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Along the cool fequefter'd vale of life

They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.

Yet ev❜n these bones from infult to protect
Some frail memorial ftill erected nigh,

With uncouth rhymes and fhapelefs fculpture deck'd
Implores the paffing tribute of a figh.

Their name, their years, fpelt by th' unletter'd Mufe,
The place of fame and elegy fupply;

And many a holy text around fhe ftrews,
That teach the ruftic moralist to die.

For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
This pleasing anxious being e'er refign'd,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
-Nor caft one longing ling'ring look behind?

On fome fond breast the parting foul relies,
Some pious drops the clofing eye requires :
Even from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,
Ev'n in our afhes live their wonted fires.

For thee, who mindful of the unhonour'd Dead,
Doft in these lines their artless tale relate;
If chance, by lonely Contemplation led,
Some kindred Spirit fhall inquire thy fate;

Haply fome hoary-headed fwain may fay,
"Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn,
"Brufhing with hafty fteps the dew away
"To meet the fun upon the upland lawn.

"There

"There at the foot of yonder nodding beech,
"That wreathes its old fantastic roots fo high,
"His liftlefs length at noontide would he stretch,
"And pore upon the brook that babbles by.

"Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,
"Mutt'ring his wayward fancies he would rove;
"Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn,
"Or craz'd with care, or cross'd in hopeless love.

"One morn I miss'd him on th' accuftom'd hill,
"Along the heath and near his favourite tree;
"Another came; nor yet befide the rill,
"Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he :'

"The next with dirges due in fad array

"Slow through the church-way path we faw him borne. "And approach read (for thou canft read) the lay, "Grav'd on the ftone, beneath yon aged thorn."

THE EPITAPH.

HERE refts his head upon the lap of Earth,

A Youth, to Fortune and to Fame unknown:
Fair Science frown'd not on his humble birth,
And Melancholy mark'd him for her own.

Large was his bounty, and his foul fincere,
Heav'n did a recompence as largely send :

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to Mis'ry all he had—a tear;

He gain'd from Heav'n-('twas all he wish'd)-a friend.

No

No farther feek his merits to difclofe,

Or draw his frailties from their dread abode, (There they alike in trembling hope repofe). The Bofom of his Father and his God.

GRAY.

CHAP. XI.

WARRINGTON ACADEMY.

MARK where its fimple front yon manfion rears, –

The nursery of men for future years!

Here callow chiefs and embryo ftatesmen lie,
And unfledg'd poets fhort excurfions try:
While Merfey's gentle current, which too long
By Fame neglected, and unknown to Song,
Between his rufhy banks, (no poet's theme)
Had crept inglorious, like a vulgar ftream,
Reflects th' afcending feats with confcious pride,
And dares to emulate a claffic tide.

Soft mufic breathes along cach op'ning fhade,
And fooths the dashing of his rough cascade...
With myftic lines his fands are figur'd o'er,
And circles trac'd upon the letter'd shore.
Beneath his willows rove th' inquiring youth,.
And court the fair majestic form of Truth.
Here Nature opens all her fecret fprings,
And heav'n-born Science plumes her eagle-wings:
Too long had bigot Rage, with malice fwell'd,
Crush'd her ftrong pinions, and her flight withheld;
Too long to check her ardent progress strove:
So writhes the ferpent round the bird of Jove;

Hangs

Hangs on her flight, reftrains her tow'ring wing
Twifts its dark folds, and points its venom'd fting.
Yet ftill (if aught aright the Mufe divine)
Her rifing pride fhall mock the vain defign';
On founding pinions yet aloft shall foar,

And thro' the azure deep unravell'd paths explore.
Where Science fmiles, the Mufes join the train;
And gentleft arts and pureft manners reign.

Ye generous youth, who love this. ftudious fhade !^
How rich a field is to your hopes difplay'd!
Knowledge to you unlocks the claffic page;
And virtue bloffoms for a better age.

Oh golden days! oh bright unvalued hours!
What bifs (did ye but know that bliss) were yours
With richest ftores your glowing bofoms fraught,
Perception quick, and Luxury of thought;
The high Defigns that heave the labouring foul,
Panting for fame, impatient of controul :
And fond enthufiaftic Thought, that feeds
On pictur❜d tales of vaft heroic deeds:
And quick Affections, kindling into flame
At virtue's or their country's honour'd name ;
And fpirits light, to every joy in tune;
And Friendship, ardent as a fummer's noon;
And generous Scorn of Vice's venal tribe;
And proud Disdain of Interest's fordid bribe;
And confcious Honour's quick instinctive fenfe;
And Smiles unforc'd; and eafy Confidence
And vivid Fancy; and clear fimple Truth;
And all the mental bloom of vernal Youth,
How bright the scene to Fancy's eye appears,
Thro' the long perfpective of diftant years;

When

When this, this little group their country calls
From academic fhades and learned halls,
To fix her laws, her fpirit to fuftain,

And light up glory thro' her wide domain !
Their various tastes in different arts display'd,
Like temper'd harmony of light and shade,
With friendly union in one mass shall blend,
And this adorn the ftate, and that defend;
These the fequefter'd shade shall cheaply please,
With learned Labour, and inglorious Ease:
While thofe, impell'd by fome refiftiefs force,
O'er feas and rocks fhall urge their vent'rous courfe;
Rich fruits matur'd by glowing funs behold,
And China's groves of vegetable gold;
From every land the various harvest spoil,
And bear the tribute to their native foil:
But tell each land (while every toil they share,
Firm to sustain, and refolute to dare,)
MAN is the nobler growth our realms fupply,
And SOULS are ripen'd in our northern sky.
Some penfive creep along the fhelly fhore,
Unfold the filky texture of a flower;
With fharpen'd eyes inspect a hornet's fting,
And all the wonders of an infect's wing.
Some trace, with curious fearch the hidden cause
Of Nature's changes, and her various laws;
Untwift her beauteous web, difrobe her charms,
And hunt her to her elemental forms:

Or prove what hidden powers in herbs are found
To quench Disease, and cool the burning wound;
With cordial drops the fainting head sustain,
Call back the flitting foul, and ftill the throbs of Pain,

The

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