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"Teach me this pride, thefe doubtings, to controul, "And break, Oh! break these lime-twigs of the foul." Here the meek fuff'rer rais'd her pitying eyes:"Ah! fee this book, from which my comforts rife. "Here taught we hope, when this frail life is o'er, "And all its ftorms, to gain a happier shore :

"And though a while fome fyren fin deceive, "The hand of heav'n is always ftretch'd to fave. "Hence thro' the mifts, which hover round the tomb,

"Faith learns to contemplate a world to come."

έντε

THE PEN.

πιοιμι μελαν ποιον, ἔνθεος δια

Παν ἐπῷ ἀφθεγκλῳ τῳδε λεγω τοματι.

ANON. EP.

"HAT fubtle pow'rs direct the grey goose-Quill,

WH

fkill,

How lov'd, how fear'd, how great its magic

I fing;

I fing; let Phoebus aid the pious lays;

His was the gift, let his too be the praise.

When once, as poets tell, in mortal guife

He tended sheep, an outcaft of the skies,

Taught by his ftrains, which oft in noontide bow'rs,
Or ev❜ning fhades, beguil'd the tedious hours,
With rival aim the fhepherds pip'd and fung;
Through Tempe's plains the ceafelefs echos rung.
The phrenzy grew; and trees in ev'ry grove
Bore in their barks recorded fongs of love.
This quaint device his forming hands refin'd,
And, yet unknown, the shapely pen defign'd.
Pointed and smooth'd, and dipt in fable juice,
A flender* reed defcrib'd its wond'rous use.

Still

Reeds and canes were the first inftruments ufed in writing. Pliny fays, that Egypt furnished a great quantity of reeds for this purpofe; and Martial confirms it, Dat chartis habiles calamos Memphitica tellus. Reeds and canes are fill used by the Tartars, the Indians, the Perfians, the Turks, and the Greeks.

Aftle's Origin and Progrefs of Writing, c. 8.

Still from the trees they drew their fimple aid,

And the peel'd + bark their ruftic tales convey'd.
t

But foon, when Folly spawn'd her fcribbling brood,
When, tho' the Mufe's fcorn, the Muse they woo'd,
The reed-crown'd Naiads wept the spreading ill :
He saw, and bad the goofe refign her Quill.

Hail, facred gift! when truth, and learning guide, With joy we trace, where-e'er thy currents glide. 'Tis thine, to teach, perfuade, reprove, confole,

To paint each varying movement of the soul.

Fast as ideas spring, they meet our eyes;

Thou giv'ft them shape and fubftance, as they rife; In ev'ry tongue thou speak'st to ev'ry end,

To all, in all, interpreter, and friend.

Thine

The bark of trees hath been used for writing upon, in every quarter of the globe, and is ftill ufed in feveral parts of Afia. It is obfervable, that the word LIBER was used, by the Romans, as well for the bark of a tree, as for a book. A fpecimen of Latin writing on bark is ftill preserved.

See Aftle's Origin, &c.

Thine too that pow'r, whofe influence can impart

Such harmless pride, to footh the poet's heart.

Him, who ne'er bask'd in fortune's golden fmiles,
Untrain'd in gainful arts and worldly wiles,

Though friendlefs, fasting, shiv'ring through the day,
Though duns and bailiffs mark him for their prey,
Though round his cell their webs the fpiders weave,
Which hungry rats by cautious inftinct leave,

Thy fingle aid can cheer; the scene illume,

And pour bright comfort o'er the joyless gloom.
Heedlefs of home, his fportive fancy roves

Through lawns, and roseate bow'rs, and myrtle groves,
Walks with the wood-nymphs in their verdant glades,
Or holds high converfe with Aonia's maids.
Full oft he mounts fublime to heav'n's abodes,
And hears, and speaks the language of the gods.
Thus in romance the forc'rer waves his wand,
When inftant culture clothes a naked land;

The

The rude, bleak waste a blooming verdure wears;

Rocks blush with vines, and heaths are gay parterres ; While airy forms trip o'er th' enchanted ground,

And heav'nly mufic charms the region round.

Ah! fpare your fneers, ye fons of wealth and care: Gold cannot paint a scene so gay and fair.

Such too that pow'r, which bids the landskip glow,
Provok'd it deals fure vengeance on the foe.

Scorn all, who lift; if e'er the plumed dart

Is aim'd to ftrike, it awes the proudeft heart.
This dullness feels, enflam'd with rage and fhame,

When Dunciads doom it to the fcoffs of fame.

When human laws are bought, its active zeal

Reftores to Juftice her impartial scale.

No lurking vice escapes its fcourging lay,

Stripp'd bare, and branded in the eye of day.

So Rome's grave cenfors o'er her manners reign'd,

Where juftice fail'd, their chaft'ning rod reftrain'd; If

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