Thus bless'd with children, friend, and wife

Bless'd far beyond the vulgar lot ; Of all that gladdens human life,

Where was the good that I had not ? But my vile heart had sinful spot,

And heaven beheld its deepening stain ;
Eternal justice I forgot,

And mercy sought not to obtain.
Come near,—I'll softly speak the rest!

Alas! 'tis known to all the crowd,
Her guilty love was all confess'd;

And his who so much truth avow'd, My faithless friend's—In pleasure proud

I sat, when these cursed tidings came; Their guilt, their flight was told aloud,

And envy smiled to hear my shame! I eall'd on vengeance; at the word

She came ;-Can I the deed forget ? I held the sword, th' accursed sword,

The blood of his false heart made wet; And that fair victim paid her debt,

She pined, she died, she loathed to live ;I saw her dying—see her yet :

Fair fallen thing! my rage forgive ! Those cherubs still, my life to bless,

Were left; could I my fears remove, Sad fears that check'd each fond caress,

And poison'd all parental love? Yet that with jealous feelings strove,

And would at last have won my will,
Had I not, wretch! been doom'd to prove

Th' extremes of mortal good and ill.
In youth! health! joy! in beauty's pride!

They droop'd : as flowers when blighted bow, The dire infection came :-They died,

And I was cursed—as I am nowNay, frown not, angry friend,—allow

That I was deeply, sorely tried ; Hear then, and you must wonder how

I could such storms and strifes abide.

Like him, with haughty, stubborn mind,

I, in my state, my comforts sought; Delight and praise I hoped to find,

In what I builded, planted, bought! O arrogance! by misery taught

Soon came a voice ! I felt it come; “ Full be his cup, with evil fraught,

Demons his guides, and death his doom ! Then was I cast from out my state ;

Two fiends of darkness led my way; They waked me early, watch'd me late,

My dread by night, my plague by day! 0! I was made their sport, their play,

Through many a stormy troubled year; And how they used their passive prey

Is sad to tell :- but you shall hear And first, before they sent me forth,

Through this unpitying world to run, They robb'd Sir Eustace of his worth,

Lands, manors, lordships, every one ; So was that gracious man undone,

Was spurn'd as vile, was scorn'd as poor, Whom every former friend would shun,

And menials drove from every door. Then those ill-favour’d Ones, * whom none

But my unhappy eyes could view, Led me, with wild emotion, on,

And, with resistless terror, drew. Through lands we fled, o'er seas we flew,

And halted on a boundless plain : Where nothing sed, nor breathed, nor grew

But silence ruled the still domain. Upon that boundless plain, below,

The setting sun's last rays were shed, And gave a mild and sober glow,

Where all were still, asleep, or dead; Vast ruins in the midst were spread,

Pillars and pediments sublime, Where the gray moss had form'd a bed,

And clothed the crumbling spoils of time. There was I fix'd, I know not how,

Condemn'd for untold years to stay : Yet years were not ;-one dreadful now

Endured no change of night or day; The same mild evening's sleeping ray

Shone softly solemn and serene, And all that time I gazed away,

The setting sun's sad rays were seen. At length a moment's sleep stole on,

Again came my commission'd foes ; Again through sea and land we're gone,

No peace, no respite, no repose : Above the dark broad sea we rose,

We ran through bleak and frozen land; I had no strength their strength t' oppose,

An infant in a giant's hand. They placed me where these streamers play,

Those nimble beams of brilliant light; It would the stoutest heart dismay,

To see, to feel, that dreadful sight:

* Vide Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

VISITER.

Full joyful 'tis a soul to win,

For he that winneth souls is wise ; Nuw hark! the holy strains begin,

And thus the sainted preacher cries :* * Pilgrim, burden'd with thy sin, Come the way to Zion's gate, There, till Mercy let thee in, Knock and weep, and watch and wait.

Knock !-He knows the sinner's cry: Weep!--He loves the mourner's tears : Watch !-for saving grace is nigh:

Wait!-till heavenly light appears.
" Hark! it is the Bridegroom's voice ;
Welcome pilgrim to thy rest;
Now within the gate rejoice,
Safe and seal'd, and bought and bless'd!

Safe--from all the lures of vice,
Seal'd—by signs the chosen know,
Bought-by love and life the price,

Bless'd-the mighty debt to owe.
“ Holy Pilgrim! what for thee
In a world like this remain ?
From thy guarded breast shall flee,
Fear and shame, and doubt and pain.

Fear-the hope of Heaven shall fly,
Shame—from glory's view retire,
Doubt-in certain rapture die,

Pain-in endless bliss expire.”
But though my day of grace was come,

Yet still my days of grief I find ;
The former clouds' collected gloom

Sull sadden the reflecting mind;
The soul, to evil things consign'd,

Will of their evil some retain;
The man will seem to earth inclined,

And will not look erect again.
Thus, though elect, I feel it hard

To lose what I possess'd before,
To be from all my wealth debarr’d, -

The brave Sir Eustace is no more :
But old I wax and passing poor,

Stern, rugged men my conduct view; They chide my wish, they bar my door,

Tis hard-1 weep—you see I do.Must you, my friends, no longer stay?

Thus quickly all my pleasures end ; But I'll remember, when I pray,

My kind physician and his friend : And those sad hours, you deign to spend

With me, I shall requite them all; Sir Eustace for his friends shall send,

And thank their love at Greyling Hall

The poor Sir Eustace !-Yet his hope

Leads him to think of joys again; And when his earthly visions droop,

His views of heavenly kind remain :But whence that meek and humbled strain,

That spirit wounded, lost, resign'd ?
Would not so proud a soul disdain
The madness of the poorest mind?

PHYSICIAN.
No! for the more he swellid with pride,

The more he felt misfortune's blow;
Disgrace and grief he could not hide,

And poverty had laid him low :
Thus shame and sorrow working slow.

At length this humble spirit gave;
Madness on these began to grow,

And bound him to his fiends a slave. Though the wild thoughts had touch'd his brain

Then was he free: --So, forth he ran, To soothe or threat, alike were vain :

He spake of fiends, look'd wild and wan; Year after year, the hurried man

Obey'd those fiends from place to place ; Till his religious change began

To form a frenzied child of grace.
For, as the fury lost its strength,

The mind reposed ; by slow degrees
Came lingering hope, and brought at length,

To the tormented spirit, ease :
This slave of sin, whom fiends could seize,

Felt or believed their power had end ;“ 'Tis faith," he cried,“ my bosom frees,

And now my Saviour is my friend." But ah! though time can yield relief,

And soften woes it cannot cure ; Would we not suffer pain and grief,

To have our reason sound and sure! Then let us keep our bosoms pure,

Our fancy's favourite flights suppress; Prepare the body to endure,

And bend the mind to meet distress; And then His guardian care implore, Whom demons dread and men adore.

THE HALL OF JUSTICE.

PARTI.

Confiteor facere hoc annos; sed et altera causa est,

Ovo. Anxietas animi, continuusque dolor.

MagistraTE, VAGRANT, CONSTABLE, &c.

VAGRANT
Take, take away thy barbarous hand,

And let me to thy master speak;
Remit awhile the harsh command,

And hear me, or my heart will break.

• It has been suggested to me, that this change from res essness to repose, in the mind of Sir Eustace, is wronght by a methodistic call; and it is admitted to be such: a sober and rational conversion could not have happened while the disorder of the brain continued : yet the Ferses which follow, in a different measure, are not intended to make any religious persuasion appear ridi. culous: they are to be supposed as the effect of memory in the disordered mind of the speaker, and, though evi. dently enthusiastic in respect to language, are not meant to convey any impropriety of sentiment.

MAGISTRATE.

Fond wretch! and what canst thou relate,

But deeds of sorrow, shame, and sin ? Thy crime is proved, thou know'st thy fate ; But come, thy tale !-begin, begin!

VAGRANT.
My crime - This sickening child to feed,

I seized the food, your witness saw; í knew your laws forbade the deed,

But yielded to a stronger law.
Know'st thou, to Nature's great command

All human laws are frail and weak?
Nay! frown not-stay his eager hand,

And hear me, or my heart will break. In this, th' adopted babe I hold

With anxious fondness to my breast, My heart's sole comfort I behold,

More dear than life, when life was bless'd; I saw her pining, fainting, cold,

I begg'd—but vain was my request. I saw the tempting food, and seized

My infant sufferer found relief; And, in the pilfer'd treasure pleased,

Smiled on my guilt, and hush'd my grief. But I have griefs of other kind,

Troubles and sorrows more severe; Give me to ease my tortured mind,

Lend to my woes a patient ear; And let me-if I may not find

A friend to help-find one to hear. Yet nameless let me plead-my name

Would only wake the cry of scorn ; A child of sin, conceived in shame,

Brought forth in wo, to misery born. My mother dead, my father lost,

I wander'd with a vagrant crew; A common care, a common cost,

Their sorrows and their sins I knew; With them, by want on error forced,

Like them, I base and guilty grew. Few are my years, not so my crimes ;

The age, which these sad looks declare, Is Sorrow's work, it is not Time's,

And I am old in shame and care. l'aught to believe the world a place

Where every stranger was a foe, 'I rain'd in the arts that mark our race,

To what new people could I go?
Could I a better life embrace,

Or live as virtue dictates ? No!
So through the land I wandering went,

And little found of grief or joy ;
But lost my bosom's sweet content

When first I loved-The Gipsy-Boy. A sturdy youth he was and tall,

Ilis looks would all his soul declare; His piercing eyes were deep and small,

And strongly curl'd his raven hair. Yes, Aaron had each manly charm,

All in the May of youthful pride, He scarcely fear'd his father's arm,

And every other arm defied.ort, when they grew in anger warm,

(Whom will not love and power divide ) I rose, their wrathful souls to calm,

Not yet in sinful combat tried.

His father was our party's chief,

And dark and dreadful was his look; His presence fillid my heart with grief,

Although to me he kindly spoke. With Aaron I delighted went,

His favour was my bliss and pride ; In growing hope our days we spent,

Love growing charms in either spied, It saw them, all which Nature lent,

It lent them, all which she denied. Could I the father's kindness prize,

Or grateful looks on him bestow, Whom I beheld in wrath arise,

When Aaron sunk beneath his blow? He drove him down with wicked hand,

It was a dreadful sight to see; Then vex'd him, till he left the land

And told his cruel love to me ;The clan were all at his command,

Whatever his command might be. The night was dark, the lanes were deep,

And one by one they took their way ; He bade me lay me down and sleep,

I only wept and wish'd for day Accursed be the love he bore,

Accursed was the force ho used,
So let him of his God implore

For mercy, and be so refused !
You frown again,--to show my wrong,

Can I in gentle language speak?
My woes are deep, my words are strong,

And hear me, or my heart will break.

MAGISTRATE.

I hear thy words, I feel thy pain :

Forbear awhile to speak thy woes ;
Receive our aid, and then again

The story of thy life disclose.
For, though seduced and led astray,

Thou'st travell'd far and wander'd long; Thy God hath seen thee all the

way, And all the turns that led thee wrong.

PART II.

Quondam ridentes oculi, nunc fonte perenni
Deplorant pænus nocte dieque suas.

CORN. GALLI Eleg.

MAGISTRATE.
COME, now again thy woes impart,

Tell all thy sorrows, all thy sin ;
We cannot heal the throbbing heart

Till we discern the wounds within. Compunction weeps our guilt away,

The sinner's safety is his pain ;
Such pangs for our offences pay,
And these severer griefs are gain.

VAGRANT.
The son came back-he found us wed,

Then dreadful was the oath he swore His way through Blackburn Forest led,

His father we beheld no more.