ODE *.

BY MR. R. A. DAVENPORT.

YES, I have said that on thy cheek

The rose and lilly sweetly blended; Have thought whene'er I heard thee speak, Thy voice the lute's soft tones transcended; Have felt the magic from thy bright eyes glancing, And gaz'd enamour'd on thy form entrancing.

Yes, I must own, from thee away,

I never aught of pleasure tasted,
But many a weary, lingering day,
In sighs, and gloomy sadness wasted;
Thy every grace in memory retaining,
For thee alone, each rival fair disdaining.

* There is such a resemblance between the thoughts in this Ode, and some of those in Metastasio's beautiful Canzonet La Liberta, that to prevent any imputation upon him, the Author thinks it ne cessary solemnly to declare, that at the time it was written, he had neither seen nor heard Metastasio's Canzonet, nor even any translation of it. The first knowledge he had of its existence, was from a literary friend, who on reading this Ode, remarked the similarity of thought in the two poems. Two persons with the same feelings, will frequently express themselves in nearly the same manner. Had the Author imitated another writer, he would have thought it a duty to acknowledge, without reserve, his obligations,

But now! no more on thee I rave,

Peace, health, and friendship's joys neglected : Those days are past; no more thy slave,

I rove impassion'd or dejected:

I see thee now, nor feel my heart high-beating, Nor think the hours with envious speed are. fleeting.

Yet still I think that thou art fair,

As first when love my breast invaded;

For neither sickness, pain, nor care,

Thy beauty's peerless bloom hath faded :

Still in each tone, each look, each smile excelling,
A thousand nameless witcheries are dwelling.

Why then is fond affection flown?

And dost thou ask why thou art slighted! Lady, not form or bloom alone,

Or tender voice, my soul delighted:

Thy mind as matchless as thy charms believing,
Well did I love-O, why wert thou deceiving!

1797.

EPIGRAM,

FROM THE GERMAN OF LESSING.

You hesitate if you

shall take a wife:

Do as your father did-live single all your life.

THE ABORIGINAL BRITONS*.

BY THE REV. GEORGE RICHARDS, A. M.

FELLOW OF QRIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD..

SUBJECT.

On the State of the Aboriginal Britons previous to the Refinements introduced by the Romans.

THE ARGUMENT.

Address to the first Navigators of the South-Seas--Wild state of the country-contrasted with Italy as improved by cultureAboriginal Britons considered as individuals-the Man-the Woman-Considered as to their national character-Their domestic state-promiscuous concubinage-ignorance of other countries -description of a day in time of peace, including the most striking circumstances of their domestic economy-Their wars -fondness for war-internal dissentions and their consequences -manner of fighting-behaviour after a defeat-treatment of captives after a victory-Religion-the objects, which give rise to natural religion-Druid Grove-Magic rites, and human sacrifices -Bards-Doctrines-Transmigration and immortality of the soul and its effects-Characteristics of Liberty in the savage state of this island its extinction in the early stages of our Monarchyits revival and influence in the present civilized state of manners, as producing public security, giving rise to public works, and calling forth the powers of the mind.

YE sons of Albion, who with venturous sails
In unknown oceans caught Antarctic gales;
Dar'd with bold prow the boisterous main explore,
Where never keel had plow'd the wave before;

*First published in the year 1791.

Saw stars unnam'd illumine other skies,
Which ne'er had shone on European eyes;
View'd on the coast the wondering Savage stand,
Uncouth, and fresh from his Creator's hand;
While woods and tangling brakes, where wild he ran,
Bore a rough semblance of primeval man-

A form like this, illustrious souls, of yore
Your own Britannia's sea-girt island wore :
Ere Danish lances blush'd with Ella's blood;
Or blue-ey'd Saxons sail'd on Medway's flood;
Or Dover's towering cliff from high descried
Cæsar's bold barks, which stemm'd a deep untried,
Through fleecy clouds the balmy spring-tide smil'd
But all it's sweets were wasted on a wild :

In vain mild Autumn shone with mellowing gleam;
No bending fruitage blush'd beneath its beam.
Rudely o'erspread with shadowy forests lay
Wide trackless wastes, that never saw the day:
Rich fruitful plains, now waving deep with corn,
Frown'd rough and shaggy with the tangled thorn:
Through joyless heaths, and valleys dark with woods,
Majestic rivers roll'd their useless floods;
Full oft the hunter check'd his ardent chace,
Dreading the latent bog and green morass;
While, like a blasting mildew, wide were spread
Blue thickening mists in stagnant marshes bred.
O'er scenes thus wild adventurous Cæsar stray'd.
And joyless view'd the conquests he had made;
And bless'd Italia's happier plains and skies,
Through purest air where yellow olives rise;
From elm to elm where stretching tendrils twine,
Bending with clusters of the purple vine:

While, spread o'er sunny hill and verdant wood,
Stray the white flocks, which drink Clitumnus' flood,

Rude as the wilds around his sylvan home
In savage grandeur see the Briton roam.
Bare were his limbs, and strung with toil and cold,
By untam'd nature cast in giant-mould.
O'er his broad brawny fhoulders loosely flung
Shaggy and long his yellow ringlets hung.
His waist an iron-belted falchion bore,
Massy, and purpled deep with human gore:
His scarr'd and rudely-painted limbs around
Fantastic horror-striking figures frown'd,
Which, monster-like, ev'n to the confines ran
Of nature's work, and left him hardly man.
His knitted brows and rolling eyes impart
A direful image of his ruthless heart;
Where war and human blood-shed brooding lie,
Like thunders lowering in a gloomy sky.

But you, illustrious Fair Ones*, wont to brave
Helvellin's storms, and sport in Darwent's wave,
To your high worth submiss the savage stood,
As Gambia's lions reverence princely blood.
He made no rubied lip nor sparkling eye
The shrine and god of his idolatry;
But, proudly bending to a just controul,
Bow'd in obeisance to the female soul;

And deem'd, some effluence of the Omniscient mind
In woman's beauteous image lay enshrin'd;
With inspiration on her bosom hung,

And flow'd in heavenly wisdom from her tongue.

Inesse enim sanctum quid et providum fœminis putant. Tac. de moribus Germ. Απαντες γαρ της δεισίδαιμονιας αρχηγούς οιονται ras yuvainas. Strabo, 1. 7.-What is said of the ancient German women is applied by Mr. Mason, and our early historians, to our countrywomen of earlier ages. The important offices, which they filled in the Government, so unusual in the Savage State, fully justify this application.