Greenfield Hill A poem in seven parts. I. The prospect. II. The flourishing village. III. The burning of Fairfield. IV. The destruction of the Pequods. V. The clergyman's advice to the villagers. VI. The farmer's advice to the villagers. VII. The vision, or prospect of the future happiness of America |
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| 7. | PART VII.
The VISION. |
 | Greenfield Hill |  |
7. PART VII.
The VISION.
THE ARGUMENT.
Introduction
. Vision. Scene the margin of the
Sound. Genius of the Sound appears, and declares the future
Glory of America. Splendour of Europe excelled by the Happiness
of America. Happy local Situation of U. S. secure
from the political evils of Europe. Magnificence of the works
of nature, on this Continent. Healthfulness, and fruitfulness
of the Seasons. Country divided into small Farms, equally descending
to Children. Unhappy effects of an unequal Division
of Property, and of Entailments. Stanislaus. Polish Nobility.
State of Property in this Country resumed. Its Effects
on Industry, Government, and Policy. U. S. contrasted to
ancient Empires. Happiness of U. S. contrasted to Eastern
Despotism. Universal Prevalence of Freedom. Unfortified,
and therefore safe, state of U. S. Influence of our state of
Society on the Mind. Public Property employed for the Public
Benefit. Penal Administrations improved by Benevolence. Policy
enlarges its scope. Knowledge promoted. Improvements
in Astronomical and other Instruments of Science. Improvements
of the Americans, in Natural Philosophy—Poetry—Music
—and Moral Science. State of the American Clergy. Manners
refined. Artificial Manners condemned. American Women.
Cultivation advanced. Other Nations visit this Country, and
learn the nature, and causes, of our happiness. Conclusion.
Instinctive turns the ever busy Mind:
The present prospect but expands her sight;
The present joy to others tempts her flight;
Allur'd by each new good, she loves to roam,
And spreads her wings, through ages long to come;
Where Time, with hand prophetic, points her way,
And heavenly visions heavenly scenes display.
The soul, extatic, burst her earthy chains,
Approaching Morn assum'd her magic power,
And bade her visions bless the fairy hour,
In quick review, Columbia's glories spread;
The past roll on; the present swift succeed;
Behind, rank after rank, the future rise,
As clouds, successive, paint the changing skies.
Still hung the concave; peaceful slept the main;
In heaven suspended, lingering Hesper shin'd,
And purple evening breath'd her gentlest wind.
As thunders slowly swell, in distant skies;
The waves, disturb'd, in deep convulsion lay;
The world was hush'd; the airs forgot to play.
The Genius of the Sound uprear'd his head:
Slow round his form a cloud of amber roll'd,
Now hid, now splendent, through it's skirts of gold.
Gemm'd with new stars, his seagreen mitre shin'd;
His scaly mantle rustled in the wind;
A pictur'd shield his hand, uplifted, bore,
Grav'd with the semblance of his double shore:
Unnumber'd sails propitious breezes swell'd,
And his strip'd flag disclos'd th' unfinish'd field.
Here Longa's bays, and whitening coast, were seen,
Small isles, around her, wrought in living green;
The loftier Mainland there allur'd the eye,
It's margin winding toward the southern sky;
The tall hill heav'd; expansive spread the plain;
And groves, and gardens, streak'd the subject main:
New Haven's spires, in sculptur'd silver, rose,
And York's proud domes, escap'd the waste of foes.
Here a new Thames an infant London laves;
Through a new Tempe, roll Connecta's waves;
With foamy stream, another Avon glides,
And Hudson triumphs in his freighted tides.
And brightening nature listen'd as he spoke.
Ascend, and bless the true, Hesperian climes;
O'er happy isles, and garden'd realms, display
Th' advancing splendours of prophetic day.”
Her bloody enginry, and marshall'd host,
The car of triumph, and the pomp of sway;
Or, wrought with Grecian skill, her columns raise,
Bend the tall arch, and teach the dome to blaze;
In art's wide regions bid her laurels grow,
And place the crown of science on her brow.
Round the mild year, let Albion's verdure run;
Let Gallia's opening vines allure the sun;
O'er brighter realms, the Turkish crescent rise,
Wash'd by fair seas, and warm'd by vernal skies;
Let richer Ind, and prouder Persia, tell
The diamond cavern, and the pearly shell;
Peruvia vaunt her streams, in silver roll'd,
And sunny Darien lift her hills of gold.
Here the best blessings of those far-fam'd climes,
Pure of their woes, and whiten'd from their crimes,
Shall blend with nobler blessings, all my own;
Here first th' enduring reign of Peace be known:
The voice of scepter'd Law wide realms obey,
And choice erect, and freemen hail, the sway:
The sun of knowledge light the general mind,
And cheer, through every class, oppress'd mankind;
Here Truth, and Virtue, doom'd no more to roam,
Pilgrims in eastern climes, shall find their home;
Age after age, exalt their glory higher,
That light the soul, and this the life inspire;
And Man once more, self-ruin'd Phœnix, rise,
On wings of Eden, to his native skies.”
The goods of nature, and the smiles of Heaven,
A site sequester'd, policy sublime,
The noblest manners, and the happiest time.”
From Europe's mischiefs, and from Europe's woe!
The jealous terror, and the vengeful war,
The native malice, envy, pride, and strife,
The plagues of rank, the rust of useless life,
The cumbrous pomp, of general want the spring,
The clashing commerce, and the rival king.
See, far remote, the crimes of balanc'd sway!
Where courts contract the debt, and subjects pay;
The black intrigue, the crush of self-defence,
Th' enlistment dire, foul press, and tax immense,
Navies, and hosts, that gorge Potosi whole;
Bribes, places, pensions, and the auction'd soul:
Ills, that, each hour, invoke the wrath of God,
And bid the world's wide surface smoke with blood,
Waste human good, in slavery nations bind,
And speed untimely death to half mankind.”
What scenes of grandeur, and of beauty, glow.
It's noblest wonders here Creation spreads;
Hills, where skies rest, and Danubes pour cascades;
Forests, that stretch from Cancer, to the Pole;
Lakes, where seas lie, and rivers, where they roll;
Landschapes, where Edens gild anew the ball,
And plains, and meads, where suns arise, and fall:”
The Inconveniencies, arising from the extremes of heat and cold, in N. America, are abundantly compensated by the great variety and richness of its productions. The two harvests, of European grain, and Indian corn (one of which is almost always a plentiful one) will probably hereafter, as they have done heretofore, ever forbid even a scarcity of the necessaries of life.
Has join'd the varied joys of circling clime.
The Inconveniencies, arising from the extremes of heat and cold, in N. America, are abundantly compensated by the great variety and richness of its productions. The two harvests, of European grain, and Indian corn (one of which is almost always a plentiful one) will probably hereafter, as they have done heretofore, ever forbid even a scarcity of the necessaries of life.
Winds purest breathe; benignest seasons smile;
And double harvests gild the bounteous soil;
The choicest sweets, unnumber'd fruits inhale,
And Flora wantons, on the fragrant gale:
Gains of true gold pursue th' exploring plough,
Wealth, that endures, and good unbought with woe;
With richest ore, the useful mountains shine,
And luscious treasures fill the teeming brine:
And, hissing, flies the native land of food.”
How few the rich, or poor! how many bless'd!
O happy state! the state, by Heaven design'd
To rein, protect, employ, and bless mankind;
Where Competence, in full enjoyment, flows;
Where man least vice, and highest virtue, knows;
Where the mind thrives; strong nerves th' invention string;
And daring Enterprize uplifts his wing;
Where Splendour spreads, in vain, his peacock-hues;
Where vagrant Sloth, the general hiss pursues;
Where Business reigns, the universal queen;
Where none are slaves, or lords; but all are men:
No nuisant drones purloin the earner's food;
But each man's labour swells the common good.”
Of all their bliss, the basis laid by Heaven!
Curs'd be the heart, that wishes to destroy,
Curs'd be the hand, that mines this ground-work joy;
Hung be his name, in infamy's foul den;
And let the wide world rise, and say Amen!”
Sires know no child, beside the eldest son;
Men know no rights; no justice nobles know;
And kings no pleasure, but from subjects' woe.
There, wealth from plunder'd throngs by few engross'd,
To rich, and poor, alike is virtue lost.
The rich, to foul oppression born, and bred,
To reason blinded, and to feeling dead,
From childhood, train'd to wield the iron rod,
Alike regard not man, and fear not God.
Science they scorn, the public bar deride;
And every feud by vengeful force decide;
In private war, the sword of passion draw,
O'er wretched vassals, death and ruin drive,
Whose only hope, or comfort, was to live;
Unbless'd, forbid all others bliss to find,
Fools, atheists, bigots, curses to mankind.”
At war with that hard world, which wars with them,
Like trees, adhesive to their native plain,
And given, or sold, as pleasure prompts, or gain,
Dower of a daughter, purchase of a hound,
Alike remov'd from worth, the poor are found.
Mere tools of fraud, oppression, whim, or rage,
No law t' avenge their wrongs, nor friend t' assuage,
By passion tempested, by instinct sped,
To' obedience whipp'd, to action hunger-led,
In knowledge brutes, in comfort brutes below,
Forbid to taste the little good, they know,
They envy the sleek dog, that passes by,
They starve, and steal, blaspheme their God, and die.”
And want, and misery, in dire contrast, show;
On sheds, and pens, where palac'd pride looks down;
A god the noble, and a beast the clown;
Where tissue glares, and rags indecent yawn;
Feet step in blood, and kingly cars are drawn;
Where Luxury sickens, at Vitellius' feast,
And wretches starve, beneath the hedge, to rest;
Furs guard the silky form from winter's breath,
And the bare corse defiles the frozen heath;
Idolatry fans off the vernal breeze,
And sun-struck Labour, phrenzied, sinks to peace.
Such, Poland! long have mourn'd thy realms of woe;
Such, Russia, such, Bohemia! thine are now.”
Hail, Stanislaus! thou king, from nature's sons!
Look'd into woe, and felt for poor mankind.
Let fame eternal crown thy glorious brows,
And ills glance from thee to thy savage foes.
Be thine the peace, the bliss, of doing good,
Delightful earnest of the blest abode!
Sweet be thy day; thine eve supremely sweet;
Death, fear, and sorrow, laid beneath thy feet:
And oh! may He, for ruin'd man who died,
Approve, accept, and hail thee to his side,
Who, wielding earthly power, for heavenly ends,
Had'st pity on the least, among his friends.”
Offering august! your pomp, and power, resign'd,
Pleas'd, with divine benignity to see
Slaves chang'd to men, and wretches bless'd, and free;
From the far evening of th' Atlantic shore,
If some soft gale should waft this whisper o'er,
Know, for your weal, all Virtue's children glow,
Joy in your joy, and weep your every woe;
Upward, each day, their prayers with fervour rise,
And wrestle down the promise of the Skies,”
Where happiness expands, in living green!
Through the whole realm, behold convenient farms
Fed by small herds, and gay with cultur'd charms;
To sons, in equal portions, handed down,
The sire's bold spirit kindling in the son;
No tyrant riding o'er th' indignant plain;
A prince, a king, each independent swain;
No servile thought, no vile submission, known;
No rent to lords, nor homage to a throne;
But sense to know, and virtue to extend,
And nerves to feel the bliss, and bravery to defend!”
Feel the soft sun, and bless reviving May,
And round each fountain, visit every flower,
Approaching frost, with steady murmur, sing,
Wake with the morn, and husband all the spring:
Thus warm'd with industry, behold my swains!
Guide the smooth plough, and dress the grateful plains;
From earth's rich bosom, bid all products rise,
The bless'd creation of indulgent skies;
The grass-grown hills with herds unnumber'd crown,
And bid the fleecy nations fill the down;
O'er countless fields, the flaxen treasure spread,
And call the canvas, from it's hempen bed:
Or bid the loom with all earth's fabrics shine,
The useful strengthen, and the gay refine,
Or ocean's chambers, with bold hand, explore,
And waft his endless treasures to the shore!”
Well-system'd rule the source of bliss below;
Invent, refine, arrange, the sacred plan,
Check pride, rein power, and save the rights of man!
Here first, his savage independence bow,
And, at the public shrine, spontaneous vow;
The triumph, here, of Reason first display,
A nation yielding to elective sway.”
Each hastening to be wise, and good, and great;
Power, nicely balanc'd, all the parts adjust,
The source of union, and the seat of trust;
Whence, men forgotten, Law supremely reigns,
And justice flows, a river, o'er the plains!”
The tomb of folly, and the work of woe;
Her walls, her gardens, Babylon display,
The pomp of spoils, and pageant of a day;
Her baseless sway, and tottering freedom, boast;
Her pride of empire haughty Rome unfold,
A world despoil'd, for luxury, and gold:
Here nobler wonders of the world shall rise;
Far other empire here mankind surprize:
Of orders pure, that ask no Grecian name,
A new born structure here ascend to fame.
The base, shall knowledge, choice, and freedom, form,
Sapp'd by no flood, and shaken by no storm;
Unpattern'd columns, union'd States ascend;
Combining arches, virtuous manners bend;
Of balanc'd powers, proportion'd stories rise,
Like Babel's dome, intended for the skies;
One speech, one soul, to every builder given,
And the tall summit shrouded high in heaven.”
Whatever rights their God has given mankind;
To rich, and poor, alike, th' avenues clear;
Its gates, like Salem's, open round the year;
Hence justice, freedom, peace, and bounty, flow,
Redress for injuries, and relief for woe.”
O how unlike the miseries of the East!
There, in sad realms of desolating war,
Fell Despotism ascends his iron car;
Printed in blood, o'er all the moving throne,
The motto glows, of—Millions made for one.
Above, on either side, the Furies glare,
Their scorpions brandish, and their snakes uprear;
His breath their being, and his scourge their law,
Unnumber'd haggard slaves the chariot draw;
A villain, black as hell, his master guides,
A guard of blacker villains round him rides.
With corpses causey'd, and wet deep with gore,
One wide Aceldama the region lies,
And whitening Golgothas immingled rise:
While nobles, pamper'd on the spoils of woe,
Resound—“The knee to Heaven's Vicegerent bow.””
Rous'd from dull sleep, astonish'd Europe sing,
O'er Asia burst the renovating morn,
And startled Afric in a day be born;
As, from the tomb, when great Messiah rose,
Heaven bloom'd with joy, and Earth forgot her woes,
His saints, thro' nature, truth and virtue spread,
And light, and life, the Sacred Spirit shed;
Thus, thro' all climes, shall Freedom's bliss extend,
The world renew, and death, and bondage, end;
All nations quicken with th' ecstatic power,
And one redemption reach to every shore.”
Shield the fell guard, and force the realm t' obey,
A nations voice, with pointed cannon, brave,
Meant to defend, but useful to enslave;
Where foes victorious in dire safety stand,
And six oppression on a hapless land,
Here, without walls, the fields of safety spread,
And, free as winds, ascends the peaceful shade;
Invasion fierce, interfluent oceans bar;
Streams hedge the foe, and mountains mock the war,
In each dread pass, with naked side, he stands,
To sudden terrors, and to unseen hands;
On the broad plain, ten thousand ills invade,
The day's hard toils, the night's ill-boding shade;
Surrounding wilds, incessant, breathe alarms,
And moors, and forests, pour harrassing swarms:
And each new movement loses all he won.
Thus shall my sons their shelter'd regions save,
Firm as their hills, and as their fathers brave,
On freedom's force, with generous trust, rely,
And ask no fortress, but the favouring Sky.”
Which Freedom lights, and Independence blows;
By that bright pomp, which moral scenes display,
The unrivall'd grandeur of elective sway;
And manners, where effulgent nature shines,
Nor tinsel glares, nor fashion false refines,
At this best æra, when, with glory bright,
Full-rising Science casts unclouded light,
Up wisdom's heights the soul shall wing her way,
And climb thro' realms of still improving day.”
To grace proud pomp, and swell a monarch's store,
Aid venal hosts to blast man's little joy,
And bid fell navies towns and realms destroy,
For public bliss, from public hands, shall flow,
And patriot works from patriot feelings grow.
See Appian ways across the New World run!
Here hail the rising, there the setting, sun:
See long canals on earth's great convex bend!
Join unknown realms; and distant oceans blend;
In the Calm Main, Atlantic tides arise,
And Hudson wanton under torrid skies.
O'er all my climes, see palac'd Science smile!
And schools unnumber'd gem the golden soil;
For want, for woe, the neat asylum rise,
And countless temples call propitious skies.
By locks immense see broken rivers join'd;
And the vast bridge my Rhines, and Danubes, bind;
Huge engines roll, and streams their currents bend.”
Shall curse still-savage Europe's reeking laws;
By the laws of Great Britain, one hundred and sixty different sorts of human actions are punishable with death.
Blackstone's Com.This fact is a dreadful instance of the astonishing power of established custom, and hereditary opinion: for the nation in which it is found, is unquestionably the most enlightened and respectable, in Europe.
Since Blackstone wrote, Capel Loft estimates the number of felonies, without benefit of Clergy, at 176; and of felonies with Clergy, at 65.— Of those, who were executed, the Solicitor General declares, that 18 out of 20 do not exceed 20 years of age.
That gibbets plant, as erst the forest stood;
With horse-leach thirst, cry, “Give us daily blood;”
Void, not of mercy, but of common sense,
Commute a human life for thirteen pence;
Poor debtors chain, to glut revenge and pride,
And one man hang, that other men may ride.”
Bloodshed alone shall be aton'd by blood:
It has not yet been proved, than the punishment of death can, with either justice, or policy, be inflicted for any other crime, beside murder. From the few experiments, which have been made, solitary confinement appears to be as much more effectual as it is more humane.
The present penal system of Pennsylvania well deserves the respect and the adoption of every Government. To the original authors of this system, among whom several of the Friends claim a particular distinction, the highest honour is due. See, on this subject, An Enquiry how far the punishment of Death is necessary, in Pennsylvania. By William Bradford, esq. And an Account of the Alteration, and present State, of the penal Laws, in Pennsylvania; of the Gaol, &c. By Caleb Lownes.
All other crimes, unfit with man to dwell,
The wretch shall expiate, in the lonely cell:
There awful Conscience, and an anguish'd heart,
Shall stretch the rack, and wing the flaming dart;
Approaching fiends with lowering vengeance glow,
And gulphs yawn downward to the world of woe.
Half seen, at times, and trembling faint, from far,
Shall dawn sweet Mercy's bright and beamy star;
Hope enter, smite his chains, and set him free,
And spread her wings, and whisper, “Follow me.”
In this dread mansion, shall the culprit find
His country's laws, not just alone, but kind;
And fed, and clad, and lodg'd, with comfort, feel
Whatever good destroys not public weal.”
Nor to check crimes be still her single end.
Her hand shall aid the poor, the sad console,
And lift up merit from it's lowly stool,
Reach to th' industrious youth the means to thrive,
The orphan shelter, bid the widow live,
Nurse, with a fostering care, each art refin'd,
That mends the manners, or that lights the mind,
And help aspiring genius to excel.”
And spread pure knowledge through th' enlighten'd land;
Knowledge, the wise Republic's standing force,
There is no country, in which law has a more decided, (and if I may be allowed the expression) despotic power, than in Connecticut. Yet this power rests wholly on that general information of the people at large; from which they derive full conviction, that government is necessary to the existence, and to the continuance, of all their happiness.
Subjecting all things, with resistless course;
There is no country, in which law has a more decided, (and if I may be allowed the expression) despotic power, than in Connecticut. Yet this power rests wholly on that general information of the people at large; from which they derive full conviction, that government is necessary to the existence, and to the continuance, of all their happiness.
That bids the ruler hold a righteous sway,
There is no country, in which law has a more decided, (and if I may be allowed the expression) despotic power, than in Connecticut. Yet this power rests wholly on that general information of the people at large; from which they derive full conviction, that government is necessary to the existence, and to the continuance, of all their happiness.
And bends persuaded freemen to obey.
There is no country, in which law has a more decided, (and if I may be allowed the expression) despotic power, than in Connecticut. Yet this power rests wholly on that general information of the people at large; from which they derive full conviction, that government is necessary to the existence, and to the continuance, of all their happiness.
Frequent, behold the rich Museum yield
The wonders dread of Nature's fruitful field!
See strong invention engines strange devise,
And ope the mysteries of earth, seas, and skies;
Aid curious art to finish works refin'd,
And teach abstrusest science to mankind.”
To heaven, Herschelian tubes conduct the soul;
Where proud Orion heads th' immortal train,
In the sword of the constellation, Orion, there is a place, which appears like a window in the sky; through which the eye apparently penetrating sees, in telescopes of high powers, a more glorious region, than has been elsewhere discovered; a region in which perpetual day seems to shine with singular splendour.
And opes his lucid window through the main;
Where, far beyond this limitary sky,
Superior worlds of liquid splendour lie;
Far other suns diffuse th' unsetting ray,
And other planets roll, in living day.
Truth, bliss, and virtue, age by age, refine,
And unknown nations bask in life divine,”
The golden Phosphor of th' expanding morn.
See raptur'd Franklin, when fierce tempests ride,
Down the safe dome innoxious lightnings guide!
The nice machine see self-taught Kingsley frame,
That, unexampled, pours th' electric flame!
See Rittenhouse, and Pope, with art their own,
Roll the small system round the mimic sun!
See Bushnell's strong, creative genius, fraught
With all th' assembled powers of skilful thought,
And glide thro' dark retreats, and coral caves!
While crowds, around them, join the glorious strife,
And ease the load, that lies on human life.”
My sons t' illume, refine, exalt, amend.
Thro' Nature's field shall bold Inquiry stray,
Where Europe's Genius leads the splendid way;
Tell why the winds with fickle wanderings blow,
Thin vapours spring, and clouds condensing flow;
From what strange cause th' etherial phases rise,
And gloom, and glory, change so soon the skies;
How heat through nature spreads its chemic power;
Wakes the soft spring, dissolves the icy shower,
In fluid splendour bids the metal glow,
Commands the stream to roll, the flower to blow,
With golden beauty lights the starry choir,
And warms th' exhaustless sun with living fire.
Or pierce the mist of elemental strife,
See lazy matter rousing into life;
It's parts meet, mix, repel, attract, combine,
And mould the plant with infinite design;
Or through the grades of nobler life ascend,
And the strange, acting, suffering Being blend;
Or cease their hold, to bring new forms to light,
And bid the fairy structure melt from sight;
Or round the globe it's wondrous strata spread,
Fashion the hills, and vault the ocean's bed;
Imblaze the ore, th' enticing gem unfold,
And with pure sunbeams tinge the lasting gold.
Here too shall Genius learn, by what controul,
Th' instinctive magner trembles to the pole;
With curious eye, it's system'd errors trace,
And teach the mystic longitude of place:
Or through the bright, Columbian science rove,
Pursue the lightning's path, in realms above,
And see all nature own it's magic force:
Or ope more awful wonders to mankind,
Evolve the terrors of the Indian wind,
Tell whence volcanic fires the mount inform,
Whence heave the plains, or bursts the raging storm;
Whence the wide concave angry meteors rend,
And shuddering earth quakes to it's distant end:
Or, in dark paths, where health's fair streamlets stray,
Thro' plants, and mines, explore their chemic way,
Redress the ravage of encroaching clime,
Change the sad curse, rebuild the waste of time,
Protract man's date, bid age with verdure bloom,
And strew with flowers the journey to the tomb.”
Where truth commends, and virtue gives a name,
With Homer's life, with Milton's strength, aspire,
Or catch divine Isaiah's hallow'd fire.
No sickly spot shall soil the page refin'd;
Lend vice a charm, or taint the artless mind;
Another Pope inchanting themes rehearse,
That tends to make one worthy man my foe;
Give Virtue scandal, Innocence a fear,
Or from the soft-ey'd Virgin steal a tear.
Pope.
A person of delicacy, and virtue, is naturally led to wonder, that a man of such talents, as Mr. Pope possessed, and entertaining the very just sentiments, expressed in these finished lines, should have written, published, and left to be handed down to posterity, a great number of verses, which he has actually written, and published. In his Rape of the Lock, there are several lines plainly indelicate, and some grossly obscene. In his Eloisa to Abelard, the sentiments are, in some instances, gross and noxious. Yet these are his first performances. His Moral Essays (particularly the second) trespass, at times, against truth, justice and decency. The same is too often true of his satires. The Dunciad is, in several places, a severer satire on the author, than on the objects of his resentment: not to mention several of his smaller imitations of other poets, and the hideous volume, published as a supplement to his acknowledged works.
No Writer ought ever to publish a sentiment, or expression (unless when some scientifical, or other important purpose necessitates it) which cannot be read, in a mixed company, of Ladies and Gentlemen, without giving pain to the most refined and delicate mind.
Nor the meek virgin blush to hear the verse;
That tends to make one worthy man my foe;
Give Virtue scandal, Innocence a fear,
Or from the soft-ey'd Virgin steal a tear.
Pope.
A person of delicacy, and virtue, is naturally led to wonder, that a man of such talents, as Mr. Pope possessed, and entertaining the very just sentiments, expressed in these finished lines, should have written, published, and left to be handed down to posterity, a great number of verses, which he has actually written, and published. In his Rape of the Lock, there are several lines plainly indelicate, and some grossly obscene. In his Eloisa to Abelard, the sentiments are, in some instances, gross and noxious. Yet these are his first performances. His Moral Essays (particularly the second) trespass, at times, against truth, justice and decency. The same is too often true of his satires. The Dunciad is, in several places, a severer satire on the author, than on the objects of his resentment: not to mention several of his smaller imitations of other poets, and the hideous volume, published as a supplement to his acknowledged works.
No Writer ought ever to publish a sentiment, or expression (unless when some scientifical, or other important purpose necessitates it) which cannot be read, in a mixed company, of Ladies and Gentlemen, without giving pain to the most refined and delicate mind.
Improv'd, and clouded with no courtly stain,
No whiter page than Addison's remains.
Pope.
The drummer of Mr. Addison offends, not unfrequently, against decency. There are also, in his other works, a few passages, which one could wish had been expunged. These facts are a proof of unhappy yielding to the taste of his times, in a man, who was an ornament to human nature.
A whiter page than Addison's remain.”
No whiter page than Addison's remains.
Pope.
The drummer of Mr. Addison offends, not unfrequently, against decency. There are also, in his other works, a few passages, which one could wish had been expunged. These facts are a proof of unhappy yielding to the taste of his times, in a man, who was an ornament to human nature.
It is not a little injurious to the honour of human nature, that the elegant arts of Poetry, Painting, and Music, have, in Europe, been so often prostituted to the celebration of vile characters, to the display of subjects and sentiments gross and pernicious, and to the commemoration of facts, which deeply stain the name of man.
Unrivall'd forms of glory, and of grace!
In the fair field, no traits of vileness spring,
No wanton lordling, and no bloody king,
No strumpet, handed to perpetual fame,
No scenes of lewdness, and no deeds of shame:
But men, that counsell'd, fought, and bled, for men,
And held, to death, the world-renewing pen;
Scenes, that would Envy of her snakes beguile,
Deeds, where fond Virtue loves to gaze, and smile:
And such, O Trumbull! glow alike on thine.”
The swinish revel, and the lewd amour,
The phrenzied ravage of the blood-stain'd car,
Or the low triumphs of the Sylvan war.
But Sorrow's silent sadness sweetly charm,
With love inspire, with real glory warm,
Wake, in Religion's cause, diviner lays,
And fill the bosom with Messiah's praise.”
Man's nature, duties, dignity, and place;
How, in each class, the nice relation springs,
To God, to man, to subjects, and to kings;
How taste, mysterious, in the Heavenly plan,
Improves, adorns, and elevates, the man;
How balanc'd powers, in just gradation, prove
The means of order, freedom, peace, and love,
Of bliss, at home, of homage fair, abroad,
Justice to man, and piety to God.”
To cloud-built theories, and lunar dreams,
But to firm facts, shall human faith be given,
Infidel philosophers frequently impeach, and affect to despise, the evidence of testimony. Yet their own reasonings are generally attended with evidence, and most usually founded on evidence, which, in clearness and strength, is far inferior to that of testimony: a great part of their sentiments being mere and trifling hypotheses.
The proofs of Reason, and the voice of Heaven.
No more by light Voltaire with bubbles fed,
With Hume's vile husks no longer mock'd for bread,
No more by St. John's lantern lur'd astray,
Through moors, and mazes, from the broad highway,
Transported men the path of life shall know,
And Angels' food shower round them, as they go.”
The dress, the feast, the riches, of the mind,
The bold Divine, commercing, shall explore,
Search every realm, and visit every shore,
Matur'd, and beauteous, in immortal prime,
Thence gems collect, and gold from wisdom's mine,
Robes of pure white, and ornaments divine,
(Whate'er can bid the famish'd wretch respire,
Or clothe the naked in unstain'd attire)
To Heaven's high altar bring the offering bless'd,
And all mankind, his Levites, share the feast.”
Plac'd in the mean, 'twixt poverty and pride,
The goal, where faithful virtue most is found,
The goal, where strong temptations least abound,
Nor sloth benumbs, nor luxury betrays,
Nor splendour awes, nor lures to dangerous ways,
Where the poor boldly tell their woes severe,
Fear no neglect, and find the mingling tear,
From civil toils, cabals, and party-heat,
My sacred clerks spontaneous shall retreat;
To others leave to others what is given,
And shine, the mere ambassadors of Heaven;
Spread truth, build virtue, sorrow soothe, and pain,
And rear primæval piety again.”
With prudence, frank; obliging, yet sincere;
Great, without pride; familiar, yet refin'd;
The honest face disclosing all the mind;
Stanhope abjur'd; the Gospel own'd alone;
And all, from other's claim'd, to others done
Here nature's sweet simplicity shall reign,
And art's foul tincture meet a just disdain;
The waxen mien of Europe's courtly lords;
Love spent in looks, and honour lost in words;
Where sad ambition, sickening, toils for show,
And smiles, invented, mask the face of woe;
Where hope's a cheat, and happiness a sound.”
There is something singularly unhappy in the attempts of the Americans to imitate the burthensome ostentation of Europe. Americans are not, and probably will not soon be, sufficiently acquainted with the round of European form, and etiquette, to adopt it with either skill, or grace. At the same time, we have not, and, without entailments, never shall in any great number of instances have, wealth sufficient to support the necessary expense.
Common Sense, Philosophy, and Religion, alike condemn such manners, in every instance, and view them, as the painful efforts of folly to lift itself into respectability. The plain manners of Republicans, incomparably less burthensome, and more graceful and pleasing, are our own native manners: such manners, as made the Gaul esteem the Roman senate an assembly of gods; and the courtier Cineas consider the citizens of Rome, as a collection of kings.
Sensible travellers, whose manners are generally viewed as more finished, and pleasing, than any other, appear usually to acquire a contempt, and disuse, of ceremony, and to adopt a plainer behaviour, than most other men of breeding. A persevering adoption of plain manners, by men of influence, would give them a general and lasting sanction; and prove of more real benefit to the present, and future, inhabitants of America, than renowned victories, or immense acquisitions of territory.
It may, perhaps, be said, as it often has been said, though with neither discernment, nor truth, that parade is necessary to give energy to law, and dignity to government. It may be answered, that no laws have greater energy, and no government was ever more respected, than those of Connecticut have usually been, for more than 150 years. Yet in Connecticut, parade is unknown in practice, and despised by the universal opinion.— The truth is, people of mere common sense, and uneducated to ceremony, always despise it: it's introduction, therefore, is always owing to the vanity, and weakness, of men in superior stations, or ranks, of life.
Even in these climes, the splendid trifler strive;
Pine, with a sickly appetite, for shew,
And, every year, the income spend of two;
With aukward folly, mimic toilsome sin,
Parade without, and wretchedness within;
Yet faint, and few, shall these corruptions spread,
Seen but to be despis'd, and hiss'd, and fled.
Strong sense shall here the life of reason yield,
Each whim exploded, and each vice expell'd;
From sweet affections actions sweet shall flow,
All that makes joy, and all that quiets woe,
Where nature, friendship, love, unrivall'd reign,
And form anew the dignity of men.”
There is reason to believe, that the women, in New England, in all that renders the female character respectable, and lovely, are inferior to none, in the world. They blend the useful, and the pleasing, the refined, and the excellent, into a most delightful, and dignified union; and well deserve, from the other sex, that high regard, and polite attention, which form a very respectable branch of our national manners.
How the soft eye-ball glisten truth refin'd!
What featur'd harmony mild virtue form!
With what sweet sympathy, the bosom warm!
To wisdom pure, by useful science train'd,
From fashions, cards, and plays, to reason gain'd,
To show, to flattery, victims now no more,
Vile forms extinct, and idle follies o'er,
Anew to duty shall the heart be given,
Love to mankind, and piety to Heaven.
Grac'd with each beauty of th' etherial form,
Led by a heart, with rich affections warm,
Each lovely daughter, sister, friend, and wife,
Shall call forth roses, from the thorns of life;
With soothing tenderness, rough man refine,
Wake gentler thoughts, and prompt to deeds divine;
Through wisdom's paths, their tender offspring charm,
And bear them upward, with supporting arm;
And bid the nursling saint a cherub end.
Like vernal dews, their kindness shall distil,
Cheer the sad soul, and lighten every ill;
Breathe balmy comfort round the wretches shed,
And lay the outcast in a peaceful bed;
Bid, round their mansions, bliss domestic rise,
And fix a bright resemblance of the skies.”
Thus envied scenes of rapture meet the eye.
Then, on the borders of this sapphire plain,
Shall growing beauties grace my fair domain.
O'er these green hills, and in each smiling dell,
Where elves might haunt, and says delighted dwell,
From Thames's walks, to Hudson's verdant isles,
See, with fair seats, my lovely margin smiles!
No domes of pomp insult the smiling plain;
Nor lords, nor princes, trample freeborn man.
Man, the first title known beneath the skies;
A prince, when virtuous, and a lord, when wise.
See, circling each, with simple lustre, spread
The neat inclosure, and the happy shade;
Meads green with spring; with Autumn orchards fair;
And fields, where culture bids all climes appear,
Gay groves exult; Chinesian gardens glow,
And bright reflections paint the wave below!”
Earth's distant realms immingled sails unfold;
Proud Europe's towers, her thunders laid asleep,
Float, in calm silence, o'er th' astonish'd deep;
Peru unfetter'd lift her golden sails,
And silken India waft on spicy gales;
From death's dull shade, awaken'd Afric rise,
And roll the products of her sunny skies.
What sway creates it, and what laws secure,
See pride abas'd; the wolfish heart refin'd;
Th' unfetter'd conscience, and th' unpinion'd mind;
To human good all human efforts given;
Nor war insult, nor bondage anger, Heaven;
No savage course of Eastern glory run;
Atchiev'd no conquest, and no realm undone.”
Where science wreathes, and worth confers a name;
No more her temple stand in human gore;
Of human bones, her columns rise no more:
The life, by poets sung, the heavens approve,
Wisdom commend, and future ages love.”.
Where suns decline, and evening oceans roar,
Their eyes shall view one free elective sway;
One blood, one kindred, reach from sea to sea;
One language spread; one tide of manners run;
One scheme of science, and of morals one;
And, God's own Word the structure, and the base,
One faith extend, one worship, and one praise.”
On rapture's pinions, o'er the distant sea;
New light, new glory, fire the general mind,
And peace, and freedom, re-illume mankind.”
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