Men, who their duties know,

But know their rights, and, knowing, dare main

tain,

Prevent the long-aim'd blow,

And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain : These constitute a State,

And sovereign Law, that state's collected will,
O'er thrones and globes elate

Sits Empress crowning good, repressing ill;
Smit by her sacred frown

The fiend Discretion like a vapour sinks,

And e'en the all dazzling Crown

Hides his faint rays, and at her bidding shrinks.
Such was this heaven-loved isle,

Than Lesbos fairer and the Cretan shore!
No more shall Freedom smile?

Shall Britons languish and be Men no more?
Since all must life resign,

Those sweet rewards, which decorate the brave, "Tis folly to decline,

And steal inglorious to the silent grave.

THE PALACE OF FORTUNE,

AN INDIAN TALE;

Written in the Year 1769.

MILD was the vernal gale, and calm the day,
When Maia near a crystal fountain lay,

Young Maia, fairest of the blue-eyed maids,
That roved at noon in Tibet's musky shades;
But, haply, wandering through the fields of air,
Some fiend had whisper'd-Maia, thou art fair!
Hence swelling pride had fill'd her simple breast,
And rising passions robb'd her mind of rest;
In courts and glittering towers she wish'd to dwell,
And scorn'd her labouring parent's lowly cell.
And now, as gazing o'er the glassy stream,
She saw her blooming cheek's reflected beam,
Her tresses brighter than the morning sky,
And the mild radiance of her sparkling eye,
Low sighs and trickling tears by turns she stole,
And thus discharged the anguish of her soul:
"Why glow those cheeks, if unadmired they
glow?

"

Why flow those tresses, if unpraised they flow? "Why dart those eyes their liquid ray serene,

"Unfelt their influence, and their sight unseen?

"Ye heavens! was that love-breathing bosom

made

"To warm dull groves, and cheer the lonely

glade?

"Ah, no: those blushes, that enchanting face, "Some tap'stried hall, or gilded bower, might

grace;

"Might deck the scenes, where love and pleasure reign,

"And fire with amorous flames the youthful train."

While thus she spoke, a sudden blaze of light
Shot through the clouds, and struck her dazzled
sight,

She raised her head, astonished, to the skies,
And veil'd with trembling hands her aching eyes;
When through the yielding air she saw from far
A Goddess gliding in her golden car,

That soon descended on the flowery lawn,
By two fair yokes of starry peacocks drawn ;
A thousand nymphs with many a sprightly glance
Form'd round the radiant wheels an airy dance,
Celestial shapes, in fluid light array'd;

Like twinkling stars their beamy sandals play'd;

Their lucid mantles glitter'd in the sun,
(Webs half so bright the silk-worm never spun)
Transparent robes, that bore the rainbow's hue,
And finer than the nest of pearly dew

That morning spreads o'er every opening flower,
When sportive summer decks his bridal bower.

The Queen herself, too fair for mortal sight,
Sat in the centre of encircling light.

Soon with soft touch she raised the trembling

maid,

And by her side in silent slumber laid:

Straight the gay birds display'd their spangled

train,

And flew refulgent through the aerial plain;
The fairy band their shining pinions spread,
And, as they rose, fresh gales of sweetness shed;
Fann'd with their flowing skirts, the sky was mild;
And heaven's blue fields with brighter radiance
smiled.

JAMES BOSWELL.

1795.

Our knowlege of the life of Boswell, grows out of that of the life of Johnson: just as the misletoe branches from the oak.

Prologue at the opening of the Theatre Royal Edinburgh; written by James Boswell, Esq. Spoken by Mr. Ross.

SCOTLAND, for learning, and for arms renown'd,
In ancient annals, is with lustre crown'd;
And still she shares whate'er the world can yield
Of letter'd fame, or glory in the field:
In every distant clime Great Britain knows,
The thistle springs promiscuous with the rose.