For lo conspicuous stands the awful Grove,
Sacred to Woden and the Saxon Jove:
Around the central altar seem to stand,
The gods ador'd by Hengist's valiant band;
Life seems each breathing figure to inform,
A godlike freedom, and a noble scorn.
O glorious race! O nation dear to fame!
Eternal founders of the British name!
From whom exalted Albion grateful draws
Her long-establish'd rights-her sacred laws;
Though in the gulf of wasting time were lost
Each ancient monument your name can boast,
Yet in this hallow'd shrine shall one remain,
While freedom lives to bless Britannia's plain.

As darts the Sun oblique his varied rays,
When through the fleecy cloud his lustre plays,
Here deepens to a gloom the varied green,
There beams a light-and shifts the shadowy scene:
But when the obvious vapour melts away,
The boundless prospect brightens into day.
So hitherto enchanted had we stray'd

Where first her heart the sweet delusion found,
As yet unconscious of a future wound.
Next to the fair ascent our steps we trac'd,
Whence shines afar the bold Rotunda 11 plac'd;
The artful dome Ionic columns bear

Light as the fabric swells in ambient air,
Beneath unshrin'd the Tuscan Venus stands,
And beauty's queen the beauteous scene commands:
The fond beholder sees with sweet surprise,
Streams glitter, lawns appear, and forests rise-
Here through thick shades alternate buildings break,
There through its borders steals the silver lake;
A soft variety delights the soul,

And harmony resulting crowns the whole.

Now by the long canal we gently turn,
Whose verdant sides romantic scenes adorn ;
As objects through the broken ground we see,
And there a statue rises, there a tree.
Here in an amphitheatre of green,

With slopes set off which form a rural scene,
On four Ionic pillars rais'd to sight

tray'd:

Now issuing from the covert, with surprise,
Th' unbounded landscape open'd to our eyes;
Whence south, its dome the fair Rotunda rears,
Plac'd to the east equestrian George appears 7;
Oppos'd, new walks o'erlook'd the forest lawn,
Where sport the peaceful deer and wanton fawn;
Full in the midst, enthron'd like beauty's queen,
Surrounded by her graces, Stowe is seen;
And in the crystal mirror plac'd below,
Beholds her ev'ry charm reflected glow;
Where snowy swans along the surface glide,
And rear their stately necks with graceful pride;
Wide from before a long succession spreads,
Of distant woods, green hills, and flow'ry meads.
O'er the free scene expatiates the sight,
And all the soul is lost in sweet delight.

8

Behind, disclos'd, the gay parterre is seen, With vases deck'd 9, and banks of living green; Here shelter'd all Hesperia's treasures bloom, And the bright orange sheds its rich perfume. While placid as they rise on ev'ry hand, In Cobham's smile the favour'd Muses stand; And Phoebus points to the celestial quire, The scenes that best the poet's flame inspire, And bids them here, expell'd their native Greece, Attune the lyre, and sing the sweets of peace.

Conducted hence, through the declining shade,
Thy statue, great Augustus 10, rears its head;
A stately column's fair Corinthian height,
Bears with triumphant air the royal weight:
Which seems a smile majestic to bestow,
As pleas'd that Britain can produce a Stowe.
Now through the deep'ning wood's projected
gloom,

To Dido's Cave with devious step we come,
Where the dim twilight of the arch above
Seems to express the queen's disastrous love.
For semblant such of old the fatal bow'r,
Where Venus led her in ill-omen'd hour.

6 The Saxon temple, or altar placed in an open grove.

? Equestrian statue of George I.

Circular bason with swans.

Apollo, and the Muses, and two orangeries.
Statue of George II.

Here the bright queen her heav'nly form displays,
Eternal subject of the Muse's praise:
But faint all praise her merit to impart,
Whose mem'ry lives in every British heart.

Now leave we, devious, the declining plain,
Awhile to wander through the woodland scene:
Here where six cent'ring walks united meet,
Morpheus invites us to his still retreat 13;
And while the tide of life uncertain flows,
Bids you "indulge yourself, and taste repose."
But stop, my Muse-I feel a conscious fear,
As if conceal'd divinity was near.
What do I see! What solemn views arise!
What wonders open to my thoughtful eyes!
Midst purling streams in awful beauty drest,
The shrine of ancient Virtue stands confest;
A Doric pile, by studious Cobham plac'd,
To show the world the worth of ages past;
When innocence-when truth still found regard,
And cherish'd merit had its due reward.

Within, four grateful statues honour'd stand, Inspire attention, and esteem command; Epaminondas first in arms renown'd, Whose glorious aim his country's freedom crown'd, Born in each social virtue to excel, With whom the Theban glory rose, and fell. Lycurgus next, in steady virtue great, Who for duration form'd the Spartan state; And Wealth expelling, with her baneful train, Left a republic worth the name of men. There Socrates, th' Athenian wise and good, With more than mortal sanctity endu'd: Who freed philosophy from useless art,

And show'd true science was to mend the heart.

Where bards repose, and godlike patriots smile,
And glorious heroes rest from earthly toil.
While, like the ruin plac'd in view beneath,
The tyrant and oppressor rot in death;
All born of vice devoted to decay,
And hastening like the gliding brook away.

Now leaving with regret the solemn wood,
We by the winding stream our course pursu'd;
Where stands the lonesome grotto sweetly plac'd,
With all the art of sportive Nature grac'd:
Two neighb'ring domes on spiral columns rise,
With shells and min'rals spangl'd to the eyes,
Whence, still directed by the winding stream,
Amus'd, we to the three-arch'd building came.
Hence, west, the church adorns th' opening height,
Eastward, the spacious pond relieves the sight;
In which, of form Chinese, à structure lies,
Where all her wild grotesques display surprise,
Within Japan her glitt'ring treasure yields,
And ships of amber sail on golden fields.
In radiant clouds are silver turrets form'd,
And mimic glories glitter all around,

Soon tir'd of these, the river next we cross'd, To-scenes 14 where Fancy is in wonder lost;· Such were th' Elysian fields describ'd of old By raptur'd bards, who blest the age of gold; Such gay romantic prospects rise around, With such profusion smiles the flow'ry ground. So steals th' ambrosial pleasure on the mind, We think 'tis Heav'n-and leave the world behind. So shine with native pomp the realms of light, So pure the ether, and the scenes so bright. Hail, sacred spot! May no unhallow'd tread Profane thy beauties, or thy sweets invade. Hence all ye slaves of vice and pow'r away; Here none approach, but who are fit to stay. See where the guardian of these blissful seats, Discerning Hermes, on the assembly waits! And ranks to fame each British worthy known, Who here distinguish'd, finds a just renown! Those happy kings who Flatt'ry's voice disdain'd, Who in their subjects' hearts with glory reign'd; Patriots who for their country joy'd to bleed, Or statesmen who the public weal decreed: Poets who scorn'd the Muses to profane, Nor courted vice, nor wrote for sordid gain: Or those by arts of use to human kind, Who toil'd to leave a worthy name behind, Names that for Virtue's godlike ends were born, To bless, to save, to counsel, to adorn. Serene in justice, and in goodness great, Here Alfred shines the founder of the state! Here Edward smiles, as when the world's delight, In peace belov'd, and dreadful in the fight. Here stands Eliza, empress of the main, Who Europe freed, and humbled haughty Spain. William, whose sword his native land reliev'd, And Britain from impending fate retriev'd. Here Raleigh lives, the man who greatly fell, For speaking truly-and for acting well. And Drake who first with naval glory crown'd, Bore Britain's fame the spacious globe around! With Hampden firm assertor of her laws, And proto-martyr in the glorious cause. There Gresham does his true encomium claim, And points the merchants' honourable name : There Jones, great architect! who taught our isle With Greek and Roman elegance to smile:

14 The decorated part called the Elysian fields.

Milton, whose genius, like his subject high,
Gave him beyond material bounds to fly!
And manly Shakspeare, whose extensive mind
Could fathom all the passions of mankind!
There Newton lives, whose sight was form'd to trace
Deep Nature's laws, and clear her mystic face.
And Bacon, first who left the jangling schools
To fix philosophy on certain rules.

With Locke, who, showing truth in reason's light,
Taught the instructed mind to judge aright.

Two living worthies 15 here distinguish'd breathe, And taste of spotless fame before their death; By no inscription is their merit shown, Their names suffice to eternize the stone. For Barnard's virtue scorns all borrow'd rays, And Pope's exalted merit baffles praise.

Now passing onward from th' Elysian ground, An enigmatic monument we found; Sacred to honest Tido's 16 blameless name, A foreigner of no ignoble fame: Much art is shown his virtues to commend; "A tender husband, and a faithful friend; No bigot-Nature was his constant rule, And though conversant with the great-no fool." Think this no flatt'ry, though so much in vogue, 'Tis real truth-for Fido-was a dog.

To Freedom's Shrine, across the level field, Still circling to the night our course we held: Plac'd on the summit's lofty brow it stands, And all the wide extended view commands. Descending hence, new objects meet the eyes; Spread to the left a long plantation lies; While from the right two winding rivers bend, And to the opening Bason smooth descend. Here the Palladian Bridge, observed before At distance, pleas'd we nearer now explore; Where are choice busts antique and modern seen, "And the glad world pays homage to the queen." Now to th' Imperial Cabinet we come, Of cubic form the bright historic room, Where monarchs wholesome counsel may receive, Since Cæsars the instructive lesson give; "There Titus' motto tells he mourn'd the day In which his goodness shed no friendly ray! The delegated sword of Trajan shows, Himself not spar'd, if rank'd with virtue's foes: There mild Aurelius, friend of human kind, Conveys this maxim from his generous mind; If rais'd to regal pow'r, such mandates give, As, chang'd, you would a private man receive." Lessons like these humanity impart, And bend to mercy ev'n the tyrant's heart.

Now through a stately gate we take our way, And the surprising terrours pleas'd survey: Stretch'd to the eye the lineal walk extends, And bounded by the Shrine of Venus ends: Here Friendship's Temple strikes the ravish'd sight, With finish'd symmetry and graceful height; Manly as is the theme it means to grace, The lofty square displays its Doric face, For Cobham this devoted frame intends For Virtue's fav'rites and for Britain's friends 17.

15 The busts of sir John Barnard and Pope. 16 Signor Fido, an Italian dog.

17 The prince of Wales, earls of Westmoreland, Chesterfield, and Marchmont; lords Cobham, Gower, and Bathurst; Richard Grenville, Pitt, and Lyttelton.

Now by the Octagon our course we hold, Where laughing Satyrs beauty's queen behold: While the gay goddess, careless of their smile, Spreads ev'ry charm industrious to beguile. And now the sweet delightful circuit done, Our progress ended where it first begun.

Thus has the Muse with feeble wing essay'd To paint the wonders of th' enchanted shade; And, fond the charms of Nature to explore, Rov'd, like the studious bee, from flow'r to flow'r; Stopp'd by each pleasing object she could meet, To sip some fragrance, or collect some sweet. But as where Britain's fair assembled shine, The rays of beauty spread a light divine: So here where Nature does her triumphs show, And with majestic hand adorns a Stowe ; Description fails-all fancy is too mean, They only can conceive it, who have seen.

JOB.

CHAPTER III.

THUS Job began-" Curst be the fatal morn
In which distinguish'd wretchedness was born.
From the fair round of the revolving year
Perish that day! nor let the night appear
In which this speck of entity began
To swell to misery, and promise man!
Let darkness stain it o'er, no friendly ray
Pierce through the gloom of that disastrous day!
But shades of terrour o'er its circuit spread,
And fold it in the mantle of the dead.
O'er that curst night may double horrours dwell,
Such as enwrap the punishments of Hell.
No cheerful sounds its solitude awake,

But such as fiends and tortur'd wretches make;
Such as may wound the soul and shock the air,
The groans of death, and howlings of despair.
May all its stars with rays diminish'd show,
And through the dusky air obscurely glow.
No glimpse of hope the dreadful scene adorn,
Nor let it see the promise of a morn-
Because it shut not up my mother's womb,
And join'd at once my cradle and my tomb:
Why dy'd I not? Why did preventive care
My destin'd life for future sorrows spare?
Then had I found that ease I seek in vain,
Nor known this load of unexampled pain."
"O grave! thou refuge of the soul distress'd,
When shall I sink into thy downy rest?
There kings and mighty ones neglected rot,
In their own mouldering monuments forgot:
(Though once of grandeur and of pow'r possest,
And all the treasures of the shining east :)
There men no longer vain distinctions boast,
In common dust the prince and slave are lost:
Low lies th' oppressor bound in lasting chains,
There of his rod the wretch no more complains!
There cease the wailings of the heart distress'd,
And there the weary find eternal rest."

"Why sparest thou, O Lord, a life like mine? While with incessant pray'rs for death I pine: Why is that blessing giv'n to wealth and pride, But to the wretch distress'd like me, deny'd,

Beset my path, and mingle with my food.
In vain my cries and groans continual rise,
In vain my tears I pour and waste my sighs:
While all my fears upon my soul are come,
By thee forsaken, hopeless and undone."

ANNIVERSARY ODE

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF A DAUGHTER WHO DIED IN 1726.

BEGIN my Muse, and strike the lyre,
Let grief the melting tones inspire,
And sadly consecrate the day,
That snatch'd my soul's delight away.

When first the beauteous infant maid
The early seeds of sense display'd,
With her dear prattle sooth'd my cares,
And charm'd my fond transported ears,

How did her op'ning bloom arise!
And as it struck my ravish'd eyes,
Oft promis'd to my years' increase,
A store of innocence and peace.

But soon, too soon, those flatt'ring joys
Fate's interposing hand destroys:
And, lost in Death's all gloomy shade,
The dear delusive vision fled.

So does the early budding rose
Its blushing fragrancy disclose,
Allure the touch, and smell, and sight,
And yield each sense a soft delight.

Till some rash foe its pride invade,
And ravish'd from its native bed,
Its odour and its hue decay,
And all its beauties fade away.

Thus were my dreams of comfort crɔst,
And with the fav'rite virgin lost;
And all my schemes of bliss to come
Enclos'd within her early tomb!

Thence clouds of new afflictions rise,
And, brooding o'er the darken'd skies,
With their sad melancholy shade,
The horizon of life o'erspread.

While o'er the young Sabina's urn
Thus with paternal grief I mourn;
Around my soul new sorrows break,
And leave my woes no room to speak.
On Atticus' delightful age

Fate next employ'd her cruel rage;
With ease dissolv'd life's feeble chain,
And freed the suff'ring saint from pain.

O ever honour'd sacred name!
If in the bright immortal train
One thought of Earth can touch thy rest,
Look down on this afflicted breast.

Teach me, like thee, through life to steer,
Patient and calm my lot to bear;
Teach me thy heav'nly steps to trace,
And reach, like thee, the realms of peace.

Here no invading noise the goddess finds,
High as she sits o'er the surrounding deep;
But pleas'd she listens to the hollow winds,
Or the shrill mew, that lulls her evening-sleep;
Deep in a cleft-worn rock we found her laid,

Spangl'd the roof with many an artless gem: Slowly she rose, and met us in the shade,

As half disturb'd that such intrusion came: But at her sister's sight with look discreet, She better welcome gave, and pointed each a seat.

Wide from her grotto to the dazzled eye,

A boundless prospect! lay the azure waste, Lost in the sightless limit sea and sky;

By measurable distance faintly trac'd: Whence now arising from his wat'ry bed,

The Sun emerging spread his golden ray; When sweetly Patience rais'd her pensive head, And thus the goddess said, or seem'd to say: "Mark, mortal, with attention's deepest care, The swift approaching scene the hands of Heaven prepare."

With look intent, across the shining void, (An object to the weak beholder lost!) Just in the horizon a sail I spied,

As if she made some long-expected coast:
Kind to her wishes blew the western breeze,
As, swift advancing o'er the placid main,
She shap'd her course, increasing by degrees,
Till nearer sense made all her beauties plain;
And show'd her on the yielding billows ride,
In all the gallant trim of ornamental pride!

Thus flew she onward with expanded sail,
A sight delightful to the pleasur'd eye!
Borne on the wings of the propitious gale,
Heedless, alas! of hidden danger nigh:
The joyful sailor, long on ocean tost,
Already thought his tedious suff'rings o'er;
Already hail'd the hospitable coast,

And trod in thought along the friendly shore: When, dreadful to behold!-disastrous shock ❝! Shipwreck'd, at once she struck on a wave-cover'd rock!

O Heaven!-it was a piteous sight to view
The wild confusion suddenly took place!
The different gestures of the frighted crew!
The fear that mark'd each death-distracted
face.

All one impassion'd scene of woe appear'd,
Some wildly rav'd, while others scarce could
speak.

No order was observ'd, no reason heard,

For mortal paleness sate on every check! I look'd at Patience!-as she sate me nigh, And wonder'd, as I look'd, to see her tearless eye!

Again I turn'd-when, o'er the vessel's side,

Distinct I saw a manly youth appear, Lanch the oar'd pinnace to the swelling tide, Nor show'd his steady brow a guilty fear!

5 The pronunciation rather of a sailor, than of a scholar. D.

6 This fatal accident happened near the island of North Ronalsha, the northernmost of the Orkney isles. B.

The sad remainder with a mournful hail

His just design and bold departure blest; With lifted eye he spread the slender sail,

As if he trusted Heaven to guide the rest: Swift o'er the main the bark retreating flew, And the tall ship at once was taken from my view.

Immediate Patience from her seat arose,

And all abrupt the transient visit broke; While Silence, pleas'd, return'd to her repose, With air compos'd, for never word she spoke: Again cloud-wafted we pursu'd our way

Westward, as gave the alter'd wind to ride, When thus, methought, I heard the goddess say, "Tis mine to wait yon boat that braves the For well, alas! too well I now foresee, [tide, Much need yon voyagers will quickly have for me."

Driven on the pinions of the eastern wind O'er many a seagirt isle, and rocky coast, We left bleak Shetland's 7 shadowy hills behind, To watch the little bark in ocean tost: For now from sight of land diverted clear, They drove uncertain o'er the pathless deep, Nor gave the adverse gale due course to steer, Nor durst they the design'd direction keep: The gathering tempest quickly rag'd so high, The wave-encompass'd boat but faintly reach'd my eye.