But who can tell the joys of those that lie
Beneath the constant influence of her eye!
Whilst in diffusive show'rs her bounties fall
Like heaven's indulgence, and descend on all,
Secure the happy, succour the distrest,

Make ev'ry subject glad, and a whole people blest.
Thus wou'd I fain Britannia's wars rehearse,

In the smooth records of a faithful verse;

That, if such numbers can o'er time prevail,
May tell posterity the wond'rous tale.

When actions, unadorn'd,' are faint and weak,
Cities and countries must be taught to speak;
Gods may descend in factions from the skies,
And rivers from their oozy beds arise;
Fiction may deck the truth with spurious rays,
And round the hero cast a borrow'd blaze.
Marlbro's exploits appear divinely bright,

And proudly shine in their own native light;
Rais'd of themselves, their genuine charms they boast,
And those who paint 'em truest praise 'em most. 2

1 When actions unadorned, &c. Voltaire in the "Discours préliminaire" to his poem on the battle of Fontenoi, justifies his limited use of fictitious personages, by the example of Addison. "C'était ce que sentait M. Addison, bon poëte et critique judicieux. Il employa dans son poëme, qui a immortalisé la campagne de Hochstadt, beaucoup moins de fictions qu'on ne s'en est permis dans le Poëme de Fontenoi. Il savait que le duc de Marlborough et le prince Eugène se seraient très peu souciés de voir des dieux où il était question des grandes actions des hommes; il savait qu'on rélève par l'invention, les exploits de l'antiquité, et qu'on court risque d'affaiblir ceux des modernes par de froides allégories; il a fait mieux, il a intéressé l'Europe entière à son action."-Voltaire, Œuvres v.-11, p. 164. 2 "He best can paint them who shall feel them most."-Eloisa to Abelard.

When actions, &c. An apology, gracefully enough made for the prosaic plan of this poem: for though the author's invention had not supplied him with a better, his true taste could not but tell him, this was defective.

MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.

TRANSLATION OF PSALM XXIII. '

I.

THE Lord my pasture shall prepare,
And feed me with the shepherds's care:
His presence shall my wants supply,
And guard me with a watchful eye;
My noon day walks He shall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.

II.

When in the sultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountain pant,
To fertile vales and dewy meads,
My weary wand'ring steps he leads;
Where peaceful rivers soft and slow,
Amid the verdant landscape flow.

III.

Though in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread,
My steadfast heart shall fear no ill,
For thou, O Lord, art with me still;

Thy friendly crook shall give me aid,
And guide me through the dreadful shade.

'This piece was first published in the Spectator.-G.

IV.

Though in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty shall my pains beguile :
The barren wilderness shall smile,
With sudden greens and herbage crown'd,
And streams shall murmur all around.

HYMN.'

I.

WHEN all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys;
Transported with the view, I'm lost
In wonder, love, and praise.

II.

O how shall words with equal warmth
The gratitude declare,

That glows within my ravish'd heart?
But thou canst read it there.

III.

Thy providence my life sustain'd,

And all my wants redrest, When in the silent womb I lay, And hung upon the breast.

IV.

To all my weak complaints and cries,

Thy mercy lent an ear,

Ere yet my feeble thoughts had learnt
To form themselves in pray'r.

'Originally published in the Spectator.-G.