NEW EDITION. The vales with fprings were water'd, or with groves Of oak or pine the ancient hills were crown'd; Then the great Spirit, whom his works adore Within his own deep effence view'd the forms; The forms eternal of created things; The mountains and the freams; the ample fores Of earth, of heaven, of nature. From the first, On that full scene his love divine he fix'd, And bright autumnal fkies, and vernal showers, And all the fair variety of things. Of focial life to different labours urge care Hath nature on the multitude of minds Impreff'd a various bias; and to each Decreed its province in the common toil. To fome he taught the fabric of the Sphere, The changeful moon, the circuit of the stars, The golden zones of heaven. To fome The gave To fearch the ftory of eternal thought, Of space, and time; of Fate's unbroken chain, And will's quick movement. Others by the hand She led o'er vales and mountains, to explore What healing virtue dwells in every vein Of herbs or trees. But fome to nobler hopes Were deftin'd; fome within a finer mould She wrought, and temper'd with a purer flame. To these the fire omnipotent unfolds, part They trace the lofty sketches of his hand: Ja earth or air, the meadow's flowery fores, The OLD EDITION, Ere mountains, woods, or fireams adorn'a the globe, Or wisdom taught the fons of men her lore; Then liv'd th' almighty One: then deep retir'd In his unfathom'd effence, view'd the forms, The forms eternal of created things; The radiant fun, the moon's nocturnal lamp. The mountains, woods and ftreams, the rolling globe, And wildom's mien celeftial. From the first Of days, on them his love divine he fix'd, His admiration: till in time compleat, What he admir'd and lov'd, his vital fmile Unfolded into being. Hence the breath Of life informing each organic frame, Hence the green earth, and wild resound. ing waves; Hence light and fhade alternate; warmth and cold; And clear autumnal fkies and vernal show'rs, And all the fair variety of things. Of focial life, to diff'rent labours urge The active pow'rs of man; with wife intent NEW EDITION. The moon's mild radiance, of the virgin's mien [tray'd Drefs'd in attractive fmiles, they fee por(As far as mortal eyes the portrait fean) Thofe lineaments of beauty which delight The mind fupreme. They alfo feel their force Enamour'd: they partake the eternal joy. For as old Memnon's image long re.-nown'd 3 Thro' fabling Egypt, at the genial touch Of morning, from its inmoft frame fent forth Spontaneous mufic; fo doth nature's hand, Melodious, or of motion aptly fped) Feels the deep concord and affents thro' all Diffufeth its inchantment. Fancy dreams, Whom nature's afpect, nature's fimple garb view. The fecond book is very different from the fecond book of the preceding cditions. The difference, indeed, is fo great that they cannot be compared together. The Author enters into a difplay of truth and its three claffes, matter of fact, experimental or feientifical truth, and univerfal truth. He treats, likewife, of virtue as exifting in the divine mind, of human Virtue, of vice and its origin, of ridicule, and of the paffions. What he hath faid upon the fubject of ridicule is greatly and advantageously reduced from what it was in the former copies, He has omitted, alfo, the allegorical vifion, which heretofore conftituted conftituted a principal part of the fecond book. That vifion we have always confidered as being attended with fome degree of obfcurity; but yet we fhould have been much better pleafed with an improvement of it, than with its being totally rejected. The poetical character of the fecond book, as it now ftands, is correct, fevere, moral, and noble; but to us it appears les touching, lefs ftriking, lefs enchanting than it was before. We fhall only tranfcribe a few lines from the beginning of this book: I 777 i Thus far of beauty and the pleafing forms Gg 4 The The third book is an episode, in which Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, is the chief character; and the design of it seems to be to fhew the great influence of poetry, in enforcing the cause of Liberty. This part is entirely new, and if it had been finished, would have proved a beautiful addition to the poem. As the transcribing of any more paffages would take up too much room, we must refer our Readers to the work itself, in order to enable them to form a complete judgment of the Author's improvements and enlargements, fo far as they were car ried into execution. All things confidered, we cannot but greatly regret that Dr. Akenfide did not live to compleat his defign. We should, neverthelets, have been forry to have had the original poem entirely fuperfeded. Whatever are its faults, we find in it a brightnets and a brilliancy of imagination, and a certain degree of enthufiafm, which the Doctor doth not feem to have poffeffed, in equal vigour, in the latter part of his life. Years, and a clofe application to fcientific ftudies, appear, in fome measure, to have turned his mind from foundyto things, from fancy to the understanding. We cannot avoid giving the Editor's fhort account of Dr. Akenfide: The Author of these poems was born at Newcastle upon Tyne, on the 9th day of November, 1721. He was educated at the grammar-fchool at Newcastle, and at the univerfities of Edinburgh and Leyden, at the latter of which he took his degree of Doctor in Phyfic. He was afterwards admitted by mandamus to the degree of Doctor in Phyfic in the university of Cambridge: elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Phyfi cians, and one of the Phyficians of St. Thomas's Hofpital: and upon the establishment of the Queen's household, appointed one of the Physicians to her Majefty. He died of a putrid fever, on the 23d day of June, 1770, and is buried in the parish church of St. James's, Westminster. The frigidity of this account must be difguftful to every Reader who is endued with the leaft portion of fenfibility. The lives of literary men do not, indeed, often furnifh a variety of incidents; and in the prefent cafe, a regular piece of biography, drawn out at length, was not perhaps requifite. But the slightest fketch might have contained fome traits of character, fome indications of affection, fome marks of regret that fuch a genius fhould be fuddenly carried off, without having executed his laudable intentions. Surely Dr. Akenfide merited a better memorial from the hand of his Friend! This edition contains the Pleafures of Imagination, according to the old impreffions; the Pleafures of Imagination, in its imperfect state, upon the improved plan; the two books of Odes ; Odes; the Hymns to the Naiads, first published in Dodsley's Mifcellanies; and fome Infcriptions, the three laft of which are new. The edition is a very beautiful one, worthy of the Author, and does honour to the Editor. ART. VI. A Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Winchefter, in the Year 1772. By Thomas Balguy, D, D. Archdeacon. 4to. 1 S. Davis. TH HIS Charge contains fome paffages which we are forry to fee conveyed from the pen of any Proteftant writer, and furprized to fee from the pen of Dr. Balguy. It relates entirely to the Petitioning Clergy, and is introduced in the fol lowing manner; Reverend Brethren, The late attack on our ecclefiaftical establishment deferves our most serious attention: not for the fake of cenfuring our adverfaries, much lefs of infulting them on their disappointment; but that we may fatisfy ourselves, by a fair and impartial enquiry, whether truth and reafon be with us, or against us, when we demand fubfcription to articles of religion. Let not this enquiry be confounded with another of a quite different nature. It is one thing to reform, it is another thing to abolish, a national Church. Neither the truth nor the importance of the articles of the Church of England is any way concerned in the prefent debate. The complaint made is general; the relief expected is not the improvement of our prefent articles, but the removal of all.-Nothing lefs will be accepted by the Petitioners, than an admiffion into the miniftry and the preferments of the Church, without fubfcription to any buman formulary whatsoever. They who understand the nature of their own petition, will readily agree with me, that the question between us amounts only to this,-Whether it be fit for government to employ and reward equally the minifters of all religions, or to fupport one religion only, and tolerate the reft.-Let us examine the reafons on both fides.-If then the magiftrate supports, without diftinction, every form of religion; we fay, these three confequences will be unavoidable; 1. He muft fupport oppofite religions. 2, He must support hurtful religions. 3. He muft fupport fuch religions as are directly fubverfive of his own authority.' In endeavouring to fhew that these confequences are unavoidable, the Doctor advances feveral things, which few Proteftants, we apprehend, will allow he takes care, however, at the fame time, to express his fentiments in fuch general, and, fometimes, fuch |
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