Yet vigorous step; and ruddy look,
The strange old Pilgrim ne'er forsook;
He loos'd his belt: he wip'd his brow;
And on a bench he threw him now;
Then did he quaff the offer'd bowl,
And gladness in his eye did roll;
And mingled it with many a jest,
That to th' enlivening draught gave zest;
And many a wink, and many a smile,
And many a cup that interpos'd,
With many a witty comment gloz'd,
The transient moment did beguile
Sooth'd memory of all his toil.

Now timid Beauty came to gaze
Upon the old Man's mystic ways,
And view his reverend form, and hear
The tale, that struck the wond'ring ear.
The old Man bow'd, and smil'd with glee

Sweet Beauty at his beck to see,

While, as his visage glow'd with fire,

They touch'd with thrilling notes the wire;

And where at distance, mounted high,

Amid the seats of minstrelsy,

The full mouth'd organ op d her keys,
A blue-ey'd maiden swept with ease
Its deeper tones! the mellow sound
'Gan from the vaulted roof rebound,
And o'er the old man's senses stole,
Melted his frame, and rous'd his soul,

a 4

"Oye

"O ye fair Nymphs, whose music thrills
My cold breast, and my fancy fills,
O how can I these gifts requite,

That swell my bosom with delight!
My faultering tongue has lost the art
Visions of rapture to impart;

And feebly from my wither'd brain,
And painful, comes the frozen strain!

What would ye hear, ye blue-eyed Maids?

Where would ye pierce Time's close-drawn shades?

Would ye to Barham's distant Down

Resort to hear of old renown?

*

Star of the East, whose beauty rais'd

A flame, that all around thee blaz'd,

Wake from the tomb, and lead the ball

In noble Aucher's antient hall;
Bring all around the Cantian youth

With vows of everlasting truth:

See poets, statesmen, round thee crowd,
And soldiers breathe their sighs aloud!
Young Cowper† there, with modest mien

Full pensive in thy train is seen;

Lady Bowyer, daughter of Sir Anthony Aucher of Bourne, was for her exquisite beauty, called The Star in the East. Her portrait was painted by Cornelius Jansen, and is one of his best works. See Walpole's Anecd. of Painting, II. 9.

The ancestors of Earl Cowper, and of William Cowper the poet, lived, sotemporary with Lady B.wyer, at Ratling Court, in Nonington in this neighbourhood.

No

Encircled with resplendent fame;

And from my blood a Bard shall rise

To lift our glory to the skies!'

And there see Hammond plead his cause;

Tears from the tender fair he draws.

Ah! how his glowing accents move
Predicting strains that breathe of love!
But who art thou † of calmer mood,
That seem'st thy offerings to intrude?
In terms precise, and studied phrase
Thou talk'st of deeds of ancient days;
And Learning's lore, and Wisdom's guise,

The richness of thy tongue supplies.
Full many a tale canst thou relate

Of mighty nations sunk by fate!

'O hark!' he cries, if, beauteous maid,
My humble suit may be repaid,

From thee shall spring a wondrous Sage,

Whose praise shall spread from age to age;

* The ancestors of James Hammond, the elegiac poet, then lived at St. Alban's Court, in Nonington, where the same family still reside.

+ Gibbon, the Historian, whose ancestors then lived at Westcliffe, near

Dover.

And

And History's pages shall enshrine

Gibbon's immortal name with thine !"

The star is fled; no more the sound
Of melting music floats around;

Fall the bold turrets; sinks the gate,
Where ermin'd banners* with brave state

Mock'd gorgeously the wanton air;`

And Aucher † rules no longer there.
Ah! who with sacrilegious whim

Has plac'd the dome of modern trim, ‡
Where once the massy Gothic tower
Was wont in generous gloom to lour?
In vain I look: no lovely dames
Come forth to fan our dying flames!
In silence on the weedy stream
Echo is left her hours to dream;

And still is every laurell'd walk,
Where Love and Genius wont to talk!
E'en o'er yon sacred neighbouring tomb,
Where Hooker's § ashes wait their doom,
No spirit kindred wisdom breathes;

No sage attempts congenial wreathes !"

The field of the Aucher arms was ermine, with three lions rampant on chief.

The male line of the Auchers became extinct nearly a century ago.
The present mansion is a comparatively modern building.

Richard Hooker, the very learned and far-famed author of the Eccle

siastical Policy, was rector here, and has a monument in the church. See Walton's Lives.

Thus

Thus abruptly, at present, end the Wizard's communications; but they shall be resumed at some more propitious moment.

This

I have been called on also to give the conclusion of the Poem on Retirement. debt, I trust, I shall likewise be able to pay ere long. At present a fever on my spirits, and an unconquerable anxiety of mind, render me not only incapable of performing any promises of this kind; but even of expressing an apology for my omissions.

This, however, is a strain, in which I am aware that I must not indulge. There is nothing more offensive to the public than the language of complaint; and whatever a man has undertaken, he will be expected to execute, in spite of all obstacles.

Yet