When yet he had not learn'd, in reafon's fpight,
Perverse to turn, and wander from the right,
Forfaking heaven's reveal'd, and nature's in.
borne light.

Then holy arts and prieftcraft were unknown,
Religion then was finiple, plain, and one :
Lust had not kindled then her guilty flame,
Ambition had not cheated fools with fame,
Nor vex'd the world with honour's angry name
Nor was the form of man beneath his foul,
But equal, proper beauties grac'd the whole.
Then temperance, just goddess, did prevail,
And rightly held creating nature's scale,
Difpos'd the feveral parts with prudent care,
And form'd with niceft fymmetry the fair.
Then was the reign of beauty in mankind,
Then univerfal emprefs, well fhe join'd
The faultlefs body and the blameless mind.

Soon as great Jove, from high Olympus' brow, Beheld the facred harmony below,

Add we one masterpiece of art, he said,
Earth, heaven, and all ye gods afford your aid,
Your each perfection join, and form one lovely

maid.

Creating Jove infus'd the living foul;

And fince from every god the graces came,
He bade Pandora be the fair one's name.
Then bending kindly down his gracious look,
Thus to the new made nymph th' Alnughty Fa-
ther spoke.

Daughter of gods defcend, thou work divine,
Vouchsafe on earth, celeftial fair, to fhine,
Diffuse the bleffings of thy radiant face,
And cheer the labours of the mortal race:
For thus the gods, thus Jove's high will ordains,
While man his native innocence retains;
Be thou his blifs, his great reward be thou,
Thy full perfection, heaven's fair pattern fhow,
And teach him by thyfelf thy native fkies to

know.

Bat oh if pity touch thy tender breast,
If for mankind thy care wou'd be exprefs'd,
Keep close this fatal casket I bestow,
Nor feek the fecre:s lodg'd within to know.
If thy frail hand too curious, should incline
To pry, and difobey the will divine,

Strait forth ten thousand winged plagues fhall fly,
And scatter swist contagion through the sky.
Thee too, thou faireft, fhall the ruin feize,
Pain fhalt thou feel, and languish with disease;
Deformity thy lovely looks fhall blast,
And foul pollution lay thy beauties wafte.

He faid: And downward fwift fhe bent her
Aliglit,
[light.
To spread around on earth the beams of beauty's
Nor did the there with Epimetheus dwell,
Shut up and cloifter'd in a lonely cell,
As old Greek tales of dreaming Hefiod tell.
But bounteous of delight and unconfin'd,
She made the bleffing common to mankind,
Design'd a public good fill paffing on,
On undistinguish'd crowds alike fhe fhone.

The ftupid herd with pleafing dread amaz'd,
Dumb with attention, flood, and gladfome gaz'd;
Some ravifh'd with her mien fo graceful were,
Some with the ringlets of her an ber hair, (fair.
Some with her iv'ry front, and face fo heavenly
From her each part anibrofial odours flow'd,
And breath'd a balmy bleffing on the crowd;
While her bright eyes (which icarce the mufe had
told,

Unless by facred infpiration bold)
With light effulgent, darted forth a ray,

[gay.

That cheer'd mankind, and made the world look
So when Aurora in the rofy east,

Lifts her fair head, with radiant honours dref'd,
O'er nature's face a various fmile the spreads,
And paints a-new the fields and flow'ry meads,
Ten thousand colour'd eyes her beams unfold,
The limpid ftream in filver waves is roll'd,
And all the green-wood fhade is burnifh'd o'er
with gold.

Such beauty was in our firft fathers time,
While yet the youthful world was in its prime;
The mingling graces of the fexes met,
And full perfection made the form complete;
While man yet free from avarice or pride,
The ways of wickedness had never try'd,
Nor warping from the right, perverfly turm'd
afide.

But when pernicious change invading fpread, And error blind mistaken reafon led, The swift contagion reach'd the lovely maid. Pandora tainted by an impious age, Purfu'd each fond defire, and each fantastic rage: Curious to know, the box disturb'd her reft, Jove's hard commands fat heavy on her breast, And woman, woman the frail nymph confcft: Refolv'd at length, whatever Jove forbid, She eas'd her longing mind, and broke the lid : When, fteaming, ftrait a deadly vapour rose, Long trains of waiting plagues it did difclofe, Diseases, miferies, and mortal woes. First the fell poifon fciz'd the curious maid, First on her youth, her blooming roses prey'd; Her eyes no more their starry fires could boast But dim and dull in cloudy mifts were loft;

}

No part was left untainted in the whole, [foul.
But all that once was fair, was lothfome now and
Nor stop'd the ruin with the wretched maid,
But growing ftill, around diffusive stray'd;
Error, disease, and death, like victors dread,
Wide-wafting o'er the world their legions spread,
And vanquish'd minds and bodies captive led.
Hid in deep shades benighted reafon lay,
Shut from the beams of truth's ethereal day.
From that faid æra igorance begun,
Thence a dull train of doubting ages run,
And beauty's facred form remains unknown.
Oh then, to guide the wand'ring mufe aright,
To pierce the fhades of this fubftantial night;
Phœbus be kind, to thee for aid we bow,
Thou joy of Gods above, and men below!
Patron of verfe, and ruler of the day;
Do thu fhoot swift before thy golden ray,
At once inspire her flight, and point her out
the way.

Though all around the wide contagion spread,
Like ftreams far ftretching from fome fatal head;
Yet was it various in its baleful course,
And now renew'd, and now repreft its force.
Where round the poles the frozen circles turn,
Or where near neighb'ring funs too fiercely burn,
There nature's fhame, mishapen formis abound,
And monsters people the devoted ground.
Far in the north where winter's hoary bed
Is with eternal fnows and ice difpread;
Or where the fam'd Magellan's fouthern tide
Does barbarous Patagonian fhores divide;
Nations deform'd, fierce favage tribes are seen,
Of bulk unwieldy and gigantic mien;
Each a huge heavy lazy nafs of might,
Unfit for use, and lothfome to the fight:
While in the regions of the burning zone,
No visage but the footy black is known ;
Short woolly locks their horrid fronts embrace,
Thick lips grin fearful with a fiend-like grace,
And night, the beldam, broods on each barbarian
face.

Nor here unfitly to my verfe belong,
Arts which were once the princely Arab's fong.
Long fince the bard in native numbers taught,
How the mid globe, with temp❜rate regions
fraught,

Feels not the dire extremes of cold and hot;
Where in the midst the juft æquator lies,
Sweet is the air, and undisturb'd the skies,
'There, heav'n's bright fcale well blended fea-
fons weighs,

Nature-the poles at equal distance lays,
And righteously divides the nights and days:
There nor the fun's bright flames malignant burn,
Nor chilly moons with nipping frosts return;
Thence, with luxurious births each pregnant year,
Twin seasons does, and double plenties bear :
'Thrice yellow Ceres crowns the fummer fields.
And twice his rich increase ripe autumn yields.
Twice gentle winter comes with fober grace,
And twice the blooming spring renews her blifs-
ful face.

Here, if aright the poet's fong divin'd,
The jufteft forms of beauty might we find :
From constitutions rightly temper'd, here
Fair harmony and order should appear,
And all mankind be lovely like the year.
But the known clime muft o'er the verse prevail,
And truth refute the falfe Arabian tale :
Since black deformity ufurps alone
The fultry regions of the torrid zone,
The fiery god too near 'em runs his race,
And leaves his footy marks on every hideous face.

Then, Oh my mufe, forsake the scorching line, And to the cooler pole thy flight incline; Seek in the midway space fome balmy air, A land delightful, and a people fair; Where beauty long her refidence has plac'd, And reign'd in fovereign state for ages paft. Nor cease thy curious fearch, nor yet remain Fix'd in warm Italy, or fwarthy Spain: Still spread thy wing, and reach that happy coaft, Where Europe does her fav'rite country boaft, Where sweetest airs, and kindeft heav'ns the yields Where Gallia fpreads her fair Elyfian fields. But thee, Turonia, chief I would felect, Thy pleafing foil with various profpect deck'd. Where winding vales run rich with frequent rills, And verdant plains are 'crown'd with rifing hills, Where gentle Liger flowly feeks the sea, Scatt'ring full plenty in his peaceful way, Where near proud Angier's walls his waves are roll'd,

And through their crystal clear display the fandy

Mark how their ftatures due proportion know, Nor rise too high, nor sink too meanly low; No meagre bony jaws deform the face, Nor puffy fides the taper fhape disgrace, But ev'ry part alike becomes its place. Behold how lovely smooth the forehead fhines, How milky white the foft defcent inclines, How fitly to the sparkling eyes it joins! While gaily pleasing they, and sweetly bright, Fill each beholder's heart with dear delight. See on the blooming cheeks, so freshly spread, So duly mixt, the native white and red; Mark what full rofes on the lips appear, [wear! What sweets they breathe, what balmy dew they But loft and endlefs were my pain, to trace The vast infinity of beauty's grace: Why should the mufe in lavish numbers fpeak The golden tresses, or the iv'ry neck ? Why fhould the bashful nymph attempt to tell, What foft round globes on rifing bofoms fwell? What fecret charms-Since modesty denies, And bars the bold accefs of wanton eyes; Blushing, with decent grace her veil fne draws, And shields the fair from shame by custom's rev' rend laws,

Nor do we lefs our manly beauty boast, Prov'd often to the love-fick virgin's coft: In either fex, her fkill, dame nature shows, And equally her faireft gifts bestows. Mark when the downy plumes at first begin To promise early manhood on his chin; How goodly grac'd the rifing youth is seen, His form how noble, and how great his mieņ; From vital juices well and kindly mix'd, The constitution just and firmly fix'd; No meagre pale, úpon his vifage spread, Taints with unwholfome hue the native red; But healthy fanguine, of the Tyrian dye, Laughs in his looks, while from his front on high, In large defcending locks his auborn treffes fly. Nor boaft his other parts lefs grace divine, Sweet lovelinefs with comely ftrength combine, Each limb on well compacted muscles turns, And just proportion the fair whole adorns. Such equal tempers happy Gallia knows, Such are the forms our kinder heaven bestows. Far from the clime where fultry funs arife, Far from the wintry north's inclement fkies, In the mid-fpace the queen of nations lies; With foftest airs, with fweeteft is the bleft, And gentle heats brood on her balmy breaft.

"Not every man or woman was defign'd
"To propagate and multiply their kind;
"Forbid we rightly the deform'd and foul,
"Toclothe withill-fhap'd limbs the heav'nly foul."
Has not the poet's fong divinely told
Of births detested in the days of old?
How dreadful Phlegeton did night invade,
Compreft the beldam in her own dire fhade?
Hence Sprung the fiftcrs (horrible to fight!)
Whofe hellish heads with hiffing fnakes affright.
Who fudders not at Pluto's odious bed?
What virgin would a one-ey'd Cyclops wed?
Were I to judge, no Vulcan e'er should prove
A horrid husband to the queen of love,
Some fitter task his barren age fhould find,
In hamm'ring bolts for Jove to plague mankind.
Doom'd to old Etna's forge he should remain,
And drudge out dull immortal years in vain.

But he who judges right of what is fair,
With healthy fons will healthy daughters pair:
As unperforming felefs drones, will drive
The weak and fickly from the marriage hive;
Whether a man, by frequent vifits, feel
The gnawing torments of the gouty ill;
Or fudden epilepfies seize his mind,

Or bilious cholic rack his breast with wind;
Or on his wafted lungs an ulcer prey,
Or a confumption lingeringly betray
His pining life, and murder by delay.

For, man's new curious fyftem to compofe,
An equal portion every limb bestows,
From every nerve collected nature flows:

Whence by traduction from the father run
Ill habitudes, entail'd upon the fon;
The latent poison in the bowels grows,
And propagates a family of woes.
How oft do men their ill-ftar'd birth bewail,
Condemn'd to a difeafeful body's jail!
How oft with vain complaints they load the skies,
And guiltless gods accufe with fruitless cries!
When the true cause of their repeated blame,
From a distemper'd feeble marriage came.
Let then a healthy bridegroom and a bride
Be in connubial leagues of love ally'd;
If they defire that future times fhould know
To what a lovely origin they owe
A race of men, for all that's generous born,
Or to defend their country, or adorn
The prudent farmers, who of heaven implore
A plenteous harveft, and increasing ftore;
The fineft of their wheat for feed retain,
Nor fow their acres with corrupted grain.
Hence loaded fields their annual wealth unfold,
And smiling Ceres waves in sheafy gold.
Thus lab'ring hinds, for a rich crop of corn,
Improve their ground, while you neglect with
fcorn

The grateful foil, from whence mankind is born:
Unwilling, or unmindful, to produce
From a hale body, pure and generous juice;
Which in clear channels may unblended run,
From the bright father to the brighter fon.
Is then the price of man no better known,
Or God, who form'd thy image from his own?
Cannot that foul which does with art furvey
The stars, and travels o'er the milky way,
Erect thy fpirits, and refine thy clay?
Does floth fupine in fuch strong fetters bind
Your abject fenfe, and make you lefs inclin'd
To found a beauteous temple for th' ethereal
mind?

Ye gods, who to a human birth repair,
And watch the cradle with a guardians care,
From nuptial banes exclude a weakly pair;
Left execrations from their childrens throat,
Their wretched parents to the fiends devote.
And thou, great Father of all human race,
Whose hand preferves this globe in ftrict embrace,
No longer let the wicked' cuftoni reign,
Nor the just beauty of thy labour stain.
Let a new genius from the fkies defcend
With better nature, and mankind befriend:
Who may this theme with well wrote rules adorn,
And give inftruction to an age unborn.

Nor is't enough that marriages agree
In mutual vigour, and from fickness free;
If you defire an offspring, you must learn
Another leffon of the first concern.

The nuptial knot fhouid be with equals ty'd,
No fanguine bridegroom to a sapless bride';
Nor should a bloomy nymph entomb her charms
In an old husband's monumental arms.
Hymen will fuch an ill yok'd couple blame,
And Juno kindle an unhappy flame :
Alecto, frowning on the lucklefs pair,
Shakes her fulphureous torch, and snaky hair.

Hence teats, preluding to destructive jars,
And fad complaints to unaffisting stars!
Hence deep refentments rack her jealous head,
For her wrong'd honour, and deferted bed!
Hence ftudy of revenge her love repels,
And all the woman rifes and rebels!
In wicked arts and deadly drugs fhe deals,
And with diffembled duty rage conceals:
While careless he, and indolent of thought,
Drinks fure destruction in fome fatal draught.

Did not the tenets of religion bind
To facred counfels my obedient mind,
Love fhould be liking; nor the nuptial league
Be ty'd by compact, or defign'd intrigue
Of felfifh parents, who in wedlock join
Their fons, to raise their wealth, and not their line.
For fhould wife nature, for the Cyprian joys,
Direct a couple in their mutual choice,
They would by reafon, not by cuftom led,
Ne'er tie a living body to a dead.

Be banish'd then, unfit for amorous fport,
The fribling dotard from the Paphian court:
Let youth their ftrength on youth alone employ,
And burn with equal love and healthy joy,
To propagate mankind and people earth
With a found offspring and a generous birth.

Nor, while I dictate these important truths,
Grateful to maidens and unmarried youths,
Would I to an extreme as bad incline,
And beardlefs boys with unfledg'd virgins join,
New to a blush, and fond without defign.
For prudent nature, who has then began
To knit the joints, and to confirm the man,
Has not as yet her genial power diftill'd,
Nor with prolific juice the vessels fill'ð.
If then a damfel, who defigns to wed,
Would reap the pleasures of the nuptial bed;
Let her (for Themis these strict rules ordains,
To curb too forward nymphs, and eager fwains)
Expect with patience, till the rolling fun
Has twice fix times his annual journey run;
Till her maturing years begin to bloom,
And promife early offspring to the womb.
For when the fwelling mafs is firmly knit,
And the ripe virgin glows with perfect heat;
Then rofy streams from fecret fprings abound,
Which kindly bathe the fruitful womb around;
By nature's prudent care provided well,
To feed the fleeping infant in his cell :
Then her soft breafts the lover's heart infpiré
With tempting heavings, and provoke defire.
So fhould the youth attend, till time begin
With moffy down to clothe and fledge the chin;
Till the firm channels fwell with vigorous blood,
And roll, impetuous, a prolific flood.
'Then, if kind Juno his endeavours blefs,
He fafely may the wedded fair carefs,
And venture on love's foft and clofe recefs.
If youths and virgins would these rules obey,
And wifely follow where I chalk the way,
What beauteous bloffoms would their labours
bring?

What fruits would in the bridal chamber spring?

Would they with equal conftitutions join,
Man would be all harmonious, all divine,
And angels heav'nly looks would in God's
image fhine.

Mean time, while lab'ring in this pleasing art,
The facred laws of nature I impart ;
While to the married pair the willing mufe
Gives found instructions of important use:
Lo! a young hero of imperial race,
With early manhood and fuperior grace,
Mounts the paternal throne of France, and
brings

New glory to the blood from whence he fprings,
The worthy fucceffor of ancient kings.
Lewis! Heav'ns darling offspring, from above
Sent to command with equity and love;
By wholesome laws the factious world to bind,
And be a prefent fuccour to mankind.
What royal mien! what mingled graces rife
In every part, and lighten from his eyes!
What majesty of foul, afpiring to the skies!
A thousand goddeffes admire his charms,
His princely air a thousand nymphs alarms,
A thoufand fighs they fend, to languish in his

arms,

Him the bright nymph of Austria's blood adores,
Who burns where Tagus gilds Iberian fhores;
The gentle winds tell every fecret groan,
And waft her wishes to the Gallic throne.
If, mighty prince, thou to the match incline,
Spain, and her Indian treasures fhall be thine.
For thee the tender Lufitanian dame
Confumes, and rivals the Hefperian flame.
For thee the pines; for thee the beauties glow,
Which drink the German Rhine and Latian Po
All stung alike, and emulous to tread
The bridal room, and mount thy lofty bed.

But thou! the hope of the Burbonian life,
A foreign Hymen's facred torch decline.
Of those refulgent ftars which crowd our sky,
And sparkle in the Celtic galaxy,
A hundred beauties in thy court are feen,
Deferving the high title of thy queen ;
On whose fair birth, a planet, like thy own,
With friendly influence, propitious fhone;
Whence kindly feeds arife, and kiffes not un-
known.

Nor be to fond defires fo blindly loft,
To choose a nymph, whom turbid Tyber's coast
Or whom Aufonia's petty princes boast.
Nor, mindless of the blood which fwells each

vein,

Admit, as confort of thy glorious reign,
Such humble births, a mean degenerate ftrain.

Confult thy royalty with niceft care,
And fix with judgment on the chosen fair,
Worthy to languifh by a monarch's fide;
Nor fue by proxy to an absent bride.