XXII.

How various Nature! turgid grain,

Here nodding, floats the golden plain;

There worms weave silken webs, here glowing vines Lay forth their purple to the sun:

Beneath the soil there harvests run,

And kings' revenues ripen in the mines.

XXIII.

What's various Nature? art divine,

Man's soul to soften and refine:

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Heav'n diff'rent growths to diff'rent lands imparts,

That all may stand in need of all,

And int'rest draw around the ball

A net to catch and join all human hearts.

XXIV.

Thus has the great Creator's pen,

His law supreme to mortal men,
In their necessities distinctly writ:
Ev'n appetite supplies the place

Of absent virtue, absent grace,

And human want performs for human wit..

XXV.

Vast naval ensigns strow'd around,

The wond'ring foreigner confound:

How stands the deep-aw'd Continent aghast,

As her proud sceptered sons survey,

At ev'ry port, on ev'ry quay,

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Huge mountains rise of cable, anchor, mast 150

XXVI.

Th' unwieldy tun! the pond'rous bale!
Each prince his own clime set to sale
Sees here, by subjects of a British king.
How earth's abridg'd! all nations range
A narrow spot! our throng'd Exchange,

And send the streams of plenty from their spring.

XXVII.

Nor earth alone, all Nature bends.

In aid to Britain's glorious ends.

Toils she in trade? or bleeds in honest wars ?

Her keel each yielding sea enthrals,

Each willing wind her canvass calls;
Her pilot into service lists the stars.

XXVI:1

In size confin'd, and humbly made,
What tho' we creep beneath the shade,
And seem as emmets on this point the ball?
Heav'n bid its rays transpierce the whole,
And, giving godlike reason, gave us all,

XXIX.

Thou golden chain 'twixt God and men,
Bless'd Reason! guide my life and pen;
Heav'n lighted up the human soul,

All ills, like ghosts, fly trembling at thy light,
Who thee obeys reigns over all; "

Smiles, tho' the stars around him fall;
A God is nought but reason infinite.

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Young.]

E ij

XXX.

The man of reason is a god,

Who scorns to stoop to Fortune's nod ;
Sole agent he beneath the shining sphere.
Others are passive, are impell'd,
Are frighten'd, flatter'd, sunk or swell'd,
As Accident is pleas'd to domineer.

XXXI.

Our hopes and fears are much to blame;
Shall monarchs awe? or crowns inflame?
From gross mistake or idle tumult springs:
Those men the silly world disarm,

Elude the dart, dissolve the charm,

Who know the slender worth of men and things.

XXXII.

The present object, present day,

Are idle phantoms, and away:

What's lasting only does exist. Know this,
Life, fame, friends, freedom, empire call;
Peace, commerce, freedom, nobly fall,
To launch us on the flood of endless bliss.

XXXIII.

How foreign these, tho' most in view!
Go, look your whole existence thro'

Thence form your rule; thence fix your estimate;

For so the gods. But as the gains

How great the toil? 'twill cost more pains

To vanquish folly than reduce a state.

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Hence, Reason! the first palm is thine;
Old Britain learn'd from thee to shine:

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By thee, Trade's swarming throng, gay Freedom's
Armies, in war of fatal frown,

Of peace the pride, Arts flowing down,
Enrich, exalt, defend, instruct our isle.

STRAIN II.

COMMERCE gives arts as well as gain;
By Commerce wafted o'er the main,
They barb'rous climes enlighten as they run;
Arts, the rich traffic of the soul!

May travel thus from pole to pole,

[smile,

Commerce gives learning, virtue, gold!
Ply Commerce then ye Britons bold,
Inur'd to winds and seas! lest gods repent:
The gods that thron'd you in the wave,
And, as the trident's emblem, gave

A triple realm that awes the continent:

And awes with wealth; for wealth is pow'r:
When Jove descends, a golden show'r,
'Tis navies, armies, empire, all in one.-------
View, emulate, outshine old Tyre;

In scarlet rob'd, with gems on fire,

Her Merchants princes! ev'ry deck a throne!

10

17.

She sat an empress! aw'd the flood!

Her stable column Ocean trod;

She call'd the nations, and she call'd the seas,
By both obey'd; the Syrian sings;

The Cyprian's art her viol strings ;
Togarmah's steed along her valley neighs.

V.

The fir of Senir makes her floor,

And Bashan's oak, transform'd, her oar;
High Lebanon her mast; far Dedan warms
Her mantled host; Arabia feeds;

Her sail of purple Egypt spreads;

Arvad sends mariners; the Persian arms,

VI.

The world's last limit bounds her fame,
The Golden City was her name!

Those stars on earth, the topaz, onyx, blaze
Beneath her foot. Extent of coast,

And rich as Nile's, let others boast,

Her's the far nobler harvest of the seas,

VII.

O Merchant Land! as Eden fair!

Ancient of Empires! Nature's care!

The strength of Ocean! head of Plenty's springs!
The pride of isles! in wars rever'd!

Mother of crafts! lov'd! 'courted! fear'd! ·

Pilot of kingdoms! and support of kings !