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a:»  5:i  SXi  03.  .^i:.  03.'S2' 

PRIXCKTON,   N.  -J. 

w  c»  :v  --VT  X  o  >r     o  !•- 

SAMUEL   AGNEAV, 

OF     P  11  I  LA  DKI-PHI  A,     PA. 


Book, 


SCO 


THE  HURRICANE  i 

A  THEOSOPHICAL  AND  WESTERN 

ECLOGUE. 

TO    WHICH    IS    SUBJOINED, 
A 

SOLITARY  EFFUSIOJV 

I  N    A 

SUMMER'S  EVENING. 


c^ 


BY   WILLIAM   GILBERT. 


Odi  profanum  vulgus  et  arceo. 
Favete  Unguis  :    Carmina  non  prlus 
Audita,  Musamm  Sacerdos 

ViRGINIBUS   PUERISQUE  Cauto. 

HoR.   Lib.  III.  Od.  1. 


PRINTED  AND  SOLD  FOR  THE  AUTHOR,  BY  R.  EDWARDS 

SOLD  ALSO   BY  MARTIN  AND   BAIN,    AND   B.  CROSBY, 

LONDON  ;    EDDOWES,    SALOP  ;    AND    HAZARD 

AND    BARRATT,    BATH, 


1796. 


PREFACE. 


HE  following  Poem  requires  some  previous  elu- 
cidation, as  it  comprehends  a  scope  of  design  far  be- 
yond vulgar   research. 

The  history  of  it's  progress  is,  at  present,  of 
little  importance.  Here  it  is,  A  whole:  arrived  at 
maturity;  and  wishes  not  to  recolleft  the  blandish- 
ments, nor  retrace  the  imperfeftions,  of  childhood. 

It  gives,  and  is  grounded  on,  a  Theosophical 
view  of  the  relation  between  America  and  Europe  ; 
but  concatenated,  because  necessary  for  illustration, 
with  the  two  old  Quarters  of  the  Globe*  Of  each 
of  all  these  the  charafleristics  are  enlarged  upon  in 
the  Notes:  But  some  general  resolution  of  the  fa6l, 
that  Countries  have  chafaderistics^  h  the  necessity, 
which  causes  this  Preface. 

A  3 


iv  PREFACE. 

I  KNOW  it  to  be  a  faB,  that  the  elaboration  of 
my  own  mind  assigned  to  Africa,  Asia  and  Eu- 
rope, the  precise  charafters  which  were  respectively 
attributed  to  them  by  the  Antients,  and  have  been 
since  by  Swedenborg;  though  each,  used  his  own 
language;  which  is  a  proof,  that  each  was  original, 
and  aftually  travelled  the  road  himself  and  saw  ob- 
jefts  in  his  own  light.  For  these  I  refer  to  my 
Notes.  Suffice  it  to  say  here,  that  the  machinery 
of  my  Eclogue  thus  proceeds  on  this  Doftrine  ; 
namely. 

First,  That  all  Countries  have  a  specific  Mind, 
or  determinable  principle.  This  charafter  may  be 
traced  with  as  much  satisfa6lion  in  the  vegetable  as  in 
the  animal  produftions.  Thus,  Strength  with  its  at- 
tributes, viz.  Asperity,  &c.  is  the  chara6ler  or  mind 
of  England.  Her  leading  produftions  are  the  Oak, 
Peppermint,  Sloes,  Crabs,  sour  Cherries.  All  elegance, 
all  polish,  is  superinduced ;  and  primarily  from  France, 
©f  which  they  are   Natives. 

Secondly,  That  a  Country  is  subdued,  when  it's 
7mnd  ox  life,  it's  /^nV?c^  according  to  Daniel,  or  it's 


PREFACE.  V 

■jenius  according  to  the  modern  Easterns,  or  it's  priti' 
ciple  according  to  Europeans,  is  either  supprest,  de- 
stroyed or  chemically  combined  with  that  of  a  foreign 
country  in  a  form,  that  leaves  the  foreign  property 
predominant ;  and  not  till  then.  And  this  cannot  en- 
sue but  upon  Suicide,,  upon  a  previous  abandon- 
ment on  the  part  of  a  nation,  of  its  own  principle. 
For  when  the  Creator  made  everything  very  good, 
he  also  made  it  tenable,  on  the  one  hand  ;  and  ont 
the  other  complete ;  consequently  without  the  necessity ,^. 
without  the  desire,  of  encroaching,  and  also  without  the 
capability, '  except  under  the  penalty  of  surrendering 
with  its  own  complete  roundness,  its  own  tenability. 
Thus  I  arrive  at  a  primary  Lav\r  of  Nature,  that  every 

ONE    MUST    FALL    INTO    THE    PIT     THAT     HE    DIQS: 

EOii  OTHERS  5  either  before  or  after  success,  or  with* 
out  success.  .  '  ,, 

Thirdly,  That  in  the  European  subjugation  of 
America,  the  American  Mind  or  Life  only 
suffered  under  a  powerful  affusion  of  the  European; 
and,  that  as  the  solution  proceeds  it  acquires  a  stron- 
ger and  stronger  tinfture  of  the  Subjetl,  till  at  length 
that,    which  was  first  subdued,  assumes  an  absolute,  in- 


VI  >KEFACE. 

expugnable  predominancy,  and  a  final — inasmuch  as 
the  contest  is  between  the  two  last  parts  of  the  world, 
and  there  is  no  prospeclive  umpire  to  refer  to  ;  but 
it  must  be  decided  by  the  possession  of  first  princi- 
ples, or  the  highest  Mind  in  the  Hierarchy  of  Minds ; 
and  the  European  possession  of  mind  having  previously 
arrived  at  perfeftion  from  her  long  intercourse  with 
AFRICA  and  Asia,  and  not  being  able  to  rescue 
her  from  the  present  grasp  and  predominancy  of 
American  Mind,  the  question  is  now  settled  for 
ever,  and  Europe  yields  to  the  Influence,  Mind  and 
Power  of  AMERICA,  linked  in  essential  principle 
with  AFRICA  and  Asia,  for  ever.  Besides  Europe 
had  full  success  in  her  encroachments  ;  she  succeeded 
in  throwing  America  into  the  pit,  and  of  course,  it 
MUST  be  her  own  turn  to  go  in,  now:  She  depopu- 
lated America,  and  now  AMERICA  MUST  depopu^ 
late  her. 

This  survival  of  American  principle,  I  re- 
present by  asserting  the  survival  of  her  spirit s,  under 
the  name  of  the  Children  of  the  Sun,  according  to 
the  Yncas  ;  or  The  Sons  of  Virgin  Light  ;  while  their 
bodies,  or  their  appearance  in  the  world  sank  to  ocean; 


PREFACE.  Vll 

that  is,  were  destroyed  by  Europe,  who  had  the  power 
of  the  ocean  and  corresponds  thereto.  The  Resur- 
reftlon  of  their  Bodies  is  the  Reappearance  in  the 
world  of  persons  enlivened  by  their  Life  or  Spirit, 
a6luated  by  their  principles.  What  these  principles 
are,  will  be  fully  seen  in  the  Notes  at  the  End. 

I  HAVE  said  enough  to  explain  my  Machinery, 
and  enable  the  Reader  to  keep  me  company  as  he 
reads  ;  though  I  by  no  means  suppose,  that  this  Pre- 
face is  more  than  a  flash  of  lightning  in  a  dark  night. 
However,  the  System  yields  a  strong,  steady  light 
with  me;  and  I  would  be  liberal  of  it  to  my  Rea- 
per, if  he  will  permit   me. 


<'^^BX    advertisement.  X*E%-, 


•«»te80O0(?!5O«0O009O0l 


FRIEND  is  the  occasion  of  this  Advertisement ;  who, 
having  printed  some  hnes  of  this  Poem  in  a  Miscellany  that 
could  not  fail  to  introduce  it  respeftably,  in  the  best  sense  of 
the  word,  has  thereby  acquired  a  right  to  have  his  feelings  at- 
tended to,  m  things  that  may  affeft  the  credit  of  the  Poem. 

He  once  passed  to  me  a  very  strong  opinion  against 
the  Metre  of  some  verses.  What  is  Metre  ?  It  is  the 
focus  of  Union  between  the  Sense  and  the  Sound  ;  in  the  best 
English  Poets,  at  least :  It  is  a  contrivance  to  throw  the  accent, 
not  wfiere  a  common  reader  or  speaker  would  throw  it .  but  where 

an      IMPASSIONED      ORATOR     Or    JUDICIOUS     ACTOR     WOuld 

throw  it.     One  instance  of  disapproved  accent  in  The  Hur- 
ricane I  suppose  will  be  given  in  these  three  lines; 


-Hear  I  not  some 


Female  shriek,  now  faintly  sighing  on  the 
Wings  of  Night?    Straightly  appeared  a  gleam  of 
White  before  us. 

The  action  here  is  Dramatic.  And  a  person  who  supposes 
himself  speaking  in  the  situation  there  described,  and  running 
on  with  volubility,  or  capable  of  constantly  finishing  his  periods, 
supposes  an  impossible  combination  of  irregular  hesita- 
tion of  step,  -with  regulated  volubility  of  tongue.  I  have  ended 
the  line,  and  thrown  the  pause  before  the  leading  words.  In 
other  instances,  where  I  have  not  the  same  reason,  I  have  an 
equipollent. 

If,  after  all,  the  ear  is  fastidiously  offended  with  a  short  syl- 
lable at  the  end  of  a  line,  or  with  dividing  by  a  line  two  words, 
which  are  joined  in  construction,  let  it  feed  upon  my  Motto, 
attack  Horace,  and  let  me  eo  free — 


-Carmina  non  prius 


Audita- 

Wkh  innumerable  other  instances  in  Latin  and  English. 


THE 


HURRICAJVE. 


CANTO  r. 

1^  EAR  where  with  Tropic  heats  bright  Cancer  glows, 

And  sun  beams  glitter  with  perennial  force, 

Girt  with  the  azure  wave  an  Island  lies, 

Called  by  the  Spaniards  ANTIENT  *     Its  breadth  is 

Measured  by  the  eye  ;  which,  still  unsatisfied. 

Strikes  far  beyond  the  reach  of  land,  Northward 

When  turned.     Its  utmost  length  doubles  it's  breadth. 

Islands,  faint  seen  among  the  adjacent  seas, 
Bearing  their  various  headlands  in  the  wave, 
A  social  and  romantic  scene  disclose  : 

*  Antigua  T  the  Latin  q,  is  changed  by  the  Spaniards  to  s 

B 


10 
They  give  the  wing  for  amplest  thought  to  range- 
On  all  the  mighty  wonders  of  the  world  ! 
Scenes  undiscovered,  uncreate  to  man, 
E'er  distant  Europe's  energetic  arm 
Ploughed  up  the  vasty  ocean  to  their  base; 
And  still-,  with  art  miraculous,  dete6ls 
Their  sunny  ports  through  many  a  pathless  league,. 

Ah  !  here,  Columbus,  with  the  din  of  war^ 
Broke  the  mild  concords  of  the  Mermaid's  ((A))  shell ;. 
Who,  mild,  at  evening,  in  the  glassy  wave, 
Joined  with  the  Genii  of  the  neighbour  shores, 
To  sing  of  Love  as  spotless  as  the  sky, 
And  as  their  ocean  clear ;  bounteous  as  airs 
Wafting  full  fragrance  from  the  thornless  grove 
Complicate  of  sweets,  diffusing  transport ; 
And  the  realm  of  Love,  and  Health  extatic, 
Spread,  unjealous,  round.     Then  the  glowing  son5> 
Of  this  mature  and  Occidental  Sun, 


11 

(Not  less  than  Memmon,  ((b)]  v*^hom  Aurora  bore 

To  Eastern  mornings ;  and  whose  grateful  harp 

Spontaneous  echoed  to  the  rising  day) 

To  bolder  measures  Jed  the  exalting  strain  ; 

And,  fired  with  all  the  radiance  of  their  sire, 

Poured  elemental  music  from  their  strings — 

Till  Hell's  dread,  discords  from  dark  Europe  broke  : 

Then  the  Mermaid  to  her  deeps  shot  rapid  : 

Trembling  she  lay — but  safe ;  and  long  concealed 

From  haunts  of  war.  ((C))  Soon  many  and  many 

A  son  of  earth  plunged  after  her,  and  she  gave 

A  coral  sepulchre  and  tears  of  heart ; 

While  armied  spirits  formed,  in  Fire  and  f!,an.h 

And  Air  and  Seas  a  phalanx  of  avengers ; 

Who  far  from  Europe  and  it's  bodied  forms,  [(d)) 

Survived  Immortal,  Vengeful  and  Creative. 

Expelled,  these  Sons  of  Virgin  Light  retired 

Or  to  refulgent  air  or  terrene  depths. 

In  subterranean  vaults  where  ocean  roars  p-)) 
B  2 


12 

Terror  and  dread  to  European  hearts, 

They  hold  consult  with  Genii  of  the  deep. 

With  placid  Mermaids,  (who  preserve  the  keys 

Of  coral  tombs  ;  till  from  their  safeguard  called. 

To  repossess  once  more  their  hallowed  seats, 

Forgotten  bodies  startle  the  dull  world 

And  take  their  own  from  myriads  aghast) 

With  all  the  good  and  great  of  all  the  world — 

The  many. murdered  Innocence  of  Ind 

Or  East  or  West — and  their  Avengers  great — 

However  named — in  sweet  alliance  leagued, 

Whose  fount  is  GoD,  whose  end  and  stream  is  bliss, 

These  peaceful  murmurs  and  these  pure  consults 
Of  ncaring  Bliss,  speak  thunder  to  the  North. 
They  give  prognostic  to  the  fear-worn  ears 
Of  list'ning  usurpers  of  their  fertile  clime. 
In  sounds  unscanned,  of  pondered  Hurricanes  ; 
When  they  remount  on  air  triumphant,  joined 


13 

With  dread  auxiliars  riding  on  the  wave, 

And  shew  their  greatness — over  pale  Europe's 

Miniatures  of  winds  !     Reigning  superior 

To  their  viftors  mean,  as  in  fost'ring  Peace 

So  in  black  War's  rude  crash ;  as  in  melody, 

Just  in  great  discords,  throughout  all  the  maze 

Of  involute,  transversive  harmony, 

Till  they  repoise  the  scale  in  tonal  Peace  ; 

Vi£lors  on  Europe,  witherers  of  her  might  ! 

For  their's  are  Nature's  powers ;    Elemental  strength 

Springs  in  their  nerves,  to  artificial  or 

Cold  Europe's  man  unknown ;  and  at  the  Fount 

Divine  they  drink  pursuant  of  the   stream  : 

They  hence  are  keenly  sentient  of  all  truth  : 

Familiar,  hence,  is  bold  Emprize ;  easy, 

Hence,  Atchievement,  that  to  Europe's  upward 

Navigation  is  impractical  and  mad.((F'5 


14 

Deep  in  these  Caverns,  or  in  Air  sublime 
A    long  abode  they  held  ;   but  never  slept : 
Secure— that  Europe  dreamed  not,  or  dreaming. 
Dared  not  search  for  Life  in  principles  of  Life, 
The  ethereal  sense  and  fire's  elastic  beam.* 
They  rallied,  time  by  time,  Their  scattered  bands. 
With   ANTIENT   concords  on  their  still-tuned  harps; 
Which,  momently,  the  favoured  ear  might  catch. 
At  silent  dawning  in  the  Zenith  Air ; 
And  feel  the  high  seraphic   rapture  trill. 
As  the  SM^eet  sounds   evolved  a  maze  ©f  song — • 
A  song  replete  with  all  that   Egypt  knew. 
Or  close   EleuSIS  taught  her  pious  youth.  ((^)) 

Here  too  I  sat  with  them  enwrapt,  though  open;  [(Hj) 
Till  now  the  concert  hastens  to  a  close. 
And  all   OUR  War  is  out  !     Bold  and  more  quick 
The  COUNTERVAILING  DiscordsNOW  We  sound 

*  i£thercum  Senium  atque  auvai  simplicis  Ignem.        ^nsld  vi.  7<}7. 


15 

And  ply  the   terrible  Antlstrophe,  ((I)] 
With  fearful  Justice  and  closed  Harmony 
Full  on  Europe,  who  ghastly  sinks  to  Hell ! 

The  Genius  of  the  West  is  High,  and  rides 
Swiftly  on  the  bold  and  regulated 
Pinion  of  the  Atlantic   Wind.     His  race  is  won. 
His  burning  wheels  run  on  the  rolling  floods  ! 
He  has  not  other  climes  to  visit.     New 
To  the  world  in  Afric*s  ((K))  Morning ;  and  in 
Asia's  Noon  but  juft  refle6ling  rays 
Feeble  and  broken  on  European  snows — 
He  challenged  no   return  who  made  no  gift. 
But  now  though  Europe  his  descending  beams 
Have  all  diffused  their  lustre  ;  and  at  length, 
fresh  and  resplendent  in  the  Western  sky, 
He  sums  up  all  his  Justice  and  his  Strength  ; 
Kindles  his  orient  and  meridian  blaze 
Clear  as  in  Asia,  as  in  Afric  bold  ; 


16 

Displays  as  lucid  purple  on  his  throne, 

And   summons  all  the  Honors  of  the   World. 

No  lingering  twilight  in  the  proud-robed  WEST 

Shews  indecision  in  the  Paths  of  Day  ! 

But  each  must  grasp  the  single  hour  of  Light, 

Or  lose  for  ever,  and  in  darkness  die. 

It  is  not  till  receding  to  the  point, 
Whence,  from  the  lofty  Zenith's  blazy  height, 
Again  he  darts,  with  generous  force  intense. 
His  arrows  vertical ;  as  with  quickened  march, 
He  hastens  to  relume  the   Southern  World, — 
That  his  indignant  and  protected  Sons 
Sweep  on  the  Isles  commissioned  Hurricanes. 

Now  e'er  description  bid  the  tempest  pour. 
Retire  We  to  the  bower  of  Love  and  feel 
The  blaze  of  Beauty.     'Tis  the  hour  of  Noon : 
Tokens  have  caused  an  awful  expeftation  : 


17 

The  Calm;  diamond-bright,  pellucid,  ether  ; 
The  cavern  murmuring  to  the  troubled  wave — 
Give  note  unerring  of  the  big  Event. 

And   who  will  join  me  in  this  safe  Recess  ? 
Come  Love's  and  Nature's  offspring  pure,  whoe'e: 
Or  whence  thou  art !     For  thou  art  mine,  I  know  : 
Come  Fancy's  sweetest  Child !     For  I  am  thine 
Through  the  contrasted  changes  of  my  Life  I 
Swift  let  me  lead  thee  tender,  and  fearful. 
Or  of  the  wild  blast,  or  the  madman's  touch, 
Assiduous  for  that  calm   and   full   Recess, 
To  Indian  Groves  of  aromatic  breath. 
To  spicy  Thickets  and  to  ample  flowers 
Redolent  of  every  various  sweet  that  glows 
Beneath  the  beams  of  Heaven's  Eternal  Sun  1 
Thence,  in  the  house,  careless  of  every  blast, 
Fixt  on  the  Rock  whose  Quarry  gave  its  Walls, 

C 


18 
And  whose  Foundations  are  the  centra!  Earth, 

We'll  smile  contempt  on''  every  fear  around. 

Before  the  Tempest  darken  on  the  Isle, 
We'll  view  the  little  Archipelago, 
That  raise  their  pleasant  banks  and  slope  their  beach 
Around  their  parent  Isle. 

Green  Island,  first. 
Excels  in  verdure,  and  to  listlessness 
And  summer  pleasure  spreads  the  cocoa  shade. 
Pelican  Island  on  the  North-East  lies; 
Whose  shelving  shore,  or  here  presents  the  cool, 
Sequestered  spot  for  bathing;  or  covered  o'er 
With  beauteous  shells  of  every  gaudy  tinge, 
invites  the  mind,  that  springs  to  Nature's  charms, 
Or  loves  to  class  what  she  diffusely  throws. 
These,  with  Long  Island,  and  that  Isle  whose  name 
The  Guana,  found  in  multitudes,  imparts; 


19 

Successive  open  to  the  glad  eager  eye 
Of  manner,  naw  lightly  concluding 
A  long  Voyage  with  Bliss,  and  down  the  Northern  coast. 
Rocky,  but  pleasant,  as  his  business   calls. 
With  steady  breeze  and  unreefed  topsails,  sailing. 
But  far  more  extacied  with  all  the   s^ene 
Is  that  gay  Girl,  or   this  impetuous  Youth, 
Who,  long  estranged  from  early  blisses  sweet 
And  all  the  transports  of  their  infant  years. 
In  search  of  Learning  radiant,  or  the  dance, 
Greet  joyous  now,  the  pleasant  Isle,  that  holds 
Their  Friends,  their  Parents,  and  (if  virtue  warm 
The  feeling  bosoms  of  their  race  and  them) 
The  orphaned  train,  whose  daily  sweat  has   won 
^he  Pride  and  Pleasure  which  exalts  them  now ; 
But  whom  Diviner  Justice  goon  will   teach, 
That  the  same  hand  which  .sowed,  shall  reap  the  field  ; 
And  that,  which  reaps,  uninjured,  shall  enjoy. 

C  2, 


20 
Around  Us  here,  while  all  was  tempered  Peace, 

Pleasing  although  illusive  and  unjust ; 

The  balmy  trade-wind  breathed  refreshing   airs, 

And  blew  salubrious   to  the  toil-worn  slave. 

The   Eastern  shore   receives  the  welcome  gale; 
And  leads  to  caverns,  or  the   brow  ot    rocks, 
To   gravel  banks   with   glittering  shell-fish  strewed. 
To  deep. green  mangrove,  or   the  shadowing  branch 
Of  lofty  cedar   droping  blossoms   white, 
That  tremble  as   they   fall  and   meet  the  wave 
Progressive  to  their  root.     Here,  oft,  at  even, 
When  lengthening  shadows  to  the  calmy  wave 
Sliot  dubious  twilight  and  alluring  gloom, 
1  sat  contemplative ;  and  viewed  the  breeze 
Chequer  the  water  with  far-streaming  light, 
That  glistened  «5  with  gems :     I  sat  and  thought 
Ambition    was   a   folly;  glory,  madness; 
And  all  the   hopes  attending   various  man 


21 
Were  robbers  of  his  rest :     I  thought,  that  Love 
Was  all  the  sum  indulgent  Heaven  e'er    made 
To  constitute   his  bliss,     I  thought  so  and  was  blest. 

For  four  long  days  a  calm  through  nature  reigned; 
A  calm   as  dead  as  ever   struck  the  deep ; 
As  ever  marked  the  silent  air  with  awe. 
Or  stilled  the  leaf  high  trembling,  on  the  bough. 
The  fifth  at  eve  to  my  accustomed  haunt. 
Along  the   shadow  of  a  Cocoa  Grove, 
Down  to   the  beach  I   strolled.     The  setting  sun 
Was  dyed   with  crimson ;  and   the  full-orbed   moon, 
That  palely   rose  above  the   dusky  arch, 
Was  deeply  burred.     Settled,  encreasing,   black, 
With  jagged  clouds,  voluminous  and  deep, 
Scudded   along  the   Northern  verge   of  ocean. 
And   a  long  labouring  swell   hove  the  large 
Billow  lifeless  on  the  shore,  while   adverse  clouds 
In  dark  battalia  swiftly  met  in   air. 


22r 

Just  where  the  horizon  bends  to  meet  the  wave. 
Within  the  farthest  reach  of  human  ken, 
A  Sail  appeared.     The  mild  ray  far  beaming 
From  the  Western  Sun  glanced  on  her   canvas, 
And  beheld  it  spread  ^^))  before  the  rising  breeze. 
The  rising  breeze  far  from  the  Northward  moved, 
Ruffling  along,   and  blackened  as  it  came. 
The  affrighted  plover  from  its   blast  retired; 
The  lizard  nestled  in  the  watchman's  hut, 
And  heavy,  awful,  gloom  poured  deepening  on. 
Soon  reigning  darkness  o'er  Creation  drev; 
The   deep-black  curtain  of  involving  night : 
The  tempest  thickened ;  and  the  dark  wind  howled 
Encreasing  horrors  and  sublimer  blasts 
Heavy   the  deep-hung  atmosphere  along. 
Retired  as  soon  as  straws  around  me   felt 
The  wind,  I,  hence,  enjoyed  in  silent  peace 
The  rending  gale.     But,  ever  and  anon. 
Some  crash  of  trees  or  noise  of  swift  destruftiojK 


23 

Met  my  car.    Soon  the  expefted  signals  of 
Distress  roll  through  the  heavy  storm ;  the  wind 
Almost  suppressed  the  deep-mouthed  sound  it  bore^ 
Reiterate  at  rapid  intervals, 

The  guns   were  heard,  and  oftimes  joined  the  thunder. 
The  firing  ceased.      The  aggravated  storm  rode 
Wide   and  unrivalled  through  the  midnight  air. 
All  else  was  silence. 


24 


CANTO  II. 


Jr  RESH  from  the  roaring  of  the  darksome  wind, 
Peace   for  a  ?no?nent,  draw  thy  mantle  round,  [(m)} 
Hushing  disordered  Nature  ;   while  rapid 
Humanity  and  Love  disperse  their  beams, 
To  light  the  houseless  exile  to   my   home, 
Before  the   Hurricane    confirm  his   waste. 
Brothers  in  Vengeance  !     For   one  moment's  pause 
I  yield  you  Nature  till   the  golden  morn, 
And   claim   from  none,  to  stay   your  shivering  hand  ! 

While  yei  o'er  all  the  solemn  stillness  reigned, 
Instant  relief,  in  all  direftions    sent, 
The  nearest  wanderers  found,  and  safely  housed. 


25 
The  moral  viftims  whom  the  gale  destroyed, 
And  her  preserved   with  life   to  Bliss   I  sing — 
If  not  with  jnetral  pomp  on  harp  sublime, 
Yet  to  the  youthful  heart   and    virgin's  ear. 

'TwAS  where  the  sound  of  guns  had  marked  a  wreck, 
My  own  selefted  path  I  took,  in  search 
Of  objefls  breathing  from   the  Eastern   storm. 
Wild  and  tremendous  was   the  nightly  sky ; 
The  clouds  involved  in  vast  confusion,  deep 
And  ripening  still   for  a£lion,  ascended 
Swiftly  from  the  South  and  West.     Exhausted 
To  the  East  they  thinned,  and  nearly  oped  there 
The  lowering  sky ;  where,  dimly   seen,  one   star 
Glimmered  on  night's  dull  brow,  and  then  was  hid. 
Pale  twilight  from  the  shrouded  moon   discovered 
Shattered    Nature  ;  and,  as  we  neared   the  dreadful 
Sounding  ocean,  large  torches  held  aloft 

D 


26 

Gleamed  fearful   on  the  loud  tempestuous  waste. 
Ocean,  why   in  darkness  hid,  sounds  so   deep 
Your  midnight   roar  ?     Clouds,  enclosing  warring 
Winds,  why  so  solemn  flit   ye  o'er?     Tell  me 
All  your   mighty  ravage  !     Hear  I   not  some 
Female  shriek  now   faintly  sighing  on  the 
Wings  of   night  ?     Straightly  appeared  a  gleam  of 
White  before  us.     Advancing  quickly  foiward, 
We  saw,   on   near  approach,  the  tattered  sail 
Of  a  ship  driven    by   billows   over  shelves 
Of  rocks,   high   up   the  creek,  and  lodged  on  shore. 
Around,   no  form  of  life  was   seen.     'Twas  ravage* 
No  hand  remained.     The  Tempest  was  her  pilot, 
And   the  mighty  arm,  that  winged  the   ruin. 
Hung  o'er   the   side,  female  attire   we   found 
In   shreds  ;  it's  owner  sought   in   vain,  was  lost. 
Within  with  speed  through  every  hold  we  search* 
And   cabin.      The  first  were  empty.     The   last 
Repaid   my  zeal  ;   for  here  I  found,  softly 


27 

Reclining  on  a  leeward  couch  a  form 

Divine,     Waked  by  the  noise  and  lights,  her  eyes, 
As  on  I  came,  returned  the  beams  of  mine. 
With  hurried  speed  she  said 

ElMira. 

Where  is  my  mother? 
And  the  captain?      How   glad  I  am,   that  they 
Direfted  you   to  me  ! 


'TwAS  no  direftion 
But  our  own.      Come  quick  thou  mildly-beaming 
Angel-form  with  me — ^The  moments  stay  not — 
And  I'll  lead  thee  into   peace  and  safety. 


D   2 


IB 

Elmira* 

Where  is  my  mother  gone?    And  arc  we  yet 
In  England  ? 


No :    with  truest  Friends  you  are. 

I  PLACED  Her  in  an  idle  hammaque  near, 
Which,  held  by  Negroes,  bore  her  gently   on. 
And   as   we  went,  I  aimed,  with  tenderest  talk 
To  cheer  the  droopy  maid ;   who,   not  reluftant 
Seemed,   to   solace:    for  to   Sea  unused,  young 
And   innocent,   she   knew  not  the  dangers 
She  had  passed  ;  but  hearing  English  spoke,  and 
Dreaming  nought  of  strangers,  having  sunk  to  sleep 
Among  accustomed  friends,  supposed  herself 
Still  known.    Simply  eloquent,  she  told  me, 


39 

How   they   disturbed  her  with   their  noise  on  board ; 

How,  being  still   at  length,   she  hugged   her  couch, 
Rocked  by  the   winds  and   seas   to   dead   repose, 
Till   thence  awoke  by  me.     So  infant  spirits, 
Who  wing  their  animating   flight  of  Death 
In  pleasing  slumbers   from  their  mother's  arms, 
Alight   unknowing   on  celestial   ground: 
Then  press  with  firmy  step  the  flowery  path, 
Nor  dream   of  serpents  they  have  never  known; 
Embrace  with  smiles  their  first   angelic  Friend, 
And  ope  the   little   treasure   of  their  hearts : 
Thus   sweet  Elmira   told  her  gentle  tale. 
And  lit   each   generous   ardour   in  my  breast. 

At   home  arrived   and  entering   at  the   East-* 
For  now   all  entrance  from  the  West  was  barred- 
She  looked  and  asked-=- 


30 

Elmira. 

Where  is  my  mother's  room? 
Or  where   is  she  ?     I   want  to   sleep   again : 
For  you  removed   me  when  but  half  awake » 
What  is  this  country  ? 


A  country  tis,   where — 
Daughters  and  mothers  seldom  live  together. 

Elmira. 

Why  not  ? 


They   cannot*      Young  with  young,   and  old 
With  old   together   dwell,  where  you  are  now. 


31 

Your  mother   fully  welcomed  just  is  gone 

Where  you  can   never  follow.     The  dist;ance 

Is  but  small ;  yet  bad  the   road,  and  water 

Lies   between  you.      She  begs  you   here   to  rest. 

Till,  with   a   few  days   use,  you  like  the   place. 

You  will  command  whatever  you  may  see, 

And  all  this  house  is  your's.     All  varied  pleasure 

Shall  attend  the  varied  day.     The  morning 

Breeze  luxuriant  shall  be  your's  in  this  saloon. 

Or  in  the  Orange  and  Acacia  shade ; 

Where  flower  or  fruit  alike  regale  your  taste. 

For  you  shall   noon  pour   tranquil  splendour  wide. 

Not  unaired,   nor   void  of  rich   aroma; 

For  shrubs  that  love  to  drink  his  ray  and  live. 

Will  skreen   it   from  EliMIRA.      The  purple 

Sorrel-NeQar  high,  or  milk  of   Cocoa  Nut 

You  then    shall   drain  ;  and  in  its  sportive  shade 

Hearken,  the  breeze  race   on  it's  rising  stem. 

^yenlner  shall  bear   us  to  the  Thicket  Shade  ; 


32 
Or  else,   at  large,   we'll  catch  the  rambling  air; 
And  when  we  see  the  peaceful  breast  of  ocean 
Just  rippled  over  with   the  wildring  breeze. 
We'll  then  descend  the  beach;  and,  pleased,  inhale 
The  freshest  breath  of  genial  air  that  blows ; 
Or  snufF  the  showers   colleQing  in  the  East 
To  cool   the  atmosphere  and  green  the  earth, 

Elmira. 

But,  will  my  mother  never  come?     I  long 
To  tell  her  of  those  pleasant  things. 


Better 
Enjoy  them  first  and  know  them  true  yourself. 
Then,  sweet  companions  of  your  sex  and  age 
Will  join  your  walk  and  mix  their  joys  with  your*s ,- 


33 

With  equal  transport  catch  the  lively  glow 
From  Nature's   face,  and  beam  it   in  their  eyes ; 
While  with   extatic  smiles  you   hail   the   scene, 
And   eager  tell,   what  various  pleasures   swell. 

El  MIR  A, 
Will  none  else  be   with  us? 


I. 


I    WHEN   you  please, 
Will  join  my  sweet  Elmira  and  her  Friends, 

Elmira. 


I  SHALL   always  please. 


34 

Safely    lodged  at  home, 
And  ail   secured   against  the   wind  stern  rising, 
I  pressed  refreshment   on    my  travelled   guest, 
Who  well  enjoyed  the    delicate  repast 
Oi    viands  flavoured   new  and    cooling   drinks. 
Full  easily   she   believed  herself  brought 
By    design  to  this  so  happy    spot :    and  sure 
She  deemed  aright — It  was  her   God's   design  : 
Only  she  thought  from    God  and  not   from  man. 
Think   still,  sweet   maid,  the  same  !     No  reasoner 
Shall   e'er  disturb  thy  God's  domain   in  thee! 
Still  from  the  same  pure  fountain  thou  shalt  drink! 
Still,  in  the  Light  Divine  shalt  thou  see  light* 

Meanwhile  the  Tempest  turned  has  rouzed  his  rage, 
And  blows  on   Europe  unrelenting  fury  : 
The  rain,  in  spreading  sheets,  comes  whelming  down 
And  forms  a  flood.      Nor  man,  nor  beast,  nor  house 
Unfounded  on  a  rock,  sustained  the  assault 


85 

Of  winds  and  rain  :  The  lightnings  flamed,  and  roared 

The  thunder  in   tremendous  vollies  deep  : 

Now  all  the  soul   of  Hurricane  was   poured, 

Infuriate   raging  with  the  waste   of   sea. 

Through   earth   or  ocean  God's  own  hand  uprearcd 

Quickly  destroyed  all  the   destruQible : 

Well   sheltered   on  the  West,  we  felt  it  less, 
But  heard  it   more.     The  hard  rain  loud   battering 
The  shingled  roof  surprized  my  lovely  guest ; 
Who   doubted  if  she  were  not  still  afloat  : 
But  soon  assured  and  soon  resigned  to  Peace, 
For  her's  was  bliss  innate  and  incorrupt, 
And   eager  on  her  novel  hopes  of  life, 
She  softly   sank  to  beatific  sleep. 

With  rising  morn  th^  wind  subsides:  The  clouds 
Fly  lighter   and  to  higher  air  sublime, 

E  2 


36 

Discharged  of  all  their  weight.     The  Eastern  breeze 
Resumed  is   balmy;  and  Creation  lives. 

The  Wreck  we  next  examine  :   There,  nor  man, 
Nor  boat  is   found  :    A  mile   to  leeward  shews 
The  wreck  of  both :    A  Female  washed  on  shore 
Proclaims  Elmira's   mother.     But  from   her 
The   tragic  fa£l  is  hid. 

She  broods  no  tempest 
Who   conceals  no  guilt.     No  mean  lust  of  gain 
Propelled  Elmira;   nor  guilt-infefted  hopes 
Taught  her  the  fear  of  ill,  or  yet,  to  fly 
To  man   for  safety,  which   Deity  would   not 
.Grant,  jior  her  own  breast  could  claim. 

The  Sailors  hoped- 
To  fetch   the  quiet  creek   in   boats ;  and   haste 
Could  not  await  ELMIRA;  nor  would  fear 


37 
Surcharge  their  yawl;   nor  their  trust  in  human 

Aids  permit  to   take  a   poor  helpless  hand : — 

Yet,  alone,  would  Innocence  have  saved  them ! 

The  female  age  matured  and  wise,  her  child's 
Guardian,  hung  for  life  on  men  !      While  she  prayed 
That  they  would  save  her  daughter's  life  and  lier*s, 
A  sweeping  billow  bore  her  to  the   deep. 

Shortly  awake,  El mir a  joined  me  soon, 
Treading   with  cheerful  step  and  unrestrained 
The   stately  portico.     'Twas  all  enchantment 
To  her  soul.     The   sun  burst  brilliant  forth  and 
Welcomed  her :    All  the  Isle,  the  conquered  oceaUj 
Lay  before  her :    Smaller  Isles   attraft  her : 
Unknown  Diversities  of   Landscape  strike  : 
The  distant  Hills  cite  curiosity  ; 
Her  God  is  in  her  heart   in   Love  and  Bliss; 
And  through  the  Isle  and  air  she  lives.** 


SOLITARY  EFFUSION 


SUMMER'S  EVENING. 


SOLITARY   EFFUSION. 


nV«"'"//.  ««««#»  A*'""/l, 


HAVING    SPENT    A    VERY     FINE     DAV     IN    THE    HOUSE,      IN 

THE    MIDST    OF    A  VERY    FINE    COUNTRY,    FROM  WANT 

OF    COMPANY   TO    ENJOY    IT   WITH  ME',    I    WROTE 

THESE    LINES   AT    FIVE    IN    THE   AFTERNOON 

ON    THE    TWENTIETH    OF      JULY     LAST. 


HAT  is  the  cloudless   sky  to  me  ?     Nature's 
Devellopt  radiance  and  her  thousand   charms  ? 
No  heart  joins  mine  :    no  kindred  step  with  me 
Winds  the  lone  dingle,  or   pursues  the  track 
Slow  opening  through  the  mazy  thicket's  shade; 
None  rests   with   me  upon  the  verdant   slope, 
And  runs  his  eye  enraptured  o'er   the  glade, 

F 


42 

Oil  to   the  distant   sleeping   stream,  that   walks 
With  slow  and    measured  lapse,  his  round   of  ages 
In   the  circling  mead  ;  saw    the  woad-painted 
Briton  ;  beheld,   or  bore,  his  sharp-scythed  chariot ; 
Was  oft  dasht  by  the  fierce  arm  that   ruled   it ; 
Yielded  indignant   to   the  new  Roman  ; 
Echoed   with   languid  joy  and  presage    sad 
The   desperate   shouts   of  fainting    Freedom, 
As  they  rang  from  loud   C aer-Caradoc*  amain, 
And   with  their  last  rude  crash  shook  every  dale, 
Rouzed   each  cot  in   vain ;   and   has  lived    to  hear 
That  song   again  from  centuries  of  Death, 
On   Mason's  lyre  revived. 

Hark  !      Here  are  groves 
That  hold,  or   held,  some   Druid.     Dark  mantling 
Round  they  throw  impenetrable    shade  ;  and  hide, 

*  The   hill,  whore  Caractac us  made    his  last  stand,  and  visible 
from  many  pans  of  the  County  of  Salop,  where  this  was  written. 


43 

And  have  for  ever  hid,  aye  unprofaned 
By   Pvoman,  or   by  Savage   conqueror's   step. 
Some  Temple  sacred  by  the    Mystic    Sage. 

Here,  loo,  are  haunts  of  Love,  as  well  as  grand 
And  rudest  Wisdom's  darkest,  drear  domains. 
Groves  were  sacred  once  to  Love  :    once  were  heard. 
Low  murm.uring  through  the  many-turtled  shades 
Of  Peace,   respondent   sighs,  or   livehest  notes 
Of  placid  and  accordant  Love,  that  mixed 
Airs  with  the  Zephyr,  whispers  with  the  sacred  grove. 
Loner  husht  to  sullen  silence;  Groves  no  more 
Echo  to  human  Loves ;    the  Loves  rcnnen, 
Or  antient  minstrels   sung,  of  Dryad  oV 
Of  Naiad,  or  perchance  of  human  Maid 
From  cottage  or  from  palace  ;  or  of  Gods, 
From  halls  of  light  descending  to   the  plain. 
Unconscious   of  a  change  ;  nor  so  immixt, 

F  2 


44 

Can  learned  retrospeftion  trace  distinft, 

The^  Nymph,  the  Goddess  or  terrestrial   Maid. 

Lonely  their  solitary  haunts  I  view: 
And  welcome  solitude  where  they  are  not: 
Where  such  are  not  companions  of  the  walk ! 

Tell  me,  ye  Gentle  and  ye  Graceful,  tell- 
Tell  me,  ye  Chaste,  yet  not  averse  from  Love — 
Tell   me,  ye  Great,  who  guarded  all  these  Fair, 

And  make  the  lofty  Groves  of  Love,  that  tower 
In  Zenith  Air,  terrific   to  the  vain ; 
As  all   within  was  mild,  serene  and  pure— 
Tell  me,   wh©  most  have  ravaged  your  retreats  j 
Who  worst  your  secret  delicacies  wound, 
And  boldest  all  your  hidden  depths  profane  ? 
Which  age  is  vile,  the  Gothic,  or  Refined  ? 


45 

*'Th  AT,  which  the  Heart  lays  waste!"   I  hear  exclahned 
In  choral  harmony  of  Fair  and  Great. 
"  Ah!  What  avails  to  us,  pure  Nature's   Spirits! 
**  The   managed  body  and   the  managed   tongue, 
"  Which  chaunts  no  concord  to  soft  Nature's  notes? 
"  The  managed  foot,   that  dreads  our  shady  brakes, 
**  And  shuns  our  holiest,  wildest,   deepest  walks  ? 
**  We  give  no  music  to  the  high-trained  ear  : 
"  Our  concert  loved  is  NATURE'S   voice   Divine, 
*'  And  GOD's  and  LOVE's  ;    One  unison,  tliat  sounds 
'*  Through  every  branch,   and  trembles  in  each  leaf. 
^'  Here  oft,  when   man   awakes  not,  hear  we  sweet 
^*  The  voice  of  GOD   conversing  in  the    Calm, 
*'  And  preaching  of  his    inmost   works   Himself; 
*'  Till   all  the  Seraph  glow  in  all  his   fires, 
''  And   melts  the   high   Society  in    one 
''  Enraptured   Diapason's  holy  sound. 


46 

"  T\v  AS  not  the  Warrior's  gleam,  that  thinned  our  shades 
"  And   harshly  grated    human  Discords   there  : 
*'  He   passed  unheeded   when  the  storm  was   o'er, 
"  And  left  no  measured  ravage  :   Not  the  man 
"  Of  boisterous    Nature   was   our  foe  ;  that  man 
"  Was  Nature   still,   and  her  behests  obeyed. 
"  The  Man  of   Art,  is  NATUR.E's  foe  and  man's 
"  And    God's.      His  desolating  axe  wastes  ail, 
"    That   speaks  a   GOD   Creator  of  the    Land; 
**  And   marks  it   for  his   own.       The  ground  not  thita 
*'  Yields  an   impartial   feast   to  man,  to   fowl, 
"  And   all  the   Family  of  GOD ;  but  trained 
'•  To  furnish    famine,  mocks    at    GOD   and   all. 
"  No  shades  are   holy,  nor  are  rural   scenes. 
''  The  Man   of  Art  proscribes  all  Nature;  marks 
"    For   dread   the   embowring  thicket   formed  tor  Love 
*'  And  Love's  delights  of  Peace  ;  and  w^ise  in  this 
"■  Career  of  Ruin,  he  ;   for    LOVE   itself 
••  Is  the  fir^t  dread— LOVE  the   first  great  terror 


47 

''  Of  the   Man   of   Art — commivtual  Foe! 

"  And  yet  is    LOVE   the    Universal  Friend  : 

**  And,  (hear  the  choir  of  NATURE,  MAN  and  GOD!} 

"  The  Man   of   Art,  the   Universal  Foe! 

*'  He  dreads  hirnself- — hates  LOVE  he    can't  subdue — ■ 

"  His  GOD  arraigns— all  NATURE   desolates  ! 

**  But  hence,  let  NATURE  rise  and  reign  in  Man  i 

**  And    him  destroy  who    has    destroyed  the    Earth  ; 

''  While  GOD  inspires,  and  LOVE  unites  the  World  T' 

I  HAIL  the  blest  alternative!      Content 
To  live  dissociate   of  the  Man  of  Art 
And   his    dissociate  earth,   usurpt  and  curst ! 
Shortly  his  ruin   whelms  ;  the  Dam  is    broke  ] 
The  Founts  of  Fire  are    broken   up,  as  erst 
Of  the   Great  Deep,  and   FIRE  now  streams  along. 
Innocuous  round   my   Rest!     See!     It  comes! 
And  claims  the  SPRINGS  of  NATURE  for  it's  own  \ 


JVOTES, 


NOTES. 


CANTO     I. 

NOTE  ((A)) 
Broke  the  mild  concords  of  tht  Mermaid's  shell, 

(LyOLUMBUS  asserts  his  having  seen  Mermaids 
about  the  time  he  first  made  land,  whg  sank,  at  his 
approach. 

The  existence  of  the  Mermaid  is  now  cer- 
tain ;  as  one  was  exhibited  a  long  while  in  Oxford- 
Street,  which  I  saw  two  years  ago  nearly,  together 
with  a  young  one  taken  in  her  arms.  The  length 
of  the  mother  may  have  been  four  feet,  and  that  of 
the  child  nine  or  ten  inches.  From  the  loins  up- 
ward appeared   to  have  been  covered   with  flesh ;    and 

G    2 


52 

thence  dowms^ard,  with  scales.  They  were  dried,  having 
been  caught  five  years  before  on  the  coasts  of  Italy  or 
of  Sicily.  The  hands  were  webbed  ;  and  the  fingers 
terminated  sharp,  like  a  monkey's.  The  owner  says,  he 
refused  One  Hundred  Guineas  for  them,  from  the  British 
Museum. 

Why  not  Mermem  and  Mermaids  as  vrell  as 
Ourang-Outangs  ?  Why  not  Sea  men  and  maids  (im- 
perfeQ  animals  though  they  are)  as  well  as  Sea  lions, 
calves  and  horses  ? 


NOTE  ((b)) 

Not  less  than  Memnon  whoin  Aurora  bore 
To  Eastern  mornings 

HIS  statue  near  Thebes  in  Egypt,  emitted  musical 
sounds,  when  impinged  on  by  the  first  rays  of  the  sun,  at 
rising  ;  and  did  not  lose  this  faculty  when  half  demolisht. 
Some  ingenious  strictures  on  it  may  be  found  in  Dr. 
Darzoin's  Botannic  Garden,  among  his  many  other  valua- 


53 

ble  notes.  The  mechanism,  which  produced  this  singu- 
lar, but  well  avouched,  efFeft,  is  not  my  business : 
What  I  shall  argue  from  it  will  be  equally  conclusive,  if 
the  mechanism  be  a  fable. 

The  Celestial  Philosophy  of  the  Idea  is  that — 
Light  and  Sound  ARE  CORELATES.  Creation  pro^ 
ceeded  in  darkness,  while  it  proceeded  in  silence.  At 
length  GOD  spake — Let  there  ^^  Light!  And  there 
was  Light — ipso  f ado,  GOD  does  not  speak  dark- 
LY  :  and  here  our  common  phraseology,  as  I  shall  mor& 
fully  remark  presently,  betrays  a  consciousness  of  this 
co-relation.  But  to  go  on  with  Scripture  :  T/2<?  Word 
was  the  Light  of  men.  The  Stars,  which  in  Genesis 
i.  17,  \s!^r^  to  give  Light  upon  the  earthy  are  speaking 
in  Psalm  xix.  3.  There  is  no  speech  nor  language  where 
their  voice  is  not  heard — or  ASTROLOGY;  which 
is  compounded  of  two  Greek  words,  signifying,  the 
Word  or  Voice  of  ^^<;  Stars.  Perhaps  it  will  be 
suspefted,  that  had  David  possessed  as  muck  Science 
in  futurity  as  confidence  in  Astrology,  he  would  in  this 
assertion,  have  excepted  the  summits  of  Wisdom  to 
which  modern  Europe  has  attained,  so  far  beyond  the 
loftiest  ken  of  his  capacity.     In  some  degree  to  avert  th'-s 


54 

censure,  I  must  endeavour  to  supply  what  was  wanting  in 
David  with  the  fulness  of  the  Son  of  David.  He 
has  given  as  a  diagnostic  of  the  iasi  times,  that  the  Stars 
shall  withdraw  their  shining,  and  the  powers  of 
HEAVEN  shall  be  shaken.  What  shining  is  with- 
drawn ?  The  European  will  first  tell  you  that  their  ex- 
ternal shining  is  meant,  and  also  their  external  droping 
from  the  heaven  as  a  fig-tree  shaken  by  the  wind  casts 
her  untimely  figs;  and  having  inexpugnably  fortified 
himself  there,  because  he  has  too  much  reverence  for 
holy  writ  to  let  it  coimtcnance  superstition — proceeds  im- 
mediately to  laugh  at  the  profound  ignorance  in  all  phy- 
sical sciences  or  real  learning,  of  Him,  who  pretended, 
that  the  worlds  were  made  by  the  word  of  his  power,  for 
asserting,  that  such  immense  bodies  would  fall  to  the 
earth.  This  is  one  instance  of  the  generous  support  given 
by  learning  to  Christianity.  Therefore  I  say  to  you  all, 
whether  College  Petit-maltres,  Priests,  Moralists,  Ency- 
clopaedia Writers,  Swedenborglans,  or  Philosophers, 

Non  tali  auxilio  ncc  dcfensoribus  istis 
Christus  eget. 

Christ  wants  not  such  help^  nor  such  defenders. 


55 
Man  by  Wisdom  knew  not  GOD— much  less  by 
idiocy  or  a  national  state  of  insanity.   But  how  then  ?  By 
the  Light,  and  by  the  speech  and  action  of  a  Star. 
There  shall  come  a  Star  out  ^/^  Jacob,  and  a  Sceptre 
shall  arise  out  ^/Israel,    combined   in  significatioM 
with  it,  and  shall  SMITE   the  corners  of  hiodh  and  de- 
stroy all  the  children  ^/Seth.     And  after  many  years 
there  came  wise  men  from  the  East,  not  from  the  North, 
to  Jerusalem,  searching  for  the  Sceptre  in  consequence 
of  having  seen  the  Star,  and  asking,  Where  is  He  who 
is  born  King  of  the  Jews  ;  for  we  have  seen   his   Star 
in  the  East,   and  are  come  to  worship  Eim.     How  did 
they  read  all  this  in  the  Star"?     For  read  it  or  hear  it, 
they  unquestionably  did.     Was  it  the  extraordinary  mag- 
nitude of  the  Star,  that  adm.onished  them  ?     How  came 
it,  that  the  Jews  over  whom  it  was  vertical  did  not  see  it  ? 
For  Herod  called  the  Wise  men  and  diligently   enquired 
of  them,  at  what  time  the  Star  appeared.     But  perhaps, 
it  is  a  satisfa6lory  answer,  that  they  always  looked   upon 
the  ground  like  Europeans,  surrendering  the  charaEleristic 
of  Ma^^  who  with  d  lofty  countenance,  is  made  to  be- 
hold the  Stars,     If  this  be  allowed,  Isaiah  has  something 
upon  it  chap.  viii.  £2,     They  shall  look   unto  the  earth  ; 
and  behold  trouble  and  dabkness,  dimness  of  anguish  ; 


56 

and  be  driven  to  DARKKESS  !  However  ready  the  men 
were,  who  could  not  read  the  Star,  to  murder  the 
KING,  and  till  they  could  atchieve  the  murder  of  Inno- 
cence impersonified,  to  regale  themselves  with  the  but- 
chery of  a  multitude  of  comparative  Innocents,  the  wise 
men  followed  the  Star  and  worshiped  the  King  and 
the  GOD ;  watching  its  place  of  sloping  and  there, 
themselves,  resting:  till,  warned  by  a  DreaJii,  they  re- 
turned into  their  country  another  way,  than  through  the 
Jews,  or  by  the  Kmg^  whom  these  so  religiously  obeyed 
— for,  no  doubt,  they  did  so,  because  David  had  shewn 
them  not  to  lift  their  hand  against  the  Lord's  Anoin- 
ted :  The  natural  or  external  man  has  no  rule  to  know 
the  Devil's  from  the  Lord's. 

Christ  was  manifested  to  the  Gentiles  by  a  Star  : 
JESUS  to  the  Jews  by  Visions  of  Angels  and  by 
Dreams.  Till  I  exaBly  know,  which  of  these  two  or 
three  modes  of  manifestation  the  Europeans  most  confide 
in,  I  cannot  be  clear,  whether  they  are  Gentiles  or  Jews, 
or  even  Turks,  Infidels  or  Heretics.  I  rather  think  they 
are  a  mixture,  and  if  I  may  judge  from  the  serenity  with 
vi-liich  they  see  the  heavens  and  the  earth  shaken  round 
them,  I  should  say,  a  happy   mixture  of  all  five.     But 


57 
the  word  five  reminds  me,  that  the  five  foolish  virgins, 
(and  surely  there  is  virgin  folly  in  this  compound)  as  well 
as  the  five  wise,  slept  and  slumbered  till  the  Bridegroom 
came. 

The  Speech  of  the  orbs  of  Light  is  not  an  acci- 
dental figure,  taken  up  for  partial  illustration  and  then 
abandoned;  but  a  Doctrine,  which  pervades  all  re- 
ligions and  applies  to  every  perception*  In  Job,  chap, 
xxxviii.  7,  it  is  said,  The  Mor?iing  St ars  sang  toge- 
ther; and  this  brings  us  to  Memnon  ;  who  seems  an 
impersonation  of  this  sentiment ;  and  designed  to  repre- 
sent in  stone  the  immediate  correspondential  consequences 
of  light,  in  a  recipient  organized  for  sound.  Memnon 
is  a  solitary  instance  of  this  in  human  produ£fions  or 
works  of  art ;  but  the  Crowing  of  Cocks,  and  Singing  of 
Birds,  are  among  instances  of  it,  where  moral  powers 
predominate  rather  than  physical — that  is,  in  the  works 
of  the  Father  of  Lights. 

If  Light  and  Sound  are  corelates,  the  proposi- 
tions by  which  this  is  affirmed  are  equally  true  in  the 

*  I  do  not  speak  of  Europe,  here. 

H 


58 

converse  ;  as  Psalm  cxix.  105.  TAy  Word  is  a  Lamp 
unto  my  feet  and  a  Light  unto  my  Path,  Psalm  xix.  3. 
There  is  no  speech  nor  language,  where  their  voice 
is  not  heard. 

With  the  Greeks,  Phabus  and  Apollo  were  the 
same  person  ;  or  Light  and  Sound  were  twin  streams 
from  one  spring.  With  a  less  philosophical  people,  si 
blind  man  has  been  thought  ridiculous,  for  conceiving 
the  colour  Red  to  be  like  the  sound  of  a  Trumpet :  yet  to 
common  perception  they  both  are  splendid  and  spirited. 
Even  the  creeping  of  mechanic  philosophy  has  arrived 
at  discovering  the  same  divisions  and  proportions 
in  the   Diatonic  Scale  and  the  Prism, 

It  is  well  observed  by  Dr.  Darwin,  that  we  apply 
words  expressive  of  Light  and  Sound  indifferently  to 
each  other  ;  as  Harmony  of  colours  ;  a  splendid  composi- 
tion or  fine  painting  in  Poetry,  Oratory  or  Music ;  equi-^ 
poise  of  sounds.  Perhaps  the  word  equipoise  aftually 
unites  Sounds  and  Light.  I  have  not  scrupled  to  say,  a 
few  lines  farther  on,  that  **  fired  with  radiance-^-^ihcy 
poured  Music,'"  without  thinking  it  any  breach  of  meta- 
phor ;  though  Apollo's  arrows  and  the  lyre  of  Phoebus 


59 

have  been  by  some  critics,  held  such.  Even  this,  I  think, 
amounted  to  no  more  than  a  solecism,  supposing  it  to 
have  been  an  error  at  all ;  language  having  prescribed 
the  Word  to  Apollo  and  the  Light  to  Phcebus.  Scripture, 
we  have  just  seen,  as  well  as  common  language,  slights 
the  Distinftion. 


NOTE  Ic)] 

Then  M(?  Mermaid  /<?  her  deeps  shot  rapid : 
Trembling  she  lay  ;  hut  safe,  and  long  concealed 
From  haunts  of  War, 

I  HAVE  anticipated  in  the  Preface,  that  the  ma- 
chinery of  this  Poem  turns  on  the  thought,  that  while  the 
inhabitants  of  America  were  subdued,  the  Europeans 
were  gradually  tinfturing  themselves  with  the  feelings, 
manners  and  habits,  of  that  new  Quarter  of  the  Globe. 
In  other  words,  while  American  bodies  were  destroyed 
by  European  bodies,  American  Spirits  were  subduing 
the  Europeans — and  much  more  effeftually  and  really, 
though  latently.     It  was  latent  to  Europeans,  only   be- 

H  2 


(30 
cause  they  and  their  philosophy  contemplate  forms  or 
externals^  alone  ;  and  hence,  they  conclude,  when  a  body 
is  put  out  of  the  way,  the  whole  work  is  done  ;  little 
considering,  that  the  Spirit  or  Principle,  which 
solely  gave  that  body  existence,  is  itself,  so  far  from  be- 
ing extinguisht,  that  it  has  burst  the  crucible  which 
confined  it,  and  enflamed  to  vengeance  all  those,  who 
are  in  a  similar  principle,  whether  ten,  a  thousand,  a 
myriad,  or  in  the  case  of  a  common  Saviour,  all  Crea- 
tion— and  the  murderer  himself  among  the  number.  And 
the  subjugation  effefted  by  America  is  more  effeftual 
and  real,  because  Spirit  moves  body^  but  body  does 
not  move  Spirit.  It  may  remove  Spirit  from  it ;  but 
the  good  it  gains  is,  that  it  dies,  and  the  expelled  Spirit 
flourishes  more  exalted,  pure  and  free. 

By  Sea  I  always  mean  the  external,  the  body  or 
crust,  of  the  world  ;  I  mean  also  Europe,  or  still  more 
specifically,  England  ;  as  having  understandings  calcu- 
lated for  the  Sea  or  for  Physics ;  and  excelling  alike  in 
the  sciences  and  the  arts  by  which  these  two  are  jointly 
contemplated. 


6i 

A   PROPOSITION. 

But  though  the  inhabitants  oT  America  were 
destroyed,  yet,  as  the  Spirit  or  Genius,  or  Princi- 
ple of  America  infused  itself  into  Europeans,  and 
still  goes  on  rapidly  perfusing  itself  there,  it  could  never 
be  said,  in  the  abstra6l  or  in  the  highest  sense,  that 
American  bodiei  were  destroyed — or,  which  is  the  same 
thing,  that  there  was  no  trace  of  the  activity  of  their  prin- 
ciples in  the  world. 

When  I  speak  of  Mermaids,  I  wish  to  be  un- 
derstood as  expressing  by  them,  the  most  intelligent  in*, 
habitants  of  the  merely  natural  world  ;  because  the  Sea  is 
that  world,  and  among  its  animals  the  Mermaid  near- 
est approaches  to  the  human  form,  and  consequently  to 
the  image  and  similitude  of  GOD.  And  by  American 
Mermaids  specifically,  I  mean  the  intelligence  and 
love  of  natural  or  sensual  Life  am.ong  and  appro- 
priate to,  the  Americans.     Hence 

By  the  passage,  which  Is  the  Subjcft  of  this  Note, 
I  mean,  fkat  the  cdwve  Intelligence  and  Loy k  ziere 


02 

net  extinguisht,  but  "  sunk   in  the  sea,"   or  transfused 
into  European  bodies. 

Why  is  the  Sea  the  ultimate  of  Creation  ? 

Fire  is  visibly  the  Primary,  or  rather  the  Esse 
of  Being;  because  Fire  alone  has  Motion  in  itself, 
or  can  impart  motion,  that  is,  inherent  motion  to  any 
body.  This  is  testified  universally  by  expansion ;  and 
in  the  case  of  magnetic  bars,  by  attra6lion.  For,  unde- 
niably, where  there  is  attraftion,  these  is  motion^  a  fer- 
mentation of  parts ;  and  this  is  produced  by  imparted 
heat.  If  Fire  be  the  Primary,  the  opposite  of  Fire  is 
the  ultimate. 


NOTE  {{d)] 

Who,  far  from  Europe  and  its  bodied  forms. 

THAT  is,  far  from  the  perception  of  their  under- 
^tandmg :  and,  as  the  European  lives  in  his  understanding 
alone  ;  that  is,  places  no  confidence  in  anything,  which 


63 

is  not  mathematically  visible,  not  even  in  Logic,  far  less 
in  internal  feelings  and  the  experiences  of  mind — I  have 
said  far  from  him  ;  though  they  were  working  so  power- 
fully IN  him,  as  to  repeopU  from  Europe,  many  immense 
trafts  of  America,  on  one  side  of  the  Atlantic  ;  and  on 
the  other,  combined  with  a  beverage  from  the  East,  and 
the  manual  cultivation  of  a  still  more  spiritual  country, 
to  establish  themselves  in  every  parlour,  from  the  palace 
to  the  mud  cottage ;  and  most  universally  in  the  most 
physical  kingdom  of  the  most  physical  Quarter  of  the 
Globe,  in  the  form  of  the  most  universal,  deep-rooted 
and  medicinal  luxury  ever  known.  With  every  lump  of 
Sugar,  a  certain  portion  of  Essence  of  America  and  of 
Africa  is  swallowed  ;  and  if  refined  with  the  blood  of 
bulls,  a  proportion  of  England  too ;  but  the  first  are 
wholly  predominant. 

Strange  it  would  be,  that  Mathematicians  give- 
no  reality  to  Spirit,  while  they  lay  the  basis  of  form  in 
Idea — if  they  were  any  thing  but  Mathematicians.  What 
makes  a  surface  ?  What  makes  a  line  ?  What  makes  a 
point  ?  Here  Metaphysics  begin* — after  Physics  end, 
or  have  attained  their  grovelling  apex.     It  stands,  or  has 

*  That  Metaphysics  owe  their  name  to  the  mark  of  a  book-kinder  is 
«n  account  worthy  of  Mathematicians;  who  are  truly  vox  ct prxtena  nihil 


04 

stood  contest  by  the  Mathematicians  that  all  form  rises 
out  of  Idea  ;  and  justly  ;  only  it  is  a  pity  that,  after  know- 
ing their  place,  they  would  not  keep  it.  The  fly,  though 
he  feels  himself  carried  by  the  wheel,  fancies  he  turns  it ; 
but  because  he  is  a  fly,  he  cannot  be  instru6led  ;  yet  he 
may  be  killed  :  Notwithstanding  he  is  capable  of  survi- 
ving a  passage  from  America  to  England  in  a  pipe  of 
Madeira  wine — an  experiment  I  am  fully  informed  of, 
while  I  write — yet  he  may  be  trodden  down  and 
thoroughly  crusht.  Impertinence  not  corrigible  by  failure 
and  repulse,  nor  to  be  awed  by  example,  may  be  destroyed. 

The  importance  of  a  man  or  of  a  nation  absorbed 
in  one  thing,  must  be  decided  by  tht practical  importance 
of  the  thing  absorbing.  The  highest  practical  use  of 
Mathesis  is  Architeftuie,  Land  or  Naval,  and  Astrono- 
mical Navigation  :  This  last  serves  to  convey  comforts 
home  ;  the  second  is  the  medium  of  the  third  ;  and  the 
first  is,  at  once,  the  primary  and  ultimate  of  sensual  en- 
joyment— a  sine  qua  non  ;  and  of  course  the  most  invalu- 
able atchievement.  And  this  may,  in  a  vioment,  be  de- 
molisht  by  either  a  human  Invention,  or  by  Nature; 
and  must  inevitably  yield  to  Time. 


05 

NOTE  ((E)) 

In  subterranean  vaults ^  where  ocean  roars,  &c, 

A  ROARING  of  the  Sea  in  certain  caverns,  is  one 
prognostic  of  an  Hurricane,  in  Antigua. 

By  holding  consultations  with  Genii  of  the  Deep, 
I  mean  superadding  to  themselves  the  first  and  highest 
principles  of  Physical  Sciences,  and  thereby  excelling  or 
vanquishing  Europe  on  her  own  Element.  Whence  I 
have  said  farther  on,  "  They  are  viBors  ON  Europe— 
Witherers  of  her  might,'*     See  the  next  Note, 


NOTE  ((F)) 

For  their' s  are  Nature's  Powers :  Ele?nentai  strength 
Springs  in  their  nerves  ;  to  artificial  or 
Cold  Europe  s  man  unknown  ;  and  at  the  Fount 
Divine  they  drink^  pursuant  of  the  stream. 
They  hence  are  keenly  sentient  of  all  Truth  ; 
/ 


66 

Faniiliar,  hence,  is  bold  Emprize  ;  easy. 
Hence,  Atchievement,  that  to  Europe's  upward 
Navigation  is  impraclical  and  mad, 

THOSE,  who  teel  internally,  think  or  judge  froi» 
that  ieeling,  and  a6l  from  that  judgment,  are  in  order  ; 
They  are  bannered  in  Nature's  Cavalry :  Their  course  of 
Aftion  is  a  fine  Synthesis  ;  and  wherever  they  proceed, 
they  meet  no  objeft  but  what  is  below  them.  They  arc 
always  on  the  higher  ground.  The  man  of  physical  feel- 
ings, science  and  action,  is  always  climbing,  but  never 
ascending. 

But  why  this  distribution  of  parts  to  America 
and  Europe  ?  For  Europe  I  have  accounted,  in  a  great 
measure,  already.  As  to  America,  first  and  foremost 
I  shall  give  the  praftical  reason,  because  that  is  the  Ame- 
rican— and  it  is  this — I  am  an  American,  and 
Qui  SEN  Til  llle  EST.  I  say — Such  is  the  ground  ;  I  de- 
scribe it  ;  and  did  any  European  teach  me  ?  No.  Then 
it  is  my  own  ground. 

Next,  the  speculative  reason. 


67 

Fire  is  the  Esse  oi'  Being,  or  Being  itself: 
Earth  is  the  Essence  ;  or  that  which  gives  Distinc- 
tion, Solidity  or  exterior  Permanency  ;  Water  is  the 
Ultimate,  the  Exanimate,  the  Weak  of  Creation  :  Air  is 
the  Result  of  the  Elements ;  continent  of  tliem  in  vari- 
ous proportions  and  recipient  of  every  different  quality 
from  them.  The  Hebrews  always  knew  it  to  be  no  Ele- 
ment ;  for  of  their  twenty-two  letters,  they  gave  twelve 
to  the  Signs  of  the  Zodiac,  seven  to  the  planets,  and  three 
to  Fire,  Earth  and  Water. 

As  is  the  Continent  or  Country,  so  is  the  Man  of 
it.  AFRICA  is  evidently  the  least  watered  part  of  the 
Globe  ;  or,  what  is  still  more  to  the  point,  the  least  ac- 
cessible by  water.  She  is  poised  on  the  Equator;  and 
certainly  is  the  fiery  region  of  the  world.  Asia  is  an 
jE^tr//^  to  Africa  ;  a  vehicle,  which  was  contrived  to 
prevent  Europe  from  extinguishing  Africa,  or  Africa 
from  burning  Europe,  while  heatir.g  it.  With  Asia  I 
have  no  farther  business,  than  to  add  she  was  represented 
among  the  Antients  by  a  Ship,  as  Europe  was  by  Water, 
But  on  Africa  I  shall  treat  in  a  separate  Note.  The 
African  is,  however,  the  most  internal  man  in  the  world, 
as  his  country  is  the  most  fiery. 

/2 


68 

If  Europe  have  not  more  water  than  America, 
nor  so  much,  yet,  her  chief  strength,  superiority  and 
energy,  lie  in  that  element.      America  is  AIR. 

As  Air  she  possesses  the  powers  and  advantages 
combined  (and  consequently  sublimed  and  in  a  fulness 
of  perfection  which  only  the  combination  can  give)  of  all 
other  Quarters  of  the  Globe.  The  altitude  of  her  Moun- 
tains,  the  depth  and  immensity  of  her  Rivers,  the  quan- 
tity of  her  Metals,  her  possession  of  the  most  noble  of 
them  in  Platin  A,  the  number  of  her  Islands,  her  two- 
fold Continent  and  its  vast  extent — join  unequivocally  to 
support  this  fa6l.  Her  inhabitants,  therefore,  contem- 
plating alike  Heat  and  Cold,  Mountains  and  Plains, 
Woods  and  Lakes,  Rivers  and  Oceans,  each  on  an  im- 
perial throne — may,  v^ry  well,  for  a  moment  be  lost  i?2 
body,   but  cannot  be  defective  in  Mind. 

A  MAN  is  supposed  to  improve  by  going  out  into 
ihe  world,  by  visiting  London.  Artificial  man  does ;  he 
extends  with  his  sphere  ;  but  alas  !  that  sphere  is  micro- 
scopic :  It  is  formed  of  minutiae,  and  he  surrenders  his 
genuine  vision  to  the  artist,  in  order  to  embrace  it  in  his 
ken.     His  bodily  senses  grow  acute,  even  to  barren  and 


69 

inhuman  pruriency  ;  while  his  mental  become  propor- 
tionally obtuse.  The  reverse  is  the  Man  oF  Mind  :  He 
who  is  placed  in  the  sphere  of  Nature  and  of  GOD, 
might  be  a  mock  atTattersall's  and  Brookes's,  and  a  sneer 
at  St.  James's :  He  would  certainly  be  swallowed  alive  by 
the  first  Pizarro^  that  crossed  him  : — But,  when  he  walks 
along  the  River  of  Amazons ;  when  he  rests  his  eye  on 
the  unrivalled  Andes ;  when  he  measures  the  long  and 
watered  Savannah ;  or  contemplates  from  a  sudden  Pro- 
montary,  the  distant,  Vast  Pacific — and  feels  himself  a 
Freeman  in  this  vast  Theatre,  and  commanding  each 
ready  produced  fruit  of  this  wilderness,  and  each  progeny 
of  this  stream — His  exaltation  is  not  less  than  Imperial. 
He  is  as  gentle  too  as  he  is  great :  His  emotions  of  tender- 
ness keep  pace  with  his  elevation  of  sentiment ;  for  he  says, 
*'  These  were  made  by  a  good  Being,  who  unsought  bv 
me,  placed  me  here  to  enjoy  them."  He  becomes  at  once, 
a  Child  and  a  King.  His  mind  is  in  himself ;  from  hence 
he  argues  and  from  hence  he  afts  ;  and  he  argues  unerr- 
ingly and  a£fs  magisterially  :  His  Mind  in  himself  is  also  in 
his  GOD  ;  and  therefore  he  loves,  and  therefore  he  soars. 
He  knows  where  he  is ;  his  speculations  do  not  outfly 
his  praftice  ;  for  he  thinks  he  knows  nothing  but  what 
he  proves.     The  vast  pride  of  discovering   Experimental 


70 

Philosophy    cannot,    indeed,  be  his;    for  Discovery  is 
precluded  by  incessant  Knowledge. 

The  European  is  always  clinnbing,   because  he  al- 
ways begins  with  Water,   whose  property  it  is,  always  to 
sink  to  a  level.     He  cannot  make  any  progress,  because 
Water  originates  nothing.     He  never  ascends,  because 
he  never  quits  Water.     Hence,  for  ever,  like  Sisyphus, 
struggling  up  a  toilsome,  vain  Analysis,  he  judges  all 
things,  which  are  above  the  height  to  which  Water  may 
be  forced  by  known  engines,  to  be  imprafticable  ;  and 
the  Science  of  Mind  to  be  impraftical  and  a  mad 
speculation,  instead  of  what   it    is — the    only   and 
BRILLIANT    REALITY.       He  always  thinks  out  of 
himself:  hence  he  never   meets  GOD,  and    leaves  the 
PRIME   Work   of  Deity,   as    the   least    considerable 
part  of  creation  :  but  this,  he  alleges,  is  because  he  is  not 
able  to  consider  him  at  all.     He  knows  not  where  to  be- 
gin ;  he  has  not  one  datum  in  Mind \  and  the  science  of 
all  that  is  real,  stands  under  the  term  Metaphysics,  as  a 
cani  name  for  all  that  is   speculative.     If,  when  arrived 
here,  he  could  draw  a  syllogism,  and  acknow'ledge  his 
inferiority,  he  would,  at  this  moment,  be  an  objeQ  of  my 
friendship,  not  of  my  indignation  and  inveftive.     But  he 


71 

is  not  content  to  hQ false  ;    he  is  bad  :  he  is  not  content 
to  be  ignorant  of  Mind,  but  the  villain  must  murder  it,  if 
he  can — but  he  cannot.    We  have  just  seen  him,  from  the 
attempt,  as  ^^^as  he  \s  false  ;  We  see  him  in  the  conduct 
of  his  attempt,  as  foolisFi  as  he  is   wicked.     He  throws 
Water  on  our  seeds,  and  makes   us  vegetate.     With   his 
ignorance  of  Mind,  he  knows  not  the  laws  of  Vi61orv. 
He  knows  not,  though  he  sees  it,  that  the  visible  body 
is  moved  by    only  the  invisible  Mind,    and  that    the 
energies,  which  impel  an  imperious  course  of  conduct, 
lie  not  in  muscles,  nor  in  bones  of  even  six  inches   dia- 
meter': We  know  it  and  vanquish  him  on  his  own  ground; 
moving  body  to   any  thing  by   spirit.     He  sees  it,  did  I 
say  ?     I  beg  his  pardon  ;  1  forgot,  that  eyes  can  look  only 
outward,  and  that  of  course,  he  cannot  see  this;     But  I 
have  an  infallible  recipe  for  this  blindness ;  or  if  not  a 
recipe,  an  antidote  for  those,  whom  its  malignant  atrocity 
would  poison — it  is  this  ;  he  can   feel;  that  is,  when 
he  is  run  through  the  body.     Instru6lion  must  be  written 
for  an  European,  with  ink  of  blood  and  a  pen  of  steel. 

If  the  first  Motive  of  Creation,  the  Crea- 
tor, the  first  Life,  be  connefted  with  each  detacht 
part  of  Creation,  with  each  subordinate  Lfe,  and  each 


subordinate  mover ^  at  all  ;  it  must  be  in  the  most  aftive, 
the  most  vital,    and  the  most  plastic,    which  are  also  the 
most  recondite,  parts  of  his  frame.     Who  ever  found 
Majesty  in  a  bone,  or  illumination  in  the  eye  of  a  corpse  ? 
But  the   organization  continues,  or  to  what  purpose  is 
Anatomy  ?     Therefore  the  first  motive  inheres  not 
in  body,   nor  in  its  organization.     The  percipient  is 
vanisht,  and   the    motive   is  gone.     Suppose   them  to 
be  annihilated,  if  you  will  ;   lam  sure  your  body    is. 
Yet,  in  this  body  you   fix  demonstration  ;  from  this  you 
argue  :  It  is  a  reasoning  worthy  of  it,  that  in  the  principle 
of  its  identity  and   motion,  you  disdain  to  seek  that  of 
its  Creation,  even  GOD.     Spirit  without  spirituality ; 
Christians   without  Christ  or  Power  ;    Asserters  of,  nay, 
brawlers  for  Jesus,  without  Salvation,  you  Englishmen 
are — Mathematicians :  all  purer  charafters  are  superstitious. 
The  Science  of  Mind,  to   be  sure,  is  Superstition: 
but  it  is  the  Superstition  which  Archimedes  wanted 
to  raise  the  World ;  but  which,  I  tell  you,  mean  men  of 
physics,    I  HAVE  ;— and    The    FRENCH    HAVE ! 
And  will  KEEP  and  PERFECT,  whether  you  see,  and 
whether  you  approve,  or  not.    Adieu  ! 


'  73 

NOTEici 

A  song  replete  with  all  that  EgypT  knevc  : 
Or  close  Eleusis  taught  her  pious  youth  : 

THAT  is,  replete  with  the  knowledge  and 
Philosophy  of  the  whole  world.  I  assert  this  of  the 
Setting  Sun,  because  he  has  seen,  and  been  seen,  through 
all  the  World  ;  as  of  the  Rising  Sun,  because  he  was  to 
see  and  be  seen  throughout. 

Egypt  and  Eleusis  stand  for  the  Rising  Sun, 
with  me;  Egypt  for  the  Knowledge,  and  Eleusis 
for  the  Philosophy ;  because,  la)iing  aside  the  vulgar 
presumption  in  favor  of  Asia  tor  the  Spring  of  human  . 
Being,  I  have  not  a  penumbra  of  hesitation  in  affirming 
it  to  be  Abyss  IN  lA  ;  nor  do  I  doubt,  that  the  first  forma- 
tion of  Man  into  Societies  and  apparent  order,  was  in 
Egypt.  This  I  first  conclude  from  its  being  a  country- 
lying  just  below  Abyssinia,  at  the  mouth  of  her  River, 
watered  by  it  without  the  inconvenience  oi  rains,  and  the 
only  part  of  Af  RIG  A,  that  presented  the  easy  means  ot  Ex- 
tension to  other  parts  of  the  World  \  which  it  did  by  the 

K 


74 

Isthmus  of  Suez,  and  also  by  two  small  and  smooth  Li- 
land  Seas,  where  they  might  pass  their  infancy  oi  Navi- 
gation ;  exclusive  of  a  fine  River.  Secondly,  I  conclude 
so,  from  the  corresponding y^^?,  that  every  revela- 
tion of  Science  or  Instruction  to  Man,  pagan 
or  evangelical,  has  been  from  Egypt  ;  and  this  evidently 
must  be  the  case,  and  can  be  the^  case  only,  on  the  sup- 
position, that  here  was  the  original  ore  ic  in  A  gen- 
tium, or  work-shop  or  factory  of  nations.  For  where 
organization  first  began,  they  could  certainly  give  the 
best  account  of  it. 

TriE  Birth  of  Theogony  among  the  Greeks,  the 
remission  of  Israel  to  a  servitude  in  Egypt,  and,  after- 
wards of  the  Universal  Sa\-iour  to  the  same  place  for 
proteftion  in  infancy,  coupled  with  the  Prophecy,  "Out 
of  Egypt  have  I  called  my  Son,"  at  once  point  it  out  as 
the  Birth-place  of  the  Doclnnals  of  all  Religions.  Per- 
sons read  in  Emanuel  Swedenborg's  Manifestations,  will 
sec,  how  justly  I  confine  it  to  DotlrinaU  or  Science,  in 
the  last  instance  as  well  as  the  two  first ;  because  a  Son 
signifies  Do6trine  ;  as  Males  excel  by  the  cultivation  of 
their  Understanding  ;  but  Women  or  Females  by  retain- 
ing the  purity  of  their  Will. 


7^ 

Look  up  lo  Abyssinia  with  an  eye  of  natu- 
ral 5c?>«rf,  that  is,  on  the  principles  and  with  the  views 
of  Science,  that  belong  to  a  Heathen  Philosopher  ;  and 
tell  me  what  you  see.  Chaos:  do  you  not?  Look 
up  abstraBedly  to  the  origin  of  man,  wilh  the  same  eye, 
not  enlightened  by  Divine  Revelation  :  What  do  you 
see  ?  Chaos.  Then  two  things  equal  to  one  and  the 
same  thing,  are  equal  to  one  another, 

Ln[  short,  every  Religion  but  the  PRESENT,  has 
begun  in  Egypt  ;  and  every  Religion  but  the  PRE- 
SENT has  been  speculative.  MEN  are  now  summoned 
by  a  Divine  Afflatus,  to  contend  For  the  GOOD 
OF  ENJOYMENT  and  ^vill  no  longer  trust  it  to  futu- 
rity,  or  be  content  with  speculation,  that  talks  about 
it  and  about  it.  Hence  the  present  originates  in 
Abyssinia.  The  French  are  embarked  and  are  near 
landing  on  this  spot  of  practical,  sensual,  or  corporeal 
Good.  It  is  historically  true,  that  on  the  confines  o\ 
Abyssinia,  namely  at  SexNN  aar,  was  the  only  kingdom 
in  the  World,  wliich  allowed  the  king  to  be  regularly 
tried  and  put  to  death  ;  that  is,  it  was  the  only  country, 
that,  finding  a  principle  of  political  life  and  ad.ion  to 
be  dtstruBive  to  happiness,  instead  of  beneficial,  abandoa- 

K  2 


76 

ed  and  destroyed  it.  How  could  they  venture  on  this  ? 
Because  they  lived  in  a  superior  Principle;  and,  of  course 
FELT  and  knew  their  whole  political  struBure  to  be 
subordinate.  With  the  English,  it  is  paramount ;  for, 
though  they  posses  a  loose  belief  of  a  state  superior  in 
stability,  they  feel  they  have  no  hold  of  it ;  and  so 
pradically  depend  on  nothing  but  Wealth  and  Policy ; 
and  deem  him,  forsooth,  an  enemy  to  mankind,  who 
shg'.kes  these  !  It  is  also  true,  that  as  the  king  of  France 
was  sending  an  ambassador  to  the  emperor  of  Abyssinia, 
whence  a  queen  came  to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solomon 
and  where  his  Progeny  by  her  still  reign,  that  Embassa- 
dor, with  all  his  suite  were  cat  to  pieces  before  the  door 
of  the  kings  palace-,'^  owing  to  certain  Friars,  who, 
through  jealousy,  represented  (though,  most  probably, 
with  justice)  the  embassador  to  be  ?.  spy  and  secret 
Enemy. 

In  a  future  Note,  I  shall  state  some  specific  reasons 
for  my  Egotism  in  this  Poem;  but  I  must  round  this 
liead  with  something  like  Anticipation.  I  am  the  only 
Being  in  the  World,  who  go  through  every  inch 
and  every  league  of  the  French  Revolution  j  which,  in- 

*  Sec  Poncct  and  Bruce 


77 

deetl,  is  no  wonder,  as  I  had  embarked,  without  sail  or  oar, 
in  the  Revolution  to  practical  Good,  Public  and  Pri- 
vate, as  an  individual,  before  they  started.  /  also  have 
strong  symptoms  of  a  neighbourhood  to  Abyssinia. 
I  have  such  a  strong  predileftion  for  Africa,  as,  when  a 
youth,  to  have  wished,  in  crossing  the  Atlantic  without  a 
Mediterranean  Pass,  to  be  taken  by  a  Corsair  and  carried  in; 
and  while  I  was  in  the  latitudes,  I  looked  out  impatiently 
for  every  sail,  in  hopes  of  finding  an  African  Cruizer. 
There  is  certainly  a  Nation  of  Gibberti,  who  inhabit 
East  and  South  of  Abyssinia,  and  have  had  a  Dynasty 
on  its  Throne.  As  the  Abyssinians  never  leave  their 
country  (and  I  strenuously  maintain,  that  a  total  aversion 
from  travelling  can  only  consist  with  being  at  the  ulti- 
??iateoi  Enjoyment  and  the  Primary  of  Being)  the  Gib- 
berti have  been  ever  their  Merchants  and  their  Embas- 
sadors* to  Europe.  The  inference  designed  may  seem 
almost  an  infantine  speculation  to  the  European,  who 
knows  of  no  relations  but  what  are  guaranteed  by  a  par- 
son and  clerk,  and  archived  in  a  register,  according  to 
statute  ;  and  therefore  I  have  published  enough ;  but  witk 

*  If  these  be  not  meant  in  Isaiah  xviii.  i,  2,  who  are  ?  And  if  the  hard, 
rough,  toiling,  xaASTTOV,  country,  (See  my  laft  Note)  to  which  they  are 
Tent,  be  not  Europe,  what  region  is  it  ? 


78 

the  aid  of  two  or  three  other  Correspondences,  I  can 
infallibly  prove  my  Relation yr^/«  Spirit,  because  in 
Spirit^  akhough  naturally,  it  may  be  thought,  improbable. 

I  SHALL  produce  another  proof,  that  Egypt  was 
the  first  debut  of  Mankind  ;  which  will  have  weight  with 
Students  of  Correspondences,  The  yikst  Gates  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  are  East  and  North.  Now  the  place  to 
which  man  is  brought  back,  corresponds  in  principle, 
for  GOD  never  alters  his  plan,  to  the  place  whence  he 
sat  out;  and  supposing  Egypt  to  have  been  the  first 
route  taken  by  Man,  its  gates  or  channels  of  external 
communication,  are  East  and  North.  So  the  first  gates 
from  the  Country  of  Creation  and  Re-creation  are  East 
and  North. 

By  Eleusis  I  mean  the  Philosophy  of  the 
Springs  of  Nature.  Egypt  was  an  original  spot : 
Eleusis  only  a  representative  :  Therefore  the  one  gave 
knowledge,  while  the  other  was  only  a  vehicle  of  Instruc- 
tion.    See  farther  Note  K. 

The  Eleusinian  Mysteries  were  celebrated 
in  honor  of  Ceres,  and  were  proceeded  on  in  darkness 
according  with  the  operations  of  the  Goddess ;  whom  the 


79 

Mystery  consisted  in  tracing,  step  by  step  :  not,  however, 
in  the  wearisome  details  and  arbitrary  jargon  of  jejune 
botany,  but  in  the  disclosure  of  the  whole  parallel  be- 
tween human  and  vegetable  produ61ion.  They,  scriptu- 
rally,  considered  Man  as  formed  to  identity  from  the 
dust  of  the  Ground,  like  Plants;  as  a  Tree  planted 
by  the  Hands  of  JEHOVAH  ;  and  his  catastrophe,  spe- 
cific and  generic,  as  the  gathering  in  of  the  harvest. 

This  accordance  between  Scripture  and  Ele- 
USis  will  not  appear  susprizing,  when  we  recolleft, 
what  I  have  urged  already,  that  Egypt  supplied  both 
m.arkets ;  and,  if  we  attend  to  the  transaftions  of  Jo- 
seph's administration  in  Egypt,  we  shall  add,  that  it 
supplied  the  whole  of  the  market  to  trie  Gentiles,  and 
for  a  long  time  to  Israel  :  for  there  being  a  universal 
famine  from  which  the  abode  of  Israel  was  not  exemp- 
ted, the  granaries  of  Egypt  supplied  all  the  world  with 
present  food,  and  the  seed  of  future. 

Here,  observe,^ri/,  that  the  wheat  being  culti- 
vated by  the  labour,  and  stored  by  the  providence  of 
Man,  represents  Man  as  co-operating,  in  an  external 
sphere  with  GOD  in  an  internal,  for  his  own  and  bre- 


80 
thren's  salvation  ;    which  produces   this    Definition  ol 
Egypt  in  a  good  sense,  viz.  Sciences,  a7id  Practice 
thereon foundal,  tributary  to  L,iYZ'. 

Secondly ;  Man  was  indebted  for  the  providence, 
which  he  exercised,  to  the  immediate  Inspiration  of 
GOD  in  a  Dream  ;  which  was  so  much  attended  to  by 
the  king,  that  he  brought  a  man  out  of  jail  to  expound  it. 
Here  recurs,  in  the  first  instance,  what  I  have  already 
observed,  a  most  ardent  co-operation  of  Man  ;  but  besides, 
we  are  to  note,  that,  in  certain  stages  of  fleshly  grossncss, 
GOD  can  communicate  with  the  Spirit,  when  the  body 
gives  him  no  admission  :  In  these  stages,  there  is  no 
open  Vision;  as  was  the  case  in  Israel  before  Samuel 
rose ;  but  the  body  is  laid  asleep,  before  the  Spirit  can 
converse  with  GOD,  If  Religion,  if  Life,  consist  in  a 
communication  with  GOD.  this  remark  furnishes  an 
accurate  criterion  to  judge  of  the  general  state  of  Religion 
at  all  times,  in  all  nations,  and  in  any  individual.  Low 
indeed,  is  that  state,  where  few  see  Visions,  few  dream 
Dreams,  few  interpret  them,  and  few  are  fools  enough 
(for  such  is  the  preponderance  against  DEITY  IN 
ENGLAND— Hear  O  Earth  !  And  Give  Ear,  O  Hea- 
vei:s  !J   to  seek  an  Interpretation,  when  THE  LORD 


81 

hath  spoken — or  to  give  Glory  to  the  LORD  their 
GOD,  before  he  cause  darkness,  by  the  silence  of 
His  Word,  and  before  their  feet  stumble  on  the  dar^; 
MOUNTAINS  !  !  For  ye  are  on  MOUNTAINS  !  and 
know  it  not  !     He  that  spoke  Light,  can  be  silent 

intoDARKNESS. 

Thirdly;  The  Interpreter  of  the  Divine  Word, 
the  Refleftor  of  the  Divine  Light  on  Egypt,  was 
one  Man,  and  not  a  Gentile,  but  an  Israelite  :  that  is, 
lived  not  in  the  light  of  the  World,  but  in  the  darkness  ; 
separate  from  his  brethren  of  Israel,  and  locked  up  from 
public  communication  in  Egypt;  the  first,  because  he 
received  the  Word  of  GOD;  the  second,  because  he 
<2(?^^  as  became  the  Recipient  of  that  Word;  for  had 
he  had  humility  enough  to  put  the  WORD  of  GOD 
from  him  in  compliment  to  his  brethren,  he  might  have 
had  the  honor  to  live  among  them  :  had  he  been  an  adul- 
terer he  might  have  flourished  in  Egypt.  But  the 
instant  GOD  was  acknowledged,  Joseph  presided. 

These  Two  Considerations  enable  us  to  add  to 
the  Definition  of  Egypt,  furnisht  by  the  first,  that 
the  said  Knowledge  and  Practice  were  given  by  GOD, 
through  the  medium  of  one  Man . 

L 


82 

Fourthly ;  Though  the  Gentiles  were  supplied 
with  this  corn  from  Egypt,  they  considered  it  merely 
as  a  temporary  supply ;  carried  it  into  their  country, 
dressed  it  as  many  different  ways  as  there  were  nations  or 
palates ;  and  finally,  the  Seed  degenerated  and  they  even 
lorgot,  in  general,  whence  it  came.  The  children  of 
Israel  went  down  into  Egypt  and  settled  ;  earned 
their  subsistence  by  the  Merit  of  their  Brother, 
through  his  Mercy  and  Forgiveness  ;  ate  their  Corn 
fresh  from  the  granary,  and  it  was  a  Statute  to  them 
to  REMEMBER  it  throughout  all  their  Generations  :  a  proof 
that,  it  must  have  a£lcd  on  an  Eternal  Principle. 

All  these  things,  even  to  this  Extent,  I  do 
not  doubt,  were  taught  at  El  e  us  is.  Hence  they  were 
justified  in  opening  their  Rites  witli  a  Dismission  of  the 
profane. — Procul !  O  procul  este  profani !  To  any 
profane  that  was  present,  the  consequence  certainly  zuas 
Death;  for  the  Life  of  Man  is  the  Death  of 
Evil.  Hence  also  I  am  not  presumptuous  in  my  Motto. 
We  retire  from  the  profane,  and  then  we  are  authorized 
to  drive  \\\t  profane  from  us  : — and  they  then  are  ready- 
to  go  with  all  willingness  to  their  own  place ;  and  do  go 
accordingly;  for  they  have  nothing  in  US,  and  WE 
nothing  in  them. 


I  HAVE  said  above,  that  Egypt  supplied  the 
whole  market  of  the  Gentiles,  and,yi??^  a  long  time  that  of 
Israel. — The  reason  of  .this  reserve  I  shall  now  give. 
The  Israelites  stand  contradistinguisht  from  other  na- 
tions, in  their  subsistence',  for,  at  length,  led  by  GOD, 
THEY  wholly  relinquished  their  Egyptian  food  ;  and  in- 
stead of  it  are  fed  with  that  of  angels ;  to  instru6l  them 
beyond  the  Science  of  Eleu sis  and  beyond  Egypt, 
that  man  liveth  not  by  Bread  alone,  but  by  every  Word 
that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  GOD,  Hence,  too, 
they  were  informed,  that  though  Egypt  was  to  mankind 
the  Ne  plus  ultra  ^/Science,  it  was  not  so  of  Exis- 
tence ;  and  they  were  reminded,  that  though  Egypt 
regulated  with  the  nicest  accuracy  the  floods  of  the  Nile, 
and  knew  when  to  expe61:,  yet  it  could  not  command 
them;  that  it  received  no  Showers fro7n  Heave):,  but  was 
subordinate  to  a  Country,  which  did,  and  where  both 
springs^  and  is  replenlsht  to  a  capacity  of  Inundation, 
the  triple  founted  River,  for  so  at  length  it  is  now 
ascertained  to  be,  which  irrigates  its  lands,  and  fertilizes 
its  womb  :  a  country,  which  is  ex  vi  termini  the  Chaos 
of  the  Pagan,  Egyptian-derived,  Mythology ;  is  also  the 
Metaphysical  region  o^ the  Naturalist — but  the  Eden  ol 
GOD  and  of  the  Man  o^  GOD, 

L  2 


34 

NOTE  ((h)) 

Here  too  I  sat,  with  them  enwrapt^  though  open. 

ENWRAPT  in  the  Principles,  and  ever  forcing 
them  into  A6lion,  though  I  wrought  wpiolly  alone, 
of  equal  Liberty,  equal  Justice  and  equal  Honor,  to  all 
Mankind  ;  regulated  alone  by  Individual  desert.  Thus 
aBing,  I  afted  against  all  Europe  till  France  joined  me. 
*'  Though  open,"  is,  though  in,  and  aBing  i?i,  the  Body 
or  Europe,  or  on  European  Ground, 

The  Principle  of  America  is  this  Equi- 
librium, and  agrees  with  the  Sign  attributed  by 
Astrology  to  the  West,  namely.  Libra  or  the 
Balance;  where  Saturn  having,  by  the  same 
Science,  his  Exaltation,  or  greatest  public  Strength,  we 
must  also  refer  Saturn  ia  Regna,  or  the  Reign  of 
Saturn,  so  much  extolled;  and  which  is  thus,  in 
other  terms,  the  Reign  of  just  E(^uality  ;  where  the 
empty  scales  are  alzvays  even,  and,  of  ih^  full,  that 
consequently  always  preponderates,  which  ought  to 
preponderate^.  I  have  said  this  to  clear  Equality  from 
the  obloquy  of  the  English, 


85 

It  will  be  curious  to  one  not  accustomed  to  attend 
to  the  prevalence  oi  principles  in  human  aftions,  to  ob- 
serve, how  constantly  the  whole  warfare  of  Europe  and 
America  have  turned  on  Command  and  Equality  ; 
from  the  Seditions  and  Rivalships  against  Columbus, 
the  detraftions  he  suffered  from  Nobles  in  Spain,  and  the 
jealousy  entertained  of  him  at  Court ;  and  similar  events 
to  subsequent  Viceroys — through  the  System  on  which 
America  was  settled  by  every  nation  in  Europe,  of 
Slavery — up  to  the  year  1776,  when  America  de- 
clared Independence  :  and  intermingled  her  genius 
with  that  of  France  ;  whose  capital,  Paris,  is  assigned 
by  Astrologers  to  the  Sign  Virgo,  as  is  also  Jerusa- 
lem. In  1775  and  1776,  Saturn  was  in  Libra. 
And  thus  too  we  sccVirgil's  Line  in  Pollio,  illustrated; 

Jam  redit  et  Virgo,  redeunt  Saturn ia  Regna  ; 
Returns  the  Virgin,  and  Saturnian  Reign. 

Europe  is  t\\e.  fountain  oi  Slavery  ;  America 
the  Field  of  Freedom  :  The  Fountain  of  it  is  GOD 
in  Man,  and  Fire  in  Nature, 


86 

NOTE  [{i)j 

And  ply  the  terrible  An  tistrophe. 

THE  antient  Singers  in  the  Temples  of  Greece, 
sang  the  Strophe  from  the  East,  and  then  turned  and 
sang  the  Antistrophe  from  the  West.  Such  is  the 
usual  process  of  a  HuRPacANE;  particularly  that  at 
Antigua  in  August  1772  :  for,  after  blowing  from 
North  East,  oy  from  Europe  for  some  hours,  it  lulled 
for  half  an  hour,  and  then  returned  with  increast 
violence  from  South  West.  This  is  also  frequently 
the  case  with  seasons  of  Rain.  When  fully  past  to  the 
West,  they  return  with  an  increast  load ;  so  that  a 
Western  Season  is  always  a  good  one,  and  gladly 
welcomed. 

Harmony  is  an  Equipoise  of  Discords.  Europe 
by  the  first  discords,  destroyed,  or  rather,  suspended  Har- 
mony ;  America  strikes  the  second,  equivalent;  and 
restores  it.  In  short,  down  to  every  ramification,  Equi- 
libration will  be  found  throughout  the  Western 
World,  in  nature  and  in  Man.     Those  families,  which 


87 

have  been  long  settled  there  and  had  little  intercourse 
with  Europe,  instead  of  severity  to  slaves,  are  most  apt 
to  make  them  companions  ;  and  often ^  very  often ^  carry 
indulgence  to  an  excess,  that  would  be  deemed  criminal 
in  a  parent ;  while  the  English,  Irish  and  Scotch,  who 
go  out  as  Overseers,  are  Devils  to  Negroes. 


NOTE  ((K)] 

New 
To  the  World  in  Afric's  Morning 

WHILE  the  Mysteries  of  Eleusis  were 
sacred  to  Ceres,  it  is  evident,  they  must  have  contem- 
plated Seeds  and  Earth  ;  or  the  Springs  and  Foun- 
tains of  PLANTS.  But  that  they  did  not  turn  '*  their 
backs  to  bright  reality ^''^  and  study  plants  botanically,  or 
without  reference  to  their  high  analogy,  is  suffi- 
ciently known  to  the  learned  and  too  palpable  to  common 
sense,  for  me  to  waste  one  argument  in  supporting. 

*  Coleridge. 


88 

Africa  is  Earth  :  See  Robertson's  History  of 
America. 

The  opening  of  Seeds  in  the  Earth  conse- 
quent on  gradual  insinuations  of  Water,  is  the  Dawn 
and  progressively  the  Morning  of  Being  : 

This,  then,  I  mean, by  Afric's  Morning  : 

Because  the  Fountain  of  Human  Being,  as  well 
as  that  of  plants  is  concealed  in  the  Earth  ;  and  Afr  ICA 
more  especially  Abyssinia,  is  charafteristically  quoad 
other  Continents,  the  Earth  ;  as  not  permeable  by  Wa- 
ter ;  and,  from  many  parts,  scarcely  accessible  from 
want  of  that  small  supply  of  Water,  which  is  necessary 
to  human  subsistence ;  owing  to  the  circwnvolutio^i  of 
a  Flaming  Sun. 

This  last  circumstance  brings  me  to  my  Scrip- 
tural Proofs. 

I  am  aware  of  all  that  is  alleged  in  favour  of  Asia, 
for  the  she  of  Eden;  as  I  have  it  from  the  first 
quarter — the  most  indefatigable  Student  of  Asia^   who 


89 

has  abilities,  learning  and  opportunities,  equal  to  the 
research,  and  whom  I  am  happy  to  call,  likewise,  the 
generous,  candid  and  communicative  Friend.  But 
FIRST  PRINCIPLES  are  altogether  against  it  from  every 
point :  whence  the  affirmative  rests  on  Historical  and 
Geographical  details ;  so,  that  the  focus  of  all  arguments 
in  support  of  Asia^  is  that  Judea  may  be  satisfaftorily 
mapt,  concordant  with  the  very  summary  sketch  of 
Eden,  given  in  Genesis  :  and  a  great  deal  of  this  my 
friend  will  allow  to  depend  on  very  nice,  though  very 
ingenious,  theories  on  Bdellium,  the  Onyx  Stone,  the 
Land  of  Havilah,  &c.  and  I  am  sure,  he  will  confess, 
that,  like  the  parallax  of  a  Star,  they  nearly  elude  De- 
monstration in  the  minute.  Now,  I  touch  not  the  min- 
ute ;  his  research  afts  on  nothing  else  ;  and,  on  this  very 
ground,  I  first  admit,  then  explode  the  whole 
System. 

I  ADMIT,  that  Judea,  or  wherever  else  he  may 
fix,  was  Eden  secundum  subjeBam  materiem^  or  quoad 
the  Children  of  Israel  in  a  literal  sense  ;  and  this  is  no 
more  than  admitting  Jerusalem  to  be  Jerusalem. 


M 


90 

It  will  be  conceded  to  me,  that  Scripture  ever 
means  by  an  Ark^  a  place  of  temporary  retreat  from  sur- 
rounding dangers  ;  preservative,  on  the  like  small  scaky 
of  2iJ'ew  or  of  one,  till  a  period  arrive  of  safe  Enlargement, 
and  Eternal  Rest,  or  the  Rest  of  the  Redeemed. 

The  Israelites  in  journeying  to  the  Land  of  Pro- 
mise^ always  kept  their  eyes  on  the  Ark — aftually  were 
always  surrounded  by  enemies — and  thus  were  taught  to 
consider  themselves  as  a  seleft  and  guarded  y«:y;  who 
were  to  occupy  a  seleS  and- guarded  spot ;  which  was  to 
continue  surrounded  by  enemies;  for  the  Ark,  which 
represented  this  Land,  was  under  precisely  the  same 
amenability  to  enemies,  that  they  were,  I  say,  the  Ark 
represented  the  Land^  because,  i.  It  was  the  Tabernacle 
or  Residence  of  JEHOVAH  their  GOD;  and  2.  Be- 
cause by  it  they  were  guided  in  their  journies,  and  to  it 
they  locked  :  They  looked,  of  course,  to,  and  were 
guided  by,  the  Land  to  which  they  were  bound  ;  and  had 
the  Ark  been  different,  they  would  have  had  discordant 
principles  of  a6lion. 

But,  more  than  this,  the  People  also  were  the 
Arti  and  the  Land,     They  werealwavs  considered  as   one 


in  the  judgments  and  prosperity  of  tlie  Land,  whlcli  was 
frlvcn  t'hcm  : 

But  this  LaJid ^nd  this  P^^/?/e  together,  artcrvvards, 
become  the  prey  of  numerous  and  various  Enemies  ; 

Therefore,  neither  were  this  People  finally 
redeemed,  nor  was  this  Land  the  final  Paradise,  nor  this 
*'  Jerusalem  the  joy  of  the  zukoie  Earth,"  nor  thci?-  State 
eternal  Rest  ;  but  all  were  representative,  as  is  echoed 
throuo-hout  the  New  Testame*nt  :  the  Rest  w^s,  then 
temporary  and  fallacious  ;  the  City  was  the  head  of  a 
District ;  the  Lewd  was  a  model,  and  the  People  had 
finished  the  first  st^q-c  of  Redem;ption  ;  and  this,  not 
under  a  hoodwink,  but  with  an  express  Declaration,,  that 
they  were  to  expeO;  "  another  Prophet.'''  So  attacht, 
hov/ever,  v/ere  they  to  the  Figure,  in  length  oi'  time,  that 
they  forewent  tlie  Reality  ;  so  m.ad,  that  ihey  rejefted 
it  :  as,  suppose  a  man  to  be  so  long  in  the  habit  of  Bank 
Notes,  that  if,  at  some  given  aera,  it  should  be  thought 
advisable  to  call  them  in  and  pay  cash,  he  should  abso- 
lutely refuse  the  Gold  and  keep  the  Paper ;  preferring 
the  promise  to  its  Performance.*  , 

*  I  have  adopted  tins  simile,  merely   to  give  the    Ev^liih  reader  a  ju:1 
concepiion  olthe  importance  of  thesubjeft. 

M    2 


92 

The  Prophet,  who  came  to  fulfil  the  Law,  to  mag- 
nify and  make  it  honorable,  necessarily  abolished  the 
mould  wherein  it  had  been  cast.  When  the  Palace  was 
built  and  furnisht,  the  shed  erefted  for  temporary  shelter, 
was  demolisht. 

And  yet  to  this  shed  and  the  plot  of  ground  in 
which  it  stood,  are  all  those  still  looking,  who  have  per- 
suaded themselves,  that  they  believe  on  Him  who  laid 
these  things  waste.  At  least,  they  do  not  know  him  on 
whom  they  have  believed.  They  believe,  that  the  great, 
final,  objeft  of  him,  who  builded  the  Palace,  is  to  refit, 
and  reinhabit  the  shed,  which  sheltered  the  workmen  !  ! 
Melancholy  I  Melancholy  to  contemplate  their  little 
progress  from  the  first  Temple,  who  dream  they  are 
worshiping  in  the  second !  Melancholy  the  prospeft 
they  have  exhibited  to  themselves  !  This  is  the  nation  too 
wise  for  dreams !  Therefore,  God  hath  sent  you  strong 
delusion  to  believe  a  lie  :  for  I  tell  you,  you  have  pleasure 
in  unrighteousness. 

I    AM    NOT     UNDERSTOOD.        'Tis  Well. 

I  UNDERSTAND  MYSELF.     It  is  better. 


93 

What  is  understood  ?  By  England  and  Europe, 
I  mean.  The  wise  man,  who  glories  in  his  wisdom  ; 
the  strong  man,  who  glories  in  his  might ;  the  rich  man, 
who  glories  in  his  riches.  It  is  said,  there  is  some  sense 
in  these. 

But  I  know  the  things  that  make  for  my  Peace  : 
and  nothing  shall  offend  me. 

I  AM  NOT  UNDERSTOOD.  If  a  fox  be  out,  and 
the  hounds,  however  noisy  in  their  course,  run  towards 
the  kennel  he  has  left,  instead  of  following  his  steps,  are 
they  likely  to  see  him  ?  Perhaps  I  have  come  down  low 
enough  to  be  seen  in  England,  now.  If  you  know  not  the 
voice  of  the  Shepherd,  you  do  that  of  the  huntsman. 
Come  then  !  Let  me  turn  you!  Let  .me  lead  you 
from  a  hunt,  where,  the  slaves  of  incessant  hesitation, 
and  paralized  to  every  steady  effort,  you  are,  the  highest 
and  wisest  of  you,  the  staring  dupes  of  any  Brothers  who 
cries.  Hark!  To  Jerusalem!  Or,  on  the  other  band,  on 
these  flimsy  claims,  the  still  more  flimsy  casuists  ;  or  the 
coolly  mathematical,  or  presumptuously  declamatory, 
rejefters  of  all,  either  good,  bad  or  indifferent.  Turn, 
I  say,  from   this  worse  than  wild-goose   chace,  because, 


94 

perchance,  when  you  arrive  at  the  demonstration  of  ulti- 
mate disappointment,  the  Sun  may  be  set,  the  night  come 
on,  the  clouds  gather  darkness,  and  you  not  be  sheltered. 
Turn  then  with  ME,  Tundi  forgeting  the  things  that  are 
behind,  look  on  to  those  which  are  before,  pressing 
forward  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  your  high- 
CALLIN  G  of  GOD  !     He  that  hath  eyes  to  see,  may  see. 

Have  done  with  the  temporary  state,  the  par- 
tial spot,  and  all  preceding  stages  of  your  journey  !  for 
you  arc  now  brought,  be  assured,  before  the  walls  of 
Zion;  and  this  very  night  must  be  given  the  Assault, 
which  will  either  put  you  in  possession  of  her  walls,  or 
tlirough  you  out  for  ever.  You  are  come  unto  the  strong 
hold  of  Zion,  where  neither  lame  nor  blind  can  enter, 
and  unto  the  City  of  the  Living  GOD,  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem  ;  and  to  an  Innumerable  Company  of  Angels, 
to  the  General  Assembly  and  Church  of  the  Last-horn  as 
well  as  First-born,  who  arc  written  in  Heaven,  and  to 
GOD  the  Judge  of  all,  and  to  the  Spirits  of  Just  Men 
made  perfect  ;  and  to  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the  New 
Covenant,  and  to  the  Blood  of  Sprinkling,  which  speak- 
eth  better  things  than  that  of  Abd  did  to  the  old  Church  ; 
which  Abd  was  succeeded  by  Sheth. 


95 
What  is  become  of  Africa  all  this  while  ?     Is 
not  this  is  a  fine,  digressive,  circumrotatory,  flight  ?  No  : 
It  is  dire6Hy  progressive. 

The  real  Eden,  the  Celestial,  must  be  a  whole. 
It  IS  7iot  an  JrL  To  be  a  Whole,  it  must,  in  the 
highest  sense,  be  the  Universe,  wherein,  consequently, 
every  Planet  must  accord  :  In  a  smaller  sense,  it  is  a 
System  ;  in  a  third,  it  is  a  Planet  or  World  ;  in  a  fourth 
and  last,  it  is  the  Center  of  a  World. 

On  e  circle  first,  and  then  another  spreads. 

In  the  smallest  sense,  Africa  may  be  Eden, 
and  the  Garden  Eastward,  Abyssinia ;  and  in  the  next, 
where  the  whole  World  is  Eden,  the  Garden  Eastward 
is  Africa  ;  equally  poised  on  the  Equator,  and  opening 
her  Forts  Jirst,  to  the  narrow  sea  of  Asia ;  then  to  the 
broader  Mediterranean,  and  lastly,  to  all  the  Ocean  :  And 
such  undeniably  has  been  the  road  of  Light  through  the 
World. 

There  must  not  bean  iron  tool  heard  in  framing 
the  Temple.      The    stones   are  brought  ready  poli^ht. 


96 

Each  Planet  must  be  pure,  and  each  part  of  each.  Be 
minimis  non  curat  lex,  is  a  maxim  of  English,  but  reverst 
in  Divine,  Law.     All  must  be  holy  to  the  horse's  bridles. 

An  d  little  indeed  is  purity  advanced  in  the  Earth, 
while  such  a  Continent  as  Africa  is  abandoned  by 
Europe  to  efforts  of  alternate  Slavery ;  as  are  those  of 
Mind  and^^^jy;  fori  make  no   scruple   to  say,  that 

AS  THE  STATE  OF  MiND  IS,  IN  THE  WoRLD,  OR 
IN      GIVEN     PARTS     OF     THE    WoRLD,     SO     IS     THE 

STATE  OF  Africa  in  itself,  and  in  its  re- 
lations TO  those  parts  respectively. 

The  Sun  is  the  Cherub  with  the  flaming  Sword, 
at  the  East,  which  turns  every  way  to  guard  the  way  to 
the  Tree  OF  Life — which  the  Eleusinians  contemplate. 

Africa,  and  especially  Abyssinia  is,  the  un-' 
penetrated  Country  of  the  World. 

I  SHALL  say  no  more  here :  but  refer  to  Moses's 
Song  in  Deuteronomy  xxxii,  where  the  curses  on  the 
Land  of  the  People  of  GOD,  in  their  most  extensive 
sense,  are  those  under  which  Africa  groans ;  and  quote 


97 

from  the  last  of  it  at  verse  47,  "  Rejoice  ye  Nations 
WITH  HIS  People — for  he  will  be  gracious  to  his  Land 
and  to  his  People.'"    Here  are  no  specific,  separate  People 
named  ;  but  they  are  all  one  fold,  under  one  Shepherd. 

Thus  the  Glory  of  the  second  Temple,  founded 
by  a  Gentile  king,  though  brilliant  by  no  strong  displays 
of  Divine  Presence  at  its  commencement — not  prosecu- 
ted, as  was  Solomon's,  by  immediate  Divine  Communi- 
cations with  its  Founder — shall  exceed  that  of  the  first, 
as  it  gradually  concentrates  every  ray  of  Jew  and  Gentile. 
Its  commencement  was  opposed — therefore  not  exalted ; 
it  was  founded  on  only  secondary  Inspiration  illuminating 
to  the  natural  eye  of  Cyrus  the  letter  of  a  deceast 
Prophet — therefore  its  light  was  clouded  ;  it  was  founded 
on  faith,  not  in  sight — therefore  proceeded  with  hesi- 
tation ;  in  the  apparent  strength  of  the  natural  man 
— therefore  ordinary  in  appearance  and  events :  As  a 
Thief  in  the  night,  it  stole  on  through  alarms ;  (Dan. 
ix.  25.  last  clause):  But  hence — the  instant  of  its  com- 
pletion, was  the  moment  of  commencing  Triumph  over 
every  possible  foe  ;  and  thence  contemplating  Eternity.* 

*  Neither  the  Messiah's  being  cut  off,  nor  the  destruftion  of  Cyrus's 
Temple,  at  all  invalidates  this  proposition  ;  for  Death  was  triumpht  over, 
and  Captivity  was  led  captive,  before  the destruftion  of  the  mould. 

N 


98 

NOTE  II)) 
And  beheld  it  spread  before  the  rising  breeze. 

Lest  this  should  be  thought  bad  Seamanship  by 
Sailors,  and  that  rather  the  men  on  board  should  have 
clued  up  their  sails  and  laid  all  snug  ;  I  shall  beg  them  to 
observe,  that  it  is  hardly  likely,  that  the  most  cautious 
seaman  would  not  venture  a  foresail,  or  even  a  close- 
reeft  topsail  at  the  beginning  of  a  gale,  however 
threatening  ;  especially,  when  being  near  land,  he  might 
hope  to  come  to,  before  night-fall. 


CANTO      II. 

NOTElyq 

Peace  !     For  a  moment  drazo  thy  mantle  round. 

This  introduces  the  half  hour's  Calm  mentioned 
mNotcl^  under  Antistrophe. 


99 


«*C«^^;:    POSTSCRIPT.    ^^Ite. 


jTjlFTER  all,  I  well  know,  that  the  natural  man  dis- 
cerneth  not  the  things  of  the  SPIRIT  o  F  GOD  ;  neither 
indeed  can  he,  for  they  are  spiritually  discerned.  A 
man  looking  to  the  West  can  never  see  the  Sunrise. 
Therefore,  instead  of  seeking  for  the  origin  of  things  in 
body,  or  philosophizing  on  form,  pursue  that,  which 
FORMS  body.  Study  no  longer  the  produB,  but  the 
Producer.  A  person,  who  for  ever  contemplates 
body,  which  is  motionless,  is  so  habituated  to  see  nothing 
move  but  as  it  is  moved  by  a  force  superior  to  its  weight, 
that  he  carries  it  as  a  law  through  all  being,  that  A6lion 
and  Reaftion  are  equal  and  contrary. 

This,  the  gy-eat  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  though  not 
born  in  Ireland,  called  a  Law  of  motion  :  I,  though  not 
born  in  England,  call  it  a  Law  of  NO  motion.  Sir  Isaac 
wants  a  Nominative  case  to  the  verb  moves.      I  v/ill  give 

i\r2 


100 
him  one,  first  from  Virgily  and  then,  from  the  Wisdom 
of  Solomon. 

Principle  ccelum  ct  terras,  camposque  liquentes 
Lucentemque  globum  lunae,  Titaniaque  astra 
S  p  I R I T u  s  intus  alit 

Igneus  est  oUis  vigor,  et  cccUstis  ori^o 
Semi  N I  BUS     —     — -  VirgiL     lib.  vi. 

I  quote  from  memory;   so  have  not  the  line. 

For  thine  incorruptible  Spirit  is  in  all  things. 

Wisdom  xii.  i. 

And  naturally — Central  Fires,  or  Fire  forming 
the  Center  of  every  Planet  is  enough  to  give  it  motion  ; 
without  suspending  yourself  over  a  bottomless  abyss  of 
second  causes ;  each  of  which  is  alike  without  motion  ;  as 
is  yourfelf,  excepting  that  common  to  Watci\,  of  gravi- 
tation ;  senseless,  whether  itdescend  to  the  root  of  a  plant, 
or  to  the  foot  of  a  precipice  ;  but  ever  proceeding  to  the 
last  with  accelerated  motion. 


101 

In  writing  these  Notes,  I  have  had  to  steer,. ;as 
the  least  enlightened  may  ohserve,  between  Scylia  and 
Charybdis ;  between  saying  -oo  much  and  too  little  for 
perspicuity ;  between  an  appearance  oi  acrimony  and 
that  of  indecision ;  between  the  appearance  of  extrava- 
gance to  those,  who  are  unaccustomed  to  consider  the 
internal  stru6lure  of  things,  on  the  one  liLad,  and  an  un- 
faithful delineation  of  my  own  Sentiments  and  TRUTHS 
WHICH  CONTEMPLATE  EXISTENCE,  on  the  Other. 
If  I  have  sometimes  preferred  verging  on  the  first,  it  was 
because  the  last  would  have  been  treachery  and  annihila- 
tion. I  know,  that  nothing  is  done  towards  enlightening 
the  WORLD  at  large,  till  the  Esoteric  overwhelms  the 
Exoteric;  and  the  Achromatic  walks  trivially.  So 
much  for  the  learned.  But  to  old  women,  and  to  young 
men  and  maids,  I  say,  that  nothing  is  done,  till  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord  cover  the  earth,  as  the  waters 
cover  the  seas  :  And  let  him  who  gloneth,  glory  i?i   this. 

Yet,  do  I  not  condemn  the  anticnt  Philosophers 
for  this  discretion.  They  afted  to  the  full  extent  of  their 
sphere.  I  have  too  long  been  confined  to  distinftion, 
myself.  But  I  have  been  in  an  incessant  endeavour  to 
level  the  barrier  :  while  the  public  of  England  maintained 


102 

It,  and  assiduously  repaired  its  breaches.  At  length,  I 
have  conquered ;  at  length  I  have  burst  the  shell,  and 
arrived  at  day,  plumed  and  oiled  against  the  shower. 
While  the  world  itself  was  partially  known  and  inhabited, 
the  Theosopiiist  was  feign  to  content  himself  with  a 
corner  of  seclusion  :  for  the  process,  though  finisht  with 
him,  was  scarcely  commenced  on  the  whole  ;  and  to 
have  opened  himself,  W'ould  have  been  to  admit  such 
impurities,  as  would  have  decomposed  the  first  small 
result.  This  is  no  longer  the  case.  The  World  is 
•before  me  ;  from  the  World  I  have  collected  my  ma- 
terials, from  Continents,  from  Islands,  from  every  Quar- 
ter :  To  the  World,  then,  I  give  them;  I  must  give 
them  ;  for  each  claims  his  own,  and  the  derived  progeny 
as  eagerly  converses  the  claim.  To  try  to  withhold  them 
would  be  vain  ;  and  it  would  be  pusillanimous,  thievish 
and  tyrannical  :  and  to  exclude  an  individual  from  a  free 
clioicc  of  receiving  the  fruit  of  my  Elaboration,  would 
be  Murder.  Therefore,  I  pour  out  and  drain  the  phial 
-on  the  air  and  to  the  four  winds  of  Heaven  :  and  I  do  it 
most  fearlesslv. 

It  has  been  my  business  to  embody  spirit  :  to  re- 
flect the  Rising  Sun  by  so  strong  a  mirror  from  the  West, 


103 

and  that  mirror  not  glass,  but  untarnishable  Platlna,  that 
the  man  of  any  wisdom  may  see  it ;  be  convinced  of  its 
existence  and  turn  candidly  to  the  fountain  of  Light 
and  of  Life:  ceasing,  thus,  forever,  to  think  that  it 
is  superstition  to  Vv^orship  to  the  East;  for  GOD- 
can  be  approacht  only  by  ascending  the  stream  of  Being. 
And  Philosophy  can  be  so,  only  as  far  as  it  is  Theoso- 
PHY  ;  as  it  looks  down  the  stream,  from  the  point  of 
your  nearest  access  to  the  Fountain.  Then  you  see 
things  proceeding  as  they  a6i:aally  originate ;  and  will 
comprehend  the  meaning  of  the  Prophet,  when  he  said 

to  his  GOD,  In  thy  Light,  zue  shall  see  Light. 

However,  all  that  is  obscure  here,  I  am  ready  at  any 
hour,  to  explain  to  the  meek. 

In  the  course  of  a  lonesome  pilgrimage  through  the 
World,  which  was  unavoidable  to  one,  who  saw  in  a  light 
different  from  all  the  World,  and  so  much  stronger 
that  he  could  not  possibly  forego  it 1  have  been  obli- 
ged to  do  every  office  for  myself  and  others.  I  have  taken 
in  their  turn,  the  high-ways  and  hedges,  not  to  say  the 
ditches   and   brambles,    for    I    have   never  been 

BELOW    THE     MARK    IN    ANY    UNDERTAKING;    and 

then  ascended  to  sweep  cobwebs  from  gilded  ceilings.     I 


104 

have,  often,  dirtied  myself,  it  is  true ;  but  I  did  not 
make  the  dirt — I  only  appropriated  it ;  and  this,  not- 
withstanding I  used  exertions  construftible  into  madness 
to  prevent  its  colleflion  ;  for  the  zeal  of  the  Temple  had 
even  eaten  me  up  :  Now  I  wash  my  hands  clean,  and 
DRESS.  Where  the  dust  lies,  let  it  for  ever  lie  ;  for 
the  house  will  NO  more  be  swept.  I  am  indifferent 
where  it  lies.     It  is  not  with  ME. 

Barren    Fig-Tree !      Let  no  man  pluck   fruit, 
from  thee,  any  more,  for  ever  ! 


*^*  Instead  of  Acroamatic,  I  have  used  Achromatic, 
from  a  privative,  and  yj-j:y.aliKOc,  colore  imbutus — fignifying 
CLEAR  Truth. 

I  have  thought  it  well  to  spell  with  a  t  the  participles 
wherein  d  final  is  pronounced  as  t  ;  and  any  errata  of  this  kind 
will  be  correftcd  by  the  Reader. 


ERRATA, 

P.  11  1.  1  read  Mem N ON. 
P.  66  1.  4  from  the  bottom,  read  sent  it. 
P.  77.  In  the  Note  forx  read  ^ 

P.  80.  Transpose  the  period  and  comma  in  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  lines  after  GOD- 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


'"UinW"''  ®»ee©*  "wwifi^ 


Jtl^FING  found  these  Notes  sufficiently 
voluminous  with  only  Theosophic  Learnings 
and  indeed,  the  Title  promising  no  more,  I  have 
expunged  several  hints  m  Physics,  which  1  had 
first  inserted.  These  I  shall  shortly  swell  into 
a  hulk  worthy  of  separate  publication,  under 
the  Title   of 

THE  LATF  OF  FIRE. 

Fakkwell ! 
WILLIAM  GILBERT. 


i-