Once," and with mild demeanour, as he spake, On us the venerable Pastor turned His beaming eye that had been raised to Heaven, "Once, while the Name, Jehovah, was a sound Within the circuit of this sea-girt isle Unheard, the savage nations bowed the head Then, in the bosom of yon mountain-cove, Or to propitiate. And, if living eyes Had visionary faculties to see The thing that hath been as the thing that is, And full assemblage of a barbarous host; The appearances of things! From such, how changed So wide the difference, a willing mind Whence but from thee, the true and only God, Of good from evil; as if one extreme Whose love, whose counsel, whose commands, have made Your very poorest rich in peace of thought And in good works; and him, who is endowed These barren rocks, your stern inheritance; These fertile fields, that recompense your pains; This vesper-service closed, without delay, From that exalted station to the plain Descending, we pursued our homeward course, In mute composure, o'er the shadowy lake, Under a faded sky. No trace remained Of those celestial splendours; grey the vault– Pure, cloudless, ether; and the star of eve Was wanting; but inferior lights appeared Faintly, too faint almost for sight; and some Above the darkened hills stood boldly forth In twinkling lustre, ere the boat attained Her mooring-place; where, to the sheltering tree, Our youthful Voyagers bound fast her prow, With prompt yet careful hands. This done, we paced The dewy fields; but ere the Vicar's door Was reached, the Solitary checked his steps; Then, intermingling thanks, on each bestowed A farewell salutation; and, the like Receiving, took the slender path that leads To the one cottage in the lonely dell: But turned not without welcome promise made That he would share the pleasures and pursuits To wander with us through the fertile vales, To enfeebled Power, From this communion with uninjured Minds, To seek, in degradation of the Kind, 'Descend, prophetic Spirit, that inspir'st 'Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic Soul Shakspeare's Sonnets. Page 30. much did he see of Men.' At the risk of giving a shock to the prejudices of artificial society, I have ever been ready to pay homage to the aristocracy of nature; under a conviction that vigorous human-heartedness is the constituent principle of true taste. It may still, however, be satisfactory to have prose testimony how far a Character, employed for purposes of imagination, is founded upon general fact. I, therefore, subjoin an extract from an author who had opportunities of being well acquainted with a class of men, from whom my own personal knowledge emboldened me to draw this portrait. 'We learn from Cæsar and other Roman Writers, that the travelling merchants who frequented Gaul and other barbarous countries, either newly conquered by the Roman arms, or bordering on the Roman conquests, were ever the first to make the inhabitants of those countries familiarly acquainted with the Roman modes of life, and to inspire them with an inclination to follow the Roman fashions, and to enjoy Roman conveniences. In North America, travelling merchants from the Settlements have done and continue to do much more towards civilising the Indian natives, than all the missionaries, papist or protestant, who have ever been sent among them. |