Miscellanies in Prose and Verse By Mrs. Catherine Jemmat |
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On the Invention of LETTERS and the Utility of the PRESS.
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 | Miscellanies in Prose and Verse |  |
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On the Invention of LETTERS and the Utility of the PRESS.
Thou thought-revealing charm! in silence shewn,
Like the swift intercourse of angels known,
Intuitive exchange, by vision made,
Of mutual minds, without the tardy aid
Of sense-conveying sounds, which language lends,
To partial compacts ty'd, and local ends:
Thy wond'rous pow'r can waft th' extended soul,
From clime to clime, and bear from pole to pole:
What godlike energy inform'd his breast,
Who all th' impassion'd soul through thee express'd!
Who all th' intestine throbs the heart invade,
In speaking silence to the sight display'd!
Through mystic types, firm fix'd, on lasting ground,
The signs of thought, and shades of social sound,
Rich as the sun they shine, with mental ray,
In one continu'd, intellectual day.
Like the swift intercourse of angels known,
Intuitive exchange, by vision made,
Of mutual minds, without the tardy aid
Of sense-conveying sounds, which language lends,
To partial compacts ty'd, and local ends:
Thy wond'rous pow'r can waft th' extended soul,
From clime to clime, and bear from pole to pole:
What godlike energy inform'd his breast,
Who all th' impassion'd soul through thee express'd!
Who all th' intestine throbs the heart invade,
In speaking silence to the sight display'd!
Through mystic types, firm fix'd, on lasting ground,
The signs of thought, and shades of social sound,
Rich as the sun they shine, with mental ray,
In one continu'd, intellectual day.
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O sacrid legacy! O gift divine!
With still increasing force, for ever shine!
Ambition here is virtue; Learning, rise,
Subdue the earth, explore thy native skies!
Thy potent sceptre o'er the world extend,
And awful justice from her foes defend.
May Liberty beneath thy pow'rful hand,
Unmov'd, uninjur'd, and immortal stand!
That glorious gift, to Virtue's sons more dear
Than conquest, honour, worlds, or vital air:
'Tis her's, thro' scenes of death, to spurn the chain,
'Tis her's (that heav'n-born goddess) to complain,
Through Learning's awful voice, to seek redress
From nature, reason, and th' important Press;
That source of patriot strength, when pure it runs,
Unstirr'd by Fraud and Faction's furious sons:
To truth, to public virtue, ever dear,
For ever copious, and for ever clear,
May healing Wisdom from that fountain flow,
And Wealth and Concord ever round it grow.
With still increasing force, for ever shine!
Ambition here is virtue; Learning, rise,
Subdue the earth, explore thy native skies!
Thy potent sceptre o'er the world extend,
And awful justice from her foes defend.
May Liberty beneath thy pow'rful hand,
Unmov'd, uninjur'd, and immortal stand!
That glorious gift, to Virtue's sons more dear
Than conquest, honour, worlds, or vital air:
'Tis her's, thro' scenes of death, to spurn the chain,
'Tis her's (that heav'n-born goddess) to complain,
Through Learning's awful voice, to seek redress
From nature, reason, and th' important Press;
That source of patriot strength, when pure it runs,
Unstirr'd by Fraud and Faction's furious sons:
To truth, to public virtue, ever dear,
For ever copious, and for ever clear,
May healing Wisdom from that fountain flow,
And Wealth and Concord ever round it grow.
| Miscellanies in Prose and Verse | |