Oh, bleft feclufion from a jarring world,
Which he, thus occupied, enjoys! Retreat
Cannot indeed to guilty man restore
Loft innocence, or cancel follies paft;
But it has peace, and much fecures the mind
From all affaults of evil; proving still
A faithful barrier, not o'erleap'd with ease
By vicious cuftom, raging uncontroll'd
Abroad, and defolating public life.
When fierce temptation, feconded within
By traitor appetite, and arm'd with darts
Temper'd in hell, invades the throbbing breast,
To combat may be glorious, and fuccefs
Perhaps may crown us; but to fly is safe.
Had I the choice of fublunary good,
What could I wish, that I poffefs not here?
Health, leifure, means t' improve it, friendship, peace,
No loose or wanton, though a wand'ring, mufe,
And conftant occupation without care.
Thus bleft, I draw a picture of that blifs;
Hopeless, indeed, that diffipated minds,
And profligate abufers of a world
Created fair fo much in vain for them,
Should feek the guiltlefs joys that 1 defcribe,
Allur'd by my report: but fure no lefs,
That, felf-condemn'd, they must neglect the prize,
And what they will not tafte muft yet approve.
What we admire we praise; and, when we praise,
Advance it into notice, that, its worth
Acknowledg'd, others may admire it too.
I therefore recommend, though at the risk
Of popular difguft, yet boldly ftill,
The cause of piety and facred truth,
And virtue, and those scenes which God ordain'd
Should beft fecure them and promote them moft;
Scenes that I love, and with regret perceive
Forfaken, or through folly not enjoy'd.
Pure is the nymph, though lib'ral of her smiles,
And chafte, though unconfin'd, whom I extol.
Not as the prince in Shushan, when he call'd,
Vain-glorious of her charms, his Vashti forth
To grace the full pavilion. His defign
Was but to boaft his own peculiar good,
Which all might view with envy, none partake.
My charmer is not mine alone; my sweets,
And the that sweetens all my bitters too,
Nature, enchanting Nature, in whose form
And lineaments divine I trace a hand
That errs not, and find raptures ftill renew'd,
Is free to all men-univerfal prize.
Strange that fo fair a creature should yet want
Admirers, and be deftin'd to divide
With meaner objects ev'n the few fhe finds!
Stripp'd of her ornaments, her leaves and flow'rs,
She lofes all her influence. Cities then
Attract us, and neglected Nature pines,
Abandon'd, as unworthy of our love.
But are not wholesome airs, though unperfum'd
By rofes; and clear funs, though scarcely felt;
And groves, if unharmonious, yet fecure
From clamour, and whose very filence charms;
To be preferr'd to smoke, to the eclipse
That Metropolitan volcanos make,
Whose Stygian throats breathe darkness all day long ;
And to the ftir of commerce, driving flow,
And thund'ring loud, with his ten thousand wheels ?
They would be, were not madness in the head,
And folly in the heart; were England now
What England was; plain, hofpitable, kind,
And undebauch'd. But we have bid farewell
To all the virtues of those better days,
And all their honeft pleasures. Manfions once
Knew their own masters; and laborious hinds,
Who had furviv'd the father, ferv'd the fon.
Now the legitimate and rightful lord
Is but a tranfient guest, newly arriv'd,
And foon to be fupplanted. He that faw
His patrimonial timber caft its leaf,
Sells the laft fcantling, and transfers the price
To fome fhrewd fharper, ere it buds again.
Eftates are landscapes, gaz'd upon a while,
Then advertis'd, and auctioneer'd away.
The country starves, and they that feed th' o'ercharg'a
And furfeited lewd town with her fair dues,
By a just judgment ftrip and starve themfelves.
The wings that waft our riches out of fight
Grow on the gamefter's elbows; and th' alert
And nimble motion of those restless joints,
That never tire, foon fans them all away.
Improvement too, the idol of the age,
Is fed with many a victim. Lo, he comes!
Th' omnipotent magician, Brown, appears!
Down falls the venerable pile, th' abode
Of our forefathers-a grave whisker'd race,
But taftelefs. Springs a palace in its ftead,
But in a distant fpot; where, more expos'd,
It may enjoy th' advantage of the north,
And aguish east, till time shall have transform'd
Those naked acres to a fhelt'ring grove.
He speaks. The lake in front becomes a lawn;
Woods vanish, hills fubfide, and vallies rife;
And streams, as if created for his ufe,
Purfue the track of his directing wand,
Sinuous or straight, now rapid and now flow,
Now murm'ring foft, now roaring in cafcades-
Ev'n as he bids' Th' enraptur'd owner fmiles.
'Tis finish'd, and yet, finish'd as it feems,
Still wants a grace, the lovelieft it could fhow,
A mine to ia isfy th' enormous coit.
Drain'd to the last poor item of his wealth,
He fighs, departs, and leaves th' accomplish'd plan
That he has touch'd, retouch'd, many a long day
Labour'd, and many a night purfu'd in dreams,
Juft when it meets his hopes, and proves the heav'n
He wanted, for a wealthier to enjoy!
And now perhaps the glorious hour is come,
When, having no ftake left, no pledge t' endear
Her int'refts, or that gives her facred caufe
A moment's operation on his love,
He burns with moft intense and flagrant zeal
To ferve his country. Minifterial grace
Deals him out money from the public cheft;
Or, if that mine be fhut, fome private purse
Supplies his need with an ufurious loan,
To be refunded duly when his vote,
Well-manag'd, shall have earn'd its worthy price.
Oh innocent, compar'd with arts like these,
Crape, and cock'd pistol, and the whistling ball
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