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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 sympathised at leisure with the sound;
But that pure archetype of human greatness,
I found him not. There, in his stead, appeared
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 either 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 tenour Which my life holds, he readily may conceive Whoe'er hath stood to watch a mountain brook In some still passage of its course, and seen, 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 undissolved, 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!"

BOOK FOURTH.

DESPONDENCY CORRECTED.

H

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 favourable to knowledge of the inferior Creatures; Study of their habits and ways recommended; exhortation to bodily exertion and communion with Nature.-Morbid Solitude 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.-Solitary interposes.-Wanderer points out the influence of religious and imaginative feeling in the humble ranks of society, illustrated from present and past times.-These principles tend to recal 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.

DESPONDENCY CORRECTED.

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 dishonour of his holy name.

Soul of our Souls, and safeguard of the world!

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