Through length'ning streets with sanguine hopes I

glide,

The fatal tube depending at my side;

No busy vender dins with clam'rous call,
No rattling carriage drives me to the wall;
The close-compacted shops, their commerce laid,
In silence frown like mansions of the dead-
Save, where the sooty-shrouded wretch cries "Sweep,"
Or drowsy watchman stalks in broken sleep,
'Scap'd from the hot-brain'd youth of midnight fame,
Whose mirth is mischief, and whose glory shame-
Save, that from yonder stew the batter'd beau,
With tott'ring steps, comes reeling to and fro-
Mark, how the live-long revels of the night
Stare in his face, and stupify his sight!
Mark the loose frame, yet impotently bold,
'Twixt man and beast, divided empire hold!-
Amphibious wretch! the prey of passion's tide,
The wreck of riot, and the mock of pride.

But we, my Friend, with aims far diff'rent born, Seek the fair fields, and court the blushing morn; With sturdy sinews brush the frozen snow, While crimson colors on our faces glow. Since life is short, prolong it while we can, And vindicate the ways of health to man,

To yonder vales that spread beneath the hills, Where MILTOWN river winds with murm'ring rills,

Onward our course diversify'd we bend,
And right and left with anxious care attend;
The poring spaniel, studious as he goes,
Scents every leaf that on the margin grows,
Sudden he stops!-he eyes the plashy spring!
The frighted snipe darts upward on the wing,
With shrill-ton'd pipe implores the passive air,
In vain! for death e'en persecutes him there-
Another springs! but, happier in his flight,
'Scapes the loud gun, and vanishes from sight.

The sport begun, and panting still for breath, With arms recruited for the work of death, Pleas'd we behold the gay transparent gleam of frozen lake, that skirts the purling stream, With inlaid figures and mosaic wrought, With margin rich, and lucid pendants fraught

'Till lively Ranger chides our long delay, Gambols around, then forward springs away.

Heaven! what delights my active mind renew, When out spread nature opens to my view, The carpet-cover'd earth of spangled white, The vaulted sky, just ting'd with purple light ; The busy blackbird hops from spray to spray, The gull, self-balanc'd, floats his liquid way; The morning breeze in milder air retires, And rising rapture all my bosom fires,

In incence wafted to the throne on high,
To Him who form'd the earth-the air-the sky,
Who gives me health and vigor to enjoy,

Guides me e'en now, and guarded when a boy-
Accept, great GOD! the fervor of my prayer,
And, as before, continue still thy care,
Oft as I view thee in creation's dress,

Be mine to praise thee, as 'tis thine to bless.

While fervid flights my lifted fancy takes, The wary woodcock rustles through the brakes, With hasty pinions wings his rapid course, 'Till death pursues him, arm'd with double force; Each gun discharg'd, and conscious of its aim, Asserts the prize, and holds the dubious claim; 'Till chance decides the long-contested spoil, Proclaims the victor, and rewards his toil.

His luckless fate, immediate to repair,

The baffled sportsman beats with forward care, Each bush explores, that plats the hedge with pride, Brooks at its feet, and brambles at its sideAnother bird, just flushing at the sound,

Scarce tops the fence, then tumbles to the ground.

Ah! what avails him now the varnish'd dye, The tortoise-color'd back, the brilliant eye, The pointed bill that steers his vent'rous way From Northern climes, and dar'd the boisterous sea?

To milder shores in vain these pinions sped,
Their beauty blasted, and their vigor fled.

Thus the poor peasant, struggling with distress, Whom rig'rous laws and rigid hunger press, In western regions seeks a milder state, Braves the broad ocean, and resigns to fate; Scarce well arriv'd, and labʼring to procure Life's free subsistence, and retreats secure, Sudden! he sees the roving INDIAN nigh, Fate in his hand, and ruin in his eyeScar'd at the sight, he runs, he bounds, he flies, 'Till, arrow-pierc'd, he falls-he faints-he dies. Unhappy man! who no extreme could shun, By tyrants banish'd, and by chance undone ; In vain! fair virtue fann'd the free-born flame, Now fall'n alike to fortune and to fame.

But why, my Muse! when livelier themes I sought Why change the rural scenes to sober thought? Why rouse the patriot ardor in my breast, Useless its glow, when FREEDOм droops deprest Not mine to combat lux'ry's lordly stride, My humble lot forbids th' aspiring pride, Forbids to stop Depopulation's hand That crushes industry, and frights the land, That robs the poor of half their little store, And insurrection spreads from shore to shore.

These to prevent, be still the statesman's end, And this the task of Sovereigns to attend ; Be mine the care to range this ample field, Try what its springs, and what its thickets yield, Pursue the game that to the skies aspire, And purge the aether with successive fire, Spring o'er the fence that bars my active mind, And rouse my Friend that lingering stays behind. Guard the steep bank, to catch with eager pains, The forward bound, that scarce the margin gains; Or loudly laugh, when diligently nice,

He backward slides, and bumps the crackling ice.

Oh friendship! name for ever lov'd, ador'd,
Thou richest gift, which heaven for man has stor'd,
To me more dear, congenial to.my breast,
Than all the hoards and honors of the East;
Whene'er through life's more arduous paths I bend,
Be there to guide, and aid me to my end;
Or when the sports of rural scenes I try,
With converse sweet each interval supply;
In all extremes of business or of ease,

Be there to comfort, and be here to please;
Unlock the sluices of my flowing heart,
And to its course thy genial warmth impart,
Augment its stream, refine it as it flows,
'Till fair.creation its clear current shews-
May no rude passions toss it into foam;
Nor restless commerce on its bosom roam;