s: the unexperienced and untaught bird to its egg, which induces


s: it to sit days and weeks upon it to warm the enclosed


s: embryon, is a matter of great difficulty to explain; See


s: Additional Note IX. on Storge. Concerning the fabrication of


s: their nests, see Zoonomia, Sect. XVI. 13. on instinct.]


s: at the broad end of an incubated egg gradually extends its


s: edges along the sides of the shell, as the chick enlarges,


s: but is at the same time applied closer to the internal


s: surface of the shell; when the time of hatching approaches


s: the chick is liable to break this air-bag with its beak, and


s: thence begin to breathe and to chirp; at this time the edges


s: of the enlarged air-bag extend so as to cover internally one


s: hemisphere of the egg; and as one half of the external shell


s: is thus moist, and the other half dry, as soon as the mother


s: hearing the chick chirp, or the chick itself wanting


s: respirable air, strikes the egg, about its equatorial line,


s: it breaks into two hemispheres, and liberates the prisoner.]


s: circumstance is mentioned by Kircherus de Musurgia, in his


s: Chapter de Lusciniis. "That the young nightingales, that are


s: hatched under other birds, never sing till they are


s: instructed by the company of other nightingales." And


s: Johnston affirms, that the nightingales that visit Scotland,


s: have not the same harmony as those of Italy, (Pennant's


s: Zoology, octavo, p. 255), which would lead us to suspect,


s: that the singing of birds, like human music, is an artificial


s: language rather than a natural expression of passion.]


s: "The Lion-King forgets his savage pride,


s: And courts with playful paws his tawny bride;


s: The listening Tiger hears with kindling flame


s: The love-lorn night-call of his brinded dame.


s: Despotic LOVE dissolves the bestial war,


s: Bends their proud necks, and joins them to his car;


s: Shakes o'er the obedient pairs his silken thong,


s: And goads the humble, or restrains the strong.--


s: Slow roll the silver wheels,--in beauty's pride


s: Celestial PSYCHE blushing by his side.--


s: The lordly Bull behind and warrior Horse


s: With voice of thunder shake the echoing course,


s: Chain'd to the car with herds domestic move,


s: "Pleased as they pass along the breezy shore


s: In twinkling shoals the scaly realms adore,


s: Move on quick fin with undulating train,


s: Or lift their slimy foreheads from the main.


s: High o'er their heads on pinions broad display'd


s: The feather'd nations shed a floating shade;


s: And trill in air the gay impassion'd song.


s: Emerging insects leave the peopled ground,


s: Rise in dark clouds, and borne in airy rings


s: Sport round the car, and wave their golden wings.


s: And bashful Dryads peep from shades aloof;


s: Enamour'd Tritons sound their twisted shells;


s: From sparkling founts enchanted Naiads move,


s: fish seem to be chiefly used to poise them; as they turn upon


s: their backs immediately when killed, the air-bladder assists


s: them perhaps to rise or descend by its possessing the power


s: to condense the air in it by muscular contraction; and it is


s: possible, that at great depths in the ocean the air in this


s: receptacle may by the great pressure of the incumbent water


s: become condensed into so small a space, as to cease to be


s: useful to the animal, which was possibly the cause of the


s: death of Mr. Day in his diving ship. See note on Ulva, Botan.


s: The progressive motion of fish beneath the water is produced


s: principally by the undulation of their tails. One oblique


s: plain of a part of the tail on the right side of the fish


s: strikes the water at the same time that another oblique plain


s: strikes it on the left side, hence in respect to moving to


s: the right or left these percussions of the water counteract


s: each other, but they coincide in respect to the progression


s: of the fish; this power seems to be better applied to push


s: forwards a body in water, than the oars of boats, as the


s: particles of water recede from the stroke of the oar, whence


s: the comparative power acquired is but as the difference of


s: velocity between the striking oar and the receding water. So


s: a ship moves swifter with an oblique wind, than with a wind


s: of the same velocity exactly behind it; and the common


s: windmill sail placed obliquely to the wind is more powerful


s: than one which directly recedes from it. Might not some


s: machinery resembling the tails of fish be placed behind a


s: boat, so as to be moved with greater effect than common oars,


s: by the force of wind or steam, or perhaps by hand?]


s: progressive motion of birds in the air is principally


s: performed by the movement of their wings, and not by that of


s: their tails as in fish. The bird is supported in an element


s: so much lighter than itself by the resistance of the air as


s: it moves horizontally against the oblique plain made by its


s: breast, expanded tail and wings, when they are at rest; the


s: change of this obliquity also assists it to rise, and even


s: directs its descent, though this is owing principally to its


s: specific gravity, but it is in all situations kept upright or


s: As the support of the bird in the air, as well as its


s: progression, is performed by the motion of the wings; these


s: require strong muscles as are seen on the breasts of


s: partridges. Whence all attempts of men to fly by wings


s: applied to the weak muscles of their arms have been


s: ineffectual; but it is not certain whether light machinery so


s: contrived as to be moved by their feet, might not enable them


s: to fly a little way, though not so as to answer any useful


s: Greets with mute homage the triumphal car;


s: On silvery slippers steps with bosom bare,


s: Bends her white knee, and bows her auburn hair;


s: Calls to her purple heaths, and blushing bowers,


s: Bursts her green gems, and opens all her flowers;


s: O'er the bright Pair a shower of roses sheds,


s: And crowns with wreathes of hyacinth their heads.--


s: --Slow roll the silver wheels with snowdrops deck'd,


s: And primrose bands the cedar spokes connect;


s: Round the fine pole the twisting woodbine clings,


s: And knots of jasmine clasp the bending springs;


s: Bright daisy links the velvet harness chain,


s: And rings of violets join each silken rein;


s: Festoon'd behind, the snow-white lilies bend,


s: --Slow rolls the car,--the enamour'd Flowers exhale


s: Their treasured sweets, and whisper to the gale;


s: Their ravelled buds, and wrinkled cups unfold,


s: Nod their green stems, and wave their bells of gold;


s: Breathe their soft sighs from each enchanted grove,


s: "ONWARD with march sublime in saffron robe


s: Young HYMEN steps, and traverses the globe;


s: O'er burning sands, and snow-clad mountains, treads,


s: Blue fields of air, and ocean's briny beds;


s: Flings from his radiant torch celestial light


s: O'er Day's wide concave, and illumes the Night.


s: With dulcet eloquence his tuneful tongue


s: Convokes and captivates the Fair and Young;


s: The blushing cheek, and lights the laughing eyes;


s: With secret flames the virgin's bosom warms,


s: And lights the impatient bridegroom to her arms;


s: With lovely life all Nature's frame inspires,


s: And, as they sink, rekindles all her fires."


s: Gazed on her train with sympathetic smile.


s: 'Beware of Love! she cried, ye Nymphs, and hear


s: 'His twanging bowstring with alarmed ear;


s: 'Fly the first whisper of the distant dart,


s: 'Or shield with adamant the fluttering heart;


s: 'To secret shades, ye Virgin trains, retire,


s: 'And in your bosoms guard the vestal fire.'


s: --The obedient Beauties hear her words, advised,


s: And bow with laugh repress'd, and smile chastised.


s: violent actions of laughter, and of the difficulty of


s: restraining them, is a curious subject of inquiry. When pain


s: afflicts us, which we cannot avoid, we learn to relieve it by


s: great voluntary exertions, as in grinning, holding the


s: breath, or screaming; now the pleasurable sensation, which


s: excites laughter, arises for a time so high as to change its


s: name, and become a painful one; and we excite the convulsive


s: motions of the respiratory muscles to relieve this pain. We


s: are however unwilling to lose the pleasure, and presently put


s: a stop to this exertion; and immediately the pleasure recurs,


s: and again as instantly rises into pain. Which is further


s: explained in Zoonomia, Sect. 34. 1. 4. When this pleasurable


s: sensation rises into a painful one, and the customs of


s: society will not permit us to laugh aloud, some other violent


s: voluntary exertion is used instead of it to alleviate the


s: smile has generally been ascribed to inexplicable instinct,


s: but may be deduced from our early associations of actions and


s: ideas. In the act of sucking, the lips of the infant are


s: closed round the nipple of its mother, till it has filled its


s: stomach, and the pleasure of digesting this grateful food


s: succeeds; then the sphincter of the mouth, fatigued by the


s: continued action of sucking, is relaxed; and the antagonist


s: muscles of the face gently acting, produce the smile of


s: pleasure, which is thus during our lives associated with


s: gentle pleasure, which is further explained in Zoonomia,


s: Now at her nod the Nymphs attendant bring


s: Translucent water from the bubbling spring;


s: In crystal cups the waves salubrious shine,


s: Next, where emerging from its ancient roots


s: Its widening boughs the Tree of Knowledge shoots;


s: Pluck'd with nice choice before the Muse they placed


s: Awhile they sit, from higher cares released,


s: And pleased partake the intellectual feast.


s: Of good and ill they spoke, effect and cause,


s: Sat in the cedar shade by ABRAHAM'S tent;


s: A spacious bowl the admiring Patriarch fills


s: With dulcet water from the scanty rills;


s: Sweet fruits and kernels gathers from his hoard,


s: With milk and butter piles the plenteous board;


s: While on the heated hearth his Consort bakes


s: Fine flour well kneaded in unleaven'd cakes.


s: The Guests ethereal quaff the lucid flood,


s: Smile on their hosts, and taste terrestrial food;


s: And while from seraph-lips sweet converse springs,


s: Lave their fair feet, and close their silver wings.


s: The graceful HIEROPHANT, and winged MUSE;


s: Onward they step around the stately piles,


s: O'er porcelain floors, through laqueated ailes,


s: Her gorgeous palaces, and green retreats,


s: Pervade her labyrinths with unerring tread,


s: And leave for future guests a guiding thread.


s: First with fond gaze blue fields of air they sweep,


s: Or pierce the briny chambers of the deep;


s: Earth's burning line, and icy poles explore,


s: Her fertile surface, and her caves of ore;


s: Plays round the globe in one aerial mass,


s: Or fused with Hydrogen in ceaseless flow


s: Forms the wide waves, which foam and roll below.


s: surrounds us, is composed of twenty-seven parts of oxygen gas


s: and seventy-three of azote or nitrogen gas, which are simply


s: diffused together, but which, when combined, become nitrous


s: acid. Water consists of eighty-six parts oxygen, and fourteen


s: parts of hydrogen or inflammable air, in a state of


s: combination. It is also probable, that much oxygen enters the


s: composition of glass; as those materials which promote


s: vitrification, contain so much of it, as minium and


s: manganese; and that glass is hence a solid acid in the


s: temperature of our atmosphere, as water is a fluid one.]


s: Next with illumined hands through prisms bright


s: Pleased they untwist the sevenfold threads of light;


s: To one bright point the silver hairs of Day.


s: Then mark how two electric streams conspire


s: Beneath the waves the fierce Gymnotus arm,


s: Or, through Galvanic chain-work as they pass,


s: of some philosophers, that the electric ether consists of two


s: kinds of fluids diffused together or combined; which are


s: commonly known by the terms of positive and negative


s: electricity, but are by these electricians called vitreous


s: and resinous electricity. The electric shocks given by the


s: torpedo and by the gymnotus, are supposed to be similar to


s: those of the Galvanic pile, as they are produced in water.


s: Which water is decomposed by the Galvanic pile and converted


s: into oxygen and hydrogen gas; see Additional Note XII.


s: The magnetic ether may also be supposed to consist of two


s: fluids, one of which attracts the needle, and the other


s: repels it; and, perhaps, chemical affinities, and gravitation


s: itself, may consist of two kinds of ether surrounding the


s: particles of bodies, and may thence attract at one distance


s: and repel at another; as appears when two insulated


s: electrised balls are approached to each other, or when two


s: small globules of mercury are pressed together.]


s: How Heat, pervading oceans, airs, and lands,


s: With force uncheck'd the mighty mass expands;


s: Beam'd the first spark, and lighten'd into Life.


s: Now in sweet tones the inquiring Muse express'd


s: Her ardent wish; and thus the Fair address'd.


s: "Priestess of Nature! whose exploring sight


s: Pierces the realms of Chaos and of Night;


s: Of space unmeasured marks the first and last,


s: Of endless time the present, future, past;


s: Immortal Guide! O, now with accents kind


s: Give to my ear the progress of the Mind.


s: How loves, and tastes, and sympathies commence


s: How from the yielding touch and rolling eyes


s: The piles immense of human science rise?--


s: And weighs and measures all things but himself!"


s: The indulgent Beauty hears the grateful Muse,


s: Smiles on her pupil, and her task renews.


s: Attentive Nymphs in sparkling squadrons throng,


s: Pleased Fawns and Naiads crowd in silent rings,


s: And hovering Cupids stretch their purple wings.


s: Urged by appulses from without, commence;


s: With these exertions pain or pleasure springs,


s: And forms perceptions of external things.


s: Thus, when illumined by the solar beams,


s: Yon waving woods, green lawns, and sparkling streams,


s: In one bright point by rays converging lie


s: Plann'd on the moving tablet of the eye;


s: The mind obeys the silver goads of light,


s: And IRRITATION moves the nerves of sight.


s: exertion or change of some extreme part of the sensorium


s: residing in the muscles or organs of sense in consequence of


s: the appulses of external bodies. The word perception includes


s: both the action of the organ of sense in consequence of the


s: impact of external objects and our attention to that action;


s: that is, it expresses both the motion of the organ of sense,


s: or idea, and the pain or pleasure that succeeds or


s: accompanies it. Irritative ideas are those which are preceded


s: by irritation, which is excited by objects external to the


s: organs of sense: as the idea of that tree, which either I


s: attend to, or which I shun in walking near it without


s: attention. In the former case it is termed perception, in the


s: latter it is termed simply an irritative idea.]


s: "These acts repeated rise from joys or pains,


s: So in dread dreams amid the silent night


s: Grim spectre-forms the shuddering sense affright;


s: Charms the closed eye with graces, smiles, and loves;


s: Each passing form the pausing heart delights,


s: And young SENSATION every nerve excites.


s: exertion or change of the central parts of the sensorium or


s: of the whole of it, _beginning_ at some of those extreme


s: parts of it which reside in the muscles or organs of sense.


s: Sensitive ideas are those which are preceded by the sensation


s: of pleasure or pain, are termed Imagination, and constitute


s: "Oft from sensation quick VOLITION springs,


s: When pleasure thrills us, or when anguish stings;


s: Hence Recollection calls with voice sublime


s: With potent charm in lucid trains displays


s: Hence Reason's efforts good with ill contrast,


s: Compare the present, future, and the past;


s: Each passing moment, unobserved restrain


s: The wild discordancies of Fancy's train;


s: But leave uncheck'd the Night's ideal streams,


s: exertion or change of the central parts of the sensorium, or


s: of the whole of it _terminating_ in some of those extreme


s: parts of it which reside in the muscles and organs of sense.


s: The vulgar use of the word _memory_ is too unlimited for our


s: purpose: those ideas which we voluntarily recall are here


s: termed ideas of _recollection_, as when we will to repeat the


s: alphabet backwards. And those ideas which are suggested to us


s: by preceding ideas are here termed ideas of _suggestion_, as


s: whilst we repeat the alphabet in the usual order; when by


s: habits previously acquired B is suggested by A, and C by B,


s: without any effort of deliberation. Reasoning is that


s: operation of the sensorium by which we excite two or many


s: tribes of ideas, and then reexcite the ideas in which they


s: differ or correspond. If we determine this difference, it is


s: called judgment; if we in vain endeavour to determine it, it


s: If we reexcite the ideas in which they differ, it is called


s: distinguishing. If we reexcite those in which they


s: hours, we perpetually compare the passing trains of our ideas


s: with the known system of nature, and reject those which are


s: incongruous with it; this is explained in Zoonomia, Sect.


s: sleep, the faculty of volition ceases to act, and in


s: consequence the uncompared trains of ideas become incongruous


s: and form the farrago of our dreams; in which we never


s: experience any surprise, or sense of novelty.]


s: "And last Suggestion's mystic power describes


s: Ideal hosts arranged in trains or tribes.


s: So when the Nymph with volant finger rings


s: Her dulcet harp, and shakes the sounding strings;


s: As with soft voice she trills the enamour'd song,


s: Successive notes, unwill'd, the strain prolong;


s: The transient trains ASSOCIATION steers,


s: And sweet vibrations charm the astonish'd ears.


s: exertion or change of some extreme part of the sensorium


s: residing in the muscles and organs of sense in consequence of


s: some antecedent or attendant fibrous contractions. Associate


s: ideas, therefore, are those which are preceded by other ideas


s: or muscular motions, without the intervention of irritation,


s: sensation, or volition between them; these are also termed


s: "ON rapid feet o'er hills, and plains, and rocks,


s: Speed the scared leveret and rapacious fox;


s: On rapid pinions cleave the fields above


s: With nicer nostril track the tainted ground


s: The hungry vulture, and the prowling hound;


s: With finer ear pursue their nightly course


s: The listening lion, and the alarmed horse.


s: "The branching forehead with diverging horns


s: Crests the bold bull, the jealous stag adorns;


s: Fierce rival boars with side-long fury wield


s: The pointed tusk, and guard with shoulder-shield;


s: Bounds the dread tiger o'er the affrighted heath


s: Arm'd with sharp talons, and resistless teeth;


s: The pouncing eagle bears in clinched claws


s: The struggling lamb, and rends with ivory jaws;


s: Alarms the waves with unextinguish'd fire;


s: And seeks with lucid lamp his sleeping prey;


s: Fierce on his foe the poisoning serpent springs,


s: And insect armies dart their venom'd stings.


s: peculiarities of the shapes of animals which distinguish them


s: from each other, are enumerated in Zoonomia, Sect. XXXIX. 4.


s: formed from similar living fibres, and are varied by


s: reproduction. Many of these parts of animals are there shown


s: to have arisen from their three great desires of lust,


s: "Proud Man alone in wailing weakness born,


s: No horns protect him, and no plumes adorn;


s: No finer powers of nostril, ear, or eye,


s: Teach the young Reasoner to pursue or fly.--


s: Nerved with fine touch above the bestial throngs,


s: The hand, first gift of Heaven! to man belongs;


s: Untipt with claws the circling fingers close,


s: With rival points the bending thumbs oppose,


s: Trace the nice lines of Form with sense refined,


s: And clear ideas charm the thinking mind.


s: Whence the fine organs of the touch impart


s: Time, motion, number, sunshine or the storm,


s: human species in some of their sensations are much inferior


s: to animals, yet the accuracy of the sense of touch, which


s: they possess in so eminent a degree, gives them a great


s: superiority of understanding; as is well observed by the


s: ingenious Mr. Buffon. The extremities of other animals


s: terminate in horns, and hoofs, and claws, very unfit for the


s: sensation of touch; whilst the human hand is finely adapted


s: to encompass its object with this organ of sense. Those


s: animals who have clavicles or collar-bones, and thence use


s: their forefeet like hands, as cats, squirrels, monkeys, are


s: more ingenious than other quadrupeds, except the elephant,


s: who has a fine sense at the extremity of his proboscis; and


s: many insects from the possessing finer organs of touch have


s: greater ingenuity, as spiders, bees, wasps.]


s: idea of solidity is excited a part of the extensive organ of


s: touch is compressed by some external body, and this part of


s: the sensorium so compressed exactly resembles in figure the


s: figure of the body that compressed it. Hence when we acquire


s: the idea of solidity, we acquire at the same time the idea of


s: figure; and this idea of figure, or motion of a part of the


s: organ of touch, exactly resembles in its figure the figure of


s: the body that occasions it; and thus exactly acquaints us


s: with this property of the external world.


s: Now, as the whole universe with all its parts possesses a


s: certain form or figure, if any part of it moves, that form or


s: figure of the whole is varied. Hence, as motion is no other


s: than a perpetual variation of figure, our idea of motion is


s: also a real resemblance of the motion that produced it.


s: Hence arises the certainty of the mathematical sciences, as


s: they explain these properties of bodies, which are exactly


s: resembled by our ideas of them, whilst we are obliged to


s: collect almost all our other knowledge from experiment; that


s: is, by observing the effects exerted by one body upon


s: "Slow could the tangent organ wander o'er


s: The rock-built mountain, and the winding shore;


s: But as each mass the solar ray reflects,


s: The eye's clear glass the transient beams collects;


s: Bends to their focal point the rays that swerve,


s: And paints the living image on the nerve.


s: So in some village-barn, or festive hall


s: The spheric lens illumes the whiten'd wall;


s: O'er the bright field successive figures fleet,


s: And motley shadows dance along the sheet.--


s: Symbol of solid forms is colour'd light,


s: And the mute language of the touch is sight.


s: observe a difference of colour, or of shade, in the


s: prominences and depressions of objects, and that those shades


s: uniformly vary when the sense of touch observes any


s: variation. Hence when the retina becomes stimulated by


s: colours or shades of light in a certain form, as in a


s: circular spot, we know by experience that this is a sign that


s: a tangible body is before us; and that its figure is


s: resembled by the miniature figure of the part of the organ of


s: Here whilst the stimulated part of the retina resembles


s: exactly the visible figure of the whole in miniature, the


s: various kinds of stimuli from different colours mark the


s: visible figures of the minuter parts; and by habit we


s: So that though our visible ideas resemble in miniature the


s: outline of the figure of coloured bodies, in other respects


s: they serve only as a language, which by acquired associations


s: introduce the tangible ideas of bodies. Hence it is, that


s: this sense is so readily deceived by the art of the painter


s: to our amusement and instruction. The reader will find much


s: very curious knowledge on this subject in Bishop Berkeley's


s: Essay on Vision, a work of great ingenuity.]


s: "HENCE in Life's portico starts young Surprise


s: With step retreating, and expanded eyes;


s: The virgin, Novelty, whose radiant train


s: Soars o'er the clouds, or sinks beneath the main,


s: Thrills the young sense, the tender heart alarms.


s: And meeting lips the lines of form demands,


s: Buoy'd on light step, o'er ocean, earth, and sky,


s: Rolls the bright mirror of her restless eye.


s: While in wild groups tumultuous Passions stand,


s: And Lust and Hunger head the Motley band;


s: Then Love and Rage succeed, and Hope and Fear;


s: And nameless Vices close the gloomy rear;


s: Convokes the adoring Youth to Virtue's shrine;


s: Who with raised eye and pointing finger leads


s: To truths celestial, and immortal deeds.


s: occasioned by the sudden interruption of the usual trains of


s: our ideas by any violent stimulus from external objects, as


s: from the unexpected discharge of a pistol, and hence does not


s: exist in our dreams, because our external senses are closed


s: or inirritable. The fetus in the womb must experience many


s: sensations, as of resistance, figure, fluidity, warmth,


s: motion, rest, exertion, taste; and must consequently possess


s: trains both of waking and sleeping ideas. Surprise must


s: therefore be strongly excited at its nativity, as those


s: trains of ideas must instantly be dissevered by the sudden


s: and violent sensations occasioned by the dry and cold


s: atmosphere, the hardness of external bodies, light, sound,


s: and odours; which are accompanied with pleasure or pain


s: according to their quantity or intensity.


s: As some of these sensations become familiar by repetition,


s: other objects not previously attended to present themselves,


s: and produce the idea of novelty, which is a less degree of


s: surprise, and like that is not perceived in our dreams,


s: though for another reason; because in sleep we possess no


s: voluntary power to compare our trains of ideas with our


s: previous knowledge of nature, and do not therefore perceive


s: their difference by intuitive analogy from what usually


s: As the novelty of our ideas is generally attended with


s: pleasurable sensation, from this arises Curiosity, or a


s: desire of examining a variety of objects, hoping to find


s: novelty, and the pleasure consequent to this degree of


s: small bodies into their mouths, when they are satiated with


s: food, as well as when they are hungry, not with design to


s: taste them, but use their lips as an organ of touch to


s: distinguish the shape of them. Puppies, whose toes are


s: terminated with nails, and who do not much use their forefeet


s: as hands, seem to have no other means of acquiring a


s: knowledge of the forms of external bodies, and are therefore


s: perpetually playing with things by taking them between their


s: Beauty's fine forms attract our wondering eyes,


s: And soft alarms the pausing heart surprise.


s: Warm from its cell the tender infant born


s: Feels the cold chill of Life's aerial morn;


s: Seeks with spread hands the bosoms velvet orbs,


s: With closing lips the milky fount absorbs;


s: And, as compress'd the dulcet streams distil,


s: Drinks warmth and fragrance from the living rill;


s: Eyes with mute rapture every waving line,


s: Prints with adoring kiss the Paphian shrine,


s: And learns erelong, the perfect form confess'd,


s: beautiful lines are copied from Mr. Bilsborrow's Address


s: prefixed to Zoonomia, and are translated from that work;


s: distinguished from the animal passion of that name, with


s: which it is frequently accompanied, consists in the desire or


s: sensation of beholding, embracing, and saluting a beautiful


s: The characteristic of beauty therefore is that it is the


s: object of love; and though many other objects are in common


s: language called beautiful, yet they are only called so


s: metaphorically, and ought to be termed agreeable. A Grecian


s: temple may give us the pleasurable idea of sublimity, a


s: Gothic temple may give us the pleasurable idea of variety,


s: and a modern house the pleasurable idea of utility; music and


s: poetry may inspire our love by association of ideas; but none


s: of these, except metaphorically, can be termed beautiful, as


s: we have no wish to embrace or salute them.


s: Our perception of beauty consists in our recognition by the


s: sense of vision of those objects, first, which have before


s: inspired our love by the pleasure, which they have afforded


s: to many of our senses; as to our sense of warmth, of touch,


s: of smell, of taste, hunger and thirst; and, secondly, which


s: bear any analogy of form to such objects.]


s: "Now on swift wheels descending like a star


s: Alights young EROS from his radiant car;


s: Earth at his feet extends her flowery bed,


s: And bends her silver blossoms round his head;


s: Dark clouds dissolve, the warring winds subside.


s: And smiling ocean calms his tossing tide,


s: O'er the bright morn meridian lustres play,


s: And Heaven salutes him with a flood of day.


s: deities of Love belonging to the heathen mythology, the one


s: said to be celestial, and the other terrestrial. Aristophanes


s: says, "Sable-winged Night produced an egg, from which sprung


s: up like a blossom Eros, the lovely, the desirable, with his


s: glossy golden wings." See Botanic Garden, Canto I. l. 412.


s: Note. The other deity of Love, Cupido, seems of much later


s: date, as he is not mentioned in the works of Homer, where


s: there were so many apt situations to have introduced him.]


s: Te, Dea, te fugiunt venti, te nubila coeli,


s: Adventumque tuum; tibi suaves dædala tellus


s: Submittit flores; tibi rident æquora ponti;


s: Placatumque nitet diffuso lumine coelum.


s: "Warm as the sun-beam, pure as driven snows,


s: The enamour'd GOD for young DIONE glows;


s: Drops the still tear, with sweet attention sighs,


s: Marks her white neck beneath the gauze's fold,


s: Her ivory shoulders, and her locks of gold;


s: Drinks with mute ecstacy the transient glow,


s: Which warms and tints her bosom's rising snow.


s: With holy kisses wanders o'er her charms,


s: O'er her blue eye-balls close the lovely lid,


s: Watches each nascent smile, and fleeting grace,


s: That plays in day-dreams o'er her blushing face;


s: Counts the fine mazes of the curls, that break


s: Round her fair ear, and shade her damask cheek;


s: Drinks the pure fragrance of her breath, and sips


s: With tenderest touch the roses of her lips;--


s: O'er female hearts with chaste seduction reigns,


s: The bending woodlands, or the winding shores,


s: Hills, whose green sides with soft protuberance rise,


s: Or the blue concave of the vaulted skies;--


s: Or scans with nicer gaze the pearly swell


s: Of spiral volutes round the twisted shell;


s: Or undulating sweep, whose graceful turns


s: Bound the smooth surface of Etrurian urns,


s: When on fine forms the waving lines impress'd


s: Give the nice curves, which swell the female breast;


s: The countless joys the tender Mother pours


s: Round the soft cradle of our infant hours,


s: Rise in our bosoms _recognized by sight_;


s: Fond Fancy's eye recalls the form divine,


s: And TASTE sits smiling upon Beauty's shrine.


s: after it is born into this cold world, is applied to its


s: mother's bosom; its sense of perceiving warmth is first


s: agreeably affected; next its sense of smell is delighted with


s: the odour of her milk; then its taste is gratified by the


s: flavour of it; afterwards the appetites of hunger and of


s: thirst afford pleasure by the possession of their objects,


s: and by the subsequent digestion of the aliment; and lastly,


s: the sense of touch is delighted by the softness and


s: smoothness of the milky fountain, the source of such variety


s: All these various kinds of pleasure at length become


s: associated with the form of the mother's breast; which the


s: infant embraces with its hands, presses with its lips, and


s: watches with its eyes; and thus acquires more accurate ideas


s: of the form of its mother's bosom, than of the odour and


s: flavour or warmth, which it perceives by its other senses.


s: And hence at our maturer years, when any object of vision is


s: presented to us, which by its waving or spiral lines bears


s: any similitude to the form of the female bosom, whether it be


s: found in a landscape with soft gradations of rising and


s: descending surface, or in the forms of some antique vases, or


s: in other works of the pencil or the chisel, we feel a general


s: glow of delight, which seems to influence all our senses; and


s: if the object be not too large, we experience an attraction


s: to embrace it with our arms, and to salute it with our lips,


s: as we did in our early infancy the bosom of our mother. And


s: thus we find, according to the ingenious idea of Hogarth,


s: that the waving lines of beauty were originally taken from


s: And stretch their shadows o'er the shuddering sand;


s: Or where high rocks o'er ocean's dashing floods


s: Wave high in air their panoply of woods;


s: Admiring TASTE delights to stray beneath


s: With eye uplifted, and forgets to breathe;


s: Or, as aloft his daring footsteps climb,


s: Crests their high summits with his arm sublime.


s: have been generally divided into the beautiful, the sublime,


s: and the new; and lately to these have been added the


s: picturesque. The beautiful so well explained in Hogarth's


s: analysis of beauty, consists of curved lines and smooth


s: surfaces, as expressed in the preceding note; any object


s: larger than usual, as a very large temple or a very large


s: mountain, gives us the idea of sublimity; with which is often


s: confounded the terrific, and the melancholic: what is now


s: termed picturesque includes objects, which are principally


s: neither sublime nor beautiful, but which by their variety and


s: intricacy joined with a due degree of regularity or


s: uniformity convey to the mind an agreeable sentiment of


s: novelty. Many other agreeable sentiments may be excited by


s: visible objects, thus to the sublime and beautiful may be


s: added the terrific, tragic, melancholic, artless, &c. while


s: novelty superinduces a charm upon them all. See Additional


s: "Where mouldering columns mark the lingering wreck


s: The prostrate obelisk, or shatter'd dome,


s: On loitering steps reflective TASTE surveys


s: Or rides sublime on Time's expanded wings,


s: And views the fate of ever-changing things.


s: arising from the contemplation of the ruins of ancient


s: grandeur or of ancient happiness, and here termed poetic


s: melancholy, arises from a combination of the painful idea of


s: sorrow with the pleasurable idea of the grandeur or happiness


s: of past times; and becomes very interesting to us by fixing


s: our attention more strongly on that grandeur and happiness,


s: as the passion of Pity mentioned in the succeeding note is a


s: combination of the painful idea of sorrow with the


s: pleasurable one of beauty, or of virtue.]


s: "When Beauty's streaming eyes her woes express,


s: Love sighs in sympathy, with pain combined,


s: And new-born Pity charms the kindred mind;


s: The enamour'd Sorrow every cheek bedews,


s: And TASTE impassion'd woos the tragic Muse.


s: with the scenical representations of Tragedy, which draw


s: tears from our eyes, has been variously explained by


s: different writers. The same distressful circumstance


s: attending an ugly or wicked person affects us with grief or


s: disgust; but when distress occurs to a beauteous or virtuous


s: person, the pleasurable idea of beauty or of virtue becomes


s: mixed with the painful one of sorrow and the passion of Pity


s: is produced, which is a combination of love or esteem with


s: sorrow; and becomes highly interesting to us by fixing our


s: attention more intensely on the beauteous or virtuous person.


s: Other distressful scenes have been supposed to give pleasure


s: to the spectator from exciting a comparative idea of his own


s: happiness, as when a shipwreck is viewed by a person safe on


s: shore, as mentioned by Lucretius, L. 3. But these dreadful


s: situations belong rather to the terrible, or the horrid, than


s: to the tragic; and may be objects of curiosity from their


s: novelty, but not of Taste, and must suggest much more pain


s: "The rush-thatch'd cottage on the purple moor,


s: Where ruddy children frolic round the door,


s: The shaggy locks that fringe the colt unbroke,


s: The bearded goat with nimble eyes, that glare


s: Through the long tissue of his hoary hair;--


s: As with quick foot he climbs some ruin'd wall,


s: And crops the ivy, which prevents its fall;--


s: With rural charms the tranquil mind delight,


s: And form a picture to the admiring sight.


s: While TASTE with pleasure bends his eye surprised


s: vicinity, and even in the cultivated parts of the country we


s: rarely see undisguised nature; the fields are ploughed, the


s: meadows mown, the shrubs planted in rows for hedges, the


s: trees deprived of their lower branches, and the animals, as


s: horses, dogs, and sheep, are mutilated in respect to their


s: tails or ears; such is the useful or ill-employed activity of


s: mankind! all which alterations add to the formality of the


s: soil, plants, trees, or animals; whence when natural objects


s: are occasionally presented to us, as an uncultivated forest


s: and its wild inhabitants, we are not only amused with greater


s: variety of form, but are at the same time enchanted by the


s: charm of novelty, which is a less degree of Surprise, already


s: spoken of in note on l. 145 of this Canto.]


s: "The GENIUS-FORM, on silver slippers born,


s: With fairer dew-drops gems the rising morn;


s: Sheds o'er meridian skies a softer light,


s: And decks with brighter pearls the brow of night;


s: With finer blush the vernal blossom glows,


s: With sweeter breath enamour'd Zephyr blows,


s: The limpid streams with gentler murmurs pass,


s: And gayer colours tinge the watery glass,


s: Charm'd round his steps along the enchanted groves


s: Flit the fine forms of Beauties, Graces, Loves.


s: The impatient Senses, goaded to contract,


s: And, in long streams dissever'd, or concrete


s: In countless tribes, the fleeting forms repeat.


s: Which rise excited in Volition's trains,


s: Or link the sparkling rings of Fancy's chains;


s: Or, as they flow from each translucent source,


s: of the spirit of animation, when those parts of the system


s: rest, which are usually in motion, produces a disagreeable


s: sensation. Whence the pain of cold and of hunger, and the


s: irksomeness of a continued attitude, and of an indolent life:


s: and hence the propensity to action in those confined animals,


s: which have been accustomed to activity, as is seen in the


s: motions of a squirrel in a cage; which uses perpetual


s: exertion to exhaust a part of its accumulated sensorial


s: power. This is one source of our general propensity to


s: action; another perhaps arises from our curiosity or


s: expectation of novelty mentioned in the note on l. 145. of


s: But the immediate cause of our propensity to imitation above


s: that of other animals arises from the greater facility, with


s: which by the sense of touch we acquire the ideas of the


s: outlines of objects, and afterwards in consequence by the


s: sense of sight; this seems to have been observed by


s: Aristotle, who calls man, "the imitative animal;" see


s: "Hence when the inquiring hands with contact fine


s: Trace on hard forms the circumscribing line;


s: Which then the language of the rolling eyes


s: From distant scenes of earth and heaven supplies;


s: Those clear ideas of the touch and sight


s: Rouse the quick sense to anguish or delight;


s: Whence the fine power of IMITATION springs,


s: And apes the outlines of external things;


s: With ceaseless action to the world imparts


s: First the charm'd Mind mechanic powers collects,


s: Means for some end, and causes of effects;


s: Then learns from other Minds their joys and fears,


s: Contagious smiles and sympathetic tears.


s: this canto l. 453 on sympathy; and l. 331 on language; and


s: the subsequent lines on the arts of painting and


s: "What one fine stimulated Sense discerns,


s: So in the graceful dance the step sublime


s: Learns from the ear the concordance of Time.


s: So, when the pen of some young artist prints


s: Recumbent Nymphs in TITIAN'S living tints;


s: The glowing limb, fair cheek, and flowing hair,


s: From Beauty's image pictured on his eye.


s: of touch or of sight, which is stimulated into action by a


s: tangible or visible object, must resemble in figure at least


s: the figure of that object, as it thus constitutes an idea; it


s: may be said to imitate the figure of that object; and thus


s: imitation may be esteemed coeval with the existence both of


s: man and other animals: but this would confound perception


s: with imitation; which latter is better defined from the


s: actions of one sense copying those of another.]


s: "Thus when great ANGELO in wondering Rome


s: Fix'd the vast pillars of Saint Peter's dome,


s: Rear'd rocks on rocks sublime, and hung on high


s: Each massy pier, now join'd and now aloof,


s: The figured architraves, and vaulted roof,


s: Ailes, whose broad curves gigantic ribs sustain,


s: Where holy echoes chant the adoring strain;


s: Plann'd on the rolling tablets of his eyes;


s: Traced from his Retina the grand design.


s: this propensity to imitation has not been deduced from any


s: known principle; when any action presents itself to the view


s: of a child, as of whetting a knife, or threading a needle;


s: the parts of this action in respect of time, motion, figure,


s: are imitated by parts of the retina of his eye; to perform


s: this action therefore with his hands is easier to him than to


s: invent any new action; because it consists in repeating with


s: another set of fibres, viz. with the moving muscles, what he


s: had just performed by some parts of the retina; just as in


s: dancing we transfer the times of the motions from the actions


s: of the auditory nerves to the muscles of the limbs. Imitation


s: therefore consists of repetition, which is the easiest kind


s: of animal action; as the ideas or motions become presently


s: associated together; which adds to the facility of their


s: production; as shown in Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXII. 2.


s: It should be added, that as our ideas, when we perceive


s: external objects, are believed to consist in the actions of


s: the immediate organs of sense in consequence of the stimulus


s: of those objects; so when we think of external objects, our


s: ideas are believed to consist in the repetitions of the


s: actions of the immediate organs of sense, excited by the


s: other sensorial powers of volition, sensation, or


s: With silent language charms the attentive stage;


s: The Monarch's stately step, and tragic pause,


s: The Hero bleeding in his country's cause,


s: O'er her fond child the dying Mother's tears,


s: The Lover's ardor, and the Virgin's fears;


s: Bounds on the scene, and peeps behind her mask,


s: The Punch and Harlequin, and graver throng,


s: That shake the theatre with dance and song,


s: With endless trains of Angers, Loves, and Mirths,


s: Owe to the Muse of Mimicry their births.


s: pleasure received from the drawings of flowers finely


s: finished, or of portraits, is derived from their imitation or


s: resemblance of the objects or persons which they represent.


s: The same occurs in the pleasure we receive from mimicry on


s: the stage; we are surprised at the accuracy of its enacted


s: resemblance. Some part of the pleasure received from


s: architecture, as when we contemplate the internal structure


s: of gothic temples, as of King's College chapel in Cambridge,


s: or of Lincoln Cathedral, may arise also from their imitation


s: or resemblance of those superb avenues of large trees, which


s: were formerly appropriated to religious ceremonies.]


s: The sculptor's statue, and the poet's song,


s: The painter's landscape, and the builder's plan,


s: instances of one part of the animal system imitating another


s: part of it, as in some contagious diseases; and also of some


s: animals imitating each other, are given in Zoonomia, Vol. I.


s: Sect. XXII. 3. To which may be added, that this propensity to


s: imitation not only appears in the actions of children, but in


s: all the customs and fashions of the world; many thousands


s: tread in the beaten paths of others, who precede or accompany


s: them, for one who traverses regions of his own discovery.]


s: The astonish'd Intellect to rage or love;


s: Associate tribes of fibrous motions rise,


s: Flush the red cheek, or light the laughing eyes.


s: The ideal trains, that pass in kindred minds;


s: Her mimic arts associate thoughts excite


s: And the first LANGUAGE enters at the sight.


s: ways by which we become acquainted with the passions of


s: others: first, by having observed the effects of them, as of


s: fear or anger, on our own bodies, we know at sight when


s: others are under the influence of these affections. So


s: children long before they can speak, or understand the


s: language of their parents, may be frightened by an angry


s: countenance, or soothed by smiles and blandishments.


s: Secondly, when we put ourselves into the attitude that any


s: passion naturally occasions, we soon in some degree acquire


s: that passion; hence when those that scold indulge themselves


s: in loud oaths and violent actions of the arms, they increase


s: their anger by the mode of expressing themselves; and, on the


s: contrary, the counterfeited smile of pleasure in disagreeable


s: company soon brings along with it a portion of the reality,


s: as is well illustrated by Mr. Burke. (Essay on the Sublime


s: These are natural signs by which we understand each other,


s: and on this slender basis is built all human language. For


s: without some natural signs no artificial ones could have been


s: invented or understood, as is very ingeniously observed by


s: Dr. Reid. (Inquiry into the Human Mind.)]


s: "Thus jealous quails or village-cocks inspect


s: Each other's necks with stiffen'd plumes erect;


s: Smit with the wordless eloquence, they know


s: The rival passion of the threatening foe.


s: So when the famish'd wolves at midnight howl,


s: Fell serpents hiss, or fierce hyenas growl;


s: Indignant Lions rear their bristling mail,


s: And lash their sides with undulating tail.


s: Or when the Savage-Man with clenched fist


s: Parades, the scowling champion of the list;


s: With brandish'd arms, and eyes that roll to know


s: Of viewless thought in bird, and beast, and man;


s: And still the stage by mimic art displays


s: Force to the feebler eloquence of words.


s: "Thus the first LANGUAGE, when we frown'd or smiled,


s: Rose from the cradle, Imitation's child;


s: Next to each thought associate sound accords,


s: The tongue, the lips articulate; the throat


s: Love, pity, war, the shout, the song, the prayer


s: "Hence the first accents bear in airy rings


s: Name each nice change appulsive powers supply


s: To the quick sense of touch, or ear or eye.


s: Or in fine traits abstracted forms suggest


s: Trace the light steps of Reason, Rage, or Love.


s: The next new sounds adjunctive thoughts recite,


s: As hard, odorous, tuneful, sweet, or white.


s: Of action, suffering, causes and effect;


s: Or mark existence, with the march sublime


s: originally the signs or names of individual ideas; but in all


s: known languages many of them by changing their terminations


s: express more than one idea, as in the cases of nouns, and the


s: moods and tenses of verbs. Thus a whip suggests a single idea


s: of that instrument; but "to whip," suggests an idea of


s: action, joined with that of the instrument, and is then


s: called a verb; and "to be whipped," suggests an idea of being


s: acted upon or suffering. Thus in most languages two ideas are


s: suggested by one word by changing its termination; as amor,


s: love; amare, to love; amari, to be loved.


s: Nouns are the names of the ideas of things, first as they are


s: received by the stimulus of objects, or as they are


s: afterwards repeated; secondly, they are names of more


s: abstracted ideas, which do not suggest at the same time the


s: external objects, by which they were originally excited; or


s: thirdly, of the operations of our minds, which are termed


s: reflex ideas by metaphysical writers; or lastly, they are the


s: names of our ideas of parts or properties of objects; and are


s: Verbs are also in reality names of our ideas of things, or


s: nouns, with the addition of another idea to them, as of


s: acting or suffering; or of more than one other annexed idea,


s: as of time, and also of existence. These with the numerous


s: abbreviations, so well illustrated by Mr. Horne Tooke in his


s: Diversions of Purley, make up the general theory of language,


s: which consists of the symbols of ideas represented by vocal


s: or written words; or by parts of those words, as their


s: terminations; or by their disposition in respect to their


s: order or succession; as further explained in Additional Note


s: "The GIANT FORM on Nature's centre stands,


s: And waves in ether his unnumber'd hands;


s: Whirls the bright planets in their silver spheres,


s: And the vast sun round other systems steers;


s: Till the last trump amid the thunder's roar


s: Sound the dread Sentence "TIME SHALL BE NO MORE!"


s: "Last steps Abbreviation, bold and strong,


s: And leads the volant trains of words along;


s: And decks his forehead and his feet with wings.


s: With other minds to interchange the thought;


s: And sound, the symbol of the sense, explains


s: From clear conceptions of external things


s: The facile power of Recollection springs.


s: successive trains of the motions, or changes of figure, of


s: the extremities of the nerves of one or more of our senses,


s: as of the optic or auditory nerves; these successive trains


s: of motion, or configuration, are in common life divided into


s: many links, to each of which a word or name is given, and it


s: is called an idea. This chain of ideas may be broken into


s: more or fewer links, or divided in different parts of it, by


s: the customs of different people. Whence the meanings of the


s: words of one language cannot always be exactly expressed by


s: those of another; and hence the acquirement of different


s: languages in their infancy may affect the modes of thinking


s: and reasoning of whole nations, or of different classes of


s: society; as the words of them do not accurately suggest the


s: same ideas, or parts of ideal trains; a circumstance which


s: "Whence REASON'S empire o'er the world presides,


s: And man from brute, and man from man divides;


s: Ellipses, circles, tangents, angles, sines;


s: Repeats with nice libration, and decrees


s: In what each differs, and in what agrees;


s: Means for some end, and causes of effects;


s: All human science worth the name imparts,


s: And builds on Nature's base the works of Arts.


s: the use of the voluntary power, which is owing to the


s: possession of the clear ideas acquired by our superior sense


s: of touch, and afterwards of vision, distinguishes man from


s: brutes, and has given him the empire of the world, with the


s: power of improving nature by the exertions of art.


s: Reasoning is that operation of the sensorium by which we


s: excite two or many tribes of ideas, and then reexcite the


s: ideas in which they differ or correspond. If we determine


s: this difference, it is called judgment; if we in vain


s: endeavour to determine it, it is called doubting.


s: If we reexcite the ideas in which they differ, it is called


s: distinguishing. If we reexcite those in which they


s: "The Wasp, fine architect, surrounds his domes


s: With paper-foliage, and suspends his combs;


s: Secured from frost the Bee industrious dwells,


s: And fills for winter all her waxen cells;


s: The Wren, when embryon eggs her cares engross,


s: Seeks the soft down, and lines the cradling moss;


s: Conscious of change the Silkworm-Nymphs begin


s: Attach'd to leaves their gluten-threads to spin;


s: Then round and round they weave with circling heads


s: Sphere within Sphere, and form their silken beds.


s: --Say, did these fine volitions first commence


s: And with instructive foresight still await


s: Wise to the present, nor to future blind,


s: They link the reasoning reptile to mankind!


s: --Stoop, selfish Pride! survey thy kindred forms,


s: Thy brother Emmets, and thy sister Worms!


s: which possess a better sense of touch are, in general, more


s: ingenious than others. Those which have claviculæ, or


s: collar-bones, and thence use the forefeet as hands, as the


s: monkey, squirrel, rat, are more ingenious in seizing their


s: prey or escaping from danger. And the ingenuity of the


s: elephant appears to arise from the sense of touch at the


s: extremity of his proboscis, which has a prominence on one


s: side of its cavity like a thumb to close against the other


s: side of it, by which I have seen him readily pick up a


s: shilling which was thrown amongst the straw he stood upon.


s: Hence the excellence of the sense of touch in many insects


s: seems to have given them wonderful ingenuity so as to equal


s: or even excel mankind in some of their arts and discoveries;


s: many of which may have been acquired in situations previous


s: to their present ones, as the great globe itself, and all


s: that it inhabit, appear to be in a perpetual state of


s: mutation and improvement; see Additional Note IX.]


s: "Thy potent acts, VOLITION, still attend


s: The means of pleasure to secure the end;


s: To express his wishes and his wants design'd


s: Language, the _means_, distinguishes Mankind;


s: For _future_ works in Art's ingenious schools


s: His hands unwearied form and finish tools;


s: He toils for money _future_ bliss to share,


s: And shouts to Heaven his mercenary prayer.


s: Sweet Hope delights him, frowning Fear alarms,


s: And Vice and Virtue court him to their arms.


s: observed, how much the superior accuracy of our sense of


s: touch contributes to increase our knowledge; but it is the


s: greater energy and activity of the power of volition, that


s: marks mankind, and has given them the empire of the world.


s: There is a criterion by which we may distinguish our


s: voluntary acts or thoughts from those that are excited by our


s: sensations: "The former are always employed about the means


s: to acquire pleasurable objects, or to avoid painful ones;


s: while the latter are employed about the possession of those


s: The ideas and actions of brutes, like those of children, are


s: almost perpetually produced by their present pleasures or


s: their present pains; and they seldom busy themselves about


s: the _means_ of procuring future bliss, or of avoiding future


s: Whilst the acquiring of languages, the making of tools, and


s: the labouring for money, which are all only the _means_ of


s: procuring pleasure; and the praying to the Deity, as another


s: means to procure happiness, are characteristic of human


s: Know but to mourn! and reason but to err!--


s: In Eden's groves, the cradle of the world,


s: Bloom'd a fair tree with mystic flowers unfurl'd;


s: On bending branches, as aloft it sprung,


s: Forbid to taste, the fruit of KNOWLEDGE hung;


s: Flow'd with sweet Innocence the tranquil hours,


s: And Love and Beauty warm'd the blissful bowers.


s: Till our deluded Parents pluck'd, erelong,


s: The tempting fruit, and gather'd Right and Wrong;


s: Whence Good and Evil, as in trains they pass,


s: Reflection imaged on her polish'd glass;


s: And Conscience felt, for blood by Hunger spilt,


s: The pains of shame, of sympathy, and guilt!


s: philosophers have believed that the acquisition of knowledge


s: diminishes the happiness of the possessor; an opinion which


s: seems to have been inculcated by the history of our first


s: parents, who are said to have become miserable from eating of


s: the tree of knowledge. But as the foresight and the power of


s: mankind are much increased by their voluntary exertions in


s: the acquirement of knowledge, they may undoubtedly avoid many


s: sources of evil, and procure many sources of good; and yet


s: possess the pleasures of sense, or of imagination, as


s: extensively as the brute or the savage.]


s: Turns her quick glance, and brandishes her hands,


s: With mimic acts associate thoughts excites,


s: And storms the soul with sorrows or delights;


s: Life's shadowy scenes are brighten'd and refin'd,


s: And soft emotions mark the feeling mind.


s: imitation arises what is generally understood by the word


s: sympathy, so well explained by Dr. Smith of Glasgow. Thus the


s: appearance of a cheerful countenance gives us pleasure, and


s: of a melancholy one makes us sorrowful. Yawning, and


s: sometimes vomiting, are thus propagated by sympathy; and some


s: people of delicate fibres, at the presence of a spectacle of


s: misery, have felt pain in the same parts of their bodies,


s: that were diseased or mangled in the object they saw.


s: The effect of this powerful agent in the moral world, is the


s: foundation of all our intellectual sympathies with the pains


s: and pleasures of others, and is in consequence the source of


s: all our virtues. For in what consists our sympathy with the


s: miseries or with the joys of our fellow creatures, but in an


s: involuntary excitation of ideas in some measure similar or


s: imitative of those which we believe to exist in the minds of


s: the persons whom we commiserate or congratulate!]


s: "The Seraph, SYMPATHY, from Heaven descends,


s: And bright o'er earth his beamy forehead bends;


s: On Man's cold heart celestial ardor flings,


s: And showers affection from his sparkling wings;


s: Rolls o'er the world his mild benignant eye,


s: Hears the lone murmur, drinks the whisper'd sigh;


s: Lifts the closed latch of pale Misfortune's door,


s: Opes the clench'd hand of Avarice to the poor,


s: Sheds his soft sorrows o'er the untimely grave,


s: Points with uplifted hand to realms above,


s: And charms the world with universal love.


s: "O'er the thrill'd frame his words assuasive steal,


s: And teach the selfish heart what others feel;


s: With sacred truth each erring thought control,


s: Bind sex to sex, and mingle soul with soul;


s: From heaven, He cried, descends the moral plan,


s: "High on yon scroll, inscribed o'er Nature's shrine,


s: Live in bright characters the words divine.


s: --Winds! wide o'er earth the sacred law convey,


s: Ye Nations, hear it! and ye Kings, obey!


s: of Socrates "Know thyself," so celebrated by writers of


s: antiquity, and said by them to have descended from Heaven,


s: however wise it may be, seems to be rather of a selfish


s: nature; and the author of it might have added "Know also


s: other people." But the sacred maxims of the author of


s: Christianity, "Do as you would be done by," and "Love your


s: neighbour as yourself," include all our duties of benevolence


s: and morality; and, if sincerely obeyed by all nations, would


s: a thousandfold multiply the present happiness of mankind.]


s: "Unbreathing wonder hush'd the adoring throng,


s: Froze the broad eye, and chain'd the silent tongue;


s: Mute was the wail of Want, and Misery's cry,


s: Peace with sweet voice the Seraph-form address'd,


s: And Virtue clasp'd him to her throbbing breast."


s: And mingles with her words pathetic sighs.--


s: "How few, alas! in Nature's wide domains


s: Uncheck'd desires from appetite commence,


s: And pure reflection yields to selfish sense!


s: --Blest is the Sage, who learn'd in Nature's laws


s: With nice distinction marks effect and cause;


s: Who views the insatiate Grave with eye sedate,


s: Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas;


s: Quique metus omnes, et inexorabile fatum,


s: Subjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari.


s: "WHEN War, the Demon, lifts his banner high,


s: And loud artillery rends the affrighted sky;


s: Swords clash with swords, on horses horses rush,


s: Man tramples man, and nations nations crush;


s: Death his vast sithe with sweep enormous wields,


s: And shuddering Pity quits the sanguine fields.


s: "The wolf, escorted by his milk-drawn dam,


s: Unknown to mercy, tears the guiltless lamb;


s: The lamb and dove on living nature feed,


s: Crop the young herb, or crush the embryon seed.


s: Nor spares the loud owl in her dusky flight,


s: Smit with sweet notes, the minstrel of the night;


s: Nor spares, enamour'd of his radiant form,


s: The hungry nightingale the glowing worm;


s: Who with bright lamp alarms the midnight hour,


s: Climbs the green stem, and slays the sleeping flower.


s: Torva leæna lupum sequitur, lupus ipse capellam,


s: Florentem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella.


s: "Fell Oestrus buries in her rapid course


s: Her countless brood in stag, or bull, or horse;


s: Hatch'd by the warmth, and issues into day.


s: The wing'd Ichneumon for her embryon young


s: Gores with sharp horn the caterpillar throng.


s: And tears the vitals of its fostering nurse.


s: While fierce Libellula with jaws of steel


s: Contending bee-swarms rise on rustling wings,


s: And slay their thousands with envenom'd stings.


s: or sheep-fly: the larva lives in the bodies of cattle


s: throughout the whole winter; it is extracted from their backs


s: by an African bird called Buphaga. Adhering to the anus it


s: artfully introduces itself into the intestines of horses, and


s: becomes so numerous in their stomachs, as sometimes to


s: destroy them; it climbs into the nostrils of sheep and


s: calves, and producing a nest of young in a transparent


s: hydatide in the frontal sinus, occasions the vertigo or turn


s: of those animals. In Lapland it so attacks the rein deer that


s: the natives annually travel with the herds from the woods to


s: seventy-seven species of the ichneumon fly, some of which


s: have a sting as long and some twice as long as their bodies.


s: Many of them insert their eggs into various caterpillars,


s: which when they are hatched seem for a time to prey on the


s: reservoir of silk in the backs of those animals designed for


s: their own use to spin a cord to support them, or a bag to


s: contain them, while they change from their larva form to a


s: butterfly; as I have seen in above fifty


s: cabbage-caterpillars. The ichneumon larva then makes its way


s: out of the caterpillar, and spins itself a small cocoon like


s: a silk worm; these cocoons are about the size of a small


s: pin's head, and I have seen about ten of them on each cabbage


s: caterpillar, which soon dies after their exclusion.


s: Other species of ichneumon insert their eggs into the aphis,


s: and into the larva of the aphidivorous fly: others into the


s: bedeguar of rose trees, and the gall-nuts of oaks; whence


s: those excrescences seem to be produced, as well as the


s: hydatides in the frontal sinus of sheep and calves by the


s: stimulus of the larvæ deposited in them.]


s: Dragon-fly is said to be a most voracious animal; Linneus


s: says in their perfect state they are the hawks to naked


s: winged flies; in their larva state they run beneath the


s: water, and are the cruel crocodiles of aquatic insects. Syst.


s: bee-swarms frequently attack weak hives, and in two or three


s: days destroy them and carry away their honey; this I once


s: prevented by removing the attacked hive after the first day's


s: battle to a distinct part of the garden. See Phytologia,


s: "Yes! smiling Flora drives her armed car


s: Through the thick ranks of vegetable war;


s: Herb, shrub, and tree, with strong emotions rise


s: For light and air, and battle in the skies;


s: Whose roots diverging with opposing toil


s: Contend below for moisture and for soil;


s: Round the tall Elm the flattering Ivies bend,


s: And strangle, as they clasp, their struggling friend;


s: And scald with caustic touch the tribes below;


s: Dense shadowy leaves on stems aspiring borne


s: With blight and mildew thin the realms of corn;


s: And insect hordes with restless tooth devour


s: The unfolded bud, and pierce the ravell'd flower.


s: "In ocean's pearly haunts, the waves beneath


s: Sits the grim monarch of insatiate Death;


s: The shark rapacious with descending blow


s: Darts on the scaly brood, that swims below;


s: The crawling crocodiles, beneath that move,


s: Arrest with rising jaw the tribes above;


s: With monstrous gape sepulchral whales devour


s: --Air, earth, and ocean, to astonish'd day


s: One scene of blood, one mighty tomb display!


s: From Hunger's arm the shafts of Death are hurl'd,


s: And one great Slaughter-house the warring world!


s: rows of sharp teeth within each other, which he can bend


s: downwards internally to admit larger prey, and raise to


s: prevent its return; his snout hangs so far over his mouth,


s: that he is necessitated to turn upon his back, when he takes


s: fish that swim over him, and hence seems peculiarly formed to


s: lives chiefly at the bottom of the rivers, which he


s: frequents, he has the power of opening the upper jaw as well


s: as the under one, and thus with greater facility catches the


s: fish or water-fowl which swim over him.]


s: are an inferior order of animals fixed to the soil; and as


s: the locomotive animals prey upon them, or upon each other;


s: the world may indeed be said to be one great slaughter-house.


s: As the digested food of vegetables consists principally of


s: sugar, and from this is produced again their mucilage,


s: starch, and oil, and since animals are sustained by these


s: vegetable productions, it would seem that the sugar-making


s: process carried on in vegetable vessels was the great source


s: of life to all organized beings. And that if our improved


s: chemistry should ever discover the art of making sugar from


s: fossile or aerial matter without the assistance of


s: vegetation, food for animals would then become as plentiful


s: as water, and they might live upon the earth without preying


s: on each other, as thick as blades of grass, with no restraint


s: to their numbers but the want of local room.


s: It would seem that roots fixed in the earth and leaves


s: innumerable waving in the air were necessary for the


s: decomposition of water and air, and the conversion of them


s: into saccharine matter, which would have been not only


s: cumberous but totally incompatible with the locomotion of


s: animal bodies. For how could a man or quadruped have carried


s: on his head or back a forest of leaves, or have had long


s: branching lacteal or absorbent vessels terminating in the


s: earth? Animals therefore subsist on vegetables; that is they


s: take the matter so prepared, and have organs to prepare it


s: further for the purposes of higher animation and greater


s: "THE brow of Man erect, with thought elate,


s: Ducks to the mandate of resistless fate;


s: Nor Love retains him, nor can Virtue save


s: Her sages, saints, or heroes from the grave.


s: While cold and hunger by defect oppress,


s: The whip, the sting, the spur, the fiery brand,


s: Load human life with unextinguish'd pains.


s: system, which are in health excited into perpetual action,


s: give us pain, when they are not excited into action: thus


s: when the hands are for a time immersed in snow, an inaction


s: of the cutaneous capillaries is induced, as is seen from the


s: paleness of the skin, which is attended with the pain of


s: coldness. So the pain of hunger is probably produced by the


s: inaction of the muscular fibres of the stomach from the want


s: Thus those, who have used much voluntary exertion in their


s: early years, and have continued to do so, till the decline of


s: life commences, if they then lay aside their employment,


s: whether that of a minister of state, a general of an army, or


s: a merchant, or manufacturer; they cease to have their


s: faculties excited into their usual activity, and become


s: unhappy, I suppose from the too great accumulation of the


s: sensorial power of volition; which wants the accustomed


s: stimulus or motive to cause its expenditure.]


s: "Here laughs Ebriety more fell than arms,


s: And thins the nations with her fatal charms,


s: With Gout, and Hydrops groaning in her train,


s: With harlot's smiles deluded man salutes,


s: There the curst spells of Superstition blind,


s: And fix her fetters on the tortured mind;


s: She bids in dreams tormenting shapes appear,


s: With shrieks that shock Imagination's ear,


s: E'en o'er the grave a deeper shadow flings,


s: And maddening Conscience darts a thousand stings.


s: Luxuria incubuit, victumque ulciscitur orbem.


s: preachers among the Methodists successfully inculcate the


s: fear of death and of Hell, and live luxuriously on the folly


s: generally most innocent and harmless people, who are then


s: liable to accuse themselves of the greatest imaginary crimes;


s: and have so much intellectual cowardice, that they dare not


s: reason about those things, which they are directed by their


s: priests to believe. Where this intellectual cowardice is


s: great, the voice of reason is ineffectual; but that of


s: ridicule may save many from these mad-making doctors, as the


s: farces of Mr. Foot; though it is too weak to cure those who


s: "There writhing Mania sits on Reason's throne,


s: Requests oblivion, and demands the tomb.


s: Call for the dead from Time's o'erwhelming main,


s: the felicities of life may be divided into those which arise


s: in consequence of irritation, sensation, volition, and


s: association; and consist in the actions of the extremities of


s: the nerves of sense, which constitute our ideas; if they are


s: much more exerted than usual, or much less exerted than


s: usual, they occasion pain; as when the finger is burnt in a


s: candle; or when we go into a cold bath: while their natural


s: degree of exertion produces the pleasure of life or


s: existence. This pleasure is nevertheless increased, when the


s: system is stimulated into rather stronger action than usual,


s: as after a copious dinner, and at the beginning of


s: intoxication; and diminished, when it is only excited into


s: somewhat less activity than usual, which is termed ennui, or


s: of bodily pain occasioned by association of ideas. Every one


s: in his childhood has repeatedly bit a part of the glass or


s: earthen vessel, in which his food has been given him, and has


s: thence had a disagreeable sensation in his teeth, attended at


s: the same time with a jarring sound: and ever after, when such


s: a sound is accidentally produced, the disagreeable sensation


s: of the teeth follows by association of ideas; this is further


s: elucidated in Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XVI. 10.]


s: "Here ragged Avarice guards with bolted door


s: His useless treasures from the starving poor;


s: Loads the lorn hours with misery and care,


s: Unthinking crowds thy forms, Imposture, gull,


s: A Saint in sackcloth, or a Wolf in wool.


s: While mad with foolish fame, or drunk with power,


s: Ambition slays his thousands in an hour;


s: And blights the bloom of other's joys, unseen;


s: And turns to night meridian beams of Love!


s: Cum furor haud dubius, cum sit manifesta phrenitis,


s: Ut locuples moriaris, egenti vivere fato.


s: "Here wide o'er earth impetuous waters sweep,


s: And fields and forests rush into the deep;


s: Involves the mountains in a flood of fire;


s: Or yawning Earth with closing jaws inhumes


s: Unwarned nations, living in their tombs;


s: "There livid Pestilence in league with Dearth


s: Walks forth malignant o'er the shuddering earth,


s: Her rapid shafts with airs volcanic wings,


s: Or steeps in putrid vaults her venom'd stings.


s: Arrests the young in Beauty's vernal bloom,


s: And bears the innocuous strangers to the tomb!--


s: complaints, which are generally termed influenza, are


s: believed to arise from vapours thrown out from earthquakes in


s: such abundance as to affect large regions of the atmosphere,


s: see Botanic Garden, V. I. Canto IV. l. 65. while the diseases


s: properly termed contagious originate from the putrid effluvia


s: of decomposing animal or vegetable matter.]


s: "AND now, e'en I, whose verse reluctant sings


s: The changeful state of sublunary things,


s: And wipe the secret tear-drops from my eyes,


s: Hear through the night one universal groan,


s: With restless limbs and throbbing heart complain,


s: Stretch'd on the rack of sentimental pain!


s: To prove to Man the Goodness of his GOD?"


s: taught in their early education to feel for all the


s: remediable evils, which they observe in others; but they


s: should at the same time be taught sufficient firmness of mind


s: not intirely to destroy their own happiness by their


s: sympathizing with too great sensibility with the numerous


s: irremediable evils, which exist in the present system of the


s: world: as by indulging that kind of melancholy they decrease


s: the sum total of public happiness; which is so far rather


s: reprehensible than commendable. See Plan for Female Education


s: by Dr. Darwin, Johnson, London, Sect. XVII.


s: This has been carried to great excess in the East by the


s: disciples of Confucius; the Gentoos during a famine in India


s: refused to eat the flesh of cows and of other animals to


s: satisfy their hunger, and save themselves from death. And at


s: other times they have been said to permit fleas and


s: musquitoes to feed upon them from this erroneous sympathy.]


s: Quick indignation darting from her eyes;


s: "When in soft tones the Muse lamenting sings,


s: And weighs with tremulous hand the sum of things;


s: Presents the evil, but forgets the good.


s: But if the beam some firmer hand suspends,


s: And good and evil load the adverse ends;


s: With strong libration, where the Good abides,


s: Quick nods the beam, the ponderous gold subsides.


s: "HEAR, O ye Sons of Time! the powers of Life


s: Arrest the elements, and stay their strife;


s: From wandering atoms, ethers, airs, and gas,


s: And,--as they seize, digest, secrete,--dispense


s: Hence in bright groups from IRRITATION rise


s: Young Pleasure's trains, and roll their azure eyes.


s: philosophers, who contended that the world was formed from


s: atoms, ascribed their combinations to certain immutable


s: properties received from the hand of the Creator, such as


s: general gravitation, chemical affinity, or animal appetency,


s: instead of ascribing them to a blind chance; the doctrine of


s: atoms, as constituting or composing the material world by the


s: variety of their combinations, so far from leading the mind


s: to atheism, would strengthen the demonstration of the


s: existence of a Deity, as the first cause of all things;


s: because the analogy resulting from our perpetual experience


s: of cause and effect would have thus been exemplified through


s: "With fond delight we feel the potent charm,


s: When Zephyrs cool us, or when sun-beams warm;


s: With fond delight inhale the fragrant flowers,


s: Taste the sweet fruits, which bend the blushing bowers,


s: Or drink the raptures of delirious love.


s: The varied landscape all its lights unfold;


s: Huge rocks opposing o'er the stream project


s: Their naked bosoms, and the beams reflect;


s: Wave high in air their fringed crests of wood,


s: And checker'd shadows dance upon the flood;


s: Green sloping lawns construct the sidelong scene,


s: And guide the sparkling rill that winds between;


s: Conduct on murmuring wings the pausing gale,


s: Lift their blue tops, and melt into the skies.


s: feel on examining a fine landscape, is derived from various


s: sources; as first the excitement of the retina of the eye


s: into certain quantities of action; which when there is in the


s: optic nerve any accumulation of sensorial power, is always


s: agreeable. 2. When it is excited into such successive


s: actions, as relieve each other; as when a limb has been long


s: exerted in one direction, by stretching it in another; as


s: described in Zoonomia, Sect. XL. 6. on ocular spectra. 3. And


s: lastly by the associations of its parts with some agreeable


s: sentiments or tastes, as of sublimity, beauty, utility,


s: novelty; and the objects suggesting other sentiments, which


s: have lately been termed picturesque as mentioned in the note


s: to Canto III, l. 230 of this work. The two former of these


s: sources of pleasure arise from irritation, the last from


s: "So when by HANDEL tuned to measured sounds


s: The trumpet vibrates, or the drum rebounds;


s: When the soft lute in sweet impassion'd strains


s: Of cruel nymphs or broken vows complains;


s: As on the breeze the fine vibration floats,


s: But when young Beauty on the realms above


s: Bends her bright eye, and trills the tones of love;


s: Seraphic sounds enchant this nether sphere;


s: And listening angels lean from Heaven to hear.


s: experience from music, is, like that from viewing a


s: landscape, derived from various sources; as first from the


s: excitement of the auditory nerve into certain quantities of


s: action, when there exists any accumulation of sensorial


s: power. 2. When the auditory nerve is exerted in such


s: successive actions as relieve each other, like stretching or


s: yawning, as described in Botanic Garden, Vol. II, Interlude


s: the third, these successions of sound are termed melody, and


s: their combinations harmony. 3. From the repetition of sounds


s: at certain intervals of time; as we hear them with greater


s: facility and accuracy, when we expect them; because they are


s: then excited by volition, as well as by irritation, or at


s: least the tympanum is then better adapted to assist their


s: production; hence the two musical times or bars; and hence


s: the rhimes in poetry give pleasure, as well as the measure of


s: the verse: and lastly the pleasure we receive from music,


s: arises from the associations of agreeable sentiments with


s: certain proportions, or repetitions, or quantities, or times


s: of sounds which have been previously acquired; as explained


s: in Zoonomia Vol. I. Sect. XVI. 10. and Sect. XXII. 2.]


s: "Next by SENSATION led, new joys commence


s: From the fine movements of the excited sense;


s: Adorn the day-scenes, and illume the night.


s: Her spells o'er all the hand of Fancy flings,


s: Gives form and substance to unreal things;


s: With fruits and foliage decks the barren waste,


s: And brightens Life with sentiment and taste;


s: Pleased o'er the level and the rule presides,


s: The painter's brush, the sculptor's chisel guides,


s: With ray ethereal lights the poet's fire,


s: Tunes the rude pipe, or strings the heroic lyre:


s: Charm'd round the nymph on frolic footsteps move


s: The angelic forms of Beauty, Grace, and Love.


s: "So dreams the Patriot, who indignant draws


s: The sword of vengeance in his Country's cause;


s: Bright for his brows unfading honours bloom,


s: Or kneeling Virgins weep around his tomb.


s: So holy transports in the cloister's shade


s: Charm'd o'er thy bed celestial voices sing,


s: "So HOWARD, MOIRA, BURDETT, sought the cells,


s: Where want, or woe, or guilt in darkness dwells;


s: With Pity's torch illumed the dread domains,


s: Wiped the wet eye, and eased the galling chains;


s: With Hope's bright blushes warm'd the midnight air,


s: And drove from earth the Demon of Despair.


s: Erewhile emerging from the caves of night


s: The ear of Power to stay his stern behest;


s: At Mercy's call to stretch his arm and save


s: His tottering victims from the gaping grave.


s: These with sweet smiles Imagination greets,


s: For these she opens all her treasured sweets,


s: Strews round their couch, by Pity's hand combined,


s: Bright flowers of joy, the sunshine of the mind;


s: While Fame's loud trump with sounds applausive breathes


s: And Virtue crowns them with immortal wreathes.


s: "Thy acts, VOLITION, to the world impart


s: The plans of Science with the works of art;


s: Give to proud Reason her comparing power,


s: Warm every clime, and brighten every hour.


s: In Life's first cradle, ere the dawn began


s: The staff that propp'd him, and the bow that arm'd,


s: The boat that bore him, and the shed that warm'd,


s: Fire, raiment, food, the ploughshare, and the sword,


s: "By thee instructed, NEWTON'S eye sublime


s: Mark'd the bright periods of revolving time;


s: Explored in Nature's scenes the effect and cause,


s: And, charm'd, unravell'd all her latent laws.


s: Pursues his radiant journey through the night;


s: Detects new guards, that roll their orbs afar


s: In lucid ringlets round the Georgian star.


s: Pleased ARCHIMEDES mark'd the figured sand;


s: Seized with mechanic grasp the approaching decks,


s: And shook the assailants from the inverted wrecks.


s: --Then cried the Sage, with grand effects elate,


s: While crowds exulting shout their noisy mirth,


s: 'Give where to stand, and I will move the earth.'


s: In iron cells to raise the balanced beam;


s: The Giant-form its ponderous mass uprears,


s: Descending nods and seems to shake the spheres.


s: orators seem to have spoken disrespectfully of the mechanic


s: philosophers. Cicero mentioning Archimedes, calls him


s: Homunculus e pulvere et radio, alluding to the custom of


s: drawing problems on the sand with a staff.]


s: applied the pressure of the atmosphere to raise water in


s: consequence of a vacuum previously produced by the


s: condensation of steam, though the Marquis of Worcester had


s: before proposed to use for this purpose the expansive power


s: of steam; see Botanic Garden, Vol. I. Canto I. l. 253.


s: Where bloom'd the waving flax on Delta's isle,


s: Pleased ISIS taught the fibrous stems to bind,


s: And part with hammers from the adhesive rind;


s: With locks of flax to deck the distaff-pole,


s: And whirl with graceful bend the dancing spole.


s: In level lines the length of woof to spread,


s: And dart the shuttle through the parting thread.


s: So ARKWRIGHT taught from Cotton-pods to cull,


s: And stretch in lines the vegetable wool;


s: With teeth of steel its fibre-knots unfurl'd,


s: And with the silver tissue clothed the world.


s: been first discovered on the banks of the Nile, and Isis to


s: have been the inventress of spinning and weaving.]


s: Chain'd down in characters the winged thought;


s: With silent language mark'd the letter'd ground,


s: Now, happier lot! enlighten'd realms possess


s: The learned labours of the immortal Press;


s: Nursed on whose lap the births of science thrive,


s: And rising Arts the wrecks of Time survive.


s: art of printing has had so great influence on human affairs,


s: that from thence may be dated a new æra in the history of


s: mankind. As by the diffusion of general knowledge, both of


s: the arts of taste and of useful sciences, the public mind has


s: become improved to so great a degree, that though new


s: impositions have been perpetually produced, the arts of


s: detecting them have improved with greater rapidity. Hence


s: since the introduction of printing, superstition has been


s: much lessened by the reformation of religion; and necromancy,


s: astrology, chiromancy, witchcraft, and vampyrism, have


s: vanished from all classes of society; though some are still


s: so weak in the present enlightened times as to believe in the


s: prodigies of animal magnetism, and of metallic tractors; by


s: this general diffusion of knowledge, if the liberty of the


s: press be preserved, mankind will not be liable in this part


s: of the world to sink into such abject slavery as exists at


s: "Ye patriot heroes! in the glorious cause


s: Who call to Virtue's shrine the British youth,


s: And shake the senate with the voice of Truth;


s: Rouse the dull ear, the hoodwink'd eye unbind,


s: While rival realms with blood unsated wage


s: Wide-wasting war with fell demoniac rage;


s: And oceans groan beneath contending fleets;


s: The tree of knowledge from the axe of power;


s: With fostering peace the suffering nations bless,


s: And guard the freedom of the immortal Press!


s: So shall your deathless fame from age to age


s: And future bards with voice inspired prolong


s: Conveys to listening ears the thought superb,


s: And gives to Language her expressive verb;


s: Which in one changeful sound suggests the fact


s: And marks on rapid wing o'er every clime


s: word, has been so called from its being the most expressive


s: term in all languages; as it suggests the ideas of existence,


s: action or suffering, and of time; see the Note on Canto III.


s: "Call'd by thy voice contiguous thoughts embrace


s: In endless streams arranged by Time or Place;


s: Gives to the world her _interesting_ page;


s: While in bright landscape from her moving pen


s: Rise the fine tints of manners and of men.


s: of associated ideas are divided by Mr. Hume into three


s: classes, which he has termed contiguity, causation, and


s: resemblance. Nor should we wonder to find them thus connected


s: together, since it is the business of our lives to dispose


s: them into these three classes; and we become valuable to


s: ourselves and our friends as we succeed in it. Those who have


s: combined an extensive class of ideas by the contiguity of


s: time or place, are men learned in the history of mankind, and


s: of the sciences they have cultivated. Those who have


s: connected a great class of ideas of resemblances, possess the


s: source of the ornaments of poetry and oratory, and of all


s: rational analogy. While those who have connected great


s: classes of ideas of causation, are furnished with the powers


s: of producing effects. These are the men of active wisdom who


s: lead armies to victory, and kingdoms to prosperity; or


s: discover and improve the sciences which meliorate and adorn


s: "Call'd by thy voice Resemblance next describes


s: Her sister-thoughts in lucid trains or tribes;


s: Each winning grace of polish'd wit bestows


s: wit to consist of an assemblage of ideas, brought together


s: with quickness and variety, wherein can be found any


s: resemblance or congruity, thereby to make up pleasant


s: pictures and agreeable visions in the fancy. To which Mr.


s: Addison adds, that these must occasion surprise as well as


s: delight; Spectator, Vol. I. No. LXII. See Note on Canto III.


s: l. 145. and Additional Note, VII. 3. Perhaps wit in the


s: extended use of the word may mean to express all kinds of


s: fine writing, as the word Taste is applied to all agreeable


s: visible objects, and thus wit may mean descriptive sublimity,


s: beauty, the pathetic, or ridiculous, but when used in the


s: confined sense, as by Mr. Locke and Mr. Addison as above, it


s: may probably be better defined a combination of ideas with


s: agreeable novelty, as this may be effected by opposition as


s: "Last, at thy potent nod, Effect and Cause


s: Walk hand in hand accordant to thy laws;


s: Rise at Volition's call, in groups combined,


s: Amuse, delight, instruct, and serve Mankind;


s: Bid raised in air the ponderous structure stand,


s: Or pour obedient rivers through the land;


s: With cars unnumber'd crowd the living streets,


s: Or people oceans with triumphant fleets.


s: "Thy magic touch imagined forms supplies


s: From colour'd light, the language of the eyes;


s: On Memory's page departed hours inscribes,


s: Sweet scenes of youth, and Pleasure's vanish'd tribes.


s: By thee ANTINOUS leads the dance sublime


s: On wavy step, and moves in measured time;


s: Charm'd round the Youth successive Graces throng,


s: And Ease conducts him, as he moves along;


s: Unbreathing crowds the floating form admire,


s: "When rapp'd CECILIA breathes her matin vow,


s: And lifts to Heaven her fair adoring brow;


s: From her sweet lips, and rising bosom part


s: Impassion'd notes, that thrill the melting heart;


s: Tuned by thy hand the dulcet harp she rings,


s: And sounds responsive echo from the strings;


s: Bright scenes of bliss in trains suggested move,


s: And charm the world with melody and love.


s: Time's feeble children, lose the boon possess'd;


s: And sense deserts the uncontractile clay;


s: While births unnumber'd, ere the parents die,


s: And thus, alternating with death, fulfil


s: The silent mandates of the Almighty Will;


s: Whose hand unseen the works of nature dooms


s: By laws unknown--WHO GIVES, AND WHO RESUMES.


s: the inaptitude to motion from the inirritability of the


s: system, and the consequent want of fibrous contraction; see


s: "Each pregnant Oak ten thousand acorns forms


s: Ten thousand seeds each pregnant poppy sheds


s: Profusely scatter'd from its waving heads;


s: With greedy trunks the honey'd sap imbibe;


s: Swarm on each leaf with eggs or embryons big,


s: Amorous with double sex, the snail and worm,


s: Scoop'd in the soil, their cradling caverns form;


s: Heap their white eggs, secure from frost and floods,


s: And crowd their nurseries with uncounted broods.


s: Ere yet with wavy tail the tadpole swims,


s: Breathes with new lungs, or tries his nascent limbs;


s: Her countless shoals the amphibious frog forsakes,


s: And living islands float upon the lakes.


s: The migrant herring steers her myriad bands


s: From seas of ice to visit warmer strands;


s: Unfathom'd depths and climes unknown explores,


s: And covers with her spawn unmeasured shores.


s: --All these, increasing by successive birth,


s: Would each o'erpeople ocean, air, and earth.


s: plants in respect to seeds is often remarkable; from one root


s: in one summer the seeds of zea, maize, amount to 2000; of


s: inula, elecampane, to 3000; of helianthus, sunflower, to


s: buds. Buds, which are so many herbs, in one tree, the trunk


s: of which does not exceed a span in thickness, frequently


s: pucerons, or vine-fretters, are hatched from an egg in the


s: early spring, and are all called females, as they produce a


s: living offspring about once in a fortnight to the ninth


s: generation, which are also all of them females; then males


s: are also produced, and by their intercourse the females


s: become oviparous, and deposite their eggs on the branches, or


s: in the bark to be hatched in the ensuing spring.


s: This double mode of reproduction, so exactly resembling the


s: buds and seeds of trees, accounts for the wonderful increase


s: of this insect, which, according to Dr. Richardson, consists


s: of ten generations, and of fifty at an average in each


s: generation; so that the sum of fifty multiplied by fifty, and


s: that product again multiplied by fifty nine times, would give


s: the product of one egg only in countless millions; to which


s: must be added the innumerable eggs laid by the tenth


s: generation for the renovation of their progeny in the ensuing


s: with its fine proboscis the sap-vessels of vegetables without


s: any visible wound, and thus drinks the sap-juice, or


s: vegetable chyle, as it ascends. Hence on the twigs of trees


s: they stand with their heads downwards, as I have observed, to


s: acquire this ascending sap-juice with greater facility. The


s: honey-dew on the upper surface of leaves is evacuated by


s: these insects, as they hang on the underside of the leaves


s: above; when they take too much of this saccharine juice


s: during the vernal or midsummer sap-flow of most vegetables;


s: the black powder on leaves is also their excrement at other


s: times. The vegetable world seems to have escaped total


s: destruction from this insect by the number of flies, which in


s: their larva state prey upon them; and by the ichneumon fly,


s: which deposits its eggs in them. Some vegetables put forth


s: stiff bristles with points round their young shoots, as the


s: moss-rose, apparently to prevent the depredation of these


s: insects, so injurious to them by robbing them of their chyle


s: tadpole from a fish to a quadruped by his gradually putting


s: forth his limbs, and at length leaving the water, and


s: breathing the dry air, is a subject of great curiosity, as it


s: resembles so much the incipient state of all other


s: quadrupeds, and men, who are aquatic animals in the uterus,


s: By climate friended, and by food sustain'd,


s: O'er seas and soils, prolific hordes! would spread


s: Erelong, and deluge their terraqueous bed;


s: But war, and pestilence, disease, and dearth,


s: Sweep the superfluous myriads from the earth.


s: Thus while new forms reviving tribes acquire


s: Like insects swarming in the noontide bower,


s: The births and deaths contend with equal strife,


s: And every pore of Nature teems with Life;


s: Which buds or breathes from Indus to the Poles,


s: And Earth's vast surface kindles, as it rolls!


s: besides the carbon, hydrogen, azote, and the oxygen and heat,


s: which are combined with them, require to be also immersed in


s: loose heat and loose oxygen to preserve their mutable


s: existence; and hence life only exists on or near the surface


s: of the earth; see Botan. Garden, Vol. I. Canto IV. l. 419.


s: L'organisation, le sentiment, le movement spontané, la vie,


s: n'existent qu'à la surface de la terre, et dans les lieux


s: exposés à la lumière. Traité de Chimie par M. Lavoisier, Tom.


s: "HENCE when a Monarch or a mushroom dies,


s: But, as a few short hours or years revolve,


s: Alchemic powers the changing mass dissolve;


s: Born to new life unnumber'd insects pant,


s: New buds surround the microscopic plant;


s: Whose embryon senses, and unwearied frames,


s: Feel finer goads, and blush with purer flames;


s: Stretch the long root, or wave the aurelian wing.


s: births of the larger insects, and the spontaneous productions


s: of the microscopic ones, every part of organic matter from


s: the recrements of dead vegetable or animal bodies, on or near


s: the surface of the earth, becomes again presently reanimated;


s: which by increasing the number and quantity of living


s: organizations, though many of them exist but for a short


s: time, adds to the sum total of terrestrial happiness.]


s: "When thus a squadron or an army yields,


s: And festering carnage loads the waves or fields;


s: When few from famines or from plagues survive,


s: Or earthquakes swallow half a realm alive;--


s: While Nature sinks in Time's destructive storms,


s: The wrecks of Death are but a change of forms;


s: Feels new desires, with new sensations burns;


s: With youth's first bloom a finer sense acquires,


s: And Loves and Pleasures fan the rising fires.--


s: Thus sainted PAUL, 'O Death!' exulting cries,


s: 'Where is thy sting? O Grave! thy victories?'


s: Paul teaches the resurrection of the body in an incorruptible


s: and glorified state, with consciousness of its previous


s: existence; he therefore justly exults over the sting of


s: "Immortal Happiness from realms deceased


s: Wakes, as from sleep, unlessen'd or increased;


s: Calls to the wise in accents loud and clear,


s: Sooths with sweet tones the sympathetic ear;


s: And lights the dawn of Life's returning day.


s: the happiness of organized nature is probably increased


s: rather than diminished, when one large old animal dies, and


s: is converted into many thousand young ones; which are


s: produced or supported with their numerous progeny by the same


s: organic matter. Linneus asserts, that three of the flies,


s: called musca vomitoria, will consume the body of a dead


s: horse, as soon as a lion can; Syst. Nat.]


s: "So when Arabia's Bird, by age oppress'd,


s: A filial Phoenix from his ashes springs,


s: Crown'd with a star, on renovated wings;


s: Ascends exulting from his funeral flame,


s: And soars and shines, another and the same.


s: Phoenix rising from its own ashes with a star upon its head


s: seems to have been an hieroglyphic emblem of the destruction


s: and resuscitation of all things; see Botan. Garden, Vol. I.


s: In Grecian temples taught the attentive youth;


s: With ceaseless change how restless atoms pass


s: From life to life, a transmigrating mass;


s: How the same organs, which to day compose


s: The poisonous henbane, or the fragrant rose,


s: May with to morrow's sun new forms compile,


s: Whence drew the enlighten'd Sage the moral plan,


s: That man should ever be the friend of man;


s: Should eye with tenderness all living forms,


s: His brother-emmets, and his sister-worms.


s: the perpetual transmigration of matter from one body to


s: another, of all vegetables and animals, during their lives,


s: as well as after their deaths, was observed by Pythagoras;


s: which he afterwards applied to the soul, or spirit of


s: animation, and taught, that it passed from one animal to


s: another as a punishment for evil deeds, though without


s: consciousness of its previous existence; and from this


s: doctrine he inculcated a system of morality and benevolence,


s: as all creatures thus became related to each other.]


s: "HEAR, O ye Sons of Time! your final doom,


s: And read the characters, that mark your tomb:


s: The marble mountain, and the sparry steep,


s: Were built by myriad nations of the deep,--


s: Age after age, who form'd their spiral shells,


s: Their sea-fan gardens and their coral cells;


s: Till central fires with unextinguished sway


s: The sand-fill'd strata stretch'd from pole to pole;


s: Unmeasured beds of clay, and marl, and coal,


s: Black ore of manganese, the zinky stone,


s: These from their elements by Life combined,