Whence from fuch lands each pleasing science

flies,

That firft excites defire, and then fupplies; Unknown to them, when fenfual pleasures

cloy,

To fill the languid pause with finer joy; Unknown those powers that raise the foul to flame,

Catch every nerve, and vibrate through the frame.

Their level life is but a fmould'ring fire, Unquench'd by want, unfann'd by ftrong

defire;

Unfit for raptures, or if raptures cheer
On fome high festival of once a year,
In wild excefs the vulgar breast takes fire,
Till, buried in debauch, the blifs expire.

But not their joys alone thus coarfely flow: Their morals, like their pleasures, are but

low;

For, as refinement stops, from fire to son, Unalter'd, unimprov'd the manners run, And love's and friendship's finely pointed

dart

Fall blunted from each indurated heart.

Some

Some fterner virtues o'er the mountain's breaft

May fit, like falcons cow'ring on the neft; But all the gentler morals, fuch as play Through life's more cultur'd walks, and charm the way,

Thefe far difpers'd, on timorous pinions fly, To sport and flutter in a kinder sky.

To kinder fkies, where gentler manners

reign,

I turn; and France difplays her bright domain.

Gay fprightly land of mirth and social ease, Pleas'd with thyfelf, whom all the world can please,

How often have I led thy fportive choir, With tunelefs pipe, befide the murmuring Loire ?

Where fhading elms along the margin grew, And freshen'd from the wave the zephyr

Alew;

And haply, tho' my harsh tough faultering

ftill,

But mock'all tune, and marr'd the dancer's

kill;

Yet

Yet would the village praise my wonderous pow'r,

And dance, forgetful of the noon-tide hour. Alike all ages. Dames of ancient days

Have led their children through the mirthful maze,

And the gay grandfire, skill'd in gestic lore, Has frifk'd beneath the burden of threefcore.

So bleft a life these thoughtless realms display,

Thus idly bufy rolls their world away :

Theirs are thofe arts that mind to mind en

dear,

For honour forms the focial temper here. Honour, that praise which real merit gains, Or even imaginary worth obtains,

Here paffes current ; paid from hand to hand, It fhifts in fplendid traffic round the land : From courts, to camps, to cottages it strays, And all are taught an avarice of praise : They please, are pleas'd, they give to get

efteem,

Till, feeming bleft, they grow to what they

feem.

But

But while this fofter art their blifs fupplies, It gives their follies alfo room to rife

For praise too dearly lov'd, or warmly fought,

Enfeebles all internal ftrength of thought.
And the weak foul, within itself unbleft,
Leans for all pleasure on another's breast.
Hence oftentation here, with tawdry art,
Pants for the vulgar praise which fools im-
part;

Here vanity affumes her pert grimace,
And trims her robes of frize with copper

lace;

Here beggar pride defrauds her daily cheer, To boaft one fplendid banquet once a year; The mind ftill turns where fhifting paffion draws,

Nor weighs the folid worth of felf-applaufe. To men of other minds my fancy flies, Embofom'd in the deep where Holland

lies:

Methinks her patient fons before me ftand, Where the broad ocean leans against the

land,

VOL. I.

C

And

And, fedulous to stop the coming tide,
Lift the tall rampire's artificial pride.
Onward methinks, and diligently slow,
The firm connected bulwark seems to grow:
Spreads its long arms amidst the watery roar,
Scoops out an empire, and ufurps the shore,
While the pent ocean, rifing o'er the pile,
Secs an amphibious world beneath him
fmile;

The flow canal, the yellow bloffom'd vale,
The willow-tufted bank, the gliding fail,
The crowded mart, the cultivated plain,
A new creation refcu'd from his reign,
Thus while around the wave fubjected

foil,

Impels the native to repeated toil,
Industrious habits in each bofom reign,

And industry begets a love of gain.

Hence all the good from opulence that fprings,

With all thofe ills fuperfluous treafure brings,

Are here difplay'd.

wealth imparts

Their much-lov'd

Convenience, plenty, elegance and arts;

But