Till cloth'd with beams serenely bright,
All Heav'n's vast concave flames with light;
So, when, through life's protracted day,
Melissa still pursues her way,
Her virtues with thy splendour vie,
Increasing to the mental eye:
Though less conspicuous, not less dear,
Long may they Bion's prospect cheer;
So shall his heart no more repine,
Bless'd with her rays, though robb’d of thine.

WILLIAM HAYWARD ROBERTS.

BORN 1745.-DIED 1791.

He was educated at Eton, and from thence was elected to King's college, Cambridge, where he took the degree of master of arts, and of doctor in divinity. From being an under master at Eton he finally rose to be provost of the college, in the year 1781. He was also chaplain to the king, and rector of Farnham Royal, in Buckinghamshire. In 1771 he published, in three parts, “ A Poetical Essay on the Attributes and Providence of the Deity.” Two years afterwards, “ A Poetical Epistle to Christopher Anstey, on the English Poets, chiefly those who had written in blank verse;" and in 1774 his poem of « Judah Restored," a work of no common merit.

Two

Poetical Epistle weity.”

Anstey, on the

FROM JUDAH RESTORED.

BOOK I. The Subject proposed-State of the Jews in captivity-Character

of Belshazzar-Feast of Baal—Daniel visited by the Angel Gabriel.

The fall of proud Belshazzar, the return
Of Benjamin, and Judah, captive tribes,
I sing. Spirit of God, who to the eyes
Of holy seers in vision didst reveal?!
Events far distant; thou, who once didst touch
Their lips with heavenly fire, and tune their harps
To strains, sublimer than the Tuscan stream
Caught from his Latian bards, or echoed round ,
The wide Ægean from Ionia's shore,
Inspire my soul; blest spirit, aid my song.

The sun full seventy times had pass'd the realm
Of burning Scorpius, and was hastening down .
The steep convex of heaven, since Babylon
Receiv'd her mourning prisoners. Savage taunts,
And the rude insult of their barbarous lords, ...
Embitter all their woe. Meanwhile the Law,
Proclaim'd on Horeb's top, neglected lies;
Nor kid, nor evening lamb, nor heifer bleeds,
Nor incense smokes, nor holy Levite claims
Choice fruits, and rich oblations. On the trees,
That o'er the waters bend, their untun'd harps,
Harps, which their fathers struck to festal hymns;
Hang useless. 'Twas the hill, 'twas Sion's hill,
Which yet Jehovah lov'd. There once he dwelt;

There stood his temple; there from side to side
The cherub stretch'd his wings, and from the cloud
Beam'd bright celestial radiance. Thence, though

driven . :,' i "
In early childhood to a stranger's land,
Or born sad heirs of slavery, still they cast
An anxious look from Perath's willowy vale,
Toward Jordan, sacred stream; and when the sun
Sunk in the west, with eager eye pursued ...
His parting beams; and pointed to the place,
Where from their sight the faint horizon hid:
Those hills, which round deserted Salem's walls
Stood like a bulwark. And as some tired hart,
Driven by keen hunters o'er the champain wild,
Pants for the running brook, so long the tribes
Of captive Judah for their native clime, iringas,
Again to sing the strains of Jesse's son, i
Again to raise a temple to their God.. ii.

But oh! what hope, wliat prospect of return, . While fierce Belshazzar reigns? He, undismay'd Though hostile banners stream near Babel's towers, Round his gall’d prisoners binds the griping chain, And scoffs at Judah's God. Even now a shout 1'. Is heard through every street, and with loud voice. Ariochą an herald tall, proclaims a feast to , *To Bel, Chaldæan idol; and commands firs That when the morrow dawns, soon as is heard The sound of cornet, dulcimer, and harp, 1:... Sackbut, and psaltery, each knee be bent. Before the mighty dragon. Silent standa

With eyes dejected Solyma's sad sons.
Shall they comply? but will Jehovah then
E’er lead them back to Canaan, pleasant land? .
Shall they refuse? but who, oh! who shall check
Belshazzar's waken'd wrath? who shall endure :
The burning cauldron, or what lingering death
The tyrant's cruel vengeance may devise ?
Thus they irresolute wait the fatal hour.

Now Night invests the pole: wrapt is the world
In awful silence; not a voice is heard,
Nor din of arms, nor sound of distant foot,
Through the still gloom. Euphrates lulls his waves,
Which sparkle to the moon's reflected beam;
Nor does one sage from Babylon's high towers
Descry the planets, or the fix'd, and mark
Their distance, or their number. Sunk to rest,
With all her horrors of the morrow's doom,
Lies Sion's captive daughter: sleep, soft sleep,
His dusky mantle draws o’er every eye.
But not on Daniel's unpillow'd head
One opiate dew-drop falls. Much he revolves
Dark sentences of old; much pious zeal
For great Jehovah's honour fires his soul;
And thus, with lifted hands, the prophet cries. ...

“ Father of truth, and mercy, thou, whose arm Even from the day when Abraham heard thy voice, Stretch'd o'er thy chosen race, protects us still, Though now awhile thou suffer us to groan Beneath a tyrant's yoke; when, gracious Lord, O when shall we return? O when again

Shall Siloa's banks, and Sion's holy top, Be, vocal with thy name? Said not thy seer, When seventy tedious moons had twelve times waned, We should again be free? Behold, the day Approaches. God of Israel, hath ought chang'd Thine everlasting counsel ? wilt thou leave Thy people yet in sad captivity, And join thy prophet with the despis'd tribe Of Babel's false diviners ? Not to thee, But to great Bel, Chaldæa's frantic priests Waft clouds of incense. Soon as morning dawns, With shouts the noisy revellers will proclaim The triumph of their God; nor will they cease To rouse their monarch's rage, should Judah dare Resist his impious edict. Then, O then, God of our fathers, rise ; and in that day, . . - Even before night, whose vaulted arch now shines With clustering stars, shall visit earth again, Confound their horrid rites, and shew some siga That yet again thy prisoners shall be free.” ..

He spake, and sudden heard a rushing noise, As when a north-west gale comés hovering round. Some cape, the point of spacious continent Or in the Indian, or Pacific main; The sailor hears it whistling in his shrouds, And bids it hail. Bright as the summer's noon Shone all the earth. Before the prophet stood Gabriel, seraphic form: graceful his port, Mild was his eye; yet such as might command Reverence, and sacred awe, by purest love , i