A COMPARISON.

The lapse of time and rivers is the same,
Both speed their journey with a restless stream ;
The silent pace with which they steal away
No wealth can bribe, no prayers persuade to stay;
Alike irrevocable both when past,
And a wide ocean swallows both at last.
Though each resemble each in every part,
A difference strikes at length the musing heart;
Streams never flow in vain; where streams abound,
How laughs the land with various plenty crown'd!
But time, that should enrich the nobler mind,
Neglected, leaves a dreary waste behind.

ANOTHER.

ADDRESSED TO A YOUNG LADY.

SWEET stream that winds through yonder glade,
Apt emblem of a virtuous maid-
Silent and chaste she steals along,
Far from the world's gay busy throng,
With gentle yet prevailing force,
Intent upon her destined course ;
Graceful and useful all she does,
Blessing and blest where'er she goes.
Pure-bosom'd as that watery glass,
And heaven reflected in her face.

VERSES

SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN BY ALEXANDER SELKIRK,

DURING HIS SOLITARY ABODE IN THE ISLAND OF JUAN FERNANDEZ,

1 I Am monarch of all I survey,

My right there is none to dispute ;
From the centre all round to the sea,

I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
O Solitude! where are the charms

That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms,

Than reign in this horrible place.

2 I am out of humanity's reach,

I must finish my journey alone,
Never hear the sweet music of speech-

I start at the sound of my own.
The beasts that roam over the plain

My form with indifference see;
They are so unacquainted with man,

Their tameness is shocking to me.

3 Society, friendship, and love,

Divinely bestow'd upon man,
Oh, had I the wings of a dove,

How soon would I taste you again!
My sorrows I then might assuage

In the ways of religion and truth,
Might learn from the wisdom of age,

And be cheer'd by the sallies of youth.

4 Religion ! what treasure untold

Resides in that heavenly word!
More precious than silver and gold,

Or all that this earth can afford.
But the sound of the church-going bell

These valleys and rocks never heard,
Ne'er sigh’d at the sound of a knell,

Or smiled when a Sabbath appear’d.

5 Ye winds, that have made me your sport,

Convey to this desolate shore
Some cordial endearing report

Of a land I shall visit no more!
My friends, do they now and then send

A wish or a thought after me?
O tell me I yet have a friend,

Though a friend I am never to see!

6 How fleet is a glance of the mind

Compared with the speed of its flight ! The tempest itself lags behind,

And the swift-winged arrows of light. When I think of my own native land,

In a moment I seem to be there; But alas ! recollection at hand

Soon hurries me back to despair.

7 But the sea-fowl has gone to her nest,

The beast has laid down in his lair ; Even here is a season of rest,

And I to my cabin repair. There is mercy in every place,

And mercy, encouraging thought ! Gives even affliction a grace,

And reconciles man to his lot.

ON OBSERVING SOME NAMES OF LITTLE NOTE

RECORDED IN THE BIOGRAPHIA BRITANNICA.

Oh, fond attempt to give a deathless lot
To names ignoble, born to be forgot !
In vain recorded in historic page,
They court the notice of a future age :
Those twinkling tiny lustres of the land
Drop one by one from Fame's neglecting hand;
Lethean gulfs receive them as they fall,
And dark oblivion soon absorbs them all.

So when a child, as playful children use,
Has burnt to tinder a stale last year's news,
The flame extinct, he views the roving fire-
There goes my lady, and there goes the squire ;
There goes the parson, oh! illustrious spark,
And there, scarce less illustrious, goes the clerk !

ON THE

PROMOTION OF EDWARD THURLOW, ESQ.

TO THE LORD HIGH CHANCELLORSHIP OF ENGLAND.

1 Round Thurlow's head in early youth,

And in his sportive days,
Fair Science pour'd the light of truth,
And Genius shed his

rays.

2 See ! with united wonder, cried

The experienced and the sage, ,
Ambition in a boy supplied

With all the skill of age !

3 Discernment, eloquence, and grace,

Proclaim him born to sway
The balance in the highest place,

And bear the palm away.

4 The praise bestow'd was just and wise ;

He sprang impetuous forth,
Secure of conquest, where the prize

Attends superior worth.

5 So the best courser on the plain,

Ere yet he starts, is known,
And does but at the goal obtain

What all had deem'd his own.

ODE TO PEACE.

1 COME, Peace of mind, delightful guest ! Return, and make thy downy nest

Once more in this sad heart :
Nor riches I nor power pursue,
Nor hold forbidden joys in view;

We therefore need not part.

2 Where wilt thou dwell, if not with me, From Avarice and Ambition free,

And Pleasure's fatal wiles ?
For whom, alas ! dost thou prepare
The sweets that I was wont to share,

The banquet of thy smiles ?