At those which thy soft influence sometimes drew

From my unguarded heart.-The tranquil shores

Of Britain circumscribed me; else, perhaps I might have been entangled among deeds, Which, now, as infamous, I should abhorDespise, as senseless; for my spirit relished Strangely the exasperation of that Land, Which turned an angry beak against the down

Of her own breast; confounded into hope Of disencumbering thus her fretful wings.

But all was quieted by iron bonds
Of military sway. The shifting aims,
The moral interests, the creative might,
The varied functions and high attributes
Of civil action, yielded to a power
Formal, and odious, and contemptible,
-In Britain, ruled a panic dread of change;
The weak were praised, rewarded, and ad-
vanced;

And, from the impulse of a just disdain,
Once more did I retire into myself.
There feeling no contentment, I resolved
To fly, for safeguard, to some foreign shore,
Remote from Europe; from her blasted
hopes,

Her fields of carnage, and polluted air

Fresh blew the wind, when o'er the Atlantic Main

The ship went gliding with her thoughtless

From unknown objects I received; and
Known and familiar, which the vaulted sky
Did, in the placid clearness of the night,
Disclose, had accusations to prefer
Against my peace. Within the cabin stood
That volume-as a compass for the soul-
Revered among the nations. I implored
Its guidance; but the infallible support
Of faith was wanting. Tell me, why refused
To One by storms annoyed and adverse
winds;

Perplexed with currents; of his weakness sick;

Of vain endeavors tired; and by his own, And by his nature's, ignorance dismayed!

Long-wished for sight, the Western World appeared;

And, when the ship was moored, I leaped ashore

Indignantly-resolved to be a man,
Who, having o'er the past no power, would
live

No longer in subjection to the past,
With abject mind-from a tyrannic lord
Inviting penance, fruitlessly endured:
So, like a fugitive, whose feet have cleared
Some boundary, which his followers may not

cross

In prosecution of their deadly chase, Respiring I looked round.-How bright the

sun,

The breeze how soft! Can anything produced

In the whole world compare, thought I, for power

And majesty with this gigantic stream, Sprung from the desert? And behold a city Fresh, youthful, and aspiring! What are these

To me, or I to them? As much at least
As he desires that they should be, whom
winds

And waves have wafted to this distant shore,
In the condition of a damaged seed,
Whose fibres cannot, if they would, take root.
Here may I roam at large;-my business is,
Roaming at large, to observe, and not to feel
And, therefore, not to act-convinced that
all

Which bears the name of action, howsoe'er
Beginning, ends in servitude--still painful,
And mostly profitless. And, sooth to say,
On nearer view, a motley spectacle
Appeared, of high pretensions-areproved

But by the obstreperous voice of higher still;
Big passion strutting on a petty stage;
Which a detached spectator may regard
Not unamused.-But ridicule demands
Quick change of objects; and, to laugh alone,
At a composing distance from the haunts
Of strife and folly, though it be a treat
As choice as musing Leisure can bestow;
Yet, in the very centre of the crowd,
To keep the secret of a poignant scorn,
Howe'er to airy Demons suitable,
Of all unsocial courses, is least fit
For the gross spirit of mankind, the one
That soonest fails to please, and quickliest

turns

Into vexation.

Let us, then, I said, Leave this unknit Republic to the scourge Of her own passions; and to regions haste, Whose shades have never felt the encroaching axe,

Or soil endured a transfer in the mart
Of dire rapacity. There, Man abides,
Primeval Nature's child. A creature weak
In combination, (wherefore else driven back
So far, and of his old inheritance

So easily deprived ?) but, for that cause,
More dignified, and stronger in himself;
Whether to act, judge, suffer, or enjoy.
True, the intelligence of social art
Hath overpowered his forefathers, and soon
Will sweep the remnant of his line away;
But contemplations, worthier, nobler far
Than her destructive energies, attend
His independence, when along the side
Of Mississippi, or that northern stream
That spreads into successive seas, he walks;
Pleased to perceive his own unshackled life,
And his innate capacities of soul,

There imaged or when, having gained the top

Of some commanding eminence, which yet
Intruder ne'er beheld, he thence surveys
Regions of wood and wide savanna, vast
Expanse of unappropriated earth,
With mind that sheds a light on what he

sees;

Free as the sun, and lonely as the sun,
Pouring above his head its radiance down
Upon a living and rejoicing world!

So, westward, tow'rd the unviolated woods
I bent my way; and, roaming far and wide,
Failed not to greet the merry Mocking-bird;

And, while the melancholy Muccawiss
(The sportive bird's companion in the grove)
Repeated, o'er and o'er, his plaintive cry,
I sympathized at leisure with the sound;
But that pure archetype of human greatness,
I found him not. There, in his stead, ap-
peared

A creature, squalid, vengeful, and impure;
Remorseless, and submissive to no law
But superstitious fear, and abject sloth.

Enough is told! Here am I-ye have heard

What evidence I seek, and vainly seek;
What from my fellow-beings I require,
And cither they have not to give, or I
Lack virtue to receive; what I myself,
Too oft by wilful forfeiture, have lost
Nor can regain. How languidly I look
Upon this visible fabric of the world,
May be divined—perhaps it hath been
said:-

But spare your pity, if there be in me
Aught that deserves respect: for I exist,
Within myself, not comfortless.-The tenor
Which my life holds, he readily may conceive
Whoe'er hath stood to watch a mountain

brook

seen,

In some still passage of its course, and
Within the depths of its capacious breast,
Inverted trees, rocks, clouds, and azure sky;
And, on its glassy surface, specks of foam,
And conglobated bubbles un lissolved,
Numerous as stars; that, by their onward
lapse,

Betray to sight the motion of the stream,
Else imperceptible. Meanwhile, is heard
A softened roar or murmur; and the sound
Though soothing, and the little floating isles
Though beautiful, are both by Nature
charged

With the same pensive office and make known

Through what perplexing labyrinths, abrupt
Precipitations, and untoward straits,
The earth-born wanderer hath passed; and
quickly,

That respite o'er, like traverses and toils
Must he again encounter.-Such a stream
Is human Life; and so the Spirit fares
In the best quiet to her course allowed;
And such is mine,-save only for a hope
That my particular current soon will reach
The unfathomable gulf, where all is still!"

DESPONDENCY CORRECTED.

ARGUMENT.

State of feeling produced by the foregoing Narrative-A belief in a superintending Providence the only adequate support under affliction-Wanderer's ejaculation-Acknowledges the difficulty of a lively faith-Hence

immoderate sorrow-Exhortations- How received-Wanderer applies his discourse to that other cause of dejection in the Solitary's mind-Disappointment from the French Revolution-States grounds of hope, and insists on the necessity of patience and fortitude with respect to the course of great revolutions-Knowledge the source of tranquillity -Rural Solitude favorable to knowledge of the inferior Creatures; Study of their habits and ways recommended; exhortation to bodily exertion ad communion with Nature Morbid Sontude pitiable - Superstition better than apathy--Apathy and destitution unknown in the infancy of society-The various modes of Religion prevented it-Illustrated in the Jewish, Persian, Babylonian, Chaldean, and Grecian modes of belief-Soiitary interposes-Wanderer points out the influence of religious and imaginative feeling in the humble ranks of society, illustrated from present and past times-These princi ples tend to recall exploded superstitions and popery-Wanderer rebuts this charge, and contrasts the dignities of the Imagination with the presumptuous littleness of certain modern Philosophers - Recommends other lights and guides-Asserts the power of the Soul to regenerate herself; Solitary asks how -Reply-Personal appeal-Exhortation to activity of body renewed-How to commune with Nature-Wanderer concludes with a legitimate union of the imagination, affections, understanding, and reason-Effect of his discourse - Evening; Return to the Cottage.

HERE closed the Tenant of that lonely vale His mournful narrative--commenced in pain, In pain commenced, and ended without peace:

Yet tempered, not unfrequently, with strains Of native feeling, grateful to our minds; And yielding surely some relief to his, While we sate listening with compassion due. A pause of silence followed; then, with voice That did not falter though the heart was moved,

The Wanderer said :

"One adequate support

For the calamities of mortal life
Exists-one only; an assured belief
That the procession of our fate, howe'er
Sad or disturbed, is ordered by a Being
Of infinite benevolence and power;
Whose everlasting purposes embrace
All accidents, converting them to good.
-The darts of anguish fix not where the seat
Of suffering hath been thoroughly fortified
By acquiescence in the Will supreme
For time and for eternity; by faith,
Faith absolute in God, including hope,
And the defence that lies in boundless love
Of his perfections; with habitual dread
Of aught unworthily conceived, endured
Impatiently, ill-done, or left undone,
To the dishonor of his holy name.
Soul of our Souls, and safeguard of the
world!

Sustain, thou only canst, the sick of heart;
Restore their languid spirits, and recall
Their lost affections unto thee and thine!"

Then, as we issued from that covert nook, He thus continued, lifting up his eyes To Heaven :-"How beautiful this dome of sky;

And the vast hills, in fluctuation fixed
At thy command, how awful! Shal! the
Soul,

Human and rational, report of thee
Even less than these?-Be mute who will,
who can,

Yet I will praise thee with impassioned voice:
My lips, that may forget thee in the crowd,
Cannot forget thee here: where thou hast
built,

For thy own glory, in the wilderness!
Me didst thou constitute a priest of thine,
In such a temple as we now behold
Reared for thy presence: therefore, I am

bound

To worship, here, and everywhere-as one Not doomed to ignorance, though forced to tread,

From childhood up, the ways of poverty;
From unreflecting ignorance preserved,
And from debasement rescued. By thy
grace

The particle divine remained unquenched;
And, 'mid the wild weeds of a rugged soil,
Thy bounty caused to flourish deathless
flowers,

From paradise transpianted; wintry age Impends; the frost will gather round my heart;

If the flowers wither, I am worse than dead! -Come, labor, when the worn-out frame requires

Perpetual sabbath; come, disease and want;
And sad exclusion through decay of sense;
But leave me unabated trust in thee-
And let thy favor, to the end of life,
Inspire me with ability to seek
Repose and hope among eternal things-
Father of heaven and earth! and I am rich,
And will possess my portion in content!

And what are things eternal?-powers depart,"

The gray-haired Wanderer steadfastly replied,

Answering the question which himself had asked,

"Possessions vanish, and opinion change,
And passions hold a fluctuating seat:
But, by the storms of circumstance unshaken,
And subject neither to eclipse nor wane,
Duty exists;-immutably survive,
For our support, the measures and the forms,
Which an abstract intelligence supplies;
Whose kingdom is where time and space are

not.

Of other converse which mind, soul, and heart,

Do, with united urgency, require,
What more that may not perish?-Thou,
dread source,

Prime, self-existing cause and end of all
That in the scale of being fill their place;
Above our human region, or below,
Set and sustained;-thou, who didst wrap
the cloud

Of infancy around us, that thyself,
Therein, with our simplicity awhile
Might'st hold, on earth, communion undis-
turbed;

Who from the anarchy of dreaming sleep,
Or from its death-like void, with punctual

own,

Her thoughts, her images, her high desires.
If the dear faculty of sight should fail,
Still, it may be allowed me to remember
What visionary powers of eye and soul
In youth were mine; when, stationed on
the top

Of some huge hill-expectant, I beheld
The sun rise up, from distant climes re-
turned

Darkness to chase, and sleep; and bring` the day

His bounteous gift! or saw him toward the deep

Sink with a retinue of flaming clouds
Attended; then, my spirit was entranced
With joy exalted to beatitude;

The measure of my soul was filled with bliss,

And holiest love; as earth, sea, air, with light,

With pomp, with glory, with magnificence!

Those fervent raptures are forever flown; And, since their date, my soul hath under

gone

Change manifold, for better or for worse: Yet cease I not to struggle, and aspire Heavenward; and chide the part of me that flags,

Through sinful choice; or dread necessity
On human nature from above imposed.
'Tis, by comparison, an easy task
Earth to despise; but, to converse with
heaven-

This is not easy-to relinquish all
We have, or hope, of happiness and joy,
And stand in freedom loosened from this
world,

I deem not arduous; but must needs confess

That 'tis a thing impossible to frame

Conceptions equal to the soul's desires; And the most difficult of tasks to keep Heights which the soul is competent to gain.

-Man is of dust. ethereal hopes are his, Which, when they should sustain themselves aloft,

Want due consistence; like a pillar of smoke,

That with majestic energy from earth Rises; but, having reached the thinner air, Melts, and dissolves, and is no longer seen. From this infirmity of mortal kind Sorrow proceeds, which else were not; at least, [dained, If grief be something hallowed and orIf in proportion it be just and meet, Yet, through this weakness of the general heart,

Is it enabled to maintain its hold

In that excess which conscience disapproves.

For who could sink and settle to that point
Of selfishness; so senseless who could be
As long and perseveringly to mourn
For any object of his love, removed
From this unstable world, if he could fix
A satisfying view upon that state
Of pure, imperishable, blessedness,
Which reason promises, and holy writ
Ensures to all believers ?-Yet mistrust
Is of such incapacity, methinks,
No natural branch; despondency far less ;
And, least of all, is absolute despair.
-And, if there be whose tender frames
have drooped

Even to the dust; apparently, through weight

Of anguish unrelieved, and lack of power
An agonizing sorrow to transmute;
Deem not that proof is here of hope with-
held

When wanted most; a confidence impaired
So pitiably that, having ceased to see
With bodily eyes, they are borne down by
love

Of what is lost, and perish through regret.
Oh ! no, the innocent Sufferer often sees
Too clearly; feels too vividly; and longs
To realize the vision, with intense
And over-constant yearning;-there-there

lies

The excess, by which the balance is destroyed.

Too, too contracted are these walls of flesh, This vital warmth too cold, these visual 'orbs,

Though inconceivably endowed, too dim
For any passion of the soul that leads
To ecstasy; and, all the crooked paths
Of time and change disdaining, takes its

course

Along the line of limitless desires.
I, speaking now from such disorder free,
Nor rapt, nor craving, but in settled peace,
I cannot doubt that they whom you deplore
Are glorified; or, if they sleep, shall wake
From sleep, and dwell with God in endless
love.

Hope below this consists not with belief
In mercy, carried infinite degrees
Beyond the tenderness of human hearts;
Hope below this consists not with belief
In perfect wisdom, guiding mightiest power
That finds no limits but her own pure will.

Zeal, and the virtue to exist by faith

As soldiers live by courage; as, by strength
Of heart, the sailor fights with roaring seas.
Alas! the endowment of immortal power
Is matched unequally with custom, time,
And domineering faculties of sense
In all, in most with superadded foes,
Idle temptations; open vanities,
Ephemeral offspring of the unblushing
world;

And, in the private regions of the mind,
Ill-governed passions, ranklings of despite,
Immoderate wishes, pining discontent,
Distress and care. What then remains?-

To seek