Without espousing the cause of any party, I have attempted to moderate the rage of all. I have endea voured to show, that there may be equal happiness in states, that are differently governed from our own; that every state has a particular principle of happiness, and that this principle in each may be carried to a mischievous excess. There are few can judge, better than yourself, how far these positions are illustrated in this Poem. I am, THE TRAVELLER; OR, A PROSPECT OF SOCIETY *. REMOTE, unfriended, melancholy, slow, Several alterations were made in this Poem, and some new verses added to it, as it passed through different editions. -We have followed the last edition published in the lifetime of the author. Eternal blessings crown my earliest friend, And round his dwelling guardian saints attend; Blest be that spot, where cheerful guests retire To pause from toil, and trim their evening fire; Blest that abode, where want and pain repair, And every stranger finds a ready chair; Blest be those feasts with simple plenty crown'd, Laugh at the jests or pranks that never fail, Or press the bashful stranger to his food, And learn the luxury of doing good. But me not destin'd such delights to share, Some fleeting good, that mocks me with the view; And, plac'd on high above the storm's career, Look downward where an hundred realms appear; Lakes, forests, cities, plains extending wide, The pomp of kings, the shepherd's humbler pride. When thus Creation's charms around combine, Amidst the store should thankless pride repine? Say, should the philosophic mind disdain That good which makes each humbler bosom vain ? Let school-taught pride dissemble all it can, These little things are great to little man; And wiser he, whose sympathetic mind Exults in all the good of all mankind. Ye glittering towns, with wealth and splendour crown'd; Ye bending swains, that dress the flowery vale For me your tributary stores combine: Bends at his treasure, counts, recounts it o'er ; Yet still he sighs, for hoards are wanting still: | 480434 11 Thus to my breast alternate passions rise, Pleas'd with each good that Heaven to man supplies; To see the hoard of human bliss so small; And oft I wish, amidst the scene, to find Where my worn soul, each wandering hope at rest, |