our powers of vifion, decked with the variegated colours of the rainbow!

In our motto the poet opens the fubject of his eulogy with an animation which fhews that his foul was apprifed of the task he had undertaken. Having avowed his determination to join, even with the angels, in the celebration of their theme, he thus ftrikingly proceeds:

And what new wonders can you fhew your gueft!
Who, while on this dim fpot where mortals toil,
Clouded in duft from motion's fimple laws,
Could trace the fecret hand of Providence
Wide-working thro' this univerfal frame!
Have ye not liftened while he bound the funs
And planets to their spheres! th' unequal tak
Of human-kind till then. Oft had they roll'd
O'er erring man the year, and oft difgrac'd
The pride of fchools, before their courfe was known
Full in its caufes and effects to him,

All-piercing fage! who fat not down and dream'd
Romantic fchemes, defended by the din
Of fpecious words and tyranny of names;
But bidding his amazing mind attend,
And with heroic patience, years on years
Deep fearching, faw at laft the system dawn
And fhine, of all his race, on HIM alone!

The pleafures which the philofopher must have experienced on the contemplation of his vaft difcoveries, are thus expreffively defcribed:

What were his raptures then! how pure! how ftrong;
And what the triumphs of old Greece and Rome,

By his diminish'd; but the pride of boys

In fome fmall fray victorious! when instead
Of thatter'd parcels of this earth, ufurp'd
By violence unmanly, and fore deeds
Of cruelty and blood, NATURE herself,
Stood all-fubdu'd by him, and open laid
Her ev'ry latent glory to his view!

THOMSON

THOMSON then mentions the planetary system rolling fucceffively around the orb of day with filent, but not unimpreffive dignity: the Poet therefore naturally breaks out in the following fublime strain :

O unprofufe magnificence divine,

A wildom truly perfect! thus to call
From a few caufes fuch a scheme of things,
Effects fo various, beautiful, and great,

An univerfe complete! and O belov'd
Of heaven! whofe well-purg'd penetrative eye'
The myftic veil tranfpiercing, inly fcann'd
The rifing, moving, wide-eftablifh'd frame!

The difcoveries of Sir Ifaac Newton are then touched upon, particularly his doctrines respecting the wandering of comets-the vibrations of found, and the feven primary colours into which all the inferior dyes are refolved. This latter fubject the Poet fketches with his ufual delicacy

Ev'n light itself, which ev'ry thing difplays,
Shone undifcover'd, till his brighter mind
Untwisted all the thining robe of day,

And, from the whit'ning undiftinguish'd blaze,
Collecting ev'ry ray into his kind,

To the charm'd eye educ'd the gorgeous train
Of parent colours. Firft the flaming red
Sprung vivid forth; the tawny orange next;
And next delicious yellow; by whose fide
Fell the kind beams of all refreshing green:
Then the pure blue, that fwells autumnal skies,
Ethereal play'd, and then of fadder hue
Emerg'd the deepen'd indigo as when
The heavy-skirted evening droops with froft,
While the last gleamings of refracted light
Dy'd in the fainting violet away.

Thefe, when the clouds diftil the rofy show'r,
Shine out diftinct adown the wat'ry bow,
While o'er our heads the dewy vifion bends
Delightful, melting on the fields beneath.
Ff 2

Myriads

Myriads of mingling dyes from these result,
And myriads ftill remain; infinite refource
Of beauty, ever-blushing, ever-new!

Sir Ifaac employed his great powers on the abftrufe and dry fubject of chronology; even this topic, most unpromising to poetry, is thus poetically delineated:

The noiseless tide of time all bearing down
To vaft ETERNITY's unbounded fea,
Where the green iflands of the happy fhine,
He ftemm'd alone, and to the fource (involv'd
Deep in primeval gloom) afcending, rais'd
His lights at equal distances, to guide
HISTORIAN-wilder'd on his darksome way.

The Poet, however, in the enumeration of New TON's labours, feems to bend beneath the weight of his fubject, and justly asks:

But who can number up his labours! who
His high difcoveries fing? when but a few
Of the deep studying race can ftretch their minds
To what he knew? in fancy's lighter thought
How fhall the muse then grasp the mighty theme?

The devotion and private virtues of our philofopher are next celebrated in appropriate ftrains; and then he puts this pertinent queftion to the infidel:

And you, ye hopeless glomy-minded tribe !
You, who unconscious of those nobler flights,
That reach, impatient at immortal life,
Against the prime endearing privilege
Of being, dare contend.-Say, can a foul
Of fuch extenfive, deep, tremendous powers,
Enlarging ftill, be but a finer breath

Of fpirits dancing thro' their tubes awhile,
And then for ever lott in vacant air?

This reflection naturally roufes the inspiration of the mufe, and gives birth to the following spirited paffage, worthy of THOMSON:

But

But hark! methinks I hear a warning voice,
Solemn, as when fome awful change is come,

Sound thro' the world, ""Tis done-the measure's full,
And I refign my charge!" Ye mouldering tones,
That build the tow'ring pyramid, the proud
Triumphal arch, the monument effac'd,
By ruthlefs ruin, and whate'er fupports
The worthipp'd name of hoar antiquity,
Down to the duft! What grandeur can ye boast,
While NEWTON lifts his column to the fkies
Beyond the waste of time? Let no weak drop
Be fhed for him. The virgin in her bloom
Cut off, the joyous youth and darling child,
Thefe are the tombs that claim the tender tear
And elegiac fong: But NEWTON calls
For other notes of gratulation high,

That now HE wanders thro' thofe endless worlds
HE here fo well defcry'd, and wondering talks,
And hymns their author with his glad compeers.

The Poet then concludes in an admonitory tone, fuitable to the gravity and dignity of the fubject, ftill keeping in view his beloved NEWTON.

O BRITAIN's boaft! whether with angels thou
Sitteft in dread difcourfe, or fellow-bless'd
Who joy to fee the honour of their kind;
Or, whether mounted on cherubic wing,
Thy fwift career is with the whirling orbs
Comparing things with things in rapture loft,
And grateful adoration for that light
So plenteous rais'd into thy mind below,
From light himself; Oh! look with pity down
On human kind, a frail erroneous race!
Exalt the fpirit of a downward world!
O'er thy dejected country chief prefide,
And be her GENIUS call'd; her studies raife,
Correct her manners and inspire her YOUTH:
For tho' deprav'd and funk, fhe brought thee forth,
And glories in thy name; fhe points thee out
To all her fons, and bids them eye thy far;

Ff 3

While

While in expectance of the SECOND life,
When time fhall be no more, thy facred duft
Sleeps with her KINGS and dignifies the scene!

Whenever the writer of this effay beholds Weftminster Abbey, thefe latter lines fpontaneously prefent themselves to his mind in their characteristic beauty. The allufion indeed is worthy of our Bard, who has treated every part of his fublime theme with an elevated propriety.

Nor will the reader be now displeased with a few concluding reflections, warranted by the fober nature of our fubject, and fuggested by the ciofe of the EX

PIRING YEAR.

To furvey the poetical productions of past times, hath been the peculiar province of our Reflector. We muft, therefore, remember, that the individuals to whofe talents we are fo much indebted, have been long ago removed from this fphere of being. Their race is run, their period of action is finished. But it is our chief confolation that the virtuous and enlightened mind fhall flourish in a more perfect state of existence beyond the tomb. However myfterious may be the mode of our tranflation thither, or however difficult our conceptions of the fubject, yet of its truth we are affured by the voice of reafon and revelation. How exhilarating is the profpect! how calculated to urge us on in our mental and moral improvement! The clouds which hover over this frail and feverish state of being, are thus in a measure diffipated, and breaking through the gloom occafioned by the inceffant lapfe of time, we anticipate with delight and supreme fatisfaction the funfhine of ETERNAL DAY!

GOSSIPIANA.