O! fay, to bless thy pious love,

What vows, what offerings, fhall I bring?
Since I can spare, and thou approve

No other gift, O hear me fing!
In numbers Phoebus does inspire,
Who strings for thee the charming lyre.

Aloft, above the liquid fky;

I ftretch my wing, and fain would go Where Rome's fweet fwain did whilom fly; And foaring, left the clouds below;

This piece was trandated by the Reverend Thomas Newcomb, M. A, of Corpus Christi College, Oxon. + Tobacco.

VOL. VI.

The Mufe invoking to endue
With strength his pinions, as he flew.
Whether he fings great Beauty's praise,
Love's gentle pain, or tender woes;
Or choose, the subject of his lays,

The blushing grape, or blooming rofe: Or near cool Cyrrha's rocky fprings Mæcenas liftens while he fings.

Yet he no nobler draught could boaft,
His Mufe or mufic to inspire,
Though all Falernum's purple coast
Flow'd in each glass, to lend him fire;
And on his tables us'd to smile
The vintage of rich Chio's isle.
Mæcenas deign'd to hear his fongs,
His Mufe extoll'd, his voice approv'd:
To thee a fairer fame belongs,

At once more pleafing, more belov'd. Oh! teach my heart to bound its flame, As I record thy love and fame.

Teach me the paffion to restrain,

As I my grateful homage bring; And laft in Phoebus' humble train,

The first and brightest genius fing; The Mufes favourite pleas'd to live, Paying them back the fame they give.

But oh! as greatly I aspire

To tell my love, to fpeak thy praife, Boafting no more its fprightly fire,

My bofom heaves, my voice decays; With pain I touch the mournful stringt And pant and languish as I fing.

Faint Nature now demands that breath,

That feebly strives thy worth to fing! And would be hush'd, and loft in death,

Did not thy care kind fuccours bring! Thy pitying cafks my foul fuftain, And call new life in every vein.

The fober glafs I now behold,

Thy health, with fair Francifca's join, Wishing her checks may long unfold Such beauties, and be ever thine; No chance the tender joy remove, While fhe can pleafe, and thou canst love.

Thus while by you the British arms

Triumphs and diftant fame purfue; The yielding Fair refigns her charms,

And gives you leave to conquer too; Her fnowy neck, her breaft, her eyes, And all the nymph becomes your prize.

What comely grace, what beauty fmiles! Upon her lips what fweetnefs dwells! Not Love himfelf fo oft beguiles,

Nor Venus felf fo much excels.. What different fates our paffions fhare; While you enjoy, and I defpair!

Mot

WHAT foil the apple loves, what care is due
To orchats, timelieft when to press the fruits,
Thy gift, Pomona, in Miltonian verfe
Adventurous I prefume to fing; of verfe
Nor fkill'd, nor ftudious: but my native foil
Invites me, and the theme as yet unfung.

Ye Ariconian knights, and fairest dames,
To whom propitious Heaven thefe bleflings grants,
Attend my lays, nor hence difdain to learn,
How Nature's gifts may be improv'd by art.
And thou, O Moftyn, whofe benevolence,
And candour, oft experienc'd, me vouchfaf'd
To knit in friendship, growing still with years,
Accept this pledge of gratitude and love.
May it a lafting monument remain

Of dear refpect; that, when this body frail
Is moulder'd into duft, and I become
As I had never been, late times may know
I once was blefs'd in fuch a matchlefs friend!
Whoe'er expects his labouring trees fhould bend
With fruitage, and a kindly harvest yield,
Be this his first concern, to find a tract
Impervious to the winds, begirt with hills
That intercept the Hyperborean blasts
Tempestuous, and cold Eurus' nipping force,
Noxious to feeble buds: but to the weit
Let him free entrance grant, let Zephyrs bland
Adminifter their tepid genial airs;

Nought fear he from the weft, whofe gentle

warmth

Difclofes well the earth's all-teeming womb, Invigorating tender feeds; whose breath Nurtures the Orange, and the Citron groves,

Mifs Mary Meer, daughter of the late Frincipal of Brazen Nofe College, Oxon.

Diflil, from the high fummits down the rain
Runs trickling; with the fertile moisture cheer'¿,
The orchats fmile; joyous the farmers fee
Their thriving plants, and bless the heavenly dew.

Next let the planter, with difcretion meet,
The force and genius of each forl explore;
To what adapted, what it fhuns averse :
Without this neceffary care, in vain
He hopes an apple vintage, and invokes
Pomona's aid in vain. The miry fields,
Rejoicing in rich mold, moft ample fruit
Of beauteous form produce; pleafing to fight,
But to the tongue inelegant and flat.
So Nature has decreed: fo oft we fee
Men paffing fair, in outward lineaments
Elaborate; lefs, inwardly, exact.

Nor from the fable ground expect fuccefs,
Nor from cretaccous, stubborn and jejune;
The Muft, of pallid hue, declares the foil
Devoid of fpirit; wretched he, that quaffs
Such wheyish liquors; oft with colic pangs,
With pungent colic pangs diftrefs'd he'll roar,
And tofs, and turn, and curfe th' unwholefame
draught.

But, farmer, look where full-ear'd fheaves of rye
Grow wavy on the tilth; that foil feleét
For apples; thence thy industry fhall gain
Tenfold reward; thy garners, thence with fore
Surcharg'd, fhall burft: thy prefs with pureft juice
Shall flow, which, in revolving years, may try
Tly feeble feet, and bind thy faltering tongue.

Such is the Kentchurch, fuch Dantzeran ground,
Such thine, O learned Brome, and Capel fuch,
Willigan Burlton, much-lov'd Geers his Marth,
And Sutton-acres, drench'd with regal blood
Of Ethelbert, when to th' unhallow'd feaft
Of Mercian Offa he invited came,
To treat of fpoufals: long cunnubial joys
He promis'd to himself, allur'd by fair
Elfrida's beauty; but deluded dy'd

In height of hopes-oh! hardeft fate, to fall
By fhew of friendhip, and pretended love!
I nor advife, nor reprehend the choice
Of Marcley-hill; the apple no where finds
A kinder mold: yet 'tis unfafe to trust
Deceitful ground: who knows but that, once more,
This mount may journey, and, his prefent fite
Forfaking, to thy neighbour's bounds transfer
The goodly plants, affording matter frange
For law debates? if therefore thou incline
To deck this rife with fruits of various taftes,
Fail not by frequent vows t' implore fuccefs;
Thus piteous Heaven may fix the wandering glebe.
But if (for Nature doth not fhare alike
Her gifts) an happy foil thould be withheld;
If a penurious clay fhould be thy lot,
Or rugh unwieldy earth, nor to the plough,
Nor to the cattle kind, with fandy ftones
And gravel o'er-abounding, think it not
Beneath thy toi!; the sturdy pear-tree here
Will rife luxuriant, and with toughest root
Pierce the obftructing grit, and reftive marle.
Thus nought is ufelefs made; nor is there land,
But what, or of itfelf, or elfe compeil'd,
Affords advantage. On the barren heath
The fhepherd tends his flock, that daily crop
Their verdant dinner from the moffy turf,
S.fficient; after them the cackling gooie,
Clofe-grazer, finds wherewith to eafe her want.
What should I more? Ev'n on the cliffy height
Of Penmenmuur, and that cloud-piercing Lill,
Plinlimmon, from afar the traveller kens
Aftonith'd, how the goats their fhrubby browze
Gnaw pendent; nor untrembling canft thou see,
How from a feraggy rock, whofe prominence
Half overfhades the ocean, hardy men,
Fearlefs of rending winds, and dashing waves,
Cut famphire, to excite the fqueamish guft
Of pamper'd luxury. Then, let thy ground
Not lie unlabor'd; if the richest fler
Refufe to thrive, yet who would doubt to plant
Somewhat, that may to human use redound,
And penury, the worst of ills, remove?

There are, who, fondly ftudious of increase,
Rich foreign mold on their ill-natur’d land
Induce laborious, and with fattening muck

February the feventh, 1571, at fix o'clock in the evening, thus his routed itief tvith a roaring noife, and by feven the next morning had moved forty paces; it kept moving for three days together, carrying with it theep in their cotes, hedge-rows and trees, and in its paffage overthrew Kinnatton Chapple, and turned two highways near an bunGred yards from their former pofition. The ground thus moved was about twenty-fix acres, which opened itfelt, and carried the earth before it for our hundred yards pace, leaving that which was pafture in the place of the tillage, and the dillage overspread with pafture. See Speed's Account of Herefordshire, page 49, and Camden's Ir

tannia.

Befmear the roots; in vain! the nurfling grove
Seems fair a while, cherish'd with fofter earth:
But when the lien compoft is exhauit,
Its native poverty again prevalls.

Though this art fails, defpond not; little pains,
In a due hour employ'd, great profit yield.
Th' induftrious, when the fun in Leo rides,
And darts his fulthieft beams, portending drought,
Forgets not at the foot of every plant
To fink a circling trench, and daily pour
A juft fupply of alimental ftreams,
Exhausted fap recruiting; elfe falfe hopes
He cherishes, nor will his fruit expect
Th' autumnal feafon, but, in fummer's pride,
When other orchats fmile, abortive fail.

Thus the great light of heaven, that in his courfe Surveys and quickens all things, often proves Noxious to planted fields, and often men Perceive his influence dire; fweltering they run To grots, and caves, and the cool umbrage feek Of woven arborets, and oft the rills Still ftreaming fresh revifit, to allay Thirst inextinguishable: but if the spring Preceding fhould be deftitute of rain, Or Blait feptentrional with brufhing wings Sweep up the fmoky mifts, and vapours damp, Then woe to mortals! Titan then exerts His heat intenfe, and on our vitals preys; Then maladies of various kinas, and rames Unknown, malignant fevers, and that foe To blooming beauty, which imprints the face Of fairest nymph, and checks our growing love, Reign far and near; grim Death in different fhapes Depopulates the nations; thousands fall

His victims; youths, and virgins, in their flower, Reluctant die, and fighing leave their loves Unfinish'd, by infectious heaven destroy'd.

Such heats prevail'd, when fair Eliza, last Of Winchomb's name (next thee in blood and worth,

Of faireft Saint John!) left this toilfome world
In beauty's prime, and fadden'd all the year:
Nor could her virtues, nor repeated vows
Of thousand lovers, the relentlels hand
Of Death arrefl; fhe with the vulgar fell,
Only distinguish'd by this humble verfe.

But if it pleafe the fun's intemperate force
To know, attend; whilst 1 of ancient fame
The annals trace, and image to thy mind,
How our forefathers, (lucklefs men!) ingulfe
By the wide yawning earth, to Stygian fhades
Went quick, in one fad fepulchre inclos'd.

In elder days, ere yet the Roman bands Victorious, this our other world fubdued, A fpacious city stood, with firmeft walls Sure mounded, and with numerous turrets crown'd, Aerial fpires, and citadels, the feat Of kings, and heroes refolute in war, Fam'd Ariconium: uncontroul'd and free, Till all-fubduing Latian arms prevail'd. Then alfo, though to foreign yoke fubmifs, She undemolish'd flood, and ev'n till now Perhaps had ftood, of ancient British art A pleafing monument, not lefs admir'd Than what from Attic, or Etrufcan hands

Arofe; had not the heavenly powers averse
Decreed her final doom: for now the fields
Labour'd with thirst; Aquarius had not shed
His wonted fhowers, and Sirius parch'd with heat
Solftitial the green herb: hence 'gan relax
The grounds contexture, hence Tartarian dregs,
Sulphur, and nitrous fpume, enkindling fierce,
Bellow'd within their darkfome caves, by far
More difmal than the loud difploded roar
Of brazen enginry, that ceaseless storm
The baftion of a well-built city, deem'd
Impregnable: th' infernal winds, till now
Clofely imprifon'd, by Titanian warmth
Dilating, and with unctuous vapours fed,

Urging her deftin'd labours to purfue.

The prudent will obferve, what paffions In various plants (for not to man alone, But all the wide creation, Nature gave Love, and aversion): everlasting hate The vine to Ivy bears, nor less abhors The Colewort's ranknefs; but with amorous twine Clafps the tall Elm: the Fæftan Rofe unfolds Her bud more lovely, near the fetid Leek, (Crest of ftout Britons), and enhances thence The price of her celeftial fcent: the Gourd, And thirsty Cucumber, when they perceive Th' approaching Olive, with refentment fly Her fatty fibres, and with tendrils creep

Diftrefs'd? whence feek for aid? when from below
Hell threatens, and ev'n Fate fupreme gives figns
Of wrath and defolation? vain were vows,
And plaints, and fuppliant hands to Heaven erect!
Yet fome to fanes repair'd, and humble rites
Perform'd to Thor, and Woden, fabled gods,
Who with their votaries in one ruin fhar'd,
Crush'd, and o'erwhelm'd. Others in frantic mood
Run howling through the streets, their hideous
yells

Rend the dark welkin; Horror ftalks around,
Wild-ftaring, and his fad concomitant,
Defpair, of abject look at every gate
The thronging populace, with hafty ftrides
Prefs furious, and, too eager of escape,
Obftru&t the eafy way; the rocking town
Supplants their footfleps; to and fro they reel
Aftonifh'd, as o'ercharg'd with wine; when lo!
The ground aduft her riven mouth difparts,
Horrible chafm; profound! with fwift defcent
Old Ariconium finks, and all her tribes,
Heroes, and fenators, down to the realms
Of endless night. Meanwhile the loofen'd winds
Infuriate, molten rocks and flaming globes
Hurl'd high above the clouds; till all their force
Confum'd, her ravenous jaws th' earth fatiate

clos'd.

Thus this fair city fell, of which the name
Sarvives alone; nor is there found a mark,
Whereby the curious paffenger may learn
Her ample fite, fave coins, and mouldering urns,
And huge unwieldy bones, lafting remains
Of that gigantic race; which, as he breaks
The clotted glebe, the plowman haply finds,
Appall'd. Upon that treacherous track of land,
She whilome ftood; now Ceres, in her prime,
Smiles fertile, and with ruddieft freight bedeck'd,
The apple-tree, by our forefathers blood.
Improv'd, that now recals the devious Mufe,

Contemns not Rue, nor Sage's humble leaf,
Clofe neighbouring: the Herefordian plant
Careffes freely the contiguous Peach,
Hazel, and weight-refifting Palm, and likes
T'approach the Quince, and the Elder's pithy
Uncafy, feated by funereal Yew,
{flem;

Or Walnut, (whofe malignant touch impairs
All generous fruits), or near the bitter dews
Of Cherrics. Therefore weigh the habits well
Of plants, how they affociate beft, nor let
Ill neighbourhood corrupt thy hopeful graffs.

Would't thou thy vats with gen'rous juise
fhould froth?

Refpect thy orchats; think not, that the trees
Spontaneous will produce an wholefome draught.
Let art correct thy breed: from parent bough
A Cyon meetly fever: after, force

A way into the crabftock's clofe-wrought grain
By wedges, and within the living wound
Inclofe the fofter twig, nor over nice
Refufe with thy own hands around to spread
The binding clay: ere long their differing veins
Unite, and kindly nourishment convey
To the new pupil; now he fhoots his arms
With quickest growth; now shake the teeming
trunk,

Down rain th' impurpled balls, ambrofial fruit.
Whether the Wilding's fibres are contriv'd
To draw th' earth's pureft fpirit, and refift
Its feculence, which in more porous ftocks
Of Cider-plants finds pailage free, or elfe
The native verjuice of the Crab, deriv'd
Through th' infix'd graff, a grateful mixture forma
Of tart and fweet; whatever be the caufe,
This doubtful progeny by nicest tastes
Expected beft acceptance finds, and pays
Largeft revenues to the orchat-lord.

Some think the Quince and Apple would com
bine

In happy union; others fitter deem
The Sloc-ftem bearing Sylvan Plumbs auftere.
Who knows but both may thrive? howe'er, what

lofs

To try the powers of both, and fearch how far
Two different natures may concur to mix
In close embraces, and ftrange offspring bear?
Thou'lt find that plants will frequent changes try,
Undamag'd, and their marriageable arms
Conjoin with others So Silurian plants
Admit the Peach's odoriferous globe,

And Pears of fundry forms; at different times
Adopted Plumbs will alien branches grace;
And men have gather'd from the Hawthorn's
branch

Large Medlars, imitating regal crowns.

Nor is it hard to beautify each month With files of particolor'd fruits, that please The tongue and view at once. So Maro's Muse, Thrice facred Mufe! commodious precepts gives Inftructive to the fwains, not wholly bent On what is gainful: fometimes the diverts From folid counfels, fhews the force of love In favage beaits; how virgin face divine Attracts the helpless youth through storms and

waves,

Alone, in deep of night: Then the describes
The Scythian winter, nor disdains to fing
How under ground the rude Riphæan race
Mimic brifk Cider with the brakes product wild,
Sloes pounded, Hips, and Servis harsheft juice.
Let fage experience teach thee all the arts
Of grafting and in-eyeing; when to lop
The flowing branches; what trees answer best
From root or kernel: fhe will best the hours
Of harvest and feed-time declare: by her
The different qualities of things were found,
And fecret motions; how with heavy bulk
Volatile Hermes, fluid and unmoift,
Mounts on the wings of air: to her we owe
The Indian weed †, unknown to ancient times,
Nature's choice gift, whose acrimonious fume
Extracts fuperfluous juices, and refines
The blood distemper'd from its noxious falts;
Friend to the fpirits, which with vapors bland
It gently mitigates, companion fit

Of pleafantry and wine; nor to the bards
Unfriendly, when they to the vocal shell
Warble melodious their well-labor'd fongs.
She found the polifh'd glafs, whofe small convex
Enlarges to ten millions of degrees
The mite, invifible elfe, of Nature's hand
Leaft animal; and fhews, what laws of life
The cheese inhabitants obferve, and how
Fabric their mansions in the harden'd milk,
Wonderful artifts! but the hidden ways
Of Nature would'ft thou know? how firft the
frames

All things in miniature? thy fpecular orb
Apply to well-diffected kernels; lo!
Strange forms arife, in each a little plant
Unfolds its boughs: obferve the flender threads
Of first beginning trees, their roots, their leaves,
In narrow feeds defcrib'd; thou'lt wondering fay,
An inmate orchat every apple boafts.
Thus all things by experience are difplay'd,
And most improv'd. Then fedulously think
To meliorate thy ftock; no way or rule
Be uncffay'd; prevent the morning ftar
Alliduous, nor with the western fun
Surceafe to work; lo! thoughtful of thy gain,
Not of my own, I all the live-long day
Confume in meditation deep, reclufe
From human converfe, nor, at fhut of eve,
Enjoy repole but oft at midnight lamp
↑ Tobacco.

Ply my brain-racking ftudies, if by chance
Thee I may counsel right; and oft this care
Disturbs me lumbering. Wilt thou then repine
To labour for thyfelf? and rather choose
To lie fupinely, hoping Heaven will blefs
Thy flighted fruits, and give thee bread unearn'd?
'Twill profit, when the ftork, fworn foe of
fnakes,

Returns, to fhew compaffion to thy plants,
Fatigu'd with breeding. Let the arched knife
Well fharpen'd now affail the fpreading fhades
Of vegetables, and their thirsty limbs
Diffever for the genial moisture, due
To apples, otherwife mifpends itself
In barren twigs, and for th' expected crop,
Nought but vain shoots, and empty leaves abound.

When fwelling buds their odorous foliage shed,
And gently harden into fruit, the wife
Spare not the little offsprings, if they grow
Redundant; but the thronging clusters tin
By kind avulfion; else the starveling brood,
Void of fufficient fuftenance, will yield
A flender autumn, which the niggard foul
Too late fhall weep, and curfe his thrifty hand,
That would not timely ease the ponderous boughs,

It much conduces, all the cares to know Of gardening, how to scare nocturnal thieves, And how the little race of birds that hop From fpray to fpray, fcooping the costlieft fruit Infatiate, undifturb'd. Priapus' form Avails but little; rather guard each row With the falfe terrors of a breathless kite. This done, the timorous flock with swifteft wing Scud through the air; their fancy represents His mortal talons, and his ravenous beak Destructive; glad to shun his hoftile gripe, They quit their thefts, and unfrequent the fields. Befides, the filthy fwine will oft invade Thy firm inclosure, and with delving fnout The rooted foreft undermine: forthwith Halloo thy furious maftiff, bid him vex The noxious herd, and print upon their ears A fad memorial of their paft offence.

The flagrant Procyon will not fail to bring Large fhoals of flow houfe-bearing fnails that creep

O'er the ripe fruitage, paring flimy tracts
In the fleek rinds, and unpreft Cider drink.
No art averts this peft; on thee it lies,
With morning and with evening hand to rid
The preying reptiles; nor, if wife, wilt thou
Decline this labour, which itfelf rewards
With pleafing gain, whilft the warm limbec

draws

Salubrious waters from the nocent brood.

Myriads of wafps now also clustering hang, And drain a fpurious honey from thy groves, Their winter food; though oft repuls'd, again They rally, undifmay'd; but fraud with eafe Enfnares the noifome fwarms; let every bough Bear frequent vials, pregnant with the dregs of Moyle, or Mum, or Treacle's viscous ju.ce; They, by th' alluring odor drawn, in hafte ly to the dulcet cates, and crowding lip Ihr palatable bane; joyful thou'lt fee. Mm j