And, if they could, the marks of wife defign
In that contrivance would confpicuous shine.
These questions still recur: we still demand,
What moves them firft, and puts them off at hand?
What makes them this one way their race direct,
While they a thousand other ways reject?
Why do they never once their courfe inflect?
Why do they roll with fuch an equal pace,
And to a moment ftill perform their race?
Why earth or fun diurnal ftages keep?
In fpiral tracks why through the zodiac creep?
Who can account for this, unless they say
Thefe orbs th' Eternal Mind's command obey,
Who bad them move, did all their motions guide,
5 To each its deftin'd province did divide;
Which to compleat, he gave them motive power,
That fhall, as long as he does will, endure?
Thus we the frame of nature have exproft;
Now view the earth in finish'd beauty dreft;
The various fcenes, which various charms difplay,
Through all th' extended theatre furvey.
See how fublime th' uplifted mountains rife,
And with their pointed heads invade the skies!
How the high cliffs their craggy arms extend,
Diftinguish flates, and fever'd realms defend !
How ambient fhores coufine the reftlefs deep,
And in their ancient bounds the billows keep!
The hollow vales their fmiling pride unfold ;
What rich abundance do their bofoms hold!
Regard their lovely verdure, ravish'd view
The party-colour'd flowers of various hue !
Not Eastern monarchs, on their nuptial day,
In dazzling gold and purple fhine fo gay
As the bright natives of th' unlabour'd field,
Unverft in fpinning, and in looms unskill'd.
Sce, how the ripening fruits the gardens crown,
Imbibe the fun, and make his light their own!
See the fweet brooks in filver mazes creep,
Enrich the meadows, and fupply the deep;
While from their weeping urns the fountains flow,
And vital moisture, where they pafs, bestow !
Admire the narrow ftream, and fpreading lake,
The proud afpiring grove, and humble brake:
How do the forefts and the woods delight!
How the fweet glades and openings charm the fight!
Obferve the pleafant lawn and airy plain,
The fertile furrows rich with various grain ;
How ufeful all! how all confpire to grace
Th' extended earth, and beautify her face!
Now, fee, with how much art the parts are made;
With how much wisdom are the ftrata laid,
Of different weight, and of a different kind,
Of fundry forms, for fundry ends design'd!
Here in their beds the finish'd minerals reft,
There the rich wombs the feeds of gold digeft.
Here in fit moulds, to Indian nations known,
Are caft the feveral kinds of precious ftone;
The diamond here, by mighty monarchs worn,
Fair as the ftar that beautifies the morn;
And, fplendid by the fun's embody'd ray,
The rubies there their crimfon light difplay;
There marble's various colour'd veins are fpread;
Here of bitumen unctuous ftores are bred.
What skill on all its furface is bestow'd,
To make the earth for man a fit abode !
The upper moulds, with active spirits stor'd,
And rich in verdant progeny, afford
The flowery pasture, and the fhady wood,
To men their phyfick, and to beafts their food.
Proceed yet farther, and a profpe&t take
Of the fwift ftream, and of the ftanding lake.
Had not the deep been form'd, that might contain
All the collected treasures of the main,
The earth had ftill o'erwhelm'd with water ftood,
To man an uninhabitable flood.
Yet had not part as kindly staid behind, -
In the wide cifterns of the lakes confin❜d,
Did not the fprings and rivers drench the land,`
Our globe would grow a wilderness of fand;
The plants and groves, the tame and favage beast,
And man, their lord, would die with drought oppreft.
Now, as you fee, the floating element
Part loose in streams, part in the ocean pent,
So wifely is difpos'd, as may conduce
To man's delight, or neceflary ufe.
See how the mountains in the midft divide
The nobleft regions, that from either fide
The ftreams, which to the hills their currents owe,
May every way along the valley flow,
And verdant wealth on all the foil beftow I
So Atlas and the mountains of the moon,
From north to fouth, in lofty ridges run
Through Afric realms, whence falling waters lave 495
Th' inferior regions with a winding wave.
They various rivers give to various foil,
Niger to Guinea, and to Ægypt Nile.
So from the towering Alps, on different fides,
Diffolving fnows defcend in numerous tides,
Which in the vale beneath their parties join
To form the Rhone, the Danube, and the Rhine.
So Caucafus, afpiring Taurus fo,
And fam'd Imaüs, ever white with snow,
Through eaftern climes their lofty lines extend,
And this and that way ample currents fend.
A thousand rivers make their crooked way,
And difembogue their floods into the fea;
Whence fhould they ne'er by fecret roads retire,
And to the hills, from whence they came, afpire; 510
They by their conftant ftreams would fo encrease
The watery flores, and raife fo high the seas,
That the wide hollow would not long contain
Th' unequal treasures of the fwelling main;
Scorning the mounds which now its tide withstand, 515
The fea would pass the thores, and drown the land.
Tell, by what paths, what fubterranean ways,
Back to the fountain's head the fea conveys
The refluent rivers, and the land repays?
Tell, what fuperior, what controling caufe
Makes waters, in contempt of nature's laws,
Climb up, and gain th' afpiring mountains height,
Swift and forgetful of their native weight?
What happy works, what engines under-ground,
What inftruments of curious art are found,
Which must with everlasting labour play,
Back to their fprings the rivers to convey,
And keep their correfpondence with the fea?
Perhaps you'll fay, their ftrcains the rivers owe
In part to rain, in part to melting fnow;
And that th' attracted watery vapours rife
From lakes and feas, and fill the lower fkies:
Thefe when condens'd the airy region pours
On the dry earth in rain, or gentle showers;
Th' infinuating drops fink through the fand,
And pafs the porous ftrainers of the land;
Which fresh fupplies of watery riches bring
To every river's head, to each exhausted spring;
The ftreams are thus, their loffes to repair,
Back to their fource tranfmitted through the air;
The waters fill their circling course maintain,
Flow down in rivers, and return in rain;
And on the foil with heat immoderate dry'd,
To which the rain's pure treafures are deny'd,
The mountains more fublime in æther rise,
Transfix the clouds, and tower amidst the skies;
The fnowy fleeces, which their heads involve,
Still ftay in part, and ftill in part diffolve;
Torrents and loud impetuous cataracts
Through roads abrupt, and rude unfashion'd tracts, 550
Roll down the lofty mountain's channel'd fides,
And to the vale convey their foaming tides;
At length, to make their various currents one,
The congregated floods together run;
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