Classic Poem

As fond some beauteous rural Seat we view,
With Streams adorn'd, and green Inclosures bound;
Where Zephyrs breathe, and Flow'rs of various Hue,
And various Sweets, emparadise the Ground;
Or, while design'd to please and mend the Age,
Wit, Truth, and Judgment in thy cause unite;
We captivated view thy blooming Page;
Where Novelty enhances the Delight:
The mental Prospect like the sylvan charms,
And the delighted Thought with equal Rapture warms.

Some Writers glare! — the Meteors of a Day!
Some vainly toil, their Birth unknown to Fame;
'Tis Genius only rises to display,
In Fame's strong Light, the worthy Author's name;
Favour'd by her, enlighten'd Bards of old,
Distinguish'd, thro' the Depth of Ages shine;
While those of gloomy Race, dark Shades infold,
Whose Bosoms never felt a Ray divine:
So soars the Bird of Jove, confess'd, on high,
While Crows, a vulgar Flock, infest the nether Sky.

With generous Zeal, when the associate Arts
Conspire to finish some august Design,
Exact Proportion regulates the Parts,
And bid the whole in fair Perfection shine:
So Strength and Elegance, and Order meet,
Consenting, in thy well-adjusted Plan;
There Science ranges, with Direction sweet,
All that can polish, or improve the Man:
Thus form'd (if judg'd the future by the past)
Thy useful MAGAZINE from Age to Age shall last.

But nearer, let the Muse thy Dome survey,
Rear'd on the Columns (1) of Britannia's State;
Where Freedom sits enshrin'd, and sheds a Ray,
Brighter than mimic Titles can create:
There Ch—f—ld and L—ndd—le nobly join
Judgment and Cardor to maintain her Cause.
There mitred Secker feels a Zeal divine,
And dying Hervey merits new Applause:
But oh! what recent Sorrow clouds her Smile?
A Hero lost she mourns, she mourns her lov'd Ar—l!

Too justly she assumes that pensive Look;
For many late by Pride or Interest sway'd,
Ungrateful, have her sacred Cause forsook,
Or worse — with black Apostacy betray'd:
These court Cameleons shall deceive no more,
Unsullied now, shall shine fair Freedom's Band,
S—nd—ch and Hal—x shall show her Pow'r,
And Bedford still her firm Assertor stand,
Like Scipio, L—tt—n, with manly Air,
Shall draw (2) bright Reason's Sword to guard us from Despair.

To these, her Thanks, let just Attention pay,
In whom the Force of Freedom shines confess'd;
Whom Truth adorns with her celestial Ray,
And Honour forms in Independence blest.
Bright LIBERTY! how potent is thy Flame?
In noble Minds how glows thy sacred Fire!
E'en scepter'd Tyrants tremble at thy Name,
And Renegados with conscious Shame admire!
Both Heav'n and Nature own thy blissful Pow'r,
That social Nations court — and Savages adore!

Pass we thy Colonade, — with Statues grac'd,
These nobler Statues of the mental Kind!
Where Britain's Senate in perspective plac'd,
With more than Roman Grandeur awes the Mind:
When lo! — within the Arts assembled stand,
Prepar'd the studious Guest to entertain;
Pleas'd they unite (3) and with industrious Hand
Embellish, and diversify the Scene:
Where monthly in a Round of Science meet
The Serious and the Gay — more prevalently sweet!

Here Piety (4) erects her Front sublime,
There Charity (5) her sacred Fervor spreads;
Chronology looks back (6) on flying Time,
And History (7) her fair Examples reads:
Astronomy regards, (8) with lifted Eye,
The Paths immense revolving Planets trace,
Pleas'd if her Search can distant Works descry,
Or Comets blazing thro' unmeasur'd Space:
Such, Urban, are the Arts which boast thy Care,
And bless the fair Design in which they claim a Share!

But see thy Portal opens! — to the Sight
Disclosing Scenes of sweetly varied Joy!
Where tuneful Notes the ravish'd Ear delight,
Or sylvan Prospects charm the pleasur'd Eye:
On every Hand, as round the Fancy strays,
Alternate Beauties in Succession rise!
The magic Muse the captive Thought conveys
O'er Lands, and Seas, — or lifts above the Skies!
These are thy spacious Gardens, where the Mind
From Scene to Scene may range — and still new Pleasures find.

Of Praise secure — pursue thy grateful Toil,
Let Rivals curse a Height they cannot reach:
How Worth acknowledg'd claims the publick Smile,
Let thy extensive Correspondence teach:
Be this thy Honour — in these motley Days,
Truth was thy Guide, Instruction all thy Aim;
That Phoebus early crown'd thy rising Lays,
And bid the Muses wide diffuse thy Fame:
Thy Merit still let this Distinction prove,
The Wise and Learn'd esteem — the Chaste and Virtuous love.

(1) Parliamentary Debates, which begin the Book.
(2) The known Story of Scipio, who, when the chief Officers were deliberating about leaving Italy, drew his Sword, and obliged them to swear they would never desert their Country.
(3) The Essays on various Subjects.
(4) Dissertations on religious Subjects.
(5) Arguments in behalf of publick Hospitals.
(6) Chronological Enquiries.
(7) Select Pieces of History or Biography.
(8) Astronomical Disquistions, among which is the ingenious Mr. Yate's new Systems of Comets, and Laws of Motion.