 | The Invention of Letters, and the Utility of the Press |  |
THE Invention of LETTERS, AND THE Utility of the PRESS.
By Henry Jones.
Thou thought-revealing charm! in silence shewn,
Like the swift intercourse to 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 exchang'd, 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 to 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 exchang'd, 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.
O sacred 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 scepter 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 hers, through scenes of death to spurn the chain,
'Tis hers, (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
Unstir'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, all around it grow.
With still-increasing force, for ever shine!
Ambition here is virtue. Learning rise!
Subdue the earth, explore thy native skies!
Thy potent scepter 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 hers, through scenes of death to spurn the chain,
'Tis hers, (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
Unstir'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, all around it grow.
| The Invention of Letters, and the Utility of the Press | |