xt79cn6xwn57 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt79cn6xwn57/data/mets.xml Bryan, Daniel 1813  books b92ps1148b5m618132009 English Davidson & Bourne : Harrisonburg, Va. Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Boone, Daniel, 1734-1820 --Poetry American poetry --19th century. The mountain muse : comprising the adventures of Daniel Boone, and the power of virtuous and refined beauty / by Daniel Bryan, of Rockingham County, Virginia. text The mountain muse : comprising the adventures of Daniel Boone, and the power of virtuous and refined beauty / by Daniel Bryan, of Rockingham County, Virginia. 1813 2009 true xt79cn6xwn57 section xt79cn6xwn57 
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
   THE

MOUNTAIN MUSE-.

comprising

THE ADVENTURES

of

DANIEL BOONE;

and

                 # ,

                *    

Virtuous and-rbfikes..Beaut*.. BY DANIEL BRYAN.

of rockingham  c0un7t, virginia.

HARRISONBURG :

Printed for the Author :

By Davidson Sc Bdurne. ' 1813. 
   District of Virginia to wit;

j^E it remembered, That on the eleventh day of September, in the thirty eighth year of the Independence of the United States of America, Daniel Bryan of the said district, hath deposited in this Office, the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as Author, m the words following, to wit :

" The Mountain Muse : comprising the Adventures of Daniel  Boone;  and the power of virtuous and refined Beauty.   By Daniel Bryan, of Rockingham Qoupty^ Virginia..'".. . ......

Vo'vfJfpiij'tf rb 'Xhe'.Jiit "bf'-the Congress of the United States^entituled^^Anact.for the encourage-'.ment\ of'. learning^     "by ;s^cjcringl '.the copies of maps, charts and books, to the_ Authors and Proprietors of such c'  fdc^^d^jing-\ke' ments is often the fountain of his bitterest fp anguish.   Like the drops of the weeping cloud, |M illumed with the momentary bursts of radience * which gleam from the sun, as he breaks thro' E his floating veil; the tears of woe and melancholy often sparkle   in the smiles of the |> same countenance.   Those avocations and a-fJE) musemencs which grasp the energies, absorb 1 the reflections, animate the Fancy, and electrify with vivid raptures and inextinguishable fascination, the spirits of one man, awaken no extacy, no pleasure in the bosom, but excite the contempt, or kindle the hatred of another. Perhaps this unition of extremes in the same person, and incongruity of dispositions in different persons, are not any where so strikingly evinced, as among the votaries of the poetic Muse, and between them and the insensate drudges ofavaricious cupidity. What pictures of 
   PREFACE.

mingled light and gloom we behold delineated by the pencil of D' Israeli! The mere enumeration of their names would fill a page. Let the case of Collins exemplify the fact of the most exquisite happiness and misery flowing from the same source. His heart was alive to every delicate preception of joy or sorrow. Its chords responded to every vibration of the Muse's Lyre. In the days of his juvenility, they were constantly thrill'd with the delicious breathings of Hope. In those of his maturity, they trembled between the alternate touches of transport and despondency. But, in the dark period of his premature decline, they were tortured with the agonizing shrieks of phrenzy, and the sullen moans of Despair ; until they bled and broke ! Yet even in the moments of his keenest sufferings, his delirious Muse could throw spells of wild delight across his frantic mind. For even then her song was sweetest melody; and her influence, as it had been through all his life, irresistable ! The more he endeavor'd to fly from her, the closer she pursued him, and the more deeply he became enamor'd with 
   PREFACE.

the magic of her strains. Thus too, it happens, with those who are less gifted with the divinity of Genius than was the seraphic Collins. The Author of the feeble effusions which compose this Volume, without presuming to intimate, or daring to believe that he possesses a spark of that Miltonic fire which burns in the pag*es of loftiest Verse, is compel'd to say, that he has experienced the counter operations of that diversity of emotion, which is so characteristic of those who worship at the shrine of the Muses. He has reveled on the pleasures of an employment, which, while it was too alluring for him to resist, was, he seriously apprehended, and still fears, disseminating for him the seeds of a Harvest of Penury and Melancholy. Why, it has been frequently ask'd him, does he continue to disregard these salutary premonitions of his deliberate judgment? As well might it be ask'd, why does the heedless Candle Fly, which has already scorch'd its wings in the flame, still flutter around it until it perishes"? The Author found himself sliding into the delusive regions of Fancy, and had neither 
   PREFACE.

skill nor resolution to dissipate the enchantment by which he was drawn. The farther he has proceeded, the more potent has become the charm. Whatever therefore, may be the infelicitous consequences of his aberration from the orbit of lucrative exertion, they should b# attributed, less to the projectile influence of his own volition, than to the attraction of objects, and the existence of circumstances, beyond the sphere of his control. Indeed the physical beauty and magnificence, combined with the moral and political enjoyments of this Land of elysium, are well calculated to inspire with poetic devotion, the bosom which has any native predisposition to the indulgence of imagination. Who, that has a soul suscept-able of ennobling sensations, can ramble thro Columbia's forests, hear the roar of her rivers, gaze on the grandeur of her mountains, and muse on her glorious Liberties, without breaking forth into the rhapsodies of divinest enthusiasm ? Yet, how few there are in this section of her Republic, who have ventured to resound in Verse the praise of her charms, or the honors 
   PREFACE.

of her distinguish'd Sons! A thousand times has the Author beheld in Fancy, the Genius of Columbian Poesy standing on the wildest cliffs of Allegany, tuning the tear twinkling chords of her Lyre, and warbling at intervals, unheeded, the sweetest raptures of Inspiration ; while the wasted strains, thrown from hill to hill, sunk and expired in the tenderest murmurs of neglect!

Infatuated as may be considered the Son of Poverty, who, while thousands around him are sedulously occupied in gathering Riches from the golden sand-banks of Fortune, loiters from the croud to listen to the lays of the grove, to gaze on the sparkling of a stream, or to pluck the flowers which spangle its borders ; yet would he not forego the felicity of his lonely ramble and simple amusements, for all the glittering accumulations of their toil. But he too, has his pains, his cares, and his labors, and should not despise the efforts of prudent Industry.

These observations have, in part, been induced by the expressions of astonishment which have   frequently been  made to the Author, 
   PREFACE.

that a person in his circumstances should suspend his preparations for a profitable profession, to engage in the proverbially unfruitful employment of the Muse.

When he vras first prevailed upon to add his name to the list of Literary Adventurers, it was his intention to form a Volume from the miscellaneous scraps of his juvenile Rhy-ming ; with the addition of a piece upon each of the subjects mentioned in his proposals. But after commencing " Boone's Adventures," he soon found that it would be impossible to do any thing like justice to that subject without giving to it a much greater extension than was at first contemplated. Upon this course therefore, in consonance with the suggestions of his own judgment, and the persuasions of his friends, he determined. He thought it most advisable too, to interweave with the History of Boone the narrative of the "Allegany Robbers and Lost Maid." From the extent therefore, to which these subjects have been amplified, it has become necessary to omit the insertion of all the others of minor magnitude, except that with which the Volume concludes. 
   PREFACE.

As to the organization and style of these poems, the Author has nothing to observe. Their merit must be tested in the crucible

; of discriminative Taste and cultivated Intellect. To the decisions of these, and these only,

I he will bow with submissive deference. To those persons, who have kindly contributed their exertions to promote the diffusion and prosperity of his humble productions, he cannot refuse himself the pleasure, of here tendering the ardent homage of a sincerely grateful heart. Nor can he conclude without indulging himself in the happiness of declaring, that he views in the generous smiles of their

i encouragement in his own case, that laudable spirit of national emulation, and that zeal for the

. expansion of literary glory in this prosperous Republic, which, from the amplitude of their operations, must embrace, cherish and invigorate, all the branches that bloom on the flourishing Stock of American Science.

Harrisonburg, 7 November 4th, 1813. 5 
   ARGUMENT.

IMMEDIATELY subsequent to the transformation of Chaos into order, and previous to the creation of light, the Angels who superintend terrestrial affairs assume their stations ; 1 to 47. Tempests,'Tornados, Conflagrations, Earthquakes, Pestilence, War and Revolutions, flow from their invisible agency ; 48 to 74. Newton, Herschel, Locke, and Reid were illumined by their infusions ; 76 to 93. Devotion is enkindled, and Infidelity intimidated by their inspiration ; 94 to 114. Statesmen are embued with patriotism, and Mariners with intrepidity by the interposition of the celestial Hosts, to whom the general direction of sublunary e-vents is committed ; 115 to 155. Satanic delusion is more potent than Angelic instructions, in consequence of human Depravity ; 156 to 185. Upon important events the Guardian Spirits hold solemn consultations ; 186 to 192. A Firmamental Hall erected on the summit of Allegany ; 193 to 287. The Seraphs assemble, and commence their deliberations with prayer ; 288 to 304. Truth addresses them; 305 to 409. Humanity declares his opinions; 421 to 516. Zeal speaks ; 527 to 792. Enterprise proposes to delegate Daniel Boone for the exploration and settlement of Kentucky ; 796 to 893   Of which the Council unanimously approve, and commend him to that Seraph's Protection ; 894 to 900. Having resounded the praise of God; 901 to 909   Religion implores the divine, blessing ; 910 to925 . The Assembly is dissolved^ and the Seraphs return to their appointed s/iheres. 
   THE

ADVENTURES

of

DANIEL BOONE.

BOOK. I.

W^HEN ffrst 'tYiki- !&rfc!ar?(r.yiet- jintravVl'd rounds

Through the jhiano, pjjpaijsej of-gristirx; Jvig^ht,

The planetar^'congloliqtiOnsi vpllfy,; "... ';'

Before the great1 e^KSNftL's^saored aye,

Upon the gloom; .QiUfrJe'skjerea} wbsY 5

Their pure-beam'd, time-enduring splendors flash'd ;

Ere on Attraction's mystic centre pois'd

By the Almighty's sun-creating hand,

The blazing ball that lights our solar sphere,

From the ecliptic-zone his radiance pour'd ; 10

When from their chrystal palaces in Heaven's

Unmeasur'd heights of bright and cloudless day,

Th' Angelic Spirits view'd Creation's God,

Along th'unf esisting void of space,

In numberless succession, rolling worlds ; 1 5

From their celestial ranks they bade descend, 
   16

boone's

To rule the vast machinery of the globes,

Supernal hosts with holy power endued.

With joy, obedient to the kind behest ;

In robes of interwoven light array'd, 20

The delegated phalanx, darting through.

The rayless deeps of uncreated Night

A keen pervasive glance, their snow-white vans

Outspread; and from th'empyreal battlement's

Gold-spangled summits, down th'untravers'd void 25

T'assume their stations on the new made spheres

Descended, wide diverging as they sail'd.

So on tenebrous-midnight'o -welkin .glooms,

Disparting';ball6 elc'ctricsl.explode    

Their streaming splendors.; and .the.moonless Heavens

With bright" 5}ut; Cya5iefec* paihkiillume, ,' 31

In numerous points of the. expansive bounds Through whicK-'c6.rjgto]nite;avfa'Cte'r nails, their posts The Seraph Guardians take : their several tasks As multifarious, as remote the climes 35 They occupy.   To some it is assign'd, From headlong violence with care to guard The bold career of flying worlds ; to curb Th'impetuous speed of wild Projection's flight, And Gravitation's centripetal force 40 Restrain ; these powers conjoin'd to harmonize, And through th'elliptic orbits make them wheel The circumvolving spheres.   To some, the Winds, And Seas, and Elements, embowcl'd deep 
   adventures.

17

In Earth's dark-winding caves, 'tis given to rule. 45

They are the Agents of lh' Almighty's wrath,

And they on man His benedictions shed.

When Ocean's tides in foaming conflicts roar,

And from their massy-heaving billows dash 49

The crashing Ships, and guzzling whirlpools whelm

The shatter'd wrecks   When swift Tornados sweep

The suffering land, demolish loftiest domes,

And from their heights the roaring forests hurl   

When Flames, from house to house, from street to street,

Infuriate, wasteful ! spread their blazing wings, 55

And into ashes sink a Kingdom's pride   

When from their burning bases, mountains burst,

And dreadful Earthquakes tear the yawning globe-*>-

When Pestilence his miasmatic breath

Diffuses o'er the land, and on the lungs 60

Of pallid millions putrefaction pours   

When these tremendous scenes on nature's stage

Our God displays ; 'tis through the agency

Of those seraphic Guardians of the world.

But not to matter only is confin'd 65 Their superintending care and awful sway. As ministers of God's mysterious laws, They fan the patriot passions into flame ; Bid War his gorgon crest erect, and roll His gory Chariots o'er th' ensanguin'd fields; 70 Bid Monarchs die, and tottering Kingdoms fall; On Revolutions, Revolutions rise';

2 
   1 8

Boone's

And conquering Freedom build on crumbling bones Of slaughter'd Tyranny, her hallow'd fanes !

Th' unexplor'd recess of Nature's deeps 7s They bid th' adventurous sons of science sound ; Her darksome seas, her mazes wild, disclose, Where scarce the sun's refracted beams e'er pierc'd, Or fervid Fancy's eagle vision glanc'd. On glorious Newton's science-scaling soul, 80 They pour'd the flame of Astronomic zeal; And bound to Herschel's telescopic mind That wing of sunbeam-swiftness, and of Angel strength; Which bore it like a comet through the Heavens, To where nine hundred million miles beyond 85 Cold Saturn's orb, the Georgium-Sidus rolls !

To Locke and Reid they gave th' ingenious skill T' unfold the labyrinthian web of mind ; To teach us how the variegated weft In different parts, peculiar tints assumes; 90 How light runs into shade, and shade to light, Untill in mingled hues, the changeful whole A beauteous intellectual landscape forms. With sacred ardor, they, those minds endue, WThose fame for piety and wisdom, shed 95 Unfading glory on the favor'd age In which they live.   They kindle on the tongues Of God's devout Ambassadors the flames Of melting eloquence ; with tender zeal Their hearts inspire'; with kind persuasion fill 100 
   adventures.

19

Their placid eyes ; and with seraphic grace

Their fervid action clothe ; untill portray'd

In prospect bright, on every feeling mind,

The bliss of Heaven enraptures and sublimes.

And if obdurate Infidelity 105

His flinty ramparts round the heart should raise,

And bar the soft emotions out; empower'd

By their inspiring Guardians' potent aid,

In pure and dread solemnity enshrin'd;"

The sinner-shaking bolt of Gospel law, 110

Truth-aim'd against th'opposing walls, they hurl;

'Till down the rotten-pillar'd masses sink

And ope the avenues, to where expos'd

On Hell's black verge, the cold affections sleep ! 114

The ardent Statesman's breast with patriot loye Those sacred Spirits swell; his toil intense Assist; while he with sleepless eye explores Politic tomes of elder years, and turns Attentive o'er the crumbling page of time ; While he in mi'.lnight silence meditates 120 On Empires buried in the grave of years j J How they from sickly infancy arose To proud Colossal strength : and how they thence Descended down Destruction's dangerous steeps, Till prematurely sunk in Ruin's gulphs 125 They rise no more   what causes gave their day Of prosperous grandeur, spread their features o'er With Freedom, Gladness, Health and virtuous Smiles; 
   20

boone's

Or what their sunny brightness overcast

With baneful blackness, the foundations min'd 13  

Which prop'd their fame   what cankcr'd all their hopes,

And tumbled their proud Monuments in dust.

The daring Mariner's intrepid soul

With the bold zeal of glorious Enterprise

And venturous Emulation, they inflame : 135

Through freezing seas his frightful passage steer,

Direct him hbw the icy shoals t'escape,

And where to find the long-sought savage shore.

They bid him fearless, tread the desert wild,

And undismay'd, its tawny tenants meet; 140

Their blood-fed fierceness gently turn aside,

And by familiar smiles their kindness win.

As man, refin'd adventurous man appears,

They bid the cheerless forest-glooms disperse,

And o'er the wastes the polish'd Arts extend. 145

The life-exterminating Beasts are slain,

The merciless arm of savage rage is bound

In Law's corrective pale, and Pain, and Blood,

And Plunder cease.

Thus from Creation's hour, 150 In every province of our planet Earth-Throughout the mighty bounds of Universe, In all the various spheres which appertain To matter and to mind, Angelic power Has exercis'd a superintending rule. 155 But since from Hell the poisonous breath of Sin 
   adventures. 21

First tainted an apostatizing world Th' infernal Foe of man's felicity Has ever envious opposition made |To all that purpos'd good to him on earth, 160 lOr in his future life   has station'd thick [Through every province of the peopled globe, His Hell-train'd swarms of evil-working fiends, Who keep uninterrupted watch for mean3 To counteract the power of Angel-zeal 165 On man : who hold or turn in Satan's paths !is blundering steps, and mail in horrid scalse is clouded eyes ; oft too deriving aid From man's own will, their hellish schemes succeed : And they the conflict oft long-while maintain 170 E'en when defeat at length their efforts ends. For man in cases which affect his doom When brought before the Great Eternal Judge, Th' advice which Angel intimations give Has always power to follow or reject. 175 In clogging with embarrassments the plans Which Man's seraphic Monitors devise T'cffcct his melioration, Hell's grim King And goblin minions feel malignant }oy. But notwithstanding all the stygian realm 180 Disgorge on Earth its legions, to oppose The Guardian Seraphs ; yet when not withstood By man's own will, in matters which pertain To his immortal state, the sacred hosts 
   boone's

The prize of glorious victory always win. 185

When subjects of momentous weight arise, When great occasions claim their righteous aid, And vast extensive interests are involv'd ; Those superintending Spirits then are wont In great and solemn council to convene, 190 And consultation hold on all the points Which to the grand concernment appertain. 'Twas thus the immortal Spirits who preside O'er the vast regions of the Western Wild, In grand assemblage met; when call'd to weigh 195 Th' important interests which its cause involv'd.

When nought but Beasts and bloody Indians dwelt Throughout the mighty waste, and Cruelty And Death and Superstition triple-leagued, Held there their horrid reign, and impious sway ; 200 The Guardian Seraphs of benign Reform With keen prophetic glance the worth beheld Of the immense expanse, its future fame, Its ponderous moment in the golden scales Of Freedom, Science, and Religious Truth , 205 When by Refinement's civilizing hand Its roughnesses should all be smooth'd away. With zeal the animating prospect fir'd The glowing Guardians, fill'd with views sublime 209 Their lofty minds, their enterprising powers awak'd, And urged them to this laudable resolve    That o'er Columbia's Western Wilderness, 
   adventures.

23

ilic Wisdom should her reign extend d Emigration pour her splendid swarms. With ease, their glorious purpose to achieve, 215 i.nd spare excessive waste of human blood ; hose sacred friends of Culture's spreading power nd humanizing energy, announced o all the station'd Seraphs who preside O'er the benighted West, their high design ; 220 And summons gave them quickly to convene In their aerial Courts.   Meanwhile command Was given th' ethereal Guardians to prepare, High o'er the Alleganean Mountain-Heights, For the Divan, a Fihmamental Hall. 325 Anon, obedient to the high behest, The mighty Spirit of the welkin deeps Bade convoluted winds, with furious flight And curvilinear sweep, encompass all The Atmospheric bounds ; and dash and roll 230 To the appointed place of Rendezvous, With all their fulminating Magazines, Th' encircled Regiments of mingled clouds ! The gloomy Vast, impetuous bowlings pierce; 234 The Northern Gates, tempestuous Whirlwinds burst; And Mountain-Caverns wide-expanded, vent Their hissing blasts.   Against impinging clouds, With driving strength, th'encircling Tempests rush And from their boundary's wide circumference roll Converging, the dark billowy-mixing mass. 240 
   34

boone's

From cloud to cloud, in blazing torrents stream,

Th' awaken'd fires electric : flashing flames

In forky grandeur, with etheueal light,

Projected peaks of rolling vapour crown ;

And all the nubilous involutions paint 243

With intermitting Lightning's vivid tints :

While glancing scintillations spangle thick

With dancing lustre all the clouded gloom;

And Angry Meteors, flaming as thy fly,

With burning paths their ragged way emblaze. 250

From ridge to ridge of the big Mountain-Mass,

Dark sullen Thunders by the conflicts wak'd,

Their sky-convulsing detonations pour.

Their destin'd point, th'embattled volumes reach ;

And rest.   The grand, the wonderous Edifice, 255

The great th'ethereal Architect begins.

Wide over Allegany's summit spread, .

Of close impacted, squared and polish'd clouds

Constructed, the extended base appears;

And of the same compressed material form'd, 260

Octagonal the burnish'd walls ascend,

Sublimely towering through the midway skies !

Broad sheets of lightning constitute the roof,

Whose flashing splendors flood with day the Heavens)

When Night spreads o'er the sun her darkling wings.

Reflected from the Fabric's upright squares, 266

Prismatic tinctures paint the fragment-clouds,

Which float unused in widening fleeces round. 
   adventures. "5

s myriad windows and its thousand gates ere all of pure translucent ether wrought, 270 nd all with bright festoons superbly hung

pansied clouds, and wreathed lightnings made, oth North  and South of the magnific dome, In grand Corinthian style and towering state,    On Meteor-Pillars rear'd, refulgent shone 275 Its roomy porticos.   Innumerous scats, Of downy clouds composed, and white and soft As Cygnet plumes, in graceful circles ranged ; Around th'interior of the shining hall, All ready for the Angel host appear'd. 280 A canopy of Rainbows intertwined In spiral union, forming in the whole, A beauteous arch of intermingled hues As rich as Fancy's p ncil can portray ; And variegated as the tints of light 285 In all their gayly blended forms can be, High o'er each line of dazzling sofas bends.

The glorious edifice in all its parts Consummate, the seraphic Guardians lift Their snow-white pinions on the cloudless air, 290 And reach the gorgeous gates.   In robes attired Of purple ether, the Majestic Spirit Of clouds and storms, with Angel courtesy Tn'enraptured Host address'd, and mildly ask'd From their united souls a prayer devout, 295 |j That Heaven's benedictions might descend, C 
   26

boone's

And consecrate the new-erected Fane."

The courtesy with sweet benignant grace

They all return'd, and humbly breathed to God

Their pious supplication.   This perform'd, SCO

In majesty sublime, with sacred air

And lofty mien, the solemn-musing host

Ingression made, and as they advanced, assumed

Their plume-soft seats.   Awhile, in silence deep

They sat till Truth's complacent Angel rose, 30;

And in perspicuous style, at large disclosed,

The causes multifarious, which conspired

T'enlist with animated ze?.l their powers

In prosecution of the glorious end,

For which they were in solemn synod call'd. 310

The pure-eyed Seraph thus his feelings spake   

  * Immortal Guardians of this Western World !

Your wisdom now a mighty theme demands!

Let all the beams of bright Divinity,

Which to your minds illumination gives, ' 31i

And sanctifies your pure and spotless hearts,

Now on your mental vision clearly shine;

Till its keen glances every point explore

Of the immense concern that brings us here.

The Almighty's glory and his creature's weal, 32.1

Which moved his holy power this well-plan'd globe

And all that is to form, have ne'er attain'd

In -the uncultured regions of the West

The splendid elevation He design'd. 
   adventures.

27

In various other provinces of Earth, 325 Where less prolific means of life and health Exist   Where sterile soil, and freezing winds gainst the industry of man contend,

|B\nd starve, and choak kind Nature's friendliest growth ; W here states ambitious, hostile, feast on War,    38 0

J^jkI stain with blood the snowy Crest of peace ;

SE'en there, Refinement's pleasure-dealing hand, The bliss which fits the soul for tasting Heaven, And gives existence all its honied zest, Hath scatter'd wide and copiously around   . 335 E'en there, a thousand consecrated Fanes, To glorify our God, in grandeur rise. Why then should mild, and more congenial climes, Where the maternal hand of Nature rears Salubrious plenty from her fruitful soil, 340 Diffusing through the aromatic air, The pleasant fragrance of mellifluous blooms ; Where softest Music pours perennial songs, And summer-cooling Rivers roll their floods, Inviting Population to their banks, 345 And cheering Commerce to their crystal waves; O ! why should climes distinguish'd thus by Heaven, Th' a/:/irofiriatc residence of cultured life In dark barbarian glooms continue wrap'd, Th' abode of prowling Savages and Beasts 350 Blood-hungering fierce ?   No portion of this Earth To nurture Hell's infernal grisly brood, 
   23

boone's

Was by its holy Maker e'er design'd ;

Or to remain a dark and frightful waste,

When wisely furnish'd for the residence 355

Of rational, humane and polish'd Man.

For He the righteous Author of the World

Design'd, that we, as Guardians of his work,

And Agents of his holy will ; that IVe,

Should open in the regions of the West 360

A sanctuary from the foes of Vice,

Who from Oppression, Cruelty, and Wrong,

And all the ills of European climes,

Have fled, a refuge here to find, beneath

Th' Angelic wings of Liberty and Peace.        ' 365

The sacred duty thus to us assign'd,

We only have as yet in part perform'd.

Wide stretching from the Alleganean Mount

Far westward and towards north and south, vast bouncL

Of rich and beauteous country unreclaim'd 370

From dreary wildness, ask our culturing aid.

God's wisdom and munificence declare,

'Tis not his will, that those luxuriant climes

Should be monopolized by scatter'd hordes

Of rude predaceous men, who feed on blood, 37j

And all their days through dismal darkness grope ;

While crouded into unproductive nooks,

In other regions, polish'd millions starve.

Lo ! how already, from th' Atlantic deeps

To where this Mountain lifts its clouded brow, ssc 
   adventures. 29

   

  ur influence, has th'effulgent floods diffused, (Of Revelation's everlasting light ; Dispersing superstition's sombre shades, And settling science on her splendid seat, Serenely bright, seraphic, and sublime ! 385 low have we clothed a wilderness with smiles, ^.nd made the gloomy heaths and deserts bloom ! Plow to the exiles of a tyrant land,

home, and all the joys of life we've given ! recting in this new-discover'd World, 390 bless'd Asylum for sweet Libert y, And for each sacred Virtue that adorns The Patriot's and the Christian's hallow'd lives. j|3ut westward of these mighty mountain piles, Th' illuminating blaze of Gospel day, 395 Our civilizing influence ne'er has spread. Now is th'auspicious time for us to plant Our beaming banner firmly in those wilds. Wor now, the East with population teems, And gallant thousands would our call attend. 400 For now the tide of Emigration rolls, The sons of Europe to Columbia's shores, And swarms are sighing for a land to call Their own.   O ! then, immortal seraphs muse ! Profoundly muse, on the momentous theme, 405 And your impressions give ; that all the light Of our united minds may clearly shew, In prosecution of the high design, 
   30

boonk's

The best, the wisest courstfor us to take."

Thus spake the Angel of celestial Truth. 4tO Humanity's bright seraph next, With sweetly melting grace, divinely rose. jAs innocently meek as Infancy, (when mildly slumbering in an Angel's arms, 'His lovely features were; a tender smile 415 With holy grandeur mingled, o'er them beam'd ; And in his eye the tear offeeling shone. Fiom underneath his snowy mantle, forth His beauteous hand he waved ; and from his lips In mild seraphic melody, effused 420 Th' ensuing strain.   " Ye venerated hosts ! Our great compeer with transport have I heard, And much his weighty counsel do approve. So comprehensive was his general view, That our peculiar interests; if we may 425 Peculiar call, what are so intertwined ; His kind benevolent feelings to engage, Ssem'd little less, if less, than did his own. In every fibre of my throbbing heart, His every word a lively echo found. 430 O yes ! companions in the joys of bliss ! We will refine, ex-dt, and humanize Th' uncivilized Barbarians of the West. Tne bloody-minded Wretch who now can see, Without a single pitying sigh or tear, 435 Beneath the ruthless hatchet's dreadful edge, 
   adventures.

31

An inoffensive Infant bleed and die ; !Can hear unmoved the Captive Mother plead, That her sweet, darling innocent may live ; Can, when the writhing of her Babe has ceased, 440 And death its little eyes in night hath seal'd ; The fainting Mother to a doom devote Still more ferocio'us !   More infernal still ! The task, the Godlike task be ours, that wretch In bright Refinement's golden crucible 445 To melt, to decompose and sublimate ! Untill to pity's thrilling touch alive, He thinks, he acts, and feels, as social Man!

How comfortless ! with misery how replete, Th' unenlighten'd Indian's barbarous life ! 450 Their golden billows o'er the smiling plain, For him, no plenty-yielding Harvests wave ; For him, in fields no flocks domestic range ; For him, no fruitage-purpled gardens blush; Nor ripen'd Orchards on the dewy grass 455 Their mellow burdens drop, emitting wide A honied fragrance on the fluttering gales. For him, no rich and flavorous viands crown, Nor mirth-inspiring Wines, the social feast ; No ornamented dome for him unfolds 460 Its sculptured doors   No decent cottage screens, From the bleak winter blasts, his thin-clad limbs; Nor easy couch e'er rests his aching frame. But penury, and cold, and weariness 
   boonk's

Are the attendants of his joyless life. 4&5 The forest Herbage and the Mountain Beasts, Through wind, and rain, and snow, with danger sought, His meagre store of doubtful food supply. Hiiif-starved, and !hiv6rinjg, through the driving blasts, Sin cessless oft, the Caterer returns, 470 To where beneath his smoking hut? of bark, His pining wife, and naked babes, he left; And finds them butcher'd by a neighbouring foe, Or torn, and slaughtered by blood-drinking Beasts 1

It much behoves us then, August Compeers ! 475 Among the wild barbarians of the West, The humanizing Arts to introduce; To bid i