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Where limpid ftreams in wild meanders flow,
And on the mountains tow'ring forefts grow,
With lovely landfcapes cheers the ravifh'd fight,
While each new fcene fupplies a new delight;
No induftry of men, no needless toil,
Can mend the rich uncultivated soil.

While COWLEY's lays with fprightly vigour move,
Around him wait the gods of verfe and love
So quick the crowded images arife,
The bright variety diftracts our eyes;

Each fparkling line, where fire with fancy flows,
The rich profufion of his genius fhows.

TO WALLER next my wand'ring view. I bend,
Gentle as flakes of feather'd foow defcend;
Not the fame fnow, its filent journey done,
More radiant glitters in the rising fun.

O happy Nymph! who could thofe lays demand,
And claim the care of his immortal hand:
In vain might age thy heavenly form invade,
And o'er thy beauties caft an envious shade :
WALLER the place of youth and bloom fupplies,
And gives exhauftlefs luftre to thy eyes:
Each mufe affifting, rifles ev'ry grace,
To paint the wonders of thy matchlefs face!
So when at Greece divine Apelles ftrove,
To give to earth the radiant queen of love,

From each bright nymph fome darling charm he took,
This fair one's lips, another's lovely look:
Each beauty pleas'd, a fmile or air bestows,
Till all the Goddefs from the canvas rofe.

Immortal MILTON, hail! whofe lofty strain
With confcious ftrength does vulgar themes difdain;
Sublime, afcended thy fuperior foul,

Where neither lightnings fafh nor thunders roll:
Where other funs drink deep th' eternal ray,
And thence to other worlds tranfmit the day;
Where high in æther countless planets move,
And various moons attendant round them rove.
O bear me to thofe foft delightful fcenes,
Where fhades far-fpreading boaft immortal greens,
Where Paradife unfolds her fragrant flowers,
Her fweets unfading, and celeftial bow'rs;
Where Zephyr breathes amidst the blooming wild,
Gentle as nature's infant beauty fmil'd;

Where gavly reigns one ever-laughing fpring,
Eden's delights, which he alone could fing;
Yet not thefe fcenes could bound his daring flight,
Born to the tafk, he rofe a nobler height.

While o'er the lyre his hallow'd fingers fly,
Each wondrous touch awakens raptures high..
Thofe glorious feats he boldly durft explore
Where faith alone, till then, had pow'r to foar.

Smooth glide thy waves, O Thames, while I rehearse
The name that taught thee firft to flow in verfe :
Let facred filence hufh thy grateful tides,

The offer ceafe to tremble on thy fides:
Let thy calm waters gently steal along;

DENHAM this homage claims, while he infpires my fong:
Far as thy billows rell, difpers'd away,

To diftant climes, the honour'd name convey:
Not Xanthus can a nobler glory boaft,

In whofe rich ftreams a thousand floods are loft.

The ftrong, the foft, the moving, and the fweet,
In artful DRYDEN's various numbers meet;
Aw'd by his lays, each rival bard retir'd:
So fades the moon, pale, lifelefs, unadmir'd,
When the bright fun burfts glorious to the fight,
With radiant luftre and a flood of light.

Sure heav'n, who deftin'd William to be great,
The mighty bulwark of the British state,
The fcourge of tyrants, guardian of the law,
Beftow'd a GARTH defigning a Naflau.

Wit, eafe and life in PRIOR blended flow,
Polite as GRANVILLE, foft as moving Rowe.
GRANVILLE, whofe lays unnumber'd charms adorn,
Serene and fprightly as the op'ning morn:
Rowe, who the fpring of every paflion knew,
And from our eyes call'd forth the friendly dew.
Still fhall his gentle mufe our fouls command,
And our warm hearts confefs his fkilful hand.
Be this the leaft of his fuperior fame,

Whofe happy genius caught great Lucan's flame,
Where noble Pompey dauntlefs mees his doom,
And each free ftrain breathes liberty and Rome.
O ADDISON, lamented, wond'rous bard,
The god-like hero's great, his best reward;
Not all the laurels reap'd on Blenheim's plains,
A fame can give like thy immortal firains;
While Cato dictates in thy awful lines,
Cæfar himfelf with fecond luftre fhines:
As our rais'd fouls the great diftrefs purfue,
Triumphs and crowns ftill leffen to our view;
We trace the victor with disdainful eyes,
And, all that made a Cato bleed, defpife.

The bold Pindaric and foft lyric mufe
Breath'd all her energy in tuneful HUGHES,

Q.3

His

His fweet cantatas and melodious fong
Shall ever warble on the tuneful tongue:
When nobler themes a loftier ftrain require,
His bofom glows with more than mortal fire;
Not Orpheus' felf could in fublimer lays
Have fung the omnipotent Creator's praise;
With fall'n Damafcus' fate difplay'd to view
From ev'ry eye the ready tribute drew.

High on the radiant lift, fee Pore appears,
With all the fire of youth, and ftrength of years:
Where'er, fupreme, he points the nervous line,
Nature and art in bright conjunction shine:
How just the turns! how regular the draught!
How smooth the language! how refin'd the thought!
Secure beneath the fhade of early bays,
He dar'd the thunder of great Homer's lays;
A facred heat inform'd his daring breast,
And Homer in his genius ftands confeft.
To heights fublime he rais'd the pond'rous lyre,
And our cold ifle grew warm with Grecian fire.
Fain would I now th' excelling bard reveal,
And paint the feat where all the muses dwell,
Where Phoebus has his warmeft fmiles beftow'd,
And who moft labours with th' infpiring god!
But while I ftrive to fix the ray divine,
And round that head the laurel'd triumph twine,
Unnumber'd bards distract my dazzled fight,
And my first choice grows faint with rival light;
So the white road that ftreaks the cloudlefs fkies,
When filver Cynthia's temp'rate beams arife,
Thick fet with ftars o'er our admiring heads,
One undiftinguifh'd ftreaming twilight fpreads;
Pleas'd we behold, from heav'n's unbounded height,
A thoufand orbs pour forth promifcuous light;
While all around the fpangled luftre flows,
In vain we strive to mark which brightest glows
From each the fame enliv'ning fplendors fly,
And the diffufive glory charms the eye.

On

On feeing Mr. BARRY'S Picture of VENUS rifing out of the Sea, at the Exhibition of the Royal Academy in Pall Mall, May the 8th, 1772.

UCH was the Goddefs of the Cyprian Grove,

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Such Homer thought her, when he dream'd of love;
The heav'n-wrapt bard, has but in vifion fhewn,

What Barry's genius into life has thrown.

O! had he feen that breathing canvas glow,
With tints that dropp'd from off the living bow;
Beheld the Goddefs rifing into view,

In all the charms his ravifh'd fancy drew,
When quick'ning nature felt the genial fire,
And men and gods were waken'd to defire;

Rafh painter, he'd have cry'd, the form you've ftole;
Yet dread Prometheus' fate-beware the foul,

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Account of Books for 1772.

The Hif ry and prefent State of Difcoveries relating to Vifion, Light, and Colours. by Jofeph Priestley, LL.D. F.R.S.

T

HE work upon electricity, formerly publifhed by Dr. Priestley, has given the world a proof of the advantages arifing from the plan of treating fcience hiftorically. Nothing can be more agreeable than a view of the gradual progreffion of human induftry; and the gradual unfolding of knowledge, from the firft imperfect hints, to a full view of the whole fcheme of nature.

However, this method too ftrictly purfued, might in fome cafes, prevent a diftinct view of the fyftem, which it endeavours to explain: natural philofophy might be facrificed to its chronology. The author, therefore, frequently and properly departs from the ftrict chronological method of treating his fubject; and thus preferves the great object of inftruction, to which the entertainment of the reader ought always to be fubordinate.

It cannot be doubted that the completion of a work by one man fingly, carries with it the advantage of an uniformity and harmony, which the joint labours of even the wifeft muft want; and the great industry, as well as know

ledge of Dr. Priestley, has fhewn us in this volume, that the well. directed exertions of an individual, may leave us no room to regret that more labourers did not work in this vineyard.

We can only join our wish to that of ail the learned, that the Doctor may find fuch encouragement as will induce him to finish this great undertaking, of which the hiftory of electricity and opticks, makes but a leffer, though a very valuable part. The extract we fhall offer the reader, shall be a general fummary of the doctrine concerning light.

"The more we know of any branch of fcience, the lefs is the compafs into which we are able to bring its principles, provided the facts from which they are inferred be numerous. Becaufe, in an advanced ftate of knowledge, we are able to reduce more of the particular into general obfervations: whereas, in the infancy of a fcience, every obfervation is an independent fact; and in delivering the principles of it, they must.all be diftinctly mentioned; fo that though a fele, ion may be made, a proper abridgment is impoffible.

Notwithstanding the vaft additions that have been made to the fcience of opticks within the laft hundred years, a judicious fummary of the whole will be much

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