The self-devoted. Still in Ganges flood
Besotted myriads seek for health, and life,
And pardon, and beatitude. On earth
The Fakir lies, and still, with eyelids shorn,
Looks at the sun on his meridian throne,
And deems his tortures virtue. Britain, say,
Where are thy temples, where thy white-rob'd priests,
Thy bloodless altars, and thy sacred creeds?
Hast thou no true ablution to despoil

Ganges of worship? no pure lite, no prayer,
No adjuration, from his trance cf pain

To rouse the Fakir? no consoling chant

To tell the widow her Redeemer lives,

And snatch her from the flames? O teach those groves,—
Rich with redundant beauty, fragrance, fruit,

And shade salubrious, all the swelling pomp

Of Asiatic foliage,-teach those groves
To echo other sounds than Bramah's name,
And other incantations! Be the songs
Of Sion heard from fertile Malabar
To sandy Arcot, to the beauteous shores
Of rich Orissa, and Bengal, profuse

Of all life needs, save that for which we live.
O spread those echoes o'er the peaceful seas,
Peopled with barks innumerous! Let them sound
In every spicy isle, and palm-crown'd bay,
Where commerce spreads her tent, or stays her oar.
Wherever waves thy banner, bid it shade.
The house of God; where'er thy tongue is heard,
O let it, like an angel's trumpet, tell

Messiah's kingdom of good-will and peace,
Friendship and truth to man; to God the rites
Of firm obedience, gratitude, and love.
Exalt the full hosanna, till it soars
High as the lofty mountains of the moon,
And wakens Afric's savage genius, there
In gloomy state reposing; bid him yield
His bloody banquets, and his demon-gods;
Call on the tawny Moor to lay aside

That sensual creed which binds him to afflict,
And hate, the Christian. Teach Canadian tribes,
Who wander vast Columbia's northern wilds,
To hope a better heav'n than that they paint,
Areskoui's gift beyond the lakes, compos'd
Of forests stor'd with game, and sunny plains.
But chief, O guilt! O grief! lasting disgrace
To thy renown to say, 'tis yet undone !
Teach those whom Afric's vices, or thine own,
Have made thy captives-those who ceaseless toil
Beneath a burning sun, to swell thy marts

$ 2

With

Inquires why he is pitied, and what means
Maternal love, a tie to him unknown.

So when the fall'n Emathian race through Rome
Walk'd in captivity, a dolorous band,

Young Perseus, laughing in his nurse's arms,
Seem'd to enjoy the triumph. Ruthless hearts,
Who mock'd a king in chains, yearn'd to behold
The sportive babe, unconscious of his wrongs,
Enjoy the pageantry which told his doom,
A slave, an orphan, not Achaia's lord.

THE DIFFUSION OF CHRISTIANITY.

[From the same.]

BRITAIN, native isle, whose triumphs warm
My breast with ardour, for whose wrongs I mourn
And with a woman's weakness shuddering hear
Thy dangers! Queen of ocean! with regret
I must accuse thee, tho' thy victor-flag
Flames like a steady cynosure to shew
A darkling world the port where liberty,
Honour, and truth, their votive altars guard
Bears not that banner, in its ample field,
The Christian symbol? Christian are thy hosts,
And on the word of God thy Christian crown
Recumbent lies. Why then like Carmel's churl,
Withhold thy living waters, and thy bread
Of life from hungry strangers, subject now
To all thy laws, except thy laws divine?

Art thou the nation maritime, beheld
Long since by Amos' son in vision clear,
Beyond the Ethiopic floods, with wings
Protecting other lands, and sending forth
Her fragile vessels over distant seas?
And shall the awful mandate to collect
Israel oppress'd and scatter'd and to bear
The converts to their God in Palestine,
Be to thy care intrusted? Sanctify
Thyself for the high mission, and become
In purpose, as in fact, heav'n's minister.

Say, shall thy red-cross standard wave sublime
O'er golden Inde, and Satan's idol-holds
Feel not its influence? Still the blazing pyres
Proclaim where superstition immolates

The

The self-devoted. Still in Ganges flood
Besotted myriads seek for health, and life,
And pardon, and beatitude. On earth
The Fakir lies, and still, with eyelids shorn,
Looks at the sun on his meridian throne,
And deems his tortures virtue. Britain, say,

Where are thy temples, where thy white-rob'd priests,
Thy bloodless altars, and thy sacred creeds?

Hast thou no true ablution to despoil

Ganges of worship? no pure lite, no prayer,

No adjuration, from his trance of pain

To rouse the Fakir? no consoling chant

To tell the widow her Redeemer lives,

And snatch her from the flames? O teach those groves,—
Rich with redundant beauty, fragrance, fruit,
And shade salubrious, all the swelling pomp

Of Asiatic foliage,-teach those groves
To echo other sounds than Bramah's name,
And other incantations! Be the songs
Of Sion heard from fertile Malabar
To sandy Arcot, to the beauteous shores
Of rich Orissa, and Bengal, profuse

Of all life needs, save that for which we live.
O spread those echoes o'er the peaceful seas,
Peopled with barks innumerous! Let them sound
In every spicy isie, and palm-crown'd bay,
Where commerce spreads her tent, or stays her oar.
Wherever waves thy banner, bid it shade

The house of God; where'er thy tongue is heard,
O let it, like an angel's trumpet, tell
Messiah's kingdom of good-will and peace,
Friendship and truth to man; to God the rites
Of firm obedience, gratitude, and love.
Exalt the full hosanna, till it soars
High as the lofty mountains of the moon,
And wakens Afric's savage genius, there
In gloomy state reposing; bid him yield
His bloody banquets, and his demon-gods;
Call on the tawny Moor to lay aside

That sensual creed which binds him to afflict,
And hate, the Christian. Teach Canadian tribes,
Who wander vast Columbia's northern wilds,
To hope a better heav'n than that they paint,
Areskoui's gift beyond the lakes, compos'd
Of forests stor'd with game, and sunny plains.
But chief, O guilt! O grief! lasting disgrace
To thy renown to say, 'tis yet undone !
Teach those whom Afric's vices, or thine own,
Have made thy captives-those who ceaseless toil
Beneath a burning sun, to swell thy marts
$ 2

[370]

With produce exquisite; those most forlorn,
Whom thou hast reft of country, and disjoin'd
From nature's ties; O teach those men of woes,
The God thou worshippest. So when they sit,
Their labour ended, musing on the plains
Of Guinea, or on Benin's cooling palms,
Till sorrow kindles vengeance, and they dare
To brave, by crime, the tortures which they deem
Will send them to the realms so lov'd, so mourn'd—
Visions more mild may rise, list'ning the themes
Of heavenly mercy, and eternal rest

To deep affliction. Down their glossy cheeks
Shall stream the tears of piety and joy,
Dews of an ardent heart, producing now
Far nobler passions than revenge and hate.

O Britain cleanse thy glory from this stain,
Of nations most illustrious! Blush to hear
That Lusitanian and Castilian kings

First labour'd in their colonies to fix

The canker'd scion they mistaking deem'd

The tree of life; whilst thou, in whose bless'd soil
It grows redundant, check'd by counsels cold,
Selfish, or atheistical, hast giv'n

To the true plant no culture, nor convey'd
Its fruit to distant regions. Hangs the sword
Of desolation o'er thy head, scarce staid

From hewing down thy greatness? Are thy sons
Torn from the walks of peace, thy treasure drain'd
And thy vast genius circumscrib'd with laws
Abhorrent to thy nature, but impos'd

By the stern times, and wilt thou not inquire

How thou hast sinn'd to Heav'n, nor weep th' offence.

Of cold indifference in a sacred cause ?

Yet, Britain, know, whether thy hallow'd hand
Shall usher in the dawn, or, fearful still,

Curtain its beams, the sun of truth shall rise,
Shine from the orient, light those scatter'd isles,
Which, like green emeralds, sparkle on the breast
Of the Pacific and Atlantic seas,

Blazing from Greenland to the southern pole,
O'er Apalachian mountains, on the top
Of Andes, on the high Riphoan rocks,
O'er the long chain which shoots from Caucasus
To sea-wash'd Anadir; where India's hills

Stop the monsoon's strong current, to the heights
Of Ethiopia, where the Nile collects
Her waters inexhaustible, shall sound
The echoing lauds of universal man

Hymning one common God, the God of peace,
And purity, and fellowship, and love.

THE

1

THE BATTLE OF THE TITANS.

[From Mr. ELTON's Translation of Hesiod.]

TE ceas'd. The gift-dispensing Gods around
Heard, and in praise assented: nor till then
So burn'd each breast with ardour to destroy.
All on that day roused infinite the war,
Female and male: the Titan Deities,

The Gods from Saturn sprung, and those whom Jove
From subterraneous gloom released to light :
Terrible, strong, of force enormous; burst
A hundred arms from all their shoulders huge :
From all their shoulders fifty heads upsprang
O'er limbs of sinewy mould. They then array'd
Against the Titans in fell combat stood,
And in their nervous grasp wielded aloft
Precipitous rocks. On th' other side alert
The Titan Phalanx clos'd: then hands of strength
Join'd prowess, and display'd the works of war.
Tremendous then th' immeasurable sea

Roar'd; earth resounded: the wide heaven throughout
Groan'd shattering: from its base Olympus vast
Reel'd to the violence of Gods: the shock
Of deep concussion rock'd the dark abyss
Remote of Tartarus: the shrilling din
Of hollow tramplings, and strong battle-strokes,
And measureless uproar of wild pursuit.
So they reciprocal their weapons hurl'd
Groan-scattering; and the shout of either host
Burst in exhorting ardour to the stars

Of heaven; with mighty war-cries either host
Encountering clos'd.

Nor longer then did Jove
Curb his full power; but instant in his soul
There grew dilated strength, and it was fill'd
With his omnipotence. At once he loos'd
His whole of might, and put forth all the God.
The vaulted sky, the mount Olympian, flash'd
With his continual presence; for he pass'd
Incessant forth, and scattered fires on fires.
Hurl'd from his hardy grasp the lightnings flew
Reiterated swift; the whirling flash
Cast sacred splendour, and the thunderbolt
Fell: roar'd around the nurture-yielding earth
In conflagration, far on every side
Th' immensity of forest crackling blaz'd :

Yea, the broad earth burn'd red, the streams that mix
With ocean, and the deserts of the sea,

Round