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What treason to the majesty of Man! Of Man immortal! Hear the lofty style: “If so decreed, th' almighty will be done. "Let earth dissolve, yon pond'rous orbs descend, 745 "And grind us into dust: The Soul is safe; "The Man emerges; mounts above the wreck, "As tow'ring flame from Nature's fun'ral pyre; "O'er devastation, as a gainer, smiles; "His charter, his inviolable rights,

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"Well pleas'd to learn from thunder's impotence, "Death's pointless darts, and Hell's defeated storms." But these chimeras touch not thee, LORENZO! The glories of the world, thy sev'nfold shield. Other ambition than of crowns in air,

And superlunary felicities,

Thy bosom warm. I'll cool it, if I can;

And turn those glories that enchant, against thee.
What ties thee to this life, proclaims the next.

If wise, the cause that wounds thee is thy cure.
Come, my ambitious! let us mount together

(To mount LORENZO never can refuse;)

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And from the clouds, where Pride delights to dwell, Look down on Earth-What seest thou? Wondrous

things!

Terrestrial wonders, that eclipse the skies.

What lengths of labour'd lands! what loaded seas!
Loaded by men, for pleasure, wealth, or war!
Seas, winds, and planets, into service brought,
His art acknowledge, and promote his ends.
Nor can th' eternal rocks his will withstand;
What level'd mountains, and what lifted vales!
O'er vales and mountains sumptuous cities swell,

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And gild our landscape with their glitt❜ring spires.
Some mid the wand'ring waves majestic rise;
And NEPTUNE holds a mirror to their charms.
Far greater still! (what cannot mortal might?)
See, wide dominions ravish'd from the deep!
The narrow'd deep with indignation foams.
Or southward turn, to delicate, and grand;
The finer arts there ripen in the sun.
How the tall temples, as to meet their gods,
Ascend the skies! the proud triumphal arch
Shews us half Heav'n beneath its ample bend.
High through mid air, here, streams are taught to flow;
Whole rivers, there, laid by in basons, sleep.
Here, plains turn oceans; there, vast oceans join
Through kingdoms channel'd deep from shore to shore;
And chang'd creation takes its face from Man.
Beats thy brave breast for formidable scenes,
Where fame and empire wait upon the sword?
See fields in blood; hear naval thunders rise;
BRITANNIA's voice! that awes the world to peace.
How yon enormous mole, projecting, breaks
The mid-sea furious waves! their roar amidst,
Out-speaks the Deity, and says, "O main!
"Thus far, nor farther; new restraints obey.'
Earth's disembowel'd! measur'd are the skies!
Stars are detected in their deep recess!
Creation widens! vanquish'd Nature yields!
Her secrets are extorted! Art prevails!

What monument of genius, spirit, pow'r!

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And now, LORENZO, raptur'd at this scene,

Whose glories render Heav'n superfluous! say,

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Whose footsteps these?-Immortals have been here.

Could less than souls immortal this have done?

Earth's cover'd o'er with proofs of souls immortal;
And proofs of immortality forgot.

To flatter thy grand foible, I confess,

These are Ambition's works: And these are great: But this, the least immortal souls can do;

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Transcend them all.-But what can these transcend?
Dost ask me, what?-One sigh for the distrest.
What then for infidels? A deeper sigh.

'Tis moral grandeur makes the mighty Man:
How little they, who think aught great below! 815
All our ambitions Death defeats, but one;

And that it crowns.-Here cease we: But, ere long, More pow'rful proof shall take the field against thee, Stronger than death, and smiling at the tomb.

PREFACE

ΤΟ

NIGHT THE SEVENTH.

As we are at war with the power, it were well if we were at war with the manners, of France.. A land of levity is a land of guilt. A serious mind is the native soil of every virtue, and the single character that does true honour to mankind. The soul's immortality has been the favourite theme with the serious of all ages. Nor is it strange; it is a subject by far the most interesting, and important, that can enter the mind of Man. Of highest moment this subject always was, and always will be. Yet this its highest moment seems to admit of increase at this day; a sort of occasional importance is superadded to the natural weight of it; if that opinion, which is advanced in the Preface to the preceding Night, be just. It is there supposed, that all our infidels, whatever scheme,

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