#sv3» r/ • :■/' > .4 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Treasure %oom THE PLEASURES OF HOPE; 1VITH OTHZfe POEMS. BY THOMAS CAMPBELL. EDINBURGH, PRINTED; NEW-YORK, RE-PRINTEn BY JOHN FURMAJJ, OPP05ITE TH£ CiTY-HALL, FOR JOtfSS BvLL, 1800. TO ROBERT ANDERSON, M. B, THE IfOLLQ i POEMS ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBEl , EV [IIS SINCERE ERIEKDj _1j UUli. • CONTENTS, Page Pleasures cf Hope, Part I 9 Part II 51 Notes to Part 1 71 Part II 85 as of a New Translation of the Medea of I iripides, 93 Love and Madness, an Elegy, . SONGS. The Wounded Hussar, ......... 1 13 , 115 1U> THE pleasures of Hope* PART FIRST. &/f&. osftcnfati pleasures of f^)ope PART I. ,/xT summer eve, when Heav'n's aerial bow Spans with bright arch the glittering hills below, Why to yon mountain turns the musing eye, Whose sunbright summit mingles with the sky ? Why do these cliffs of shadowy tint appear More sweet than all the landscape smiling near? 'Tis Distance lends enchantment to the view, And robes the mountain m its azure hue. l'J PLEASURES 0! HOPS. Thus, with delight." we linger to survey The promis'd joys cf life's unmeasur'd wa Thus, from afar, each dim-disc aver'd scene More pleasing seems than all the pas been ; And every f arm tl y can reoair From dark oblivion, glows divinely there. hat potent spirit guides the ra »tui d eye To peirce the shades of dim : Can Wisdom lend, with ail her heav'nly po '.. The pledge of Joy's ant Ah, no ! she darkly sees the fate of man — Her dim horizon bounded to . Or, if she hold as image to the view 3 'Tis Nature pictur'd too severely true. With thee, sweet Hope 1 re That pours remotest rapture -'- *---- - w -- t; PLEASURES OF HOPE. 11 Thine is the charm of Hxe's bewilder'd way, 25 That calls each slumb'ring passion into play. Wak'd by thy touch, I see the sister band, On tiptoe watching, start at thy command, And fly where'er thy mandate bids them steer, To Pleasure's path, or glory's bright career. 30 Primeval Hope, the Aonian Muses When Man and Nature mourn 'd their first decay ; When every form of death, and every woe, Shot from malignant stars to earth below ; When Murder bared his arm, and rampant War Yok'd the red dragons of her iron car ; When Peace and Mercy, banish'd from the plain, Sprung on the viewless winds to Heav'n again ; All, all forsook the friendless guilty mind, But Hope, the charmer, linger'd still behind. 40 19 PLEASURES CF HOPE. Thus, while Elijah's burning wheels prepare, From Carmel's height to sweep the fields of air, The prophet's mantle, ere his flight began, Dropt on the world — a sacred gift to man. Auspicious Hope ! in thy sweet garden grow 45 Wreaths for each toil, a charm for every woe : Won by their sweets, in Nature's languid hour, The Way-worn pilgrim seeks thy summer bower ; There, as the wild bee murmurs on the wing, What peaceful dreams thy handmaid spirits bring ; 50 "What viewless forms th' ^Eolian organ play, And sweep the furrowed lines of anxious thought away 1 Angel of life ! thy glittering "Kings explore Earth's loneliest bounds, and Ocean's wildest shore. PLEASURES OF HOPE. 13 Lo! to the wint'ry winds the pilot yields 55 His bark careering o'er unfathom'd fields; Now on Atlantic waves he rides afar, Where Andes, giant of the western star, With meteor-standard to the winds unfurl'd, Looks from his throne of clouds o'er half the world. 60 Now far he sweeps, where scarce a summer smiles, On Behrring's rocks, or Greenland's naked isles ; Gold on his midnight watch the breezes blow, From wastes that slumber in eternal snow ; And waft, across the wave's tumultuous roar, 6 The wolf's long howl from Oonalaska's shore. _•> Poor child of danger, nursling of the storm, Sad are the woes that wreck thy manly form ! Rocks, waves, and winds, the shatter'd bark delay Thy heart is sad, thy home is far aw--. B 70 14 PLEASURES OF HOPE. But Hope can here her moonlight vigils keep; And sing to charm the spirit of the deep : Swift as yon streamer lights the starry pole, Her visions warm the watchman's pensive soul. His native hills that rise in happier climes, 75 The grot that heard his song of other times, His cottage home, his bark of slender sail, His glassy lake, and broomwood blossom'd vale, Hush en his thought ; he sweeps before the wind, Treads the lov'd shore he sigh'd to leave behind ; 80 Meets at each step a friend's familiar face, And flies at last to Helen's long embrace ; Wipes from her cheek the rapture-speaking tear, And clasps, with many a sigh, his children dear 1 While, long negleaed, but at length caress'd, His faithful dog salutes the smiling guest, Points to the master's eyes (where'er they roam) His wistful face, and whines a welcome home, PLEASURES OF HOPE. 15 Friend of the brave ! in peril's darkest hour, Intrepid Virtue looks to thee for power ; 90 To thee the heart its trembling homage yields. On stormy floods, and carnage -cover'd fields, When front to front the banner'd hosts combine, Halt ere they close, and form the dreadful line. When all is still on Death's devoted soil, 95 The march-worn soldier mingles for the toil ; As rings his glittering tube, he lifts on high The dauntless brow, and spirit-speaking eye. Hails in his heart the triumph yet to come, And hears thy stormy music in the drum ! 100 And such thy strength-inspiring aid that bore The hardy Byron to his native shore — * In horrid climes, where Chiloe's tempests sweep Tumultuous murmurs o'er the troubled deep, 16 ASURLS OF HOPE. 'Twas his to mourn misfortune's rudest shock, 105 Scourg'd by the winds, and cradled on the rock, To wake each joyless morn, and search again The famish'd haunts of solitary men ; Whose race, unyielding as their native storm, Knows not a trace of Nature but the form ; 110 Yet, at thy call, the hardy tar pursued, Pale but intrepid, sad but unsubdued, Pierc'd the deep woods, and, hailing from afar. The moon's pale planet, and the northern star j Paus'd at each dreary cry, unheard before, 1 1 5 Hyaenas in the wild, and mermaids on the shore ; Till, led by thee e'er many a cliff sublime, Ke found a warmer world, a milder clime, A heme to rest, a shelter to defend, Peace and repese, a Biitcn and a friend 1 z 120 / PLEASURES OF HOPE. 17 Congenial Hope ! thy passion-kindling power How bright, how strong", in youth's untroubled hour \ On yon proud height, with Genius hand in hand, I see thee light, and wave thy gclien wand. " Go, Child of Heav'n (thy winged words prcclidnr) 'Tis thine to search the boundless fields cf fame ! 125 Lo ! Newton, Priest cf Nature, shines afar, Scans the wide world, and numbers ev'ry star ! Wilt thou, with him, mysterious rites apply, And watch the shrine with wondbr-beamuT* eve ? 130 Yes, thou shalt mark, with marie art profound, The speed cf Light, the circling march cf scan:! ; With Franklin grasp the lightning's aery win-, Or yield the lyre of Heav'n another string. 3 The Swedish sage admire-, in yonder boVfs, 4 125 His winged inssfts, and his rosy gow'rs ; B 2 18 PLEASURES OF HOPE. Calls from their woodland haunts the savage train With sounding horn, and counts them on the plain — So once, at Heav'n's command, the wand'rers came To Eden's shade, and heard their various name. 140 " Far from the world, in yon sequester'd clime, Slow pass the sons of Wisdom, more sublime ; Calm as the fields of Heav'n, his sapient eye The lov'd Athenian lifts to realms on high, Admiring Plato on his spotless page, 145 Stamps the bright dictates of the Father sage : i Shall Nature bound to Earth's diurnal span The fire of God, th' immortal soul of man :' " Turn, Child of Heav'n, thy rapture-lighten'd eye To Wisdom's walks, the sacred Nine are nigh: 150 Hark ! from bright spires that gild the Delphian height, From streams that wander in eternal light. PLEASURES OF ROPE. 19 Ranged on their hill, Harmonia's daughters swell The mingling tones of horn, and harp, and shell ; Deep from his vaults, the Loxian murmurs flow, s 155 And Pythia's awful organ peals below. " Eelov'd of Heav'n ! the smiling muse shall shed Her moonlight halo on thy beauteous head ; Shall swell thy heart to rapture unconnn'd, And breathe a holy madness o'er thy mind. 1 60 I see thee roam her guardian pow'r beneath, And talk with spirits on the midnight heath ; Inquire of guilty wand'rers whence they came, And ask each blood-stain'd form his earthly name ; Then weave in rapid verse the deeds they tell, 165 And read the trembling world the tales of hell. « "When Venus, thron'd in clouds of rosy hue, Flings from her golden urn the vesper dew j 20 fLZASURLS OF HO And bids fend man her glimmering noon employ, Sacred to love, and walks of tender joy ; 170 A milder mood the goddess shall recall, And soft as dew thy tones cf music fall ; Vv hile Beauty's deeply-pi&ur'd smiles impart, A pang more dear than pleasure to the hear: Warm as thy sighs shall flow the Lesbian strain, Us And plead in Beauty's ear, nor plead in vain. " Or wilt thou Orphean hymns mere sacred deem, And steep thy song in Mercy's mellow stream ; To pensive drops the radiant eye beguile For Beauty's tears are lovelier than her smile ; On Nature's throbbing anguish pour relief, And teach impassiou'd souls the Toy cf Grief? " Yes ; to thy tongue shall ser~ph words be giv'n, And pcwV en earth ta plead the cause of rleav'aj PLEASURES OF HOPE. 21 The proud, the cold untroubled heart of stone, 185 That never mus'd on sorrow but its own, Unlocks a generous store at thy command, Like Horeb's rocks beneath the prophet's hand. 6 The living lumber of his kindred earth, Charm'd into soul, receives a second birth ; 190 Feels thy dread pow'r another heart afford, Whose passion-touch'd harmonious strings accord True as the circling spheres to Nature's plan j And man, the brother, lives the friend of man ! u Bright as the pillar rose at Heav'n's command, 195 When Israel march'd along the desert land, Blaz'd through the ni^ht on lonely wilds afar, And told the path — a never-setting star : So ! heav'nly Genius, in thy course divine, Hope is thy star, her light is ever thine." 200 22 PLEASURES CF K0?£. Propitious Pow'r ! when rankling cares annoy The sacred home cf Hymenean jcy ; When doom'd to Poverty's sequester d dell, The wedded pair cf love and virtue dwell, Unpitied by the world, unknown to fame, 205 Their woes, their wishes, and their hearts the same — Oh there, prophetic Hope ! thy smile bestow, And chase the ..pangs that worth should never know — There, as the parent deals his scanty store To friendless babes, and weeps to give no mere ; 210 Tell that his manly race shall yet assuage Their father's wrongs, and shield his later age. What though for him no Hybla sweets distill, Nor bloomy vines wave radiant on the hill ; Tell, that when silent years have pass'd away, 215 That when his eye grows dim, his tresses gray, These busy hands a lovelier cot shall build, And deck with fairer fiow'rs his little field : PLEASURES OF HOPE. 23 And call from Heav'n propitious dews to breathe Arcadian beauty on the barren heath : 220 Tell, that while Love's spontaneous smile endears - The days of peace, the sabbath of his years, Health shall prolong to many a festive hour The social pleasures of his humble bow'r. Lo ! at the couch where infant beauty sleeps, 225 Her silent watch the mournful mother keeps ; She, while the lovely babe unconscious lies, Smiles on her little son with pensive eyes, And weaves a song of melancholy joy — I Sleep, image of thy father, sleep my boy : 230 No ling'ring hour of sorrow shall be thine ; No sigh that rends thy father's heart and mine ; Bright as his manly sire, the son shall be In form and soul ; but, ah ! more blest than he ! 24 PLEASURES OF HOPE. Thy fame, thy worth, thy filial love at last, 235 Shall soothe this aching heart for all the past — With many a smile my solitude repay, And chase the world's ungenerous scorn away. " And say, when summon'd from the world and thee, I lay my head beneath the willow tree ; 240 Wilt tkou, sweet mourner ! at my stone appear, And soothe my parted spirit lingering near ? Oh, wilt thou come 1 at ev'ning hour, to shed The tears of Memory o'er my narrow bed ; With aching temples on thy hand reclin'd, 24o Mtfse on the last farewell I leave behind, Breathe a deep sigh to winds that murmur low, And think on all my love, and all my woe ?" So speaks affection, ere the infant eye Can look regard, or brighten in reply ; ~50 PLEASURES OF HOPE. 23 But when the cherub lip hath learnt to claim A mother's ear by that ende?ring name j Soon as the playful innocent can prove A tear of pity, or a smile of love. Or cons his murm'ring task beneath her care, 255 Or lisps with holy look his ev'ning prayer, Or gazing, mutely pensive, sits to hear The mournful ballad warbled in his ear ; How fondly looks admiring Hope the while, At every artless tear, and every smile ; 260 How glows the joyous parent to descry A guileless bosom, true to sympathy ! Where is the troubled heart consign'd to share Tumultuous toils, or solitary care, Unblest by visionary thoughts that stray 265 -To count the joys of Fortune's better day J 26 PLEASURES OF HOPE. Lo, nature, life, and liberty relume The dim-ey'd tenant of the dungeon gloom, A long lost friend, or hapless child restor'd, Smile at his blazing hearth and social board ; 27G Warm from his heart the- tears of rapture flow, And virtue triumphs o'er remember'd woe. Chide not his peace, proud Reason ! nor destroy The shadowy forms of uncreated joy, That urge the lingering tide of life, and pour 275 Spontaneous. slumber on his midnight hour. Hark ! the wild maniac sings to chide the gale That wafts so slow her lover's distant sail ; She, sad spectatress, on the wint'ry shore "Watch'd the rude surge his shroudless corse that bore, Knew the pale form, and, shreaking in amaze, 281 Claspt her cold hands, and fix'd her maddening gaze ; PLEASURES OF HOPE. 27. Poor widow'd wretch 1 'twas there she wept in vain Till memory fled her agonizing brain ;— But Mercy gave, to charm the sense of woe, 285 Ideal peace, that Truth could ne'er bestow : — Warm on her heart the joys of Fancy beam, And aimless Hope delights her darkest dream. Oft when yon moon has climb 'd the midnight sky, And the lone sea-bird wakes its wildest cry, 290 Pii'd on the steep her blazing faggots burn To hail the bark that never can return ; And still she waits, but scarce forbears to weep That constant love can linger on the deep. And, mark the wretch, whose wand'rings never knew The world's regard, that soothes, though half untrue, 296 Whose erring heart the lash of sorrow bore, Eut found not pity when it err'd no more. PLEASURES OF HOPE. Yon friendless man, at whose dejected eye Th' unfeeling proud one looks — and passes by, S00 Condemn'd on Penury's barren path to roam, Scorn'd by the world, and left without a home — Ev'n he, at evening, should he chance to stray Down by the hamlet's hawthorn-scented way, Where round the cot's romantic glade, are seen 505 The blossom'd bean-field, and the sloping green, Leans o'er its humble gate, and thinks the while — Oh! that for me some home like this would smile, 'Some hamlet shado> to yield my sickly form, Health in the breeze, anc v in the storm; 310 Th;re should my hand no stinted boon assign To wretched hearts with sorrows such as mine; — That generous wish can soothe impitied care, And Kope half mingks with the poor man's pray'r. PLEASURES OF HOPE, 29 Hope ! when I mourn, with sympathizing mind, 315 The wrongs of fate, the woes of human kind, Thy blissful omens bid my spirit see The boundless fields of rapture yet to be ; I watch the wheels of Nature's mazy plan, And learn the future by the past of man. 320 Come, bright Improvement ! on the car of Time, And rule the spacious woild from clime to clime : Thy handmaid arts shall every wild explore, Trace every wave, and culture every shore. On Erie's banks, where tygers steal along, 325 And the dread Indian chaunts a dismal song, Where human fiends on midnight errands walk, And bathe in brains the murd'rous tomahawk; There shall the flocks on thymy pasture stray, And shepherds dance at Summer's op'nmg- day ; 330 C 2 30 PLEASURES OF HOPE. Eachwand'ring genius of the lonely glen Shall start to view the glittering haunts of men ; And silence watch, on woodland heights around, The village curfew, as it tolls profound. In Lybian groves, where damned rites are done 335 That bathe the rocks in blood, and veil the sun, Truth shall arrest the murd'rous arm profane, Wild Obi flies 7 — the veil is rent in twain. Where barb'rous hordes on Scythian mountains roam, Truth, Mercy, Freedom, yet shall find a home ; 340 Where'er degraded Nature bleeds and pines, From Guinea's coast to Sibir's dreary mines, 8 Truth shall pervade th' unfathom'd darkness there, And light the dreadful features of despair : — Hark 1 the stern captive spurns his heavy load, . 3i5 And asks the image back that Heaven bestow 'd ! PLEASURES OF HOPE. 31 Fierce in his eye the fire of valour burns, And, as the slave departs, the man returns ! Oh ! sacred Truth ! thy triumph ceased awhile, And Hope, thy sister, ceas'd with thee to smile, 350 When leagu'd Oppression pour'd to Northern wars Her whisker'd pandoors and her fierce hussars, "VVav'd her dread standard to the breeze of morn, Pe&l'd her loud drum, and twang'd her trumpet horn ; Tumultuous horror brooded o'er her van, 355 Presaging wrath to Poland — and to man ! 9 Warsaw's last champion from her height survey'd, Wide o'er the fields, a waste of ruin laid, — Oh 1 Heav'n ! he cried, my bleeding country save !— Is there no hand on high to shield the brave ! 360 Yet, though destruction sweep these lovely plains, Rise, fellow men I our country yet remains 1 oZ PLEASURES OF HOPE. By that dread name we wave the sword on high, And swear for her to live ! — with her to die ! He said, and, on the rampart-heights, array 'd S65 His trusty warriors, few, but undismay'd ; Firm-pac'd and slow, a horrid front they form, Still as the breeze, but dreadful as the storm ; Low murm'ring sounds along their banners fly, Revenge, or death, — the watchword and reply \ 5 TO Then peal'd the notes, omnipotent to charm, And the loud tocsin toll'd their last alarm I — In vain, alas 1 in vain, the gallant few I From rank to rank your volley'd thunder flew : — Oh 1 bloodiest picture in the book of Time, 375 Sarmatia fell, unwept, without a crime ; f Found not a generous friend, a pitying foe ! Strength in her arms, nor mercy in her woe 1 PLEASURES OF HOPE. 33 Dropt from her nerveless grasp the shatter \1 speer, Clos'd her bright eye, and curb'd her high career ; — 380 Hope, for a season, bade the world farewell, And Freedom shriek 'd — as Kosciusko fell ! The sun went down, nor ceas'd the carnage there, Tumultuous murder shook the midnight air- — On Prague's proud arch the fires of ruin glow, 385 His blood-dy'd waters murm'ring far below*; — The storm prevails, the rampart yields a way, Bursts the wild cry of horror and dismay 1 Hark ! as the smouldering piles with thunder fill, A thousand shrieks for hopeless mercy call 1 290 Earth shook-— red meteors flash'd along the sky, And conscious Nature shudder'd at the cry 1 Oh ! Righteous Heav'n ! ere Freedom found a grave, Why slept the sword, omnipotent to save ? 34 PLEASURES OF HOPE. Where was thine arm, O vengeance ! where thy rod, 395 That smote the foes of Zion and of God, That crnsh'd proud Amnion, when his iron car Was yck'd in wrath, and thunder'd from afar ? Where was the storm that slumber'd till the host Of blood-stain'd Pharaoh i- J ft their trembling coast, 400 Then bade the deep in wild commotion now, And heav'd an ocean on their march be] Departed spirits of the mighty dead 1 Ye that at Marathon and Leuclra bled ! Friends of the world 1 restore your swords to man, 405 Fight in his sacred cause, and lead the van I Yet for Sarmatia's tears of blood atone, And make her arm puissant as your own : — Oh ! once again to Freedom's cause return The patriot Tell — the Bruce of Bannockburn 1 410 PLEASURES OF HOPE. 35 Yes I thy proud lords, unpitied land I shall see That man hath yet a soul — and dare be free ! A little while, along thy saddening plains, The starless night of desolation reigns ; Truth shall restore the light by Nature given, 415 And, like Prometheus, bring the fire of Heav'n ! Prone to the dust Oppression shall be hurl'd, Her name, her nature, wither'd from the world ! Ye that the rising morn invidious mark, And hate the light — because your deeds are dark ; 420 Ye that expanding truth invidious view, And think, or wish the song of Hope untrue j Perhaps your little hands presume to span The march of Genius, and the pow'rs of man ; Perhaps yt watch, at Pride's unhallow'd shrine, 425 Her victims, newly slain, and thus divine : 36 PLEASURES OF HOPE. " Here shall thy triumph, Genius, cease, and here Truth, Science, Virtue, close your short career." Tyrants ! in vain ye trace the wizard ring ; In vain ye limit mind's unwearied spring ; 430 What 1 can ye lull the winged winds asleep, Arrest the rolling world, or chain the deep ? No : — the wild wave contemns your scepter'd hand :— It roll'd not back when Canute gave command ! Man ! can thy doom no brighter soul allow ? 435 Still must thou live a blot on Nature's brow ? Shall War's polluted banner ne'er be furl'd ? Shall crimes and tyrants cease but with the world ? What ! are thy triumphs, sacred Truth, belied ? Why then hath Plato liv'd — or Sydney died? 440 PLEASURES OF HOPE. 37 Ye fond adorers of departed fame, Who warm at Scipio's worth, or Tully's name ! Ye that, in fancied vision, can admire The sword of Brutus, and the Theban lyre ! Wrapt in historic ardour, who adore 44 ; v Each classic haunt and well-remember'd shore, Where valour tun'd, amifl her chosen throng, The Thracian trumpet and the Spartan song ; •Or, wand'ring thence, behold the later charms Of England's glory, and Helvetia's arms ! 4 ,0 See Roman fire ift Hampden's bosom swell, And fate and freedom in the shaft of Tell ! Say, ye fond zealots to the worth of yore, Hath valour left the world—to live no more ? No more shall Brutus bid a tyrant die, 455 And sternly smile with vengeance in his eye ? Hampden no more, when suffering Freedom calls. Encounter fate, and triumph as he falls ? D 38 PLEASURES OF HOPE. Nor Tell disclose, through peril and alarm, The might that slumbers in a peasant's arm ? 460 Yes ! in that generous cause, for ever strong, The patriot's virtue and the poet's song- Still, as the tide of ages rolls away, Shall charm the world, unconscious of decay I Yes ! there are hearts, prophetic Hope may trust, 465 That slumber yet in uncreated dust, Ordain'd to fire the adoring sons of earth With every charm of wisdom and of worth ; Ordain'd to light with intelle&ual day, The mazy wheels of Nature as they play, Or warm with Fancy's energy, to glow, And rival all but Shakspeare's name below ! PLEASURES OF HOPE. g£ And say, supernal Powers ! who deeply scan Heav'n's dark decrees, unfathom'd yet by man, When shall the world call down, to cleanse her shame, 47 o That embryo spirit, yet without a name, — That Friend of Nature, whose avenging hands Shall burst the Lybian's adamantine bands ? Who, sternly marking on his native soil, The blood, the tears, the anguish, and the toil, 48$ Shall bid each righteous heart exult to see Peace to the slave, and vengeance on the free ! Yet, yet, degraded men ! the expected day That breaks your bitter cup, is far away ; Trade, wealth, and fashion, ask you still to bleed, 485 And holy men give scripture for the deed ; Scourg'd and debas'd, no Briton stoops to save A. wretch, a coward ; yes, because a slave !— 40 PLEASURES OF HOPE. Eternal Nature 1 when thy giant hand Had heav'd the floods, and fix'd the trembling land, 490 When life sprung startling at thy plastic call, Endless her forms, and man the lord of all ! Say, was that lordly form inspir'd by thee, To wear eternal chains, and bow the knee ? 'Was man ordiin'd the slave of man to toil, 495 Yck'd with the brutes, and fetter'd to the soil ; Weigh 'd in a tyrant's balance with his gold ? Nol — Nature stamp'd us in a heav'nly mould ! She bade no wretch his thankless labour urge, Nor, trembling, take the pittance and the scourge ! 500 No homeless Lybian, on the stormy deep, To call upon his country's name and weep 1 — Lo ! Once in triumph, en his boundless plain. The quiver'd chief of Congo lov'd to reign ; PLEASURES OF HOPE. 41 With fires proportioned to his native sky, 505 Strength in his arm, and light'ning in his eye ; Scour'd with wild feet his sun-illumin'd zone, The spear, the lion, and the woods his own ; Or led the combat, bold without a plan, Ah artless savage, but a fearless man] 510 The plunderer came : — alas ! no glory smiles For Congo's chief on yonder Indian isles j For ever fallen ! no son of Nature now, With Freedom charter'd on his manly brow I Faint, bleeding, bound, he weeps the night away, 5 1 5 And, when the sea-wind wafts the dew T Iess day, Starts, with a bursting heart, for evermore To curse the sun that lights their guilty shore I The shrill horn blew * c ; at that alarum knell His guardian angel took a last farewell ! 520 D 2 42 PLEASURES OF HOPE. That funeral dirge to darkness hath resign 'd The fiery grandeur cf a generous mind ! — Poor fetter'd man ! I hear thee whispering low Unhallowed vows to Guilt, the child of Woe ! Friendless thy heart ; and, canst thou harbour there 525 A wish but death — a passion but despair? The widow'd Indian, when her lord expires, Mounts the dread pile, and braves the funeral fires ! So falls the heart at Thraldom's bitter sigh! So Virtue dies, the spouse of Liberty ! 530 Eut not to Lybia's barren climes alone, To Chili, or the wild Siberian zone, Belong the wretched heart and haggard eye, Degraded worth, and poor misfortune's sigh ! — Ye orient realms, where Ganges' waters run ! 535 Prolific fields 1 dominions cf the sun ! PLEASURES OF HOPE. 43 How long your tribes have trembled and obey'd 1 How long* was Timur's iron sceptre sway'd ! * ' Whose marshall'd hosts, the lions of the plain, From Scythia's northern mountains to the main, 540 Rag'd o'er your plunder'd shrines and alters bare, With blazing torch and gory scymitar, — Stunn'd with the cries of death each gentle gale r And bath'd in blood the verdure of the vale ! Yet could no pangs th' immortal spirit tame, 545 When Brama's children perish'd for his name j The martyr smil'd beneath avenging pow'r, And brav'd the tyrant in his torturing hour I When Europe sought your subject realms to gain, And stretch'd her giant sceptre o'er the main, 550 Taught her proud barks thsir winding way to shaoe. And brav'd the stormy spirit of the Cape \ l z 44 PLEASURES OF HOPE. Children of Brama ' then was mercy nigh To wash the stain of blood's eternal dye ? Did Peace descend, to triumph and to save, 55 5 When free-born Britons cross'd the Indian wave ? Ah, no 1 to more than Rome's ambition true, The Nurse of Freedom gave it not to you ! She the bold route of Europe's guilt began, And, in the march of nations, led the van! 560 Rich in the gems of India's gaudy zone, And plunder pil'd from kingdoms not their own, Degenerate Trade ! thy minions could despise The heart-born anguish of a thousand cries ; Could lock, with impious hands, their teeming store, 5 65 While famish'd nations died along the shore ; ■ 3 Could mock the groans of fellow men, and bear, The curse cf kingdoms peopled with despair ; PLEASURES OF HOPE. 4,5 Could stamp disgrace on Nature's hollow name, And barter; with their gold, eternal shame ! 570 But, hark! as bow'd to earth the Bramin kneels. From heav'nly climes propitious thunder peals ! Of India's fate her guardian spirits tell, Prophetic murmurs breathing on the shell, And solemn sounds, that awe the list'ning mind, 575 Roll on the azure paths of ey'ry wind. " Foes of mankind ! (her guardian spirits say), Revolving ages bring the bitter day, When Heav'n's unerring arm shall fall on you, And blood for blood these Indian plains bedew ; 5S9 Nine times have Brama's wheels oi light'ning hurl'd His awful presence o'er the prostrate world ; Nine times hath Guilt, through all his giant frame, Convulsive trembled, as the Mighty came ; 45 PLEASURES OF HOPE. Nine times hath suffering Mercy spared in vain — 14 585 But Heav'n shall burst her starry gates again ! He comes! dread Brama shakes the sunless sky With murmuring wrath, and thunders from on h. Heaven's fiery horse, beneath his warrior form, Paws the light clowds, and gallops on the storm 1 590 Wide waves bis nickering sword, his bright arms glow Like summer suns, and light the world below 1 Earth, and her trembling isles in Ocean's bed Are shock ; and Nature rocks beneath his tread 1 To pour redress on India's injur'd realm 595 The oppressor to dethrone, the proud to whelm ; To chase destruction from her plunder'd shore With arts and arms that triumph 'd once before, The tenth Avater comes I at Heaven's command Shall Seriswar.ee ■ 5 wave her hallowed wand ! 600 PLEASURES OF HOPE. 47 And Camdeo bright, and Ganesa sublime, Shall bless with joy their own propitious clime ! — Come, Heav'nly Powers 1 primeval peace restore ! Love ! — Mercy ! — Wisdom 1 — rule for evermore I END OF PART FIRST* THE ^Imures of 2|ope, PART SECOND. IpIWtfUWtf of ipopc. PART II. AN joyous youth, what soul hath never known Thought, feeling, taste, harmonious to its own ? Who hath not paused, while Beauty's pensive eye Ask'd from his heart the homage of a sigh ? Who hath notown'd, with rapture-smitten frame, The power of grace, the magic of a name ! There be, perhaps, who barren hearts avow, Cold as the rocks on Torneo's hoary, brow ; j2 pleasures of hope. There be, whose loveless wisdom never fail'd, In self-adoring pride securely mail 'd ; — 10 But, triumph not, ye peace-enamour'd few 1 Fire, Nature, Genius, never dwelt with you ! For you no fancy consecrates the scene Where rapture utter'd vows, and wept between ; 'Tis yours, unmov'd, to sever and to meet; 15 No pledge is sacred, and no home is sweet ! Who that would ask a heart to dulness wed, The waveless calm, the slumber of the dead ? No ; the wild bliss of Nature needs alloy, And fear and sorrow fan the fire of joy I 20 And say, without our hopes, without our fears, Without the home that plighted love endears, Without the smile from partial beauty won, Oh ! what were man ? — a world without a sun 1 PLEASURES OF HOPE. 53 Till Hymen brought his love-delighted hour, 25 There dwelt no joy in Eden's rosy bow'r I In vain the viewless seraph ling 'ring there, At starry midnight, charm'd the silent air ; In vain the wild-bird carol'd on the steep, To hail the sun, slow-wheeling from the deep; 30 In vain, to sooth the solitary shade, Aerial notes in mingling measure play'd ; The summer wind that shook the spangled tree, The whispering wave, the murmur of the bee — Still slowly pass'd the melancholy day, 35 And still the stanger wist not where to stray, — The world was sad ! — the garden was a wild ! And Man, the hermit, sigh'd — till Woman smil'd ! I me ! the sad power to generous hearts may bring Delirious anguish on his fiery wing ! 40 E 2 54 PLEASURES OF HOPE* Barr'd from delight by Fate's untimely hand, By wealthless lot, or pitiless command ; Or doom'd to gaze on beauties that adorn The smile of triumph, or the frown of scorn ; While Memory watches o'er the sad review 45 Of joys that faded like the morning dew ; Peace may depart — and life and nature seem A barren path — a wildness, and a dream 1 But, can the noble mind for ever brood, The willing victim of a weary mood, 50 On heartless cares that squander life away, And cloud young Genius bright'ning into day ! — Shame to the coward thought that e'er bctray'd The noon of manhood to a myrtle shade 1— * Jf Hope's creative spirit cannot raise 55 One trophy sacred to thy future days, PLEASURES OF HOPE. 55 Scorn the dull crowd that haunt the gloomy shrine Of hopeless love, to murmur and repine 1 But, should a sigh of milder mood express Thy heart-warm wishes true to happiness, 60 Should Heav'n's fair harbinger delight to pour Her blissful visions on thy pensive hour, No tear to blot thy memory's piclur'd page, No fears but such as Fancy can assuage ; Though thy w T ild heart some hapless hour may miss 65 The peaceful tenor of unvaried bliss, (For love pursues an ever devious race, True to the winding lineaments of grace) ; Yet still may Hope her talisman employ To snatch from Heaven anticipated joy, 70 And all her kindred energies impart Thar burn the brightest in the purest heart ! 56 PLEASURES OF HOPE, When first the Rhodian's mimic art array'd The queen of Beauty in her Cyprian shade, The happy master mingled on his piece 75 Each look that charm'd him in the fair of Greece ; To faultless Nature true, he stole a grace From every finer form and sweeter face ; And, as he sojourn'd on the iEgean isles, "VYoo'd all their love, and treasur'd all their smiles ; 80 Then glow'd the tints, pure, precious, and refin'd, And mortal charms seem'd heav'nly when combin'd ! Love on the picture smil'd 1 Expression pour'd Her mingling spirit there — and Greece ador'd 1 So thy fair hand, enamcur'd Fancy ! gleans 85 The treasur'd pictures of a thousand scenes ! Thy pencil traces on the Lover's thought Some cottage-home, from towns and toil remote, PLEASURES OF MOPE. 57 Where Love and Lore may claim alternate hours. With Peace embosom'd in Idalian bow'rs 1 90 Remote from busy Life's be wilder 'd way, O'er all his heart shall Taste and Beauty sway ! Free on the sunny slope, or winding shore, With hermit steps to wander and adore ! There shall he love, when genial morn appears, 95 Like pensive Beauty smiling in her tears, To watch the bright'ning roses of the sky, And muse on Nature with a poet's eye ! — And, when the iun's last splendour lights the deep. The woods, and waves, and murm'ring winds asleep ; 100 When fairy harps th' Hesperian planet hail, And the lone cuckoo sighs along the vale, His path shall be where streamy mountains swell Their shadowy grandeur o'er the narrow dell, Where mouldering piles and forests intervene, 105 Mingling with darker tints the living green ; I 58 PLEASURES OF KOPi^« No circling hills his ravish'd eye to bound, Heaven, Earth, and Ocean, blazing all around 1 The moon is up — the watch-tow'r dimly burns-— And down the vale his sober step returns ; 1 10 But pauses ofr, as ■winding rocks convey The still sweet fall of Music far away ; And oft he lingers from his home awhile To watch the dying notes ! — and start, and smile 1 Let Winter ccme : Let polar spirits hreep H5 The dark'ning world, and tempest-troubled deep 1 Though boundless snows the wither'd heath deform, And the dim sun scarce wanders through the storm ; Yet shall the smile of social love repay, With mental light, the melancholy day! 126 And, when its short and sullen noon is o'er, The ice-chain'd waters slumbering on the shore, PLEASURES OF HOPE. 59 How bright the faggots in his little hall Blaze on the hearth, and warm the pictur'd wall I How blest he names, in Love's familiar tone, 125 The kind fair friend, by Nature mark'd his own ; And, in the waveless mirror of his mind, Views the fleet years of pleasure left behind, Since Anna's empire o'er his heart began ! Since first he call'd her his before the holy man ! 1 30 Trim the gay taper in his rustic dome, And light the wint'ry paradise of home ; And let the half-uncurtain'd v/indow hail Some way-worn man benighted in the vale I Now, while the moaning night-wind rages high, 135 As sweep the shot-stars down the troubled sky, While fiery hosts in Heaven's wide circle play, &nd bathe in livid light the milky way, 60 PLEASURES OF HOPE. Safe from the storm, the meteor, and the shower/ Some pleasing page shall charm the solemn hour— 140 "With pathos shall command, with wit beguile, A generous tear of anguish, or a smile-— Thy woes, Arion ! and thy simple tale, * O'er all the heart shall triumph and prevail ! Charm 'd as they read the verse too sadly true, 145 How gallant Albert, and his weary crew, Heav'd all their guns, their foundering bark to save, And toil'd — and shriek'd — and perish'd on the wave ! Yes, at the dead of night, by Lomia's steep, The seaman's cry was heard along the deep : 150 There, on his funeral waters dark and wild, The dying father blest his darling child ! Oh ! Mercy, shield her innocence, he cried, Spent on the prayer his bursting heart, and died ! FLEASURES 6F HOPE. 61 Or will they learn how generous worth sublimes 155 The robber Moor 3 , and pleads for aH his crimes ! How poor Amelia kiss'd, with many a tear His hand, bloodstain'd, but ever ever dear ! Hung on the tortur'd bosom of her lord, And wept, and pray'd perdition from his sword ! 160 Nor sought in vain ! at that heart-piercing cry The strings of nature crack'd with agony 1 He, with delirious laugh, the dagger hurl'd, And burst the ties that bound him to the world ! Turn from his dying words, that smite with steel, 165 The shuddering thoughts, or wind them on the wheel- Turn to the gentler melodies that suit Thalia's harp, or Pan's Arcadian lute ; Or, down the stream of Truth's historic page, From clime to clime descend, from age to age ! i:o 62 PLEASURES OF HOPE. Yet there, perhaps, may darker scenes obtrude Than Fancy fashions in her wildest mood ; There shall he pause, with horrent brow, to rate "What millions died — that Caesar might be great ! * Or learn the fate that bleeding thousands bore, 5 17a JMarch'd by their Charles to Dneiper's swampy shore, Faint in his wounds, and shivering in the blast, The Swedish soldier sunk — and groan'd his last I File afier file, the stormy showers benumb, Freeze every standard-sheet, and hush the drum ! 18$ Horseman and horse confess'd the bitter pang, And arms and warriors fell with hollow clang 1 Yet, ere he sunk in Nature's last repose, Fre life's warm torrent to the fountain froze, The dying man to Sweden turned his eye, 185 Thought of his home, and clos'd it with a s; j i ! Imperial Pride look'd sullen en his plight, And Charles beheld—nor shudder'd at the sight ! PLEASURES OF HOPE. 63 Oh ! vainly wise, the moral Muse hath sung That suasive Hope hath but a Syren tongue I 19S True ; she may sport with life's untutor'd day. Nor heed the solace of its last decay, The guileless heart her happy mansion spurn. And part like Ajut 6 — -never to return 1 But yet, methinksj when Wisdom shall assuage The griefs and passions of our greener age, Though dull the close of life, and far away Each flovv'r that hail'd the dawning of the day ; Yet o'er her lovely hopes, that once were dear, The time -taught spirit, pensive, not severe, 200 With milder griefs her aged eye shall fill, And weep their falsehood, though she love them still 1 Thus, with forgiving tears, and reconcil'd, The king of Judah mourn'd his rebel child 1 64< PLEASURES OP HOPE. Musing on days when yet the guiltless boy 205 Smil'd on his sire and fill'd his heart with joy ! My Absalom 1 the voice of Nature cried ! Oh ! that for thee thy father could have died ! For bloody was the deed, and rashly done, That slev/ my Absalom 1 — my son 1 — my son ! 210 Unfading Kope 1 when life's last embers burn, When soul to soul, and dust to dust return ! Heav'n to thy charge resigns the awful hour 1 Oh 1 then, thy kingdom comes !- Immortal Power 1 What though each spark of earth-born rapture fly 215 quivering lip, pale cheek, and closing eye I Bright to the soul thy seraph hands convey The morning dieam of life's eternal day — Then, then, the triumph and the trance begin ! And all the Phrenix spirit burns within ! 230 PLEASURES OF HOPE. 55 Cease, every joy, to glimmer on my mind, But leave — oh ! leave — the light of hope behind ! What though my winged hours of bliss have been, Like angel visits, few and far between ; Her musing mood shall every pang appeas, 225 And charm — when pleasures loose the power to please ! Yes ! let each rapture, dear to Nature, flee ; Close not the light of Fortune's stormy sea , Mirth, music, friendship, Love's propitious smile, Chase every care, and charm a little while, 230 Ecstatic throbs the fluttering heart employ, And all her strings are harmoniz'd to Joy ! But why so short is love's delighted hour ? Why fades the dew on Beautie's sweeter flow'r ? Why can no hymned charm of music heal 235 The sleepless wees impassion'd spirits feel ? Can fancy's fairy hands no veil create, To hide the sad realities of fate? F 2 66 PLEASURES OF HOPE. No ! not the quaint remark, the sapient rule, Nor all the pride of Wisdom's worldly school, 24© Have pow'r to sooth, unaided and alone, The heart that vibrates to a feeling tone ! When stepdame Nature every bliss recals, Fleet as the meteor o'er the desert falls ; When, reft of all, yon widow'd sire appears 245 A lonely hermit in the vale of years ; Say, can the world one joyous thought bestow To friendship, weeping at the couch' of Woe ? No \ but a brighter soothes the last adieu, — Souls of impassion'd mould, she speaks to you ! 250 Weep not, she says, at Nature's transient pain, Congenial spirits part to meet again 1 ■ What plaintive sobs thy filial bosom drew, What sorrow chok'd thy long and last adieu 1 Daughter of Conrad 1 when he heard his knell, 255 And bade his country and his child farewell 1 PLEASURES OF HOPE. 67 Doom'd the lone isles of Sydney Cove to see, The martyr of his crimes, but true to thee. Thrice the sad father tore thee from his heart, And thrice return'd to bless thee, and to part j 2 60 Thrice from his trembling lips he murmur'd low The plaint that own'd unutterable woe ; Till Faith, prevailing o'er his sullen doom, As bursts the morn on night's unfathom'd gloom, Lur'd his dim eye to deathless hopes sublime, 265 Beyond the realms of Nature and of Time 1 " And weep not thus," he cried, " young Ellenor, My bosom bleeds, but soon shall bleed no more 1 270 Short shall this hali-extinguish'd spirit burn, And soon these limbs to kindred dust return t But not, my child 1 with life's precarious fire, The immortal ties of Nature shall expire ; These shall resist the triumph of decay, 275 "When times is o'er, and worlds have pass'd away j 68 PLEASURES OF HOPE* Cold in the dust this perish'd heart may lie, But that which warm'd it once shall never die 1 That spark unhuried in its mortal frame, With living light, eternal, and the same, 280 Shall beam on Joy's interminable years, Unveil'd by darkness — unassuag'd by tears! u Yet, on the barren shore and stormy deep, One tedious watch is Conrad doom'd to weep ; 'But when I gain the home without a friend,- 285 And press th' uneasy couch where none attend, This last embrace, still cherislrd in my heart, Shall calm the struggling spirit ere it part ! Thy darling form shall seem to hover nigh And hush the groan of life's last agony 1 290 • Farewell ! when strangers lift thy father's bier, I place my nameless stone without a tear ; When each returning pledge hath told my child That Conrad's tomb is on the deseit pil'd ; PLEASURES OF HOPE. 69 And when the dream of troubled Fancy sees 295 Its lonely rank-grass waving in the breeze ; Who then will soothe thy grief, when mine is o'er ? Who will protect thee, helpless Ellenor ? Shall secret scenes thy filial sorrows hide, Scorn'd by the world, to factious guilt allied ! 300 Ah 1 no ! methinks the generous and the good Will woo thee from the shades of solitude 1 O'er friendless grief compassion shall awake, And smile on Innocence, for Mercy's sake !" Inspiring thought of rapture yet to be, 305 The tears of love were hopeless but for thee ! If in that frame no deathless spirit dwell, If that faint murmur be the last farewell ; If fate unite the faithful but to part, Why is their memory sacred to the heart ? 310 *0 PLEASURES OF HOPE. Why does the Brother of my childhood seem Restored awhile in every pleasing dream ? Why c'o I joy the lonely spot to view, By artless friendship blest when life was new I Eternal Hope ! when yonder spheres sublime 315 Peal'd their first notes to sound the march of Time ! Thy joyous youth began — but not to fade.— "When all the sister planets have decay'd ; When wrapt in fire the realms of either glow, And Heaven's last thunder shakes the world below ; Thou, undismay'd, shalt o'er the ruin smile, 320 And light thy torch at Nature's funeral pile ! END OF THE SECOND PART. NOTES ON PART I. Note x. And such thy strength-inspiring aid that bore The hardy Byron to his native shore. The following pi&we of his own distress, given by Byron in his simple and interesting Narrative, justifies the description in p. io. After relating the barbarity of the Indian Cacique to his child, he proceeds thus :— « A day or two after, we put to sea again, and crossed the great bay I mentioned we had been at the bottom of, when we first hawled away to the westward. The land here was very low and sandy, and something like the mouth of a river which discharged itself into the sea, and which had 72 PLEASURES OF HOPE. been taken no notice of by us before, as it was so shallow that the Indians were obliged to take every thing out of their canoes and carry it over land. We rowed up the river four or five leagues, and then took into a branch of it that ran fir.t to the eastward and then to the northward : here it became much narrower, and the stream excessively rapid, so that we gained but little way, though we wrought very hard. At night we landed upon its banks, and had a most uncomfortable lodging, it being a pe.fect swamp ; and we had nothing to cover us, though it rained excessively. The Indians were little better off than we, as there was no wood here to make their wigwams ; so that all they could do was to prop up the bark, which they carry in the bottom of their canoes, and shelter themselves as well as they could to the leeward of it. Knowing the difficulties they had to encounter here, they had provided themselves with some seal ; but we had «ot a morsel to cat, after the heavy fatigues of the day, excepting a sort of root we saw the Indians m.ke use of, which was very disagreeable to the taste. We laboured all next day against the stream, and fared as we had done the day before. The next day brought us to the carrying place. Here was plenty of wood, bot nothing to be got PLEASURES OF HOPE. fg for sustenance. We passed this night as we had frequently done under a tree ; but what we suffered at this time is not easy to be expressed. I had been three days at the oar without any kind of nourishment except the wretched root above mentioned. I had no shirt, for it had rotted off by bits. All my clothes consisted, cf a short grieko (something like a bear-skin), a piece of red cloth which had once been a waistcoat, and a ragged pair of trowsers, without shoes or stockings," Note 2. A Briton and a friend.] Don Patricio Gedd, a Scotch physician in one of the Spanish settlements, hospitably relieved Syron and his wretched associates, of which the Commodore speaks in the warmest terms of gratitude. Note 3. Or yield the Lyre of Heav'n another string. The seven strings of Apollo's harp were the symbolical representations of the seven planets. Herschel, by discovering an eisHth, rai3ht be S2id to add anothef £tr . ng ^ the ^^^^ 7i PLEASURES OF HOPE. Note 4. The Swedish sage.] Linnaeus. Note 5.— Deep from his vaults the Loxian murmurs flow. Loxius is a name frequently given to Apollo by Greek writers : it is met with more than once in the Chacepbor* of ,£schylus. Note 6.— Unlocks a generous store at thy command. Like Horeb's rocks beneath the prophet's hand. See Exodui, chap. xvii. 3, 5, 6. Note 7. Wild Obi flies.] Among the negroes of the West Indies, Obi, or Obiah, is the name of a magical power, which is believed by them to arfeft the object of its malignity with dismal calamities Such a belief must undoubtedly have been deduced from the superstitious mythology of their kinsmen on the coast cf Africa. I have therefore personified Obi as the evil spirit of the African, although the history of the African tribes mentions the evil spirit of their religious creed by a different appellation. THE PLEASURES OF HOPE. 75 Note 8. Sibil's dreary mines.] Mr. Bell of Antermony, in Hi travels through Siberia, informs us that the name of the count:-- is universally pronounced Sibir by the Russians. Note 9— Presaging wrath to Poland— and to man ! « On the icth of October 1794, a dreadful engagement took place between the Russians under General Fersen and the troops under Kosciusko. The Russians advanced twice to the attack, but were repulsed by the Poles, who however, unfortunately, not contented with the advantages they had gained, abandoned their favourable position on the heights, and pressed on to the attack in their turn. This movement threw the troops into some confusion ; and the Russians, forming themselves anew, the route soon became general. The battle, which began at seven in the morning, did not end till noon. Kosciusko flew from rank to rank, and was continually in the hottest part of the engagement, in the course of which he had three horses killed under him. At length he fell ■ and a Cossack, who did not know him in the peasants dress, winch he constantly wore, wounded him from behind with a lance*. He recovered, and advanced a few steps, 75 PLEASURES «F HOPE. but was again knocked down by another Cossack, who was preparing to give him a mortal blow, when his arm was stopped bv a Russian officer, who is said to have been General Chronzazow, to whose wife Kosciusko had a short time before politely given leave of departure from Warsaw to join her husband. The unfortunate Kosciusko implored the officer, if he wished to render him a service, to allow the soldier to put an end to his existence ; but the latter chose rather to make him a prisoner. The Polish infantry defended themselves with bravery proportioned to that '^ their general, and fought with a degree of valour almost approaching to fury. The Russians under General Fersen soon afterwards summoned Warsaw to surrender; and on being refused, after the junftion of the different corps under Fersen, D-rnfeld, Denisow, and Suwarrow, they proceeded, en the *th of November, to attack the suburb of Prague. In the mean time the generals Madalinski and Dambrowski threw themselves into Warsaw, and prepared for resistance. The suburb of Prague, separated from Warsaw by the Vistula, was defended by more than a hundred pieces of •annon, dtsposed upon thirty-three batteries. Little intimidated, PLEASURES OF HOPE. 77 however, by so formidable a force, the ferocious Suwarrow commanded his soldiers to mount to the assault in the same manner they had done at Ismael, where the Russians entered by climbing over the dead and wounded bodies of their comrades, as well as of their enemies. His further orders were, that they should fight only with the sabre and bayonet. The Russians sprung to the charge with almost inconceivable impetuosity. They eagerly began to climb the works, and the six Russian columns, by singular good fortune, presented themselves at the same moment before the lines at Prague. Thus surrounded, the Polish generals found themselves unable to oppose, with io.ooo soldiers, which was the whole of their force, the united attack of 5 o,ooo men ; and, to add to their distress, the fire which they immediately commenced, from the darkness of the night, was so ill directed as to pass over the heads of the assailants. The cry raised by the successful columns penetrated to the entrenchments on the tl • side the Vistula, and added to the consternation of the Poles engaged with the other part of the Russian force; and they endeavoured to find safety by retiring iato Warsaw, over a bridge. In their retreat they were met by another body of Russians, and a dreadful carnag, ensued, in which a g-ent part of the garriso, of G 2 73 PLEASURES OF HOPE. Prague was miserably slaughtered. After a severe- conflict of eight hours, the resistance on the part of the Poles ceased •, but the massacre by the detestable Suwarrow, who, from h : s habitual cruelty, was selected for this service, continued for two hours longer ; and the pillage lasted till noon on the following day. Jive thousand Poles were computed to have been slain in the assault ; the remainder were either imprisoned or dispersed. The citizens were compelled to lay down their arms, and their houses were plundered by the merciless Russians, who, after the battle had ceased nearly ten hours, about nine o'clock, at night set fire to the town, and again began to massacre the inhabitants ; nine thousand persons, unarmed men, defenceless women, and harmless infants, perished either in the flames or by the sword, and nearly the whole of the suburb was reduced to ashes. In the whole of this siege it is computed that not less than 30,000 of the Poles were inhumanly put to death. In this exigence, Count Potock'., * the chief of the insurrection, proposed to treat with the Russians, and repaired to their head quarters with propositions of peace in name of the republic. He was received with extreme haughtiness by the infamous Suwarrow, who observed that the Empress was act at war with the republic: that his only object in coming PLEASURES OF HOPE. . 79 to Warsaw was to reduce the refractory subjects of Poland to obedience ; and he intimated that he should not treat with any- insurgent, but only with such as, invested with legitimate authority, should come to speak in the name, and on the part of his Polish majesty. Deputies were dispatched from the magistracy of Warsaw to the Russian commander, who returned, after having been constrained to surrender the city at discretion, under the single condition of securing to the citizens their lives and property. The general insolently observed, that there was another article which, without doubt, they had forgotten to ask, but which he would accede to them, which was pardon for the past. Inconsequence of this arrangement, the firing which had been kept up in the suburb of Prague ceased, and all the inhabitants were requested to surrender their arms. This was refused by the soldiers in the city, and their chief Wawrzecki, with many others of the supreme council, refused to take part in the capitulation. This impeded the close of the negociation ; but the military, who refused to lay down their arms, were allowed to leave Warsaw, not however without a declaration from Suwarrow that they might be sure of not escaping, and that, when taken, no quarter would be granted. On the morning of the 7th, the supreme council. Sfr PLEASURES OF HOPE. with the generalissimo Wawrzecki, remitted into the hands of the king the authority they had exercised. On the 9th the Russian general made his triumphal entry into Warsaw, in which the streets were lined with his troops, and the inhabitants, shut up in their houses, observed a melancholy silence. The chief magistrate delivered him the keys at the bridge of Prague ; after which he received the compliments of the king; and on the 10th, went with much pomp to the castle to pay his respefcs to his majesty. To complete the whole of this execrable scene, ostentatious and solemn bl?.sphemy was called in ; and the 1st of December was set apart for a d->y of solemn thanksgiving, and T"e Deum was sung for the triumph of poweiful oppression over persecuted virtue, to the God of all mercies, whose altars had been stained bv the blood of the innocent and helpless ; and " whose praises were chanted by