Strong to subvert our noxious qualities:
They sweep distemper from the busy day,
And make the chalice of the big round year
Run o'er with gladness; whence the Being moves
In beauty through the world; and all who see
Bless him, rejoicing in his neighbourhood."

Then," said the Solitary, "by what force

Of language shall a feeling heart express
Her sorrow for that multitude in whom

We look for health from seeds that have been sown
In sickness, and for increase in a power

That works but by extinction? On themselves
They cannot lean, nor turn to their own hearts
To know what they must do; their wisdom is
To look into the eyes of others, thence
To be instructed what they must avoid:
Or rather, let us say, how least observed,
How with most quiet and most silent death,
With the least taint and injury to the air
Th' oppressor breathes, their human form divine,
And their immortal soul, may waste away."
The Sage rejoin'd, "I thank you,

you have spared
My voice the utterance of a keen regret,
A wide compassion which with you I share.
When, heretofore, I placed before your sight
A Little-one, subjected to the arts

Of modern ingenuity, and made

The senseless member of a vast machine,
Serving as doth a spindle or a wheel;

Think not that, pitying him, I could forget
The rustic Boy who walks the fields, untaught;
The slave of ignorance, and oft of want,
And miserable hunger. Much, too much,
Of this unhappy lot, in early youth

We both have witness'd,- lot which I myself
Shared, though in mild and merciful degree:
Yet was the mind to hindrances exposed,
Through which I struggled, not without distress
And sometimes injury, liko a lamb enthrall'd
'Mid thorns and brambles; or a bird that breaks
Through a strong net, and mounts upon the wind,
Though with her plumes impair'd. If they, whose souls
Should open while they range the richer fields.
Of merry England, are obstructed less
By indigence, their ignorance is not less,
Nor less to be deplored. For who can doubt

That tens of thousands at this day exist
Such as the boy you painted, lineal heirs
Of those who once were vassals of her soil,
Following its fortunes like the beasts or trees
Which it sustain'd. But no one takes delight
In this oppression; none are proud of it;
It bears no sounding name, nor ever bore;
A standing grievance, an indigenous vice
Of every country under heaven. My thoughts
Were turn'd to evils that are new and chosen,
A bondage lurking under shape of good,
Arts, in themselves beneficent and kind,
But all too fondly follow'd and too far;-
To victims, which the merciful can see,

Nor think that they are victims; turn'd to wrongs,
By women, who have children of their own,
Beheld without compassion, yea, with praise!
I spake of mischief by the wise diffused
With gladness, thinking that the more it spreads
The healthier, the securer, we become;
Delusion which a moment may destroy!
Lastly, I mourn'd for those whom I had seen
Corrupted and cast down, on favour'd ground,
Where circumstance and nature had combined
To shelter innocence and cherish love;

Who, but for this intrusion, would have lived,
Possess'd of health, and strength, and peace of mind;
Thus would have lived, or never have been born.

Alas! what differs more than man from man!

The Sun is fix'd,

And whence that difference? whence but from himself?
For see the universal Race endow'd
With the same upright form!
And th' infinite magnificence of heaven
Fix'd, within reach of every human eye;
The sleepless ocean murmurs for all ears;
The vernal field infuses fresh delight

Into all hearts. Throughout the world of sense,
Even as an object is sublime or fair,

That object is laid open to the view

Without reserve or veil; and as a power

Is salutary, or an influence sweet,

Are each and all enabled to perceive

That power, that influence, by impartial law.
Gifts nobler are vouchsafed alike to all;

Reason, and, with that reason, smiles and tears;
Imagination, freedom in the will;

Conscience to guide and check; and death to be
Foretasted, immortality conceived

By all, a blissful immortality,

To them whose holiness on Earth shall make
The Spirit capable of Heaven, assured.

Strange, then, nor less than monstrous, might be deem'd The failure, if th' Almighty, to this point

Liberal and undistinguishing, should hide

The excellence of moral qualities

From common understanding; leaving truth
And virtue difficult, abstruse, and dark;

Hard to be won, and only by a few;

Strange, should He deal herein with nice respects,
And frustrate all the rest! Believe it not:
The primal duties shine aloft-like stars;
The charities that soothe, and heal, and bless,
Are scatter'd at the feet of Man like flowers.

The generous inclination, the just rule,

Kind wishes, and good actions, and pure thoughts, -
No mystery is here! Here is no boon

For high, yet not for low; for proudly graced, -
Yet not for meek of heart. The smoke ascends
To heaven as lightly from the cottage-hearth
As from the haughtiest palace. He whose soul
Ponders this true equality may walk

The fields of earth with gratitude and hope;
Yet, in that meditation, will he find
Motive to sadder grief, as we have found;
Lamenting ancient virtues overthrown,
And for th' injustice grieving, that hath made
So wide a difference between man and man.

Then let us rather fix our gladden'd thoughts
Upon the brighter scene. How blest that pair
Of blooming Boys, (whom we beheld even now,)
Blest in their several and their common lot!
A few short hours of each returning day
The thriving prisoners of their village-school;
And thence let loose, to seek their pleasant homes
Or range the grassy lawn in vacancy;

To breathe and to be happy, run and shout,
Idle, but no delay, no harm, no loss;

For every genial power of Heaven and Earth,
Through all the seasons of the changeful year,
Obsequiously doth take upon herself

To labour for them; bringing each in turn
The tribute of enjoyment, knowledge, health,

Beauty, or strength! Such privilege is theirs,
Granted alike in th' outset of their course
To both; and, if that partnership must cease,
I grieve not," to the Pastor here he turn'd,
"Much as I glory in that child of yours,
Repine not for his cottage-comrade, whom
Belike no higher destiny awaits

Than th' old hereditary wish fulfill'd;
The wish for liberty to live, -content

With what Heaven grants, and die, in peace of mind,
Within the bosom of his native vale.

At least, whatever fate the noon of life
Reserves for either, sure it is that both
Have been permitted to enjoy the dawn;
Whether regarded as a jocund time,
That in itself may terminate, or lead
In course of nature to a sober eve.
Both have been fairly dealt with; looking back
They will allow that justice has in them
Been shown, alike to body and to mind."
He paused, as if revolving in his soul
Some weighty matter; then, with fervent voice
And an impassion'd majesty, exclaim'd:

"O, for the coming of that glorious time
When, prizing knowledge as her noblest wealth
And best protection, this imperial Realm,
While she exacts allegiance, shall admit
An obligation, on her part, to teach
Them who are born to serve her and obey;
Binding herself by statute to secure

For all the children whom her soil maintains

The rudiments of letters, and inform

The mind with moral and religious truth,

Both understood and practised: so that none,
However destitute, be left to droop

By timely culture unsustain'd; or run
Into a wild disorder; or be forced

To drudge through a weary life without the help
Of intellectual implements and tools;

A savage horde among the civilized,
A servile band among the lordly free!
This sacred right the lisping babe proclaims
To be inherent in him, by Heaven's will,
For the protection of his innocence;
And the rude boy - who, having overpast
The sinless age, by conscience is enroll'd,

Yet mutinously knits his angry brow,
And lifts his wilful hand on mischief bent,
Or turns the godlike faculty of speech
To impious use - by process indirect

Declares his due, while he makes known his need.
This sacred right is fruitlessly announced,
This universal plea in vain addressed,

To

eyes and ears of parents who themselves
Did, in the time of their necessity,

Urge it in vain; and therefore, like a prayer
That from the humblest floor ascends to Heaven,
It mounts to reach the State's parental ear;
Who, if indeed she own a mother's heart,
And be not most unfeelingly devoid
Of gratitude to Providence, will grant

Th' unquestionable good,-which England, safe
From interference of external force,

May grant at leisure; without risk incurr'd
That what in wisdom for herself she doth,
Others shall e'er be able to undo.

Look! and behold, from Calpè's sunburnt cliffs
To the flat margin of the Baltic sea,1
Long-reverenced titles cast away as weeds;
Laws overturn'd; and territory split,
Like fields of ice rent by the polar wind,
And forced to join in less obnoxious shapes
Which, ere they gain consistence, by a gust
Of the same breath are shatter'd and destroy'd.
Meantime the sovereignty of these fair Isles
Remains entire and indivisible:

And, if that ignorance were removed which breeds
Within the compass of their several shores
Dark discontent or loud commotion, each
Might still preserve the beautiful repose
Of heavenly bodies shining in their spheres.
The discipline of slavery is unknown
Among us, hence the more do we require
The discipline of virtue; order else

Cannot subsist, nor confidence, nor peace.
Thus, duties rising out of good possest,
And prudent caution needful to avert

Impending evil, equally require

That the whole people should be taught and train❜d.

1 That is, throughout the whole extent of Western Continental Europe; Calpe be ing the ancient name of the southernmost point of Spain. The allusion is to the radi cal doings of Napoleon in overturning ancient thrones and states, and substituting sword-law, generally.