Truths undiscern'd but by that holy light, Then all is plain. Philosophy baptized In the pure fountain of eternal love, Has eyes indeed; and viewing all she sees As meant to indicate a God to man,
Gives him his praise, and forfeits not her own. Learning has borne such fruit in other days On all her branches: piety has found
Friends in the friends of science, and true pray'r Has flow'd from lips wet with Castalian dews. Such was thy wisdom, Newton, child-like sage! Sagacious reader of the works of God,
And in his word sagacious. Such too thine, Milton, whose genius had angelic wings, And fed on manna! And such thine, in whom Our British Themis gloried with just cause, Immortal Hale; for deep discernment prais'd, And sound integrity, not more than fam'd For sanctity of manners undefil'd.
All flesh is grass, and all its glory fades Like the fair flow'r dishevell'd in the wind; Riches have wings, and grandeur is a dream. The man we celebrate must find a tomb, And we that worship him ignoble graves. Nothing is proof against the gen'ral curse Of vanity, that seizes all below.
The only amaranthine flow'r on earth Is virtue; th' only lasting treasure, truth. But what is truth? 'Twas Pilate's question put To Truth itself, that deign'd him no reply. And wherefore? will not God impart his light To them that ask it ?-Freely-'tis his joy, His glory, and his nature, to impart. But to the proud, uncandid, insincere, Or negligent inquirer, not a spark.
What's that which brings contempt upon a book, And him who writes it, though the style be neat, The method clear and argument exact?
That makes a minister in holy things The joy of many, and the dread of more, His name a theme for praise and for reproach ?— That while it gives worth in God's account, Depreciates and undoes us in our own? What pearl is it, that rich men cannot buy, That learning is too proud to gather up; But which the poor, and the despis'd of all, Seek and obtain, and often find unsought? Tell me and I will tell thee what is truth.
O, friendly to the best pursuits of man, Friendly to thought, to virtue, and to peace, Domestic life in rural pleasure pass'd!
Few know thy value, and few taste thy sweets; Though many boast thy favours, and affect To understand and choose thee for their own. But foolish man foregoes his proper bliss, E'en as his first progenitor, and quits, Though plac'd in Paradise (for earth has still Some traces of her youthful beauty left), Substantial happiness for transient joy. Scenes form'd for contemplation, and to nurse The growing seeds of wisdom; that suggest, By ev'ry pleasing image they present, Reflections such as meliorate the heart, Compose the passions, and exalt the mind; Scenes such as these 'tis his supreme delight To fill with riot and defile with blood. Should some contagion, kind to the We persecute, annihilate the tribes, That draw the sportsman over hill and dale Fearless, and rapt away from all his cares; Should never game-fowl hatch her eggs again, Nor baited hook deceive the fish's eye; Could pageantry and dance, and feast and song, Be quell'd in all our summer-months' retreats; How many self-deluded nymphs and swains, Who dream they have a taste for fields and groves
Would find them hideous nurs'ries for the spleen, And crowd the roads, impatient for the town! They love the country, and none else, who seek For their own sake its silence, and its shade. Delights which who would leave, that has a heart Susceptible of pity, or a mind
Cultur'd and capable of sober thought, For all the savage din of the swift pack, And clamours of the field?-Detested sport, That owes it pleasures to another's pain; That feeds upon the sobs and dying shrieks Of harmless nature, dumb, but yet endued With eloquence, that agonies inspire, Of silent tears and heart-distending sighs? Vain tears, alas, and sighs that never find A corresponding tone in jovial souls! Well-one at least is safe. One shelter'd hare Has never heard the sanguinary yell Of cruel man, exulting in her woes. Innocent partner of my peaceful home, Whom ten long years' experience of my care Has made at last familiar; she has lost Much of her vigilant instinctive dread, Not needful here, beneath a roof like mine. Yes-thou mayst eat thy bread, and lick the hand That feeds thee; thou mayst frolic on the floor At Ev'ning, and at night retire secure To thy straw couch, and slumber unalarm'd; For I have gain'd thy confidence, have pledg'd All that is human in me, to protect Thine unsuspecting gratitude and love. If I survive thee, I will dig thy grave; And, when I place thee in it, sighing say,
'I knew at least one hare that had a friend."* How various his enjoyments, whom the world Calls idle; and who justly in return
See the note at the end of this volume.
Esteems that busy world an idler too! Friends, books, a garden, and perhaps his pen, Delightful industry enjoy'd at home, And Nature in her cultivated trim
Dress'd to his taste, inviting him abroad- Can he want occupation, who has these? Will he be idle, who has much t' enjoy? Me therefore studious of laborious ease, Not slothful, happy to deceive the time, Not waste it, and aware that human life Is but a loan to be repaid with use,
When He shall call his debtors to account, From whom are all our blessings, business finds E'en here: while sedulous I seek t' improve, At least neglect not, or leave unemploy'd, The mind he gave me; driving it, though slack Too oft, and much impeded in its work By causes not to be divulg❜d in vain, To its just point the service of mankind. He, that attends to his interior self, That has a heart, and keeps it; has a mind
That hungers, and supplies it; and who seeks
A social, not a dissipated life,
Has business; feels himself engag'd t' achieve
No unimportant, though a silent, task. A life all turbulence and noise may seem To him that leads it, wise, and to be prais'd; But wisdom is a pearl with most success Sought in still water, and beneath clear skies. He that is ever occupied in storms, Or dives not for it, or brings up instead, Vainly industrious, a disgraceful prize.
The morning finds the self-sequester'd man Fresh for his task, intend what task he may. Whether inclement seasons recommend His warm, but simple home, where he enjoys With her, who shares his pleasures and his heart, Sweet converse, sipping calm the fragrant lymph,
Which neatly she prepares; then to his book Well chosen, and not sullenly perus'd In selfish silence, but imparted oft,
As aught occurs, that she may smile to hear, Or turn to nourishment, digested well. Or if the garden with its many cares, All well repaid, demand him, he attends The welcome call, conscious how much the hand Of lubbard Labour needs his watchful eye, Oft loit'ring lazily, if not o'erseen,
Or misapplying his unskilful strength. Nor does he govern only or direct,
But much performs himself. No works indeed, That ask robust, tough sinews, bred to toil, Servile employ; but such as may amuse, Not tire, demanding rather skill than force. Proud of his well-spread walls, he views his trees, That meet, no barren interval between,
With pleasure more than e'en their fruits afford; Which, save himself who trains them, none can feel. These, therefore, are his own peculiar charge; No meaner hand may discipline the shoots, None but his steel approach them. What is weak, Distemper'd, or has lost prolific pow'rs, Impair'd by age, his unrelenting hand Dooms to the knife: nor does he spare the soft And succulent, that feeds its giant growth, But barren, at th' expense of neighb'ring twigs Less ostentatious, and yet studded thick With hopeful gems. The rest, no portion left That may disgrace his art, or disappoint Large expectation, he disposes neat At measur'd distances, that air and sun, Admitted freely, may afford their aid, And ventilate and warm the swelling buds. Hence Summer has her riches, Autumn hence, And hence e'en Winter fills his wither'd hand With blushing fruits, and plenty not his own.*
* Miraturque novos fructus et non sua poma. '---Virg.
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