gloom
Wrapping the lonely waters, seems the bounds
Of Nature ? Still it sits, day after day.
The same mysterious vision. Holy saints,
Is it the dread abyss where all things cease ?
Or haply hid from mortal search, thy isle
Cipango, and that unapproached seat
Of peace, where rest the Christians whom the hate
Of Moorish pride pursu'd. Whate'er it be,
Zarco, thy holy courage bids thee on.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 143
Madeira discovered.
To burst the gloom, though dragons guard the shore,t
Or beings more than mortal pace the sands.
The fav'ring gales invite; the bowsprit bears
Right onward to the fearful shade ; more black
The cloudy spe6tretow'rs; already fear
Shrinks at the view aghast and breathless. Hark!
'Twas more than the deep murmur of the surge
That struck the ear ; while through the lurid gloom
Gigantic phantoms seem to lift in air
Their misty arms; — yet, yet — bear boldly on —
The mist dissolves, — seen through the parting haze.
Romantic rocks, like the depi(5tur'd clouds,
Shine out; beneath a blooming wilderness
Of vary 'd wood is spread, that scents the air;
Where fruits of" golden rind," thick interpos'd
And pendent, through the mantling umbrage gleam
Inviting : Cypress here, and stateliest pine,
f I have called the three islands of Madeiras the Hesperides, who, in
ancient mythology, are the three daughters of AtU* ; as I consider the
oranKc-trees and mysterious shade, wifh the rocks discerned through it
on a nearer approach, to be the best solution of the fable of the ^oldea
fruit, the dragon, and the three dauglitcrs of Atlas,
144 SPIRIT OF
Description.
Spire o'er the nether shades, as emulous
Of sole distinflion were all nature smiles.
Some trees, in sunny glades alone, their head
And graceful stem uplifting, mark below
The turf with shadow, whilst in rich festoons
The flow'ry lianes braid their boughs; meantime
Choirs of innumerous birds of liveliest song
And radiant plumage, flitting through the shades,
With nimble glance are seen ; they, unalarm'd,
Now near in airy circles sing, then speed
Their random flight back to their shelt'ring bow'rs.
Whose silence, broken only by their song.
From the foundation of this busy world.
Perhaps had never echo'd to the voice.
Or heard the steps, of Man. What rapture fir'd
The strangers' bosoms, as from glade to glade
They pass'd, admiring all, and gazing still
With new delight. But solitude is round.
Deep solitude, that on the gloom of woods
Primaeval fearful hangs : a green recess.
Now opens in the wilderness ; gay flow'rs
Of unknown name purple the yielding sward ;
The ring-dove murmurs o'er their head, like one
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 145
Tomb of Anna D' Arfet.
Attesting tenderest joy; but mark the trees,
Where, slanting through the gloom, the sunshine rests,—
Beneath, a moss-grown monument appears,
O'er which the green banana gently waves
Its long leaf; and an aged cypress near
Leans, as if list'ning to the streamlet's sound,
That gushes from the adverse bank ; but pause —
Approach with reverence! Maker of the world.
There is a Christian's cross ! and on the stone
A NAME, yet legible amid its moss, —
«* Anna."
In that remote and sever'd spot,
Shut as it seem'd from all the world, and lost
In boundless seas, to trace a name, to mark
The emblems of their holy faith, from all
Drew tears! while ev'ry voice faintly pronounc'd
"Anna!" But thou, lov'd harp, whose strings have rung
To louder tones, oh! let my hand, awhile.
The wires more softly touch, whilst I rehearse
Her name and fate, who in this desert deep.
Far from the world, from friends, and kindred, found
Her long and last abode, there where no eye
L
14b SPIRIT OF
Storv of M.icl'.in.
Might shed a tear on her remains; no heart
Sigh in remembrance of her fate :
She left
The Severn's side, and fled with him she lov'd
O'er the wide main; for he had told her tales
Of happiness in distant lands, where care
Comes not, and pointing to the golden clouds
That shorto above the waves, when ev'ning came,
Whisper'd, " O are there not sweet scenes of peace,
" Far from the murmurs of this cloudy mart,
" Where gold alone bears sway, scenes of delight,
" Where Love may lay his head upon the lap
" Of innocence, and smile at all the toil
*' Of the low-thoughted throng, that place in wealth
" Their only bliss ? Yes, there are scenes like these. —
*' Leave the vain chidings of the world behind,
*' Country, and hollow friends, and fly with me
*' Where love and peace in distant vales invite.
*' What would'st thou here? O shall thy beauteous look
*' Of maiden innocence, thy smile of youth, thine eyes
" Of tenderness and soft subdu'd desire,
" Thy form, thy limbs— oh, madness!— be the prey
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 147
Story continued.
*' Of a decrepid spoiler, and for gold ? —
** Perish his treasure with him. Haste with me,
" We shall find out some sylvan nook, and then
" If thou shouldst sometimes think upon these hills,
" When they are distant far, and drop a tear,
" Yes — I will kiss it from thy cheek, and clasp
" Thy angel beauties closer to my breast,
" And while the winds blow o'er us, and the sua
*' Goes beautifully down, and thy soft cheek
" Reclines on mine, I will infold thee thus,
" And proudly cry, my friend — my love — my wife!"
So tempted he, and soon her heart approv'd,
Nay woo'd, the blissful dream ; and oft at eve,
When the moon shone upon the wand'ring stream,
She pac'd the castle's battlements, that threw
Beneath their solemn shadow, and, resign'd
To fancy and to tears, thought it most sweet.
To wander o'er the world with him she lov'd.
Nor was his birth ignoble, for he shone
Mid England's gallant youth in Edward's reign—
With countenance ereft, and honest eye
Commanding, (yet suffus'd in tenderness
14S SPIRIT OP
Story continued.
At times) and smiles that like the lightning play'd
On his brown cheek, — so gently stern he stood,
Accomplish'd, gen'rous, gentle, brave, sincere, —
Robert A Machin. But the sullen pride
Of haughty D'Arfet scorn'd all other claim
To his high heritage, save what the pomp
Of amplest wealth, and loftier lineage gave.*
Reckless of human tenderness, that seeks
One lov'd, one honour'd objedt, wealth alone
He worshipp'd; and for this he could consign
His only child, his aged hope, to loath'd
Embraces, and a life of tears! Nor here
His hard ambition ended ; for he sought.
By secret whispers of conspiracies.
His sovereign to abuse, bidding him lift
His arm avenging, and upon a youth
Of promise close the dark forgotten gates
Of living sepulture, and in the gloom
Inhume the slowly- wasting vid:im. —
* Machin was of the third order of nobility.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 14^
Story continued.
So
He purpos'd, but in vain : the ardent youth
Rescu'd her — her whom more than life he lov'd,
■ E'en when the horrid day of sacrifice
Drew nigh. He pointed to the distant bark,
And while he kiss'd a stealing tear that fell
On her pale cheek, as trusting she reclin'd
Her head upon his breast, with ardour cry'd,
** Be mlnet he only vi'ine; the hour invites;
*' Be mine, be only mine." So won, she cast
A look of last aft'e(5tion on the towers
Where she had pass'd her infant days, that now
Shone to the setting sun — ' Ifolloix) thee^
Her faint voice said ; and lo ! where in the air
A sail hangs tremulous, and soon her steps
Ascend the vessel's side ; The vessel glides
Down the smooth current, as the twilight fades,
Till soon the woods of Severn, and the spot
Where D'Arfet's solitary turrets rose,
Is lost — a tear starts to her eye — she thinks
Of him whose grey head to the earth shall bend.
When he speaks nothing — but be all, like death,
Forgotten. Gently blows the placid breeze.
150 SPIRIT OF
Storv continued.
And oh ! that now some fiiiry pinnace light
Might flit along the wave, (by no seen pow'r
Dire(5led, save wlien I>ove* upon the prow
Gather'd or spread with tender hand the sail)
That now some fairy pinnace, o'er the surge
Silent, as in a summer's dream, might waft
The passengers upon the conscious flood
To regions of undisturbed joy.
But hark!
The wind is in the shrouds — the cordage sings
With fitful violence — the blast now swells,
Now sinks. Dread gloom invests the farther wave.
Whose foaming toss alone is seen, beneath
The veering bowsprit.
O retire to rest,
Maiden, whose tender heart would beat, whose cheek
Turn pale to see another thus expos'd : —
Hark ! the deep thunder louder peals — O save —
* Image t.iken from Ovid's Sappho to Phaoi>.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 151
Story continueil.
The high mast crashes; but the faithful arm
Of love is o'er thee, and thy anxious eye,
Soon as the grey of morning peeps, shall view
Green Erin's hills aspiring!
The sad morn
Comes forth; but Terror on the sunless wave
Still, like a sea-fiend, sits, and darkly smiles
Beneath the flash that through the struggling clouds
Bursts frequent, half revealing his scath'd front.
Above the rocking of the waste that rolls
Boundless around: —
No word through the long day
She spoke: — Another slowly came:— No word
The beauteous drooping mourner spoke. The sun
Twelve times had sunk beneath the sullen surge.
And cheerless rose again : — Ah where are now
Thy havens, France ? But yet — resign not yet —
Ye lost sea-farers — oh, resign not yet
All hope — the storm is pass'd; the drenched sail
Shines in the passing beam! Look up, and say,
"IIeav'n, thou hast heard our praylrs!"
152 SPIRIT OF
Story continued.
And lo, scarce seen,
A distant dusky spot appears; — they reach
An unknown shore, and green and flow'ry vales,
And azure hills, and silver-gushing streams,
Shine forth, a Paradise, which Heav'n alone
Who saw the silent anguish of despair.
Could raise in the waste wilderness of waves. —
They gain the haven — through untrodden scenes,
Perhaps untrodden by the foot of man
Since first the earth arose, they wind: The voice
Of Nature hails them here with music, sweet,
As waving woods retir'd, or falling streams.
Can make; most soothing to the weary heart,
Doubly to those who, struggling with their fate.
And weary'd long with watchings and with grief.
Sought but a place of safety. All things here
Whisper repose and peace; the very birds
That mid the golden fruitage glance their plumes,
The songsters of the lonely valley, sing
" Welcome from scenes of sorrow, live with us." —
The wild wood opens, and a shady glen
Appears, embow'r'd with mantling laurels high.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 153
Story continued.
That sloping shade the flow'ry valley's side;
A lucid stream, with gentle murmur, strays
Beneath th' umbrageous multitude of leaves,
Till gaining, with soft lapse, the nether plain,
It glances light along its yellow bed; —
The shaggy inmates of the forest lick
The feet of their new guests, and gazing stand. —
A beauteous tree upshoots amid the glade
Its trembling top; and there upon the bank.
They rest them, while the heart o'erflows with joy.
Now evening, breathing richer odours sweet,
Came down : a softer sound the circling seas,
The ancient woods resounded, while the dove,
Her murmurs interposing, tenderness
Awak'd, yet more endearing, in the hearts
Of those v/ho, sever'd far from human kind.
Woman and man, by vows sincere betroth'd,
Heard but the voice of Nature. The still moon
Arose — they saw it not — cheek was to cheek
Inclin'd, and unawares a stealing tear
Witness'd how blissful was that hour, that seem'd
Not of the hours that time could count. A kiss
154 SPIRIT or
story contihui-d.
Stole on the list'ning silence; never yet
Here heard: they trembl'd, e'en as if the Pow'r
That made the world, that planted the first pair
In Paradise, amid the garden walk'd, —
This since the fairest garden that the world
Has witness'd, by the fabling sons of Greece
Hesperian nam'd, who feign'dthe watchful guard
Of the scal'd Dragon, and the Golden Fruit.
Such was this sylvan Paradise ; and here
The loveliest pair, from a hard world remote,
Upon each other's neck reclin'd ; their breath
Alone was heard, when the dove ceas'd on high
Her plaint; and tenderly their faithful arms
Infolded each the other.
Thou, dim cloud,
That from the search of men these beauteous vale«
Hast clos'd, oh doubly veil them. But alas,
How short the dream of human transport! Here,
In vain they built the leafy bow'r of love.
Or cull'd the sweetest flow'rs and fairest fruit.
The hours unheeded stole ! but ah ; not long-
Again the hollow tempest of the night
DISCOVERY BY SEA . J55
Story continued.
Sounds through the leaves; the inmost woods resound j.
Slow comes the dawn, but neither sliip nor sail
Along the rocking of the windy waste
Is seen: the dash of the dark-heaving wave
Alone is heard. Start from your bed of bliss,
Poor viflims, never more shall ye behold
Your native vales again ; and thou, sweet child.
Who, list'ning to the voice of love, hast left
Thy friends, thy country, — oh may the wan hue
Of pining memory, the sunk cheek, the eye
Where tenderness yet dwells, atone, (if love
Atonement need, by cruelty and wrong
Beset) atone e'en now thy rash resolves.
Ah, fruitless hope! Day after day thy bloom
Fades, and the tender lustre of thy eye
Is dimm'd; thy form, amid creation, seems
The only drooping thing.
Thy look was soft.
And yet most animated, and thy step
Light as the roe's upon the mountains. Now,
Thou sittest hopeless, pale, beneath the tree
That fann'd its joyous leaves above thy head,
156 SPIRIT OP
Story continued.
Where love had deck'd the blooming bow'r, and strew'd
The sweets of summer: Death is on thy cheek.
And thy chill hand the pressure scarce returns
Of him, who, agoniz'd and hopeless, hangs
With tears and trembling o'er thee. Spare the sight, —
She faints — she dies : —
He laid her in the earth.
Himself scarce living, and upon her tomb
Beneath the beauteous tree where they reclin'd,
Plac'd the last tribute of his earthly love.
INSCRIPTION.
ANNA D'ARFET.
I.
" O'ER my poor Anna's lowly grave
" No dirge shall sound, no knell shall ring,
*' But Angels, as the high pines wave,
** Their half-heard * miserere' sing!
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 15^
Storv continued.
II*
** No flow'rs of transient bloom at eve
** The maidens on the turf shall strew;
** Nor sigh, as the sad spot they leave,
"Sweets to the sweet! a long adieu!"
III.
" But in this wilderness profound,
** O'er her the dove shall build her nest,
" And ocean swell with softer sound
" A REQUIEM to her dreams of rest I
IV.
*' Ah ! when shall I as quiet be,
" When not a friend, or human eye,
** Shall mark beneath the mossy tree
" The spot where we forgotten lie.
V.
" To kiss her name on the cold stone,
" Is all that now on earth I crave ;
" For in this world I am alone —
" Oh lay me with her in the grave."
" Robert a Machin, 1344. — Miserere mhis, DomineP
158 SPIRIT OP
story continued.
He plac'd the rude inscription on her stone,
Which he with falt'ring hands had grav'd, and soon
Himself beside it sunk — yet ere he died,
Faintly he spoke: " If ever ye shall hear,
" Companions of my few and evil days,
" Again the convent's vesper bells, O think
*' Of me; and if in after-times the search
*' Of men should reach this far removed spot,
*' Let sad remembrance raise an humble shrine,
** And virgin choirs chaunt duly o'er our grave —
" Peace, Peace." His arm upon the mournful stone
He dropp'd — his eyes, ere yet in death they clos'd,
Turn'd to the name, till he could see no more
*' Anna." His pale survivors, earth to earth,
Weeping consign'd his poor remains, and plac'd
Beneath the sod where all he lov'd was laid.
Then shaping a rude vessel from the woods.
They sought their country o'er the waves, and left
The scenes again to deepest solitude.
The beauteous Poncianat hung its head
O'er the grey stone; but never human eye
I Ponciana pulclierrima, the most beautiful plant, a native of Madeira.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 159
Wider Views of Discovery.
Had mark'd the spot, or gaz'd upon the grave
Of the unfortunate, but for the voice
Of Enterprise, that spoke, from Sagre's tow'rs,
" Through ocean's perils, storms, and unknown wastes,
" Speed we to Asia!"
Here, Discovery, pause, —
Then from the tomb of him who first was cast
Upon this Heav'n-appointed isle, thy gaze
Uplift, and far beyond the Cape of Storms
Pursue Da Gama's traft: Mark the rich shores
Of Ma,dagascar, till the purple East
Shines in luxuriant beauty wide disclos'd.
But cease thy song, presumptuous muse, a bard*
In tones, whose patriot sound shall never die.
Has struck his deep shell, and the glorious theme
Recorded.
Say what lofty meed awaits
The triumph of his vidtor conch, that swells
Its music on the yellow Tagus' side.
As when Arion with his glitt'ring harp
l60 SPIRIT OF
And golden hair, scarce sully'dfrom the main.
Bids all the high rocks listen to his voice
Again. Alas, I see an aged form.
An old man worn by penury, his hair
Blown white upon his haggard cheek, his hand
Emaciated, yet the strings with thrilling touch
Soliciting; but the vain crouds pass by —
His very countrymen, whose fame his song
Has rais'd to Heav'n, in stately apathy
Wrapt up, and nurs'd in pride's fastidious lap.
Regard not. As he plays, a sable man
Looks up, but fears to speak, and when the song
Is ceas'd, kisses his master's feeble hand.
Is that cold wasted hand, that haggard look,
Thine, Camoens! O shame upon the world!
And is there none, none to sustain thee found.
But he, himself unfriended, who so far
Has follow'd, sever'd from his native isles,
To scenes of gorgeous cities, o'er the sea,
Thee and thy broken fortunes.
God of worlds!
O whilst I hail the triumph and high boast
DISCOVERY BY SEA. l6l
Camoens' slave, Antonio.— Columbus.
Of social life, let me not wrong the sense
Of kindness, planted in the human heart
By man's great Maker, therefore I record
Antonio's faithful, gentle, generous love
To his heart-broken master, that might teach,
High as it bears itself, a polish'd world
More charity.
Look Westward, Spirit,* now,—
Columbus' toiling ship is on the deep,
Stemming the mid Atlantic: Waste and wild
The view! On the same sunshine o'er the waves
The murm'ring mariners, with languid eye,
E'en till the heart is sick, gaze day by day!
At midnight in the wind sad voices sound!
When the slow morning o'er the offing dawns.
Heartless they view the same drear wastefulness
Of seas: and when the sun again goes down
Silent, Hope dies within them, and they think
Of parting friendship's last despairing look!
* Spirit of Discovery.
M
l62 SPIRIT OF
Variation of the Needle.
See too, dread prodigy, the needle veers
Its trembling point — will Heav'n forsake them too?
But left thy sunk eye, and thy bloodless look,
Despondence. Milder airs at morning breathe : —
Below the slowly-parting prow the sea
Is dark with weeds; and birds of land are seen
To wing the desert tradt, as hasting on
To the green vallies of their distant home.
Yet morn succeeds to morn — and nought around
Is dark, but waves, and the wide hollowness
Of hcav'n's high arch streak'd with the early clouds.
Watchman, what from the giddy mast?
A shade
Appears on the horiscn's hazy line.
" Land — Land!" aloud' is echo'd; but the spot
Fades as the shouting crew delighted gaze —
It fades — and there is nothing — nothing now
Bat the blue sky, and clouds, and surging seas.
As one, who in the desert, faint with thirst,
Upon the trackless and forsaken sands
Sinks dying; him the burning haze deceives.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. iGS
Light discovered on Shore.
As mocking his last torments, while it seems
To his distemper'd vision, like th' expanse
Of lucid waters cool: So falsely smiles
Th' illusive land, upon the water's edge.
To the long-straining eye, shewing what seems
Its headlands and its distant trending shores; —
But all is false, and like the pensive dream
Of poor imagination, mid the waves
Of troubl'd life, deck'd with unreal hues.
And ending soon in emptiness and tears.
'Tis midnight, and the thoughtful chief, retir'd
From the vex'd crowd, in his still cabin hears
The surge that rolls below; he lifts his eyes,
And casts a silent anxious look without.
" It is a light — great GOD — it is a light!
" It moves upon the shore! — ^Land — there is Land!"
He spoke in secret, and a tear of joy
Stole down his che«k, when on his knees he fell;
Thou, who hast been his guardian in wastes
l64 SPIRIT OF
America. — Refleilions
Of the hoar deep, accept his tears, his pray'rs ;
While thus he fondly hopes the purer light
Of thy GREAT TRUTHS oti the benighted world
Shall beam.
The ling'ring night is past — the sun
Shines out, while now the red-cross streamers wave
High up the gently-surging bay : From all
Shouts, songs, and rapturous thanksgiving loud.
Burst forth; "Another world," entranc'd they cry,
" Another living world!" Awe-struck and mute
The gazing natives stand, and drop their spears,
In homage to the Gods!
So from the deep
They hail emerging — sight more awful far
Than ever yet the wond'ring voyager
Greeted, — the prospecft of a new-found world,
Now from the night of dark uncertainty
At once reveal'd in living light!
How beats
«
The heart! What thronging thoughts awake! Whence
sprung
DISCOVERY BY SEA. l65
Wider Views of Discovery.
The roaming nations? From that ancient race
That peopl'd Asia — Noah's sons? How, then,
Pass'd they the long and lone expanse between
Of stormy ocean, from the elder earth
Cut off, and lost, for unknown ages, lost
In the vast deep ? But whilst the awful view
Stands in thy sight reveal'd, Spirit, awake
To PROUDER energies! E'en now, in thought,
I see thee op'ning bold Magellan's traift!*
The straits are pass'd! Thou, as the seas expand,
Pausest a moment, when beneath thine eye
Blue, vast, and rocking, through its boundless rule,
The long Pacific stretches. Nor here cease
Thy search, but with De QuiROsf to the South
Still urge thy way, if yet some continent
* Magellan's ship first circumnavigated the globe, passing through the
straights, called by his name, into the South-Sea, and proceeding West to
the East-Indies. He himself, like our revered Cooke, perished in the
enterprise.
+ De Quiros first discovered the New Hebrides, in the SouthSea ; after-
wards explored by Cooke, who btars testimony to the accur.acy of De
Quiron. These L>l.inds were supposed part of a jircat continent stretching
to the South pole, called Terra jiuslralis incognita.
l66 SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY BY SEA.
Drake's «hip.
Stretch to its dusky pole, wiih nations spread,
Forests, and hills, and streams.
So be thy search
With ampler views rewarded, till, at length,
Lo the round world is compass'd! Then return
Back to the bosom of the tranquil Thames,
And hail Britannia's viflor ship,* that now
From many a storm restor'd, winds its slow way
Silently up the current, and so finds,
Like to a time-worn pilgrim of the world.
Rest, in that haven where all tempests cease.
♦ Drake's ship, in wliicli lie sailed round the world ; she was laid up at
Deptford — Hence Ben Johnson, in E'very Man in hit Humour, " O Coz, it
cannot be altLr:d, go not about it ; Drake's old ship at Deptford may sooner
circle the world again."
END OF THE FOURTH BOOK.
NOTES
THE FOURTH BOOK.
NOTES
THE FOURTH BOOK.
p. 137, L. I.
Stand on the glea??iing Pharos, ^c.
J/ HE magnificent and beautiful Pharos, of white mar-
ble, esteemed one of the wonders of the world, was
eredted by Ptolomy Philadelphus, who carried into
execution Alexander's original design.
p. 137, L. 6.
Pa/e NearchuSf i^c.
So called, because, after his maritime expedition from
the Indus to Euphrates, Nearchus was so worn down
by fatigue and anxiety, that he was not known by the
soldiers whom Alexander sent to meet him.
170
p. 138, L. 14.
And still had commerce Jlo^^d, ^c.
During the existence of the Grecian empire, and
amidst all its revolutions, through a period of eight-
een hundred years, to the discovery of the Cape
of Good Hope, a commerce, particularly that of the
East-Indies, flowed through the channel which had
been traced by the sagacity and foresight of Alex-
ander. — Robertson.
p. 140, L. I.
The nvondrous magnet, Iffc.
The following is a sketch or summary of ' Church-
man's History and Theory of the Magnet;* for which
I am indebted to my valued friend L. Hudleston,
esq; of Shaftesbury :
*' The attraSlive quality of the loadstone was known
to Orpheus, Homer, Plato, Pythagoras, Pliny, &c. but
not its polarity. Du Val says, in his general History
of China, that the magnetic needle (and of course its
polarity) was known there 1040 years before Christ.
Guyot de Provens, a French writer, about the year
1 1 80, speaks of the loadstone ^xiA compass as ti.en used
TO THE FOURTH BOOK. 1/1
in navigation ; although Dr. Gilbert ascribes the in-
troduction of the invention from China into Italy to
Marco Paulo, a Venetian, about the year 1260.
*' When first discovered, the needle was supposed to
point due North, till Columbus observed its variation
from that point in the year 1492.
" Dr. Halley's opinion at first was, that the whole
earth was one great magnet, having four magnetic
poles, or points of attradion ; two of which coincided
nearly with the North and South poles of the globe ;
and that in parts of the world adjacent to any one of
the four poles, the needle is chiefly governed thereby,
the nearer predominating over the more remote. But
after making observations during two voyages under-
taken for the purpose, in the year 1699, he adopted
another hypothesis, viz. The external part of the earth
is a shell, including a nucleus, or inner globe, (with a
fluid medium between) which turns on its axis like
our earth, though not exadly in the same time. He
also supposes, that the7z.\v.^ poles are those of the earth ;
and that the other two are the poles of the nucleus, the
motion of which he supposes to be Westward.
iy2 NOTES
** Churchman's theory is, that there are only two mag-
netic poles; that they are not diametrically opposite
to each other, and that the Northern moves faster, and
the Southern slower, than the earth ; so that the ap-
parent motion of the former is from West to East, and
that of the latter the reverse. He also concludes, that
there is a relation between the Aurora Borealis and the
magnetic poles; for when the Northern magnetic pole
was last on the same side of the earth with England, the
phaenomenon of the Aurora Borealis was very frequent
tliere for many years. He also conceives that the oc-
casional encroachment of the sea on divers part of the
earth, and its receding again within its former bounds,
are regulated by the periodical revolutions of the mag-
netic poles.
*• He concludes, by calculating from a knoiun change
of the variation of the needle in a certain number oj
years, that the periodical revolution of the Northern
magnetic pole round the North pole of the earth is per-
formed in about 1096 years, that of the Southern in
about 2289 years,"
TO THE FOURTH BOOK. 173
P. 141, L. II.
ZarcOi from the deepy iffc.
John Gonzalez Zarco, with Tristan Vaz, both gen-
tlemen of Prince Henry's houshold, were employed
by him to condudl the enterprise of discovery along
the Western coast of Africa. They were instructed
to double Cape Bojador, and then to steer towards the
South. " They, according to the mode of naviga-
tion which then prevailed, held their course along the
shore ; and by following that diredlion they must have
encountered almost insuperable difficulties in attempt-
ing to pass Cape Bojador; but fortune came in aid to
their want of skill, and prevented the voyage from
being altogether fruitless. A sudden squall of wind
arose, drove them out to sea, and when they expedted
every moment to perish, landed them on an unknown
island, which, from their happy escape, they named
Porto-Santo. In the infancy of navigation the dis-
covery of this small island appeared a matter of such
moment, that they instantly returned to Portugal with
the good tidings, and were received by Henry with
the applause and honour due to fortunate adventurers.
This faint dawn of success filled a mind, ardent in the
174 NOTES
pursuit of a favourite objedt, with such sanguine hopes,
as were encouragement to proceed. Next year Henry
sent out three ships, under the same commanders, to
whom he joined Bartholomew Perestretto, in order to
take possession of the island which they had discovered.
When they began to settle in Porto-Santo, they ob-
served towards the South a fixed spot in the horizon,
like a small black cloud; by degrees they were led to
conjedure it might be land, and steering towards it
they arrived at a considerable island, uninhabited, and
covered with wood, which, on that account, they
called Madeira."
p. 143- L. 5-
The cloudy speflre tonv'rs, £fff.
RespecSting the darkness, the interesting account
from Alcaforado, in Astley's Colle(5tion of Voyages, is
as follows: — " Gonzalvo, in his way, touched at Porto-
Santo, where there went a current report among the
Portuguese, (left there by liim two years before) that
to the North-East of the island a thick impenetrable
darkness constantly hung upon the sea, and extended
itself upwards tov/ards the heavens; that it never di-
TO THE FOURTH BOOK. 175
minished, but seemed to be guarded by a strange noise,
(proceeding from some natural cause) which was some-
times heard at Porto-Santo : and because at that time
they durst not sail far from land, for want of the astro-
labe, and other instruments invented since, it was judged
impossible, without a miracle, to return from thence,
after having lost sight of it. In consequence of this
ignorance in navigation it was called by some an abyss,
or bottomless gulph ; and by others the mouth of hell,
from the opinion of^certain simple timorous divines;
and the historians, who pretended to be more learned,
absolutely pronounced it to be the ancient island of
Cipango, kept by Providence under this mysterious
veil, whither they believed the Spanish and Portu-
guese bishops, and other Christians, had retired from
the slavery and oppression of the Moors and Saracens ;
that it was a great crime to dive into this secret, since it
had not pleased God to reveal it by the signs which
ought to precede the discovery, and are mentioned by
the ancient prophets, who speak of this wonder. Gon-
zalvo, however, had a short and prosperous voyage
to Porto-Santo, from whence he, as well as the islanders,
observed this dreadful shade; whicli, hov/evcr, John
dc Morales, at first sight, judged to be a sure sign of
176 NOTES
the land they were in search of. Notwithstanding
this, upon a full consultation, it was agreed they should
stay here till the change of moon, to see what efFeft
that would have upon the shade; when, perceiving
no alteration any way in it, the general panic seized
the adventurers also, and the whole design had drop-
ped here, had not the pilot De Morales stood firm in
his opinion; insisting, that according to the informa-
tion he had from the English, and the course they held,
the hidden land could not be far off. He supported
what he said, by observing to Gonzalvo, that the
ground there being continually shaded from lofty thick
trees, there exhaled from it a thick moisture, which,
rising in vapours, spread itself through the sky; from
whence proceeded the dark cloud they saw, and were
so much afraid of. After much contest, at last these
reasons swaying with the captain, who had more re-
solution than the rest, he put to sea one morning,
without communicating his design to any body but
John de Morales. That he might have daylight to
make a full discovery, he crouded all his sails, and
turned the ship's head direcflly facing the dark cloud.
The boldness of Gonzalvo did but serve to increase
the fear of the rest; for the more they advanced, the
TO THE FOURTH BOOK.
more high and thick the gloom jippeared; insomuch
that at last it grew very horrible to behold. At noon
they heard the roaring of the sea, which HUed the whole
horizon. This new-imagined danger made them all
cry out, intreating the captain instantly to change his
course, and save their lives. Hereupon he made them
a speech, composed of solid arguments, which quite
removed their fears, and reconciled them to his mea-
sures- The weather being calm, and the sea very rapid,
Gonzalvo caused his ship to be towed by two shallops
along the cloud. The noise of the sea served them for a
mark which they approached or retired from, according
as it was more or less loud. By degrees the cloud ap-
peared less, and became not so thick on the East side,
but the waves still rolled frightfully, when tliey at
length perceived through the gloom something blacker
than it, tliough, being at too great a distance, they
could not see it distinctly; however some afhrmed thev
saw giants of a prodigious size, which afterwards they
found to be the rocks wherewith the shores were co-
vered. The sea already appeared more clear, and the
waves abated, a sure sign of their being near land;
which sooh after, to their great joy, they plainly dis-
cerned, when they least expe<5ied it. The fust thing-
N
-i
1/8 NOTES
tliat appeared was a little point, to which Gonzalvo
then gave the name of St. Laurence's point; doubling
this, they found to the Southward rising land, wliich
the cloud then vanishing left open to the view a great
way up the mountain."
p. 138, L. 14.
" Robert a Machin."
The following is the romantic story of Machin, ex-
tradled from Alcafarado, from which I have taken the
poet's liberty, in a few instances, to depart.
" In the reign of Edward III. of England, one
Robert Machin, falling in love with a beautiful young
lady, of a noble flimily; and making his addresses
to her, soon won her afFeftions. Her parents, not
brooking the thoughts of an inferior alliance, produced
a warrant from the king, and kept Robert in custody
until they had married the lady to a certain nobleman,
who, as soon as the ceremony was over, took the bride
with him to his seat at Bristol.
" Thus all being secured, as they thought, Machin
easily obtained a discharge from his confinement; but
TO THE FOURTH BOOK. !/()
Stung with a high sense of the injury, and at the same
time spurred on by love, he engaged some of his friends
to assist him, and carried them down after the new-
married couple. One of them he got introduced into
the family, in the capacity of a groom, and by his
means acquainted the lady with his design, and the
measures he proposed to take ; to all which she yielded
a ready compliance.
" When all things were prepared, she rode out on.
the day appointed, under pretence of airing, attended
only by her groom, who brought her to the sea-side,
when she was handed into a boat, and carried into a
vessel that lay ready for the purpose. As soon as
Machin had got his treasure on board, he, Avith his
associates, immediately set sail, to get out of pursuit,
intending for France; but being ignorant of the sea,
and tlic wind blowing hard, they missed their port,
and the next morning found themselves in the mid-
dle of the ocean. In this miserable condition they
were tossed about at the mercy of the waves, without
a pilot, for thirteen days ; at the end of which they
chanced at day-break to descry something very near
them, that looked like land, which, as the sun rose, they
J so
could distindly discern to be such, being covered with
trees. They were no less surprised with several un-
known birds, that came off land, and perched upon
the masts and rigging, without the least sign of fear.
" As soon as they could get the boat out, some of
them went to search the coast, who, returning with a
good report of the place, though uninhabited, it was
not long before our adventurer, attended by his best
friends, carried his mistress on shore, leaving the rest
to take care of the ship. The country, upon their
landing, appeared agreeably diversified with hills and
vallies; the first thickly shaded with a variety of un-
known trees, the latter enriched with cooling rivulets
of fresh water. Several wild beasts came about them,
without offering themany violence. Thus encouraged,
they marched further into the land, and presently came
to an opening, encircled with a border of laurels, wa-
tered by a small rivulet, which, in a very fine bed of
sand, ran through it from the mountains. Here, also,
upon an eminence, they found a most beautiful tree,
whose shade inviting them they concluded to take up
their abode for a while at least, and accordingly, with
boughs, built themselves huts. In this place they passed
1
TO THE FOURTH BOOK. 131
iheir time very agreeablvj making further discoveries
of the country, and admiring its productions; but their
happiness was of short duration, for three days after
it blew a storm, at North-East, which, driving the ship
from her anchor, threw her upon the coast of Mo-
rocco, where suffering shipwreck, all the company
were taken as slaves by the Moors, and sent to prison.
" Next morning those on land missing the ship,
concluded she had foundered. This new calamity
drove them all to despair, and so much afFeded the
lady, that she did not long survive it; the ill success
cv their first setting out had sunk her spirits, and she
continually fed her grief by sad presages of the enter-
prise ending in some tragical catastrophe. But the
shock of this last disaster struck her dumb, and she
expired three days after.
" This loss was too great for her lover to survive;
he died wahin five days, notwithstanding all his com-
panions could do to comfort him ; begging them at his
death to place his body in the same grave with her, at
the foot of an altar they had ereded under the beautiful
lofty tree abovc-mentloiied. They afterwards set a
a large wooden cross upon it, and near that an inscrip-
162
tion by Robert himself, which contained a siiccin(n:
account of this whole adventure, and concluded with a
prayer to Christians, if they should come there to
settle, to build a church in that place to Jesus the
Saviour.
" Thus deprived of their leader, the rest immediately
prepared to depart, and fitting out the boat, set sail,
intending for England; but happening to take the
same route their companions had been forced upon un-
fortunately arrived on the same coast, and accordingly
met with the like fate, being carried to the same prison."
p. 140, L. r.
Ajiton'jo^s honest gentle love, fffr.
As a contrast to the charadter of the ignorant and
haughty grandee of Portugal, who suffered Camoens
to starve, it is with pride an Englishman reflecfts, that
the fairest monument to the memory of the unfortunate
bard has been raised by a British nobleman. I need
not say, I mean the amiable and accomplished Lord
Strangford, whose beautiful translation of Camoens*
smaller poems evince congenial delicacy of sentiment,
command of language, and purity of taste. From his
preface I cxtraft the interesting account of Antonio:
TO THE FOURTH BOOK. 183
" One friend alone remained to smooth his down-
ward path, and guide his steps to the grave, with gen-
tleness and consolation. It was Antonio, his slave, a
native of Java, who had accompanied Camoens to
Europe, after having rescued him from the waves,
when shipwrecked at the mouth of the Mecon. This
faithful attendant v/as wont to seek alms throughout
Lisbon, and at night shared the produce of the day
with his poor and broken-hearted master. Blessed, for
ever blessed, be the memory of this amiable Indian !
But his friendship was employed in vain; Camoens
sunk beneath the pressure of penury and disease, and
died in an alms-house early in the year 1579. He was
buried in the church of St. Anne of the Franciscans.
Over his grave Goncalo Coutinho placed the following
inscription, which, for comprehensive simplicity, the
translator ventures to prefer to almost any produdtion
of a similar kind:
" HEKE LIES LUIS DE CAMOENS,
HE EXCELLED ALL THE FOETS OF HIS AGE.
HE LIVED POOR AND MISERABLE;
AND HE DIED SO.
MDLXXIX."
1S4 NOTES
P. 143- L. 5-
The needle veers') IsSc,
" When he had sailed fifty leagues further West-
ward, on the 13th of December he found at night-fall
the needle varied half a point toward the North-East,
and at day-break half a point more; by which he un-
derftood that the needle did not point at the North
star, but at some other fixed and visible point." This
variation no man had observed before, and therefore
he had occasion to be surprised at it, &c.
Description of Discovery of the West-Indies^
r. 141, L. II.
Thy great truths^ ^c.
I trust I need not make any apology for occasionally
varying, for the s.-ke of poetical effed, from the stridt
historical account. Columbus sees the light at ten
o'clock at night, and calls two persons into the cabin to
v;itness it. The reflection concerning the light of re-
ligous truth was his own. Alas ! how little his bloody
followers seemed to have considered this. The fol-
lowing is the literal account:
TO THE FOURTH BOOK. 185
*' About ten o'clock at night, as the Admiral was in
the great cabin, he saw a light on shore, but said it
was so blind he could not affirm it to be land ; though
he called up one Peter Gutierres, and bid him observe
whether he saw the same light ? Who said he did.
But presently after they called one Roderick Sanches,
of Segoria, to look that way, but he could not see it;
nor did they see it afterwards above once or twice,
which made them judge it might be a candle or torch
belonging to some fisherman or traveller, &c.
" Being now very much upon their guard, they still
held on, till two in the morning, the Pinta being far
a-head gave signal of the land, which was first dis-
covered by a sailor, whose name was Roderick dc
Triana, two leagues from shore : but the reward was
given to the Admiral, who first saw the light in the
midst of darbies Si signifying the spiritual light he 'was
then spreading in those dark regions^
Account of the West-Indies,
END OF NOTES TO THL FOURTH BOOK.
1
BOOK THE FIFTH.
SPIRIT
DISCOVERY BY SEA.
Some of the Evils touched on.
oUCH are thy views, Discovery ! The great world
Rolls to thine eyereveal'd; to thee the Deep
Submits its awful empire; Industry
Awakes, and Commerce to the echoing marts
From East to West unweary'd pours her wealth.
Man walks sublimer; and Humanity,
Matur'd by social intercourse, more high.
More animated, lifts her sov'reign mien,
And waves her golden sceptre. Yet the heart
Asks trembling, is no 'evil found? O turn,
IQO SPIRIT OF
Slave Trade — Buccaneer.
Meek Charity, and drop a human tear
For the sad fate of Afric's injur'd sons,
And hide, for ever hide, the sight of chains.
Anguish, and bondage! Yes, the heart of man
Is sick, and Charity turns pale, to think
How soon, for pure religion's holy beam,
Dark crimes, that sully'd the sweet day, pursu'd.
Like vultures, the Discov'rer's ocean tra^l,
*' Screaming for blood," to fields of rich Peru,
Or ravag'd Mexico, while " gold, more gold!"
The cavern'd mountains echo'd " golDj more gold!"
Then see the fell-ey'd prowling buccaneer.
Grim as a libbard! He his jealous look
Turns to the dagger at his belt, his hand
By instinfl grasps a bloody scymitar,
And ghastly is his smile, as o'er the woods
He sees the smoke of burning villages
Ascend, and thinks e'en now he counts his spoil.
See thousands destin'd to the lurid mine,
Never to see the sun again ; all names
Of husband, sire — all tender charities
r r.jn'^/^, IT /tif /A' /'H.I fi^'f/ rt/^ti- Af roun/:! -ftio ji^^y .
.Booh Sf^
f^./Fnt»Kltv+.t7^JB^fr»rtv*/t.2iti..
'■i\ fill J/ l/vijJ ao:
dz iMOfwio ebi;
n3 70O7'ii:^bn9 '3)0(1
DISCOVERY BY SEA. Ipl
Mine — Shipwrecked Mariner.
Of life, deep bury'd with them in that grave,
Where life is as a thing long pass'd ; and hope.
To move its sickly ray, to cheer the gloom.
Extends.
Thou, too, DREAD Ocean, toss thy arras.
Exulting, for the treasures and the gems
That thy dark oozy realm emblaze ; and call
The pale procession of the dead, from caves
Where late their bodies welter'd, to attend
Thy kingly sceptre, and proclaim thy might,
Lord of the hurricane ! Bid all thy winds
Swell, and destrudion ride upon the surge.
Where, after the red lightning flash that shews
The lab'ring ship, all is at once deep night
And long suspense, till the slow dawn of day
Gleams on the scatter'd corses of the dead.
That strew the sounding shore !
Then think of him.
Ye who rejoice with those you love, at eve.
When winds of winter shake the window-frame.
And more endear your fire — O think of him,
192 SPIRIT OF
SufTerers in Greenland.
Who, sav'd alone from the devasting storm,
Is cast on some deserted rock, who sees
Sun after sun descend, and hopeless hears
At morn the long surge of the troubl'd main,
That beats without his wretched cave, meantime
He fears to wake the echoes with his voice,
So dread the solitude!
Let Greenland's snows
Then shine, and mark the melancholy train
There left to perish, whilst the cold pale day
Declines along the farther ice, that binds
The ship, and leaves in night the sinking scene.
Sad winter closes on the deep ; the smoke
Of frost, that late amusive to the eye
Rose o'er the coast, is pass'd, and all is now
One torpid blank: the freezing particles
Blown blist'ring, and the white bear seeks her cave.
Ill-fated Outcasts, when the morn again
Shall streak with feeble beam the frozen waste,
Your air-bleach'd and unbury'd carcases
Shall press the ground, and, as the stars fade off,
Ycur stony eyes glare mid the desert snows !
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 1Q3
The Fate of the unfortunate
These triumphs boast, fell Daemon of the Deep I*
Though never more the universal shriek
Of" ALL THAT PERISH thou shalt hear, as when
The deep foundations of the guilty earth
Were shaken at the voice of God, and man
Ceas'd in his habitations; yet the sea
Thy might tempestuous still, and joyless rule,
Confesses. Ah! what bloodless shadows throng
E'en now, slow rising from their oozy beds,
From Mete,t and " those gates of burial"
That guard the Erythrean ; from the vast
Unfathora'd caverns of the Western main
Or stormy Orcades ; whilst the sad shell
Of poor Arion,f to the hollow blast,
Slow seems to pour its melancholy tones,
And faintly vibrate, as the dead pass by.
* See First Book.
t Mete, in the Arabic, according to Bruce, signifies " the place of burial."
The entrance of the Red-Sea was so called, from the dangers of the na-
vigation. See Bruce.
t Alluding to the pathetic poem of the Shipwreck, whose author,
Falconer, described himself under the name of Arion, and who wa» after-
wards loit in the Aurora.
194 SPIRIT OF
Peyrouse. — Cook.
I see the chiefs, who fell in distant lands,
The prey of murderous savages, when yells,
And Ihouts, and conchs, resounded thro' the woods.
Magellan and De Solis seem to lead
The mournful train: Shade of Peyrouse, O say,
Where, in the trad of unknown seas, thy bones
The insulting surge has swept ?
But who is he,
Whose look, tho' pale and bloody, wears the trace
Of pure philanthropy ? The pitying sigh
Forbid not; he was dear to Britons, dear
To ev'ry beating heart, far as the world
Extends ; and my faint falt'ring touch e'en now
Dies on the strings, when I pronounce thy name,
O LOST, LAMENTED, GEn'rOUS, HAPLESS COOK !
But cease the vain complaint; turn from the shores
Wet with his blood, Remembrance : cast thy eyes
Upon the long seas, and the wider world,
Display'd from his research. Smile, glowing Health,
For now no more the wasted seaman sinks,
With haggard eye and feeble frame diseas'd;
DISCOVEKY BV SEA. 1Q5
Sea-Scurvy, cured.
No more with tortur'd longings for the sight
Of fields and hillocks green, madly he calls
On Nature, when before his swimming eye
The liquid long expanse of cheerless seas
Seems all one flow'ry plain.* Then frantic dreams
Arise; his eye's distemper'd flash is seen
From the sunk socket, as a dasmon there
Sat mocking, till he plunges in the flood.
And the dark wave goes o'er him.
Nor wilt thou,
O Science, fail to deck the cold MORAif
Of him who wider o'er earth's hemisphere
Thy views extended. On, from deep to deep,
Thou shalt retrace the windings of his traft;
From the high North to where the field-ice binds
The still Antarctic : Thence, from isle to isle,
Thou shalt pursue his progress; and explore
New-Holland's eastern shores,^ where now the sons
Of distant Britain, from her lap cast out.
Water the ground with tears of penitence,
# See Cooper's description of the Calenture,
t " Moral" is a grave. ^ Botany-Bay.
196 SPIRIT OF
Botany-Bay.
Perhaps, hereafter, in their destin'd time,
Themselves to rise pre-eminent. Now speed.
By Asia's eastern bounds, still to the North,
Where the vast continents of either world
Approach :§ Beyond, 'tis silent boundless ice.
Impenetrable barrier, where all thought
Is lost; where never yet the eagle flew.
Nor roam'd so far the white-bear through the waste.
But thou, DREAD Power, whose voice from chaos cali'd
The earth, who bad'st the Lord of light go forth,
E'en as a giant, and the sounding seas
Roll at thy fiat: may the dark deep clouds,
That thy pavilion shroud from mortal sight.
So pass away, as now the mystery.
Obscure thro' rolling ages, is disclos'd;
How MAN, from one great Father sprung, his race
Spread to that sever'd continent!* Ev'n so.
Father, in thy good time, shall all things stand
Reveal'd to knowledge,
# America.
^ The continent! of Asia and America approach fo near, that the
peojjling of America may be easily accounted for, across t)ic straits of Anian.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 1()7
Recapitulation.
As the mind revolves
The change of mighty empires, and the Fate
Of Him, whom Thou hast made, back through the dusk
Of ages, contemplation turns her view :
We mark, as from its infancy, the world
Peopl'd again, from that mysterious shrine
That rested on the top of Ararat,
Highest of Asian mountains ; spreading on,
The Cuthites from their mountain caves descend —
Then before God the sons of Ammon stood
In their gigantic might, and first the seas
Vanquish'd: But still from clime to clime the groan
Of sacrifice, and superstition's cry.
Was heard; but when the Day-Spring rose of Heav'n,
Greece's hoar forests echo'd "the great Pan
** Is DEAD." From iEgypt and the rugged shores
Of Syrian Tyre, the Gods of Darkness fly;
Bel is cast down, and Nebo, horrid king.
Bows in imperial Babylon : But ah !
Too soon, the Star of Bethlehem, whose ray
The host of Heav'n hail'd jubilant, and sung
" Glory to God on high, and on earth peace,"
With long eclipse is veil'd.
IpS SPIRIT or
Present Evils in the World.
Red Papacy
Usurp'd the meek dominion of the Lord
Of love and charity : vast as a fiend
She rose, Heav'n's light was darken'd with her frown,
And the earth murmur'd back her hymns of blood,
As the meek martyr at the burning stake
Stood, his last look uplifted to his God!
But she is now cast down, her empire reft.
They who in darkness walk'd, and in the shade
Of death, have seen a new and holy light.
As in the umbrageous forest, through whose boughs^
Mossy and damp, for many a league, the morn
With languid beam scarce pierces, here and there
Touching some solitary trunk, the rest
Dark waving in the noxious atmosphere;
Through the thick-matted leaves the serpent winds
His way, to find a spot of casual sun; —
The gaunt hyaenas thro' the thickets glide
At eve: Then, too, the couched tiger's eye
Flames in the dusk, and oft the gnashing jaws
Of the fell crocodile are heard. At length,
By man's superior energy and toil.
The sunless brakes are clear'd ; the joyous morn
DISCOVERT BY SEA. 199
Advantages of Culture.
Shines through the op'nlng leaves ; rich culture smiles
Around; and howling to their distant wilds
The savage inmates of the wood retire.
Such is the scene of human life, till want,
Bids Man his strength put forth; then slowly spreads
The cultur'd stream of mild humanity.
And gentler virtues, and more noble aims
Employ the active mind, till beauty beams
Around, and nature wears her richest robe,
Adorned with lovelier graces. Then the charms
Of Woman, fairest of the works of heav'n.
Whom the cold savage, in his sullen pride,
Scorn'd, as unworthy of his equal love,
With more attradtive influence wins the heart
Of her protestor: Then the names of sire,
Of home, of brother, and of children, grow
More sacred, more endearing; whilst the eye,
Lifted beyond this earthly scene, beholds
A Father who looks down from heav'n on ail!
O Britain, my lov'd country, dost thou rise
Most high among the nations? Do thy fleets
Ride o'er the surge of ocean, that subdu'd
200 SPIRIT OF
Britain; Agriculture as well as Commerce.
Rolls in long sweep beneath them ? Dost thou wear
Thy garb of gentler morals gracefully?
Is widest science thine, and the fair train
Of lovelier arts? While commerce throngs thy ports
With her ten thousand streamers, is the tradt
Of the undeviating ploughshare white,
That rips the reeking furrow, follow'd soon
With plenty, bidding all the scene rejoice,
E'en like a cultur'd garden ? Do the streams
That steal along thy peaceful vales, refledt
Temples, and Attic domes, and village tow'rs?
Is beauty thine, fairest of earthly things,
Woman ; and doth she gain that liberal love
And homage, which the meekness of her voice,
The rapture of her smile, commanding most
When she seems weakest, must demand from him,
Her master; whose stern strength at once submits
In manly, but endearing, confidence.
Unlike his seliish tyranny who sits
The Sultan of his Haram ?
O then think
How great the blessing, and how high thy rank
Amid the ci\iliz'd ana social world!
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 201
Expostulation.
But hast thou no deep failings, that might turn
Thy thoughts within thyself? Ask, for the sun
That shines in heav'n hath seen it, hath thy power
Ne'er scatter'd sorrow over distant lands ?
Ask of the East, have never thy proud sails
Borne plunder from dismember'd provinces.
Leaving " the groans of miserable men"
Behind! And free thyself, and lifting high
The charter of thy freedom, bought with blood.
Hast thou not stood, in patient apathy,
A witness of the tortures and die chains
That Afric's injur 'd sons have known ? Stand up —
Yes, thou hast visited the caves, and cheer'd
The gloomy haunts of sorrow; thou hast shed
A beam of comfort and of righteousness
On isles remote; hast bid the bread-fruit shade
The Hesperian regions, and has soften'd much
With bland amelioration, and with charms
Of social sweetness, the hard lot of man.
But weigh'd in truth's firm balance, ask, if all
Be even : Do not crimes of ranker growth
Batten amid thy cities, whose loud din,
From flashing and contending cars, ascends.
202 SPIRIT OF
Evils consequent on Luxury.
Till morn ? Enchanting, as if aught so sweet
Ne'er faded, do thy daughters wear the weeds
Of calm domestic peace and wedded love;
Or turn, with beautiful disdain, to dash
Gay Pleasure's poison'd chalice from their lips
Untasted? Hath not sullen atheism.
Weaving gay flow'rs of poesy,t so sought
To hide the darkness of his wither'd brow
With faded and fantastic gallantry
Of roses, thus to win the thoughtless smile
Of youthful ignorance? Hast thou witli awe
Look'd up to Him whose pow'r is in the clouds,
Who bids the storm rush, and it sweeps to earth
The nations that offend, and they are gone.
Like Tyre and Babylon? Well weigh thyself-
Then shalt thou rise undaunted in the might
Of thy Protector, and the gather'd hate
Of hostile bands shall be but as the sand
Blown on the everlasting pyramid.
Hasten, O Love and Charity, your work,
E'en now whilst it is day; far as the world
t Sec tlie " Temple of Nature," Loves of the Plants.
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 203
Superstition, &c. still exult in the East.
Extends, may your divinest influence
Be felt, and more than felt, to teach mankind
They all are brothers, and to drown the cries
Of superstition, anarchy, or blood.
Not yet the hour is come : on Ganges' banks
Still Superstition hails the flame of death.
Behold, gay dress'd, as in her bridal tyre.
The sclf-devoted beauteous vidim, slow
Ascend the pile where her dead husband lies :
She kisses his cold cheeks, inclines her breast
On his, and lights herself the fatal pile
That shall consume them both!
On ^Egypt's shore,
Where science rose, now Sloth and Ignorance
Sleep like the huge Behemoth in the sun!
The turbann'd Moor still stains with stranger's blood
The inmost sands of Afric. But all these
The light shall visit, and that vaster tradl
From Fuego to the farthest Labrador,t
Where roam the outcast Esquimaux, shall hear
f America.
204 SPIRIT OF
Prevalence of relii;ious Knowledge and Happiness,
The voice of social fellowship ; the chief,
Whose hatchet flash'd amid the forest gloom,
Who to his infants bore the bleeding scalp
Of his fall'n foe, shall weep unwonted tears !
Come, Faith; come, Hope; come, meek-ey'd Charity;
Complete the lovely prospeeH:: every land
Shall lift up one Hosannah;* every tongue
Proclaim thee Father, infinite, and wise,
And GOOD. The shores of palmy Senegal,
(Sad Afric's injur'd sons no more enslav'd)
Shall answer " Hallelujah," for the Lord
Of truth and mercy reigns — reigns King of Kings —
Hosannah — King of Kings — and Lord of Lords!
So may his kingdom come, when all the earth,
Uniting thus as in one hymn of praise,
Shall wait the end of all things. This great globe.
His awful plan accomplish'd, then shall sink
* See Cowpcr's tnily-fublime strain on this subjcfl ;—
" t.irtli rolls tlic ra{,turous Hosannah round."
DISCOVERY BY SEA. 205
till the Scene of human Things is closed.
Inflames, whilst through the clouds, that wrap the place
Where it had roU'd, and the sun shone, the voice
Of the Archangel, and the trump of God,
Amid Heav'n's darkness rolling fast away,
Shall sound!
Then shall the sea give up its dead; —
But man's immortal mind, all trials past
That shook, his feverish frame, amidst the scenes
Of peril and distemper, shall ascend
Exulting to its destin'd seat of rest,
And " justify his ways," from whom it sprung.
FINIS.
NOTES
TO
THE FIFTH BOOK.
NOTES
TO
THE FIFTH BOOK.
p. 190. L. 12.
Buccaneer.
OEE the account of the cruelties and depredations of
the " Free-booters" (as they were called) on the west-
ern coast of America.
p. 190. L. 19.
Lurid mine.
Forty or fifty thousand slaves are annually imported
from Africa, to work in tlie mines of Brazil.
p. 192. L. a.
" // left on some deserted rock,^' ^c.
See the account of four sailors left on the coast of
South-America, in Byron's Narrative. We are par-
210 NOTES
ticularly struck with the circumstance of their cheering
their late companions, (from whom they were parted,
never to meet in this world) as they slowly passed
along the mountains of the inhospitable coast, such an
immense distance from their country,and without hopes
of meeting ever again the habitations of civilized man.
" Having lost the yawl, and being too many for the
barge to carry off, we were compelled to \tzvtfour of
our 7nen behind. They were all marines, who seemed
to have no great objeftion to the determination made
with regard to them, so exceedingly worn-out and
disheartened were they with the distresses and dan-
gers they had already gone through. And, indeed, I
believe, it would be a matter of indifference to the
greatest part of the rest, whether they should embark
or take their chance. The captain distributed to these
poor fellows, arms, ammunition, and some other neces-
saries. When we parted, they stood upon the beach,
gliding us three cheers, and crying out, God bless the King.
" We sav/ them a little after setting out upon their
forlorn hopd, and helping one another over a hideous
tjacfl of rocks : but considering the diiliculties attend-
TO THE FIFTH BOOK. ^H
ing this only way of travelling left them; for the
woods are impradlicable, from their thickness, and the
deep swamps every where to be met in them; consider-
ing too, that the coast here is rendered so inhospitable,
by the heavy seas that are constantly tumbling upon it,
as not to afford a little shell-fish; it is probable they
all met with a miserable end!" — Byroti's Narrative.
There is another striking sketch in Hearne^ Jo^i^^-
Kal: " When the spring advanced, tlieEsquemaux went
to the continent; on their visiting Marble Island again,
in the summer of 1722, they only found five of the
English alive, the remains of a crew ship-wrecked there
two years before, under Mr. Knight, aged 80 : three
died in a few days, and the other two, though very
weak, made shift to bury them. The t'wo survived
many days after the rest, and frequently went to the
top of an adjacent rock, and earnestly looked to the
South and East, as if in expeflation of some vessel
coming to their relief. After continuing there a con-
siderable time, and nothing appearing in sight, they
sat down close together, and wept bitterly. At length
one of the two died, and the other's strength was so
far exhausted, that he fell down and died also in at-
212 NOTES
tempting to dig a grave for his companion." — Intro-
duCiion to Hearne' s 'Journal from Hudson'' j-Bay,
" P.S. The skulls, and other large bones, of these two
men, are now lying above-ground close to the house."^
Hearne, 1769.
p. 192. L. 8.
.... Greenland snoms.
In Churcliill's colledion of voyages there is a most
affefting narrative of the men who were left to perish
in Greenland. I should wish to quote part of it, as
the book is in few hands, but have it not by me. I
would particularly point out some simple and touching
verses left by one of the men, relating their melan-
choly fate.
p. 194. L. 5.
Peyrotise.
A circumstance has been lately related in the papers
of one of the Astronomers who went out with Peyrouse,
having been found on an island, where he had dragged
on a miserable and solitary existence for 7ii7ie years^
TO THE FIFTH BOOK. 21S
P. 194. L. 15.
Cook.
The mournful fate of this great and self-instruded
navigator; the numerous advantages resulting from his
extensive surveys; the accessions to knowledge; and
the alleviations of the hardships of a sea-life, derived
from his humanity and care; are too well known to be
enlarged on.
T. 196. L. 4.
.... Straits of either 'world.
The proximity of the great continents Asia and
America to each other was long problematical. Salmon
acutely observes, " that some riierry map-makers have
so placed them." But it happens the 7}ierry map-
makers were right, and the sage Salmon in the wrong,
Mr. Coxe, in his valuable account of the Russian dis-
coveries, informs us, that " the first projeft for making
discoveries in thattempestuous sea, which hes between
Kamschatka and America, was conceived and plan-
ned by Peter I." The survey was completed by Cook,
Gierke, and King.
214 KOTES
P. 196. L. 17.
Ho^ man, fro7?i one great Father sprung, his race
Spread to that sever d continent !
Every accession of knowledge from the East, and
from the West, tends to confirm the Mosaic history.
The Gentoo account of the deluge has been seen in
book 3d. The tradition of the Chapewyans, a numerous
tribe on the north-west coast of America, respeding
the origin of the world, and the remote country from
whence they came, is too singular to be omitted: —
" They believe, that at first the globe was one
vast and entire ocean, inhabited by no living creature
except a mighty Bird, ■vvhoae eyes \*efe fife, whose
glances were lightning, and the clapping of whose
wihgs were thunder. On his descent to the ocean,
and touching it, the earth instantly roscj and remained
on the surface of the waters. This omnipotent bird
then called forth all the variety of aninlals from the
earth, &c.
" They have also a tradition among them, that they
originally came from another cowitry, inhabited by
TO THE FIFTH BOOK. 215
very wicked people, and had traversed a great lake^
which was narrow, shallow, and full of islands, where
they suffered great misery, it being always 'whiter^
with ice and deep snonv. They believe, likewise, that
in ancient times, their ancestors //'f^^ till their feet were
worn out with 'walkings and their throats with eating.
They describe a deluge, when the waters spread over
the 'whole earth, except the highest mountains, on the
tops of which they preserved themselves." — Macken-
zie's Voyage from Montreal to the Frozen a?id Pacijic
Oceans i page ii8.
The most careless reader cannot but be struck with
the resemblance in this singular narrative to the Mo-
saic history. It evidently conveys an idea of the cre-
ation, preservation, and dispersion of man.
p. iy8. L. I.
Red Papacy m
I trust this expression will not give offence to any
liberal-minded Catholic, many of whom I know, and
whose private charaflers I resped. They will lament,
with me, the many unjust and merciless outrages which
2l6 NOTES TO THR FIFTH BOOK.
have taken place under the horrid banners of the In-
quisition, inscribed with the profaned words,
JUSTICE AND mercy!
p. 203. L. 8.
Self-devoted vi£lint.
This horrid custom, which is so shocking to the
imagination, it is hoped, will at last give way, as the
blessings of wider knowledge, and of Divine Truth,
are extended over the East.
END OF NOTES TO BOOK THE FIFTH.
SMALLER SEA-PTECES,
AND
MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
TO HER GRACE
THE DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE,
BY HER
OBLIGED AND OBEDIENT SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
BELLS OF OSTEND.
SEAUTIFUL MORNING, AfTEa A STORM.
JN O, i never, till life and its shadows shall end.
Can forget the sweet sound of the Bells of Ostend!
The day set in darkness, the wind it blew loud,
And rung as it pass'd, through each murm'ring shroud:*
My forehead was wet with the spume of the spray,
My heart sigh'd in secret for those fiir away ;
When slowly the morning advanc'd from the East,
The toil and the noise of the tempest v/as ceas'd ;
The peal, from a land I ne'er saw, seem'd to say,
" Let the Stranger forget every sorrow to-day ;"
And I never, till life and its shadows shall end.
Can forget the sweet sound of the Bells of Ostend.
* shrouds arc the ropes of the mast.
220 THE BELLS OF OSTEND.
II.
Yet the short-liv'd emotion was mingl'd with pain —
I thought of those eyes I should ne'er see again ;
I thought of the kiss, the last kiss, which I gave.
And a tear of regret fell unseen on the wave.
I thought of the schemes fond afFeftion had plann'd,
Of the trees, of the tow'rs, of my own native land-
But still the sweet sounds, as they sweli'd to the air,
Seem'd tidings of pleasure, though mournful, to bear;
And I never, till life and its shadows shall end,
£an forget the sweet sound of the Bells of Ostend!
STOHMT EVENING AT WEYMOUTH. 221
STORMY EVENING AT WEYMOUTH,
• N HEARING THE M1S5BS THOMSON, OF PORTMAN-SQUAHE,
SING PEHGOLESI's celebrated " r-AX, PAX."
x\S I roam, hoary Ocean, alone on thy side,
And hear, swelling-hollow, the dash of the tide ;
I think, when my heart is with sadness opprest,
'Tis the DIRGE OF THE DEAD in thy cavems that rcst!
H.
But when ev'ning has clos'd on the turbulent din,.
And the song of sweet harmony echoes within;
Ev'ry thought is shut out, but of tender delight,
Like the roar of thy billows that rock to the nighti
III.
O HAPPY, if thus, when each tumult was past,
Ev'ry passion unfelt, as unheard blows the blast;
The heart in the mansion of love might be blest.
While PEACE with such melodies sung it to rest!
222 THE Laplander's song.
THE LAPLANDER'S SONG.
SCENE — THE NORTH-SEA.
1 IS now mid winter's reign,
O'er the unmoving main,
The ice is stretch'd in dead expanse,
Above, the meteors dance.
Whilst o'er the star-light hills afar,
The rapid rein-deer whirls the shadowy car.
SONG.
■*' No sound is heard over the plain,
" Yet a light, that is softer than morn,
" Sits still on the traft of the main,
" And decks the cold ice-hills forlorn :
^' O'er the snow, through the forests, in silence I ride,
*' And mark the swift shadow that flits by my side.
THE lAPLANDER S SONG. 223
II.
*' Yet fleeter and fleeter speed on, my rein-deer,
" Till we rest in the juniper grove;
*' My whistle no more on the hills thou shalt hear,
" But in freedom shalt go,
" O'er the rocks and the snow,
" Or at home be carest by my love.
** I sigh, as forlorn o'er the mountains I stray,
" O when ghall I gaze on her charms ?
" The long summer's day
" Shall speed happy away,
** And then, when the stars of the winter shine clear,
■" She shall wake, and the pines, as they murmur, shall
*' hear,
*' And again hide her head in my arms!"
CI fear there is not much nature in this, considering the general charafter
of the Laplanders; but I must leave it to the indulgence of tlie reader.
•He will however recollect the beautiful ballad so csceliently translated by
•Conset :—
" The snows are dissolving on Tome's rude side,
" And the ice, O Lullea, roili down thy dark tide ;
" Thy dark stream, LuUca, fiows freely away,
" And the snow-drop unfolds its pale beauties to day.
The wholesong is as delicate in sentimcn t, as it is tt riking in peetical beat' ty ]
224 ON A BEAUTIFUL WOMAW.
A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN,
ON THE CITADEL AT PLYMOUTH, RETURNIlfG, Afl THE SHIP,
IN WHICH I1£R HUSBAND SAILED, DISAFP£AR£D.
1 See the dim sail no more —
** It is pass'd like the track of the wind ;
** And THOU mays't forget, on some far-sever'd shore,
" The friend thou hast left behind.
•* But every warm blessing my soul can bestow,
" Go with thee wide over the main ;
" And mays't thou — oh never — my wretchedness know,
** Till we meet — meet in transport — again!
II.
" Thy voice — now I hear it no more —
" That spoke so endearing and kind;
" I hear but the sound of the surges that roar,
** And the sea-bird that cries in the wind:
*' And cold hangs the ev'ning, the rack hurries fast,
" And wet is my hair with the rain ;
** O how many a niglit shall be heavily past,
" Ere I rest on thy bosom agaiai
ON A BEAUTIFITL WOMAN. 22*
III.
** When darkness descends on the sea,
" Will THOU to thy cabin retire,
" And think with a tear of afFedlion on me,
" And my desolate evening fire?
" How mournful, alas, will that evening low'r!
" I shall watch, as it falls, the cold rain ;
** And count ev'ry night, ev'ry morn, ev'ry hour,
" Till I rest on thy bosom again.'*
[ 226 ]
LINES ON FALCONER.
■WRITTEN rOR OXARKE's ELEGANT EDITIOtf OF FALCONEb's
EXQUISITE rOEM, " THE SHIPWRECK."
What pale and Heeding Youth (while the fell blast
Howls o'er the wreck, and fainter sinks the cry
Of struggling wretches, ere o'erwhelm'd they die)
Yet floats upborne upon the driving mast?*
O poor Arion, has thy sweetest strain,
That charm'd old ocean's wildest solitude,
At this dread hour his darksome might subdu'd ?
Let SEA-MAIDS thy reclining head sustain;
And wipe the blood, and briny drops, that soil
Thy looks, and give once more thy wreathed shell
To ring with melody:— Oh fruitless toil!
Hark! o'er thy head again the tempests swell;
Hark! hark! again the storm's black demons yell
More loud; the billowing deep reclaims his spoillf
Peace ! Peace ! and weeping sea-maids sing thy knell!
* " Two with Arion yet the mast upbore,
" That now above the ridges reach'd the shore." — Shifwrerl, h. iii.
t Falconer was shijiwrecked fifit in the Britannia, and aftcrwardu
lost in the Auvora.
[ 227 J
STOKE's-BAY.
APRIL, 1803.*
JKs light upon the sea the wherry goes,
Nor flitting bird, nor murmurs from the shore.
Nor waters, parted by the whisp'ring oar.
Have power to break the spell, or discompose
The rapt and quiet spirit! When ray heart
Oft throbs with sad remembrance, thus I love
To lose a silent hour : the clouds depart.
One after one, of shadowy thoughts, nor move
A sigh, or move unfelt : then every cross
Of upland life, and every heartfelt loss
* The Author at the time slowly recover'ng from a severe illness : and
lie cannot omit this opportunity of expressing his j;ratitudc to Mr. Jameg
Nooth, of Bath ; and to liis brother Dr. Henry IJowlcs, pliysician on tlic staff
to the military hospital at Forton, near Gosport.
[ 228 ]
No more the mind with dark suffusion blot,
But, like the clouds of the aerial haze,
Silent and soft, and fading as we gaze.
Stray o'er the spirit, and disturb it not !
So, scarcely felt, the cares of life subside !
But prouder feelings swell the patriot's heart.
And tears of conscious animation start,
When, stately streaming o'er the morning tide,
He sees the tall ships in their glory ride It
Each partial thought, e'en like the passing wind,
Is gone — new triumphs flash upon his mind —
Whilst to each meaner objedl senseless grown,
He for HIS COUNTRY breatlics, and lives, and feels, alone.
i thipc at Si)it)i»d.
[ 229 ]
EPITAPH
ON
# » « * * WALMESLEY, ESQi
IN ALVEESTOKE CHURCH, HANTS.
Oh ! they shall ne'er forget thee — they, who knew
Thy soul benevolent, sincere, and true;
The POOR, thy kindness cheer'd, thy bounty fed.
Whom age left shiv'ring in its dreariest shed ;
Thy FRIENDS, who sorrowing saw thee (when disease
Seem'd first the genial stream of life to freeze)
Pale from thy hospitable home depart,
Thy hand stUl open, and yet warm thy heart!
But how shall she her love, her loss, express—
Thy widow, in this uttermost distress,
When she with anguish hears her lisping train
Upon their bury'd father call in vain?
She wipes the tear despair had forc'd to flow,
She lifts her look beyond this vale of woe.
And rests (while humbled in the dust she kneels)
On Him who only knows how much she feels.
[ 230 ;!
EPITAPH
THE REV. JOHN HONEYWOOD,
IN THE CATHEDRAL AT BATH.
OU-^ VOX ex imo pervenit missa sepulchre?
" Desinetu conjux, solarelifta, queri.
*' En anima exultans coeUs spatiatur et alte
" Despicit humanas, libera, Iceta, vices!
*' Te solum fido reminiscitur anxia amore,
" Et' pauliim ' fraflas plorat amicitias;'
" Donee tcmpiis erit, cum nubila cunfla reccdent,
" Nosq; iterum, sterno fasdere junget amor!"
C 231 ]
AGE.
x\GE, thou the loss of health and friends shalt mourn!
But thou art passing to that night-still bourne,
Where labour sleeps: The linnet, chitt'ring loud
To the May morn, shall sing; thou, in thy shroud.
Forgetful and forgotten, sink to rest,
And grass-green be the sod upon thy breast!
[The reader may remember a bcautiiul little balUd in Beaumont and
Fletcher's " Maid's Pi ajjedy : —
" Lay a garland on my hearse,
" (.>( the dismal yew j
" Maidens, willow-branches bear,
" Say I died true.
•' My love was false, but I was true
" From my hour of birth ;
* Upon my bury'd body lie
'• Lij;litly, gentle earth."]
[ 232 ]
ON
A YOUNG WOMAN,
WHO DIED AT EIGHTEEN, LEAVING AN INFANT CHILD.
He, whom I lov'd, betray'd — forsook!
I left my babe in helpless years,
For deep despair was on my look.
And gave my bloom of youth to tears.
Pity me not; but, maidens fair,
Who pass as gay as summer by.
Think that ye hear a voice — " Beware,"
** Lest ye too broken-hearted Dit."
RUBENS' LANDSCAPE:
WRITTEN IN LONDON, MAY 1803:
SUGGESTED BT
A MAGNIFICENT PICTURE,
IN THE POSSESSION 01
SIR GEORGE BEAUMONT.
TO
LADY BEAUMONT
I Have a f articular pleasure in inscribing these Verses j
not so much on account of the kindness and hospitality I
have myself experienced from her Ladyship and Sir
George Beaumont, as that I have a?i opportunity
of making a small return of gratitude for the greatest
obligations conferred by her Family upon one who lives
not to thank them— my Father.*
W. L. BOWLES.
May 29th, 1803.
♦ Tbc Rev. William Tliomas Bowles, presented to the livings of UpliiH
and Breane, Somerset, by John Willes, esq.
RUBENS' LANDSCAPE..
IN AY, let us gaze, ev'n till the sense is full.
Upon the rich creation, shadow'd so
That not great Nature, in her loftiest pomp
Of living beauty, ever, on the sight.
Rose more magnificent; nor aught so fair
Hath Fancy, in her wild and sweetest mood,
Imag'd of things most lovely, when the sounds
Of this cold cloudy world at distance sink,
And all alone the warm idea lives
Of what is great, or beautiful, or good.
In Nature's general plan.
So the vast scope,
O Rubens, of thy mighty mind, and such-
238 RUBENS LANDSCAPE.
The fervour of thy pencil, pouring wide
The still illumination, that the mind
Pauses, absorb'd, andscarcely thinks what pow'rs
Of mortal art the sweet enchantment y/rought.
She sees the painter, with no human touch.
Create, embellish, animate at will,
The mimic scenes, from Nature's ampler range,
Caught, as by inspiration, while the clouds,
High wand'ring, and the fairest form of things
Seem, at his bidding, to emerge, and burn
With radiance and with life !
Let us, subdu'd
Now to THE MAGIC OF THE MOMENT, loSC
The thoughts of life, and mingle every sense
Ev'n in the scenes before us!
The fresh morn
Of summer shines; the white clouds of the East
Are crisp'd; beneath, the bluey champaign steams;
The banks, the meadows, and the flow'rs, send up
An incens'd exhalat'on, like the meek
And holy praise of Him, whose soul's deep joy
The lone woods witness: Thou, whose heart is sick
RUfiENS' LANDSCAPE. 23^
Of vanities; -tt'ho, in the throng of men,
Dost feel no* Icnif-nt feilo-wship; whose eye
Turns, with a languid carelessness, around
Upon the toiling crowd, still murm'ring on.
Restless;-— O think, in summer scenes, like these.
How sweet the sense of quiet gladliness,
That, like the silent breath of morning, steals
From lowly nook?, and feels itself expand
Amid die works of Nature, to the Power
That made them: to the awful thought of Hi wi
Who, when the morning stars shouted for joy,
Bade the great sun from tenfold darkness burst.
The green earth roll in light, and solitude
First hear the voice of man, whilst hills and woods
Stood eminent, in orient hues array'd.
His dwelling, — and all living Nature smil'd,
As in this pi(flur'd semblance, beaming full
Before us !
Mark again the various view—*
Some city's far-off spires and domes appear.
Breaking the long horizon, where the morn
Sits blue and soft: what glowing imagery
Is spread beneath! — Towns, villages, light smoke,
240 RUBENS LAN-DSCAPB.
And scarce-seen windmill-sails, and devious woods,
Check'ring 'mid sunshine the grass-level land,
That stretches from the sights
Now nearer trace
The form of trees distincfl, the broad brown oak,
The poplars, that, with silvery trunks, incline.
Shading the lonely castle: flakes of light
Are flung behind the massy groups, that, novr
Enlarging and enlarging still, unfold
Their separate beauties. — But awhile delay-
Pass the foot-bridge, and listen, (for we hear,
Or think we hear her) listen to the song
Of yonder milk-maid, as she brims her pail,
Whilst in the yellow pasture, pensive near,
The red cows runainate.
•' Break off, break off," forlo! where, all alarm'd,
The small birds,* from the late resounding perch.
# The Landscape is on so large a scale, that all these circumstances arc
Kost accurately delineated. The birds are chaffinches, sparrow*, &c.
RUBENS LANDSCAPE, 2-iJ
Fly various, hush'd their early song; and mark.
Beneath the darkness of the bramble-bank
That overhangs the half-seen brook, where nod
The flow'ring rushes, dew-besprent; with breast
Ruddy, and emerald wing, the king-fisher
Steals through the dripping sedge away : what shape
Of terror scares the woodland habitants,
Marring the music of the dawn? Look round,
See, v/here he creeps, beneath the willowy stump,
Cow'ring, and low, step silent after step.
The booted Fowler: keen his look, andfixt
Upon the adverse bank, while, with firm hand.
He grasps the deadly tube: his dog, with ears
Hung back, and still and steady eye of fire.
Points to the prey; tlie boor, intent, moves on
Panting, and creeping close beneath the leaves,
And fears lestev'n the rustling reeds betray
His foot-fall; nearer yet, and yet more near,
He stalks : Ah ! v/ho shall save the heedless groupe,
The speckl'd partridges, that in the sun,
On yonder hilloc green, across the stream,
Risk unalarni'd beneatlythe hawthorn bush,
"Whose aged boughs the crawling blackberry
.Intwines?
242 BUBENS LANDSCAPE.
And thus, upon the sweetest scenes
Of human loveliness, and social peace
Domestic, when the full fond heart reclines
Upon its hopes, and almost mingles tears
Of joy, to think that in this hollow world
Such bliss should be its portion ; Then^ (alas,
The bitter change) then^ with his unheard stepi
In darkness shrouded, yet approaching fast,
Death, from amidst the sunny llow'rs, lifts ul^
His GIANT DREAD ANATOMY, and smitCS,
Smites the fair prospect once, whilst ev'ry bloorfi
Hangs rlvel'd, and a sound of mourning fills
The lone and blasted valley: But no sound
Is HERE of sorrow or of death, though she.
The country Kate, with shining morning cheek*
(Who, in the tumbril, with her market-geer,
Sits seated high) seems to expeft the flash
Exploding, that shall lay the innocent
And feather 'd tenants of the landscape low.
Not so the CLOWN, who, heedless whether life
Or death betide, across the splashy ford
Drives slow; the beasts plod on, foot following foot>
Aged and grave, with half-eredted ears.
As now his whip above their matted manes
RUBENS LANDSCAPE. 24c
Hangs trem'lous, while the dark and shallow stream
Flashes beneath their fetlock : he, astride
On harness saddle, not a sidelong look
Deigns at the breathing landscape, or the maid
Smiling behind; the cold and lifeless calf
Her sole companion : and so mated oft
Is some sweet maid, whose thrilling heart was form'd
For dearer fellowship. But lift the eye,
And hail the abode of rural ease. — The man
Walks forth, from yonder antique hall, that looks
The mistress of the scene ; its turrets gleam
Amid the trees, and cheerful smoke is seen.
As if no spedred shape (though most retir'd
The spot) there ever wander'd, stol'd in white.
Along the midnight chambers; but quaint Mab
Her tiny revels led, till the rare dawn
Peep'd out, and chanticleer his shrill alarm
Beneath the window rung, then, with a wink,
The shadowy rout are vanish'd!
As the morn
Jocund ascends, how lovely is the view
To him who owns the fair domain ! the friend
Of ills still hours is near, to whom he vow'd
244 RUSENS' LANDSCAPE.
His truth: her eyes refledt his bliss; his heart
Beats high with joy; his little children play,
Pleas'd, in his pathway ; one the scatter'd flow'rs
Straggling collects, the other spreads its arms,
In speechless blandishment, upon the neck
Of Its caressing nurse.
Still let us gaze.
And image ev'ry form of heartfelt joy
Which scenes like these bestow, that charm the sight,
Yet soothe the spirit: all is quiet here,
Yet cheerfid as the green sea, when it shines
In some still bay, shines in its loneliness
Beneath the breeze, that moves, and hardly moves.
The placid surface.
On the balustrade
Of the old bridge, that o'er the moat is thrown,
The fisher with his angle leans intent,
And turns, from the bright pomp of spreading plains,
To watch the nimble fry, that glancing oft
Beneath the grey arch shoot! O happiest he
Who steals through life, untroubled as unseen !
The distant city, with its crouded spires,
RUBENS' LANIiSCAPE. 245
That dimly shines upon his view, awakes
No thought, but that of pleasure more composed.
As the winds whisper him to sounder sleep.
He leans upon the faithful arm of her
For whom his youthful heart beat, fondly beat.
When life was new : time steals away, vet health
And exercise are his ; and in these shades,
Tho' sometimes lie has mourn'd a proud world's wrong,
He feels an independence that all cares
Breasts with a carol of content; he hears
The green leaves of his old paternal trees
Make music, soothing as they stir: the elm.
And poplar with its silvery tnink, that shades
The greensward of the bank before his porch,
Are to him as companions, — while he turns
With more endearment to the living smile
Of those his infants, who, when he is dead.
Shall hear the music of the self-same trees
Waving, till years roll on, and their grey hairs
Go to the dust in peace.
Away, sad thought —
JLo where the morning light, through the dark woodj
Upon the window-pane is flung, like fire.
246 RUBENs' LANDSCAPE.
Hail, Life, and Hope; and thou, great work of
ART,
That mid this populous and busy swarm*
Of men, dost smile serene, as with the hues
Of fairest, grandest Nature; mayst thou speak
Not vainly of th' endearments and best joys
That Nature yields. The manliest heart that swells
With honest Englisli feelings, (while the eye,
Sadden'd, but not cast down, beholds far off
The darkness of the onward rolling storm)
Charm'd for a moment by this mantling view,
Its anxious tumults shall suspend: and " Such,'*
The pensive patriot shall exclaim, " thy scenes,
" My own beloved country, such the abode
" Of rural peace! and while the soul has warmth,
4* And voice has energy, the brave arm strength,
"England, thou shalt not fall! The day shall
" come,
•' Yes, and now is, that thou shalt lift thyself,
*' And woe to him who sets upon thy shores
'** His hostile foot! Proud vidor though he be.
# Written in London.
RUBENs' landscape; 24/
" His bloody march shall never soil a flow'r
*' That hangs its sweet head, in the morning dew,
" On thy green village banks ! his muster'd hosts
" Shall be roll'd back in thousands, and the surge
" Bury them ! Then, when Peace illumes once more,
" My country, thy green nooks and inmost vales,
" It will be sweet amidst the forest glens
" To stray, and think upon the distant storm
«' That howl'd, but injur'd not!"
At thoughts like these,
What heart, what English heart, but shall beat high?
Meantime, its keen flash pass'd, thine eye intent,
Beaumont, shall trace the master-strokes of art,
And view th' assemblage of the finish'd piece.
As with his skill, who form'd it: Ruder views
Savage, with solitary pines, hung high
Amid the broken crags, (where scowling wait
The fierce banditti) stern Salvator's hand
Shall aptly shade: O'er Poussin's clust'ring domes.
With ampler umbrage, the black woods shall hang.
Beneath whose vv^aving gloom the sudden flash
Of broken light, upon the brawling stream
Is flung below.
'2'18 RUBENs' LANDSCAPE.
Aerial Claude shall paint
The grey fane peering o'er the summer woods.
The azure lake below, or distant seas.
And sails, in the pellucid atmosphere.
Soft gleaming to the morn; Dark on the rock,
Where the red lightnings burst, shall Wilson stand.
Like mighty Shakspeare, whom the imps of fire
Await: Nor oh, sweet Gainsborough, shall thee
The muse forget, whose simple landscape smiles
Attractive, whether we delight to view
The cottage chimney through the high wood peep.
Or beggar beauty stretch her little hand
With look most innocent; or homeward kine
Wind through the hollow road at eventide,
Or brouze the straggling branches.
Scenes like these
Shall charm all hearts, while truth and beauty live.
And Nature's piAur'd loveliness shall own
Each master's various touch; but chiefly Thou,
Great Rubens, shalt the willing senses lead,
Enamour'd of the varied imagery.
That fills the vivid canvass, swelling still
On the enraptur'd eye of taste, and still
rubers' landscape. 24()
New charms unfolding; though minute, yet grand,
Simple, yet most luxuriant, every light
And every shade, greatly opposed, and ail
Subserving to one magical effefl,
Of Truth and Harmony.
So glows the scene ;
And to the pensive thought refin'd displays
The richest rural Poem : oh may views
So pi(5tur'd animate thy classic mind,
Beaumont, to wander mid Sicilian scenes.
And catch the beauties of the Pastoral Bard,*
Shadowing his wildest landscapes. — Etna's fires*
Bebrycian rocks, Anapus' holy stream.
And woods of ancient Pan : the broken crag
And the old fisher here; the purple vines
There bending ; and the smiling boy,t set down
To guard, who, innocent and happy, weaves,
Intent, his rushy basket, to ensnare
The chirping grasshoppers, nor sees the while
The lean fox meditate her morning meal.
* Theocritus. AUucling to a desic;n of Ulustratlng the ficlure.ijue cl.a-
ra.fer of the venerable Sicilian, by paintings of Sir George, from new tran-
tlatiom of Messrs. Sotheby, Rogers, Howlcy, VV. Spencer, and ilie autbpr.
t LiLQcldcapes taken from tiic fir«t idyll of Theocritus.
250 EUBENS' LANDSCAPE.
Eyeing his scrip askance, whilst farther on
Another treads the purple grapes — he sits,
Nor aught regards, but the green rush he weaves.
O Beaumont, let this pomp of hght and shade
Wake thee, to paint the woods, that the sweet Muse
Has consecrated : then the summer-scenes
Of Phasidamus,* clad in richer light.
Shall glow, the glancing poplars, and clear fount;
While distant times admire (as now we trace
This Fumroer-mantling view) hoar iEtna's pines,
The vine-hung grotts, and branching planes, that shade
The silver Arethusa's stealing wave.
* See the exquisite landscape in the seyenth itlyll.
[ 251 ]
ON
THE HARP, AND DESPAIR,
OF
COWPER.
b WEET bard, whose tones great Milton might approve,
And Snakspeare, from high fancy's sphere,
Turning to the sound his ear,
Bend down a look of sympathy and love;
O swell the lyre again,
As if in full accord it pour'd an angel's strain!
But ah ! what means that look aghast.
E'en while it seem'd, in holy trance.
On scenes of bliss above to glance?
Was it a fiend of darkness pass'd!
Oh speak —
Paleness is upon his cheek —
On his brow the big drops stand.
To airy vacancy
Points the dread silence of his eye.
And the lov'd lyre it falls, falls from his nerveless hand!
[ 252 ]
II.
*' Come, peace of mind, delightful guest,
*' O come, and make thy downy nest
" Once more on his sad heart ;"
Meek Faith, a drop of comfort shed ;
Sweet Hope, support his aged head ;
And Charity, avert the burning dart!
Fruitless the pray'r — the night of deeper woes
Seems o'er the head e'en now to close;
In vain the path of purity he trod.
In vain, in vain.
He pour'd from fancy's shell his sweetest hermit strain-
He has no hope on eartli forsake him not, O God.
[ 253 ]
PROSPERO's
ADIEU TO ARIEL.
P*-. OW be free, and fare tliee well,"
My spirit, my lov'd Ariel.
To freedom and delight resign'd.
Speed upon the viewless wind,
Speed upon the wind, or play.
Following swift the summer ray.
Buoyant on the western breeze.
Over hills and over seas !
Or in the bell of shelt'ring flow'r,
When passing steams the verna! show'r.
Couch upon the trembling stem,
Yet shake not from its cup the gem ;
[ 254 ]
Then away, away, avvay,
Where the rainbow-tints decay!
Never more slialt thou perform
My fearful hests amid the storm,
Pour the lightning's angry blaze,
Whilst all around is wild amaze !
Never more shalt thou go forth,
*' Upon the sharp wind of the North,**
*' Or do my errants" in the deep.
Where the dead of ages sleep !
A thousand fathoms now below.
Thus my wizard wand I throw.
Ceas'd for ever is the spell.
Thou be free, and fare thee well.
Cruttwcil, Printer, St. James's-Strcet, Hath-
Published hy the sa?ne Author^
SONNETS, and other POEMS : in 2 Vols. Foolscap
Odavo, embellished v/ith Engravings. Price 12s.—
The Volumes may be purchased separately.
r
Cl/'>
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Los Angeles
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
Rttro LDORC
APR 2 1985
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