Sudden he ftops!-he eyes the plashy spring!
The frighted fnipe darts upward on the wing;
With fhrill-ton'd pipe implores the passive air,
In vain! for death e'en perfecutes him there.
Another fprings! but, happier in his flight,
'Scapes the loud gun, and vanishes from fight.

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 fkirts the purling ftream;
With inlaid figures, and mofaick wrought,
With margin rich, and lucid pendants fraught:
Till lively Ranger chides our long delay,
Gambols around, then forward fprings away.
Heav'n! 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, juft tinged with purple light;
The bufy blackbird hops from fpray to spray,
The gull, felf-balanc'd, floats his liquid way :
The morning breeze in milder air retires,
And rifing rapture all my bofom fires;
In incenfe wafted to the throne on high,
To Him who form'd the earth, the air, the sky,
Who gives me health and vigour to enjoy,
Guides me e'en now, and guarded when a boy.
Accept, great God! the fervour of my pray❜r,
And, as before, continue ftill thy care.
Oft as I view thee in creation's drefs,
Be mine to praise thee, as 'tis thine to bless!
While fervid flights my lifted fancy takes,
The wary woodcock ruftles thro' the brakes;
With hafty pinions wings his rapid course,
Till death pursues him, arm'd with double force:
Each gun discharg'd, and confcious of it's aim,
Afferts 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 it's feet, and brambles at it's fide-
Another bird, juft flufhing at the found,

Scarce tops the fence, then tumbles to the ground.
Ah! what avails him now the varnish'd dye,
The tortoife-colour'd back, the brilliant eye;
The pointed bill, that steers his vent'rous way
From northern climes, and dar'd the boist'rous sea:
To milder fhores in vain thefe pinions fped,
Their beauty blafted, and their vigour fled.
Thus the poor peasant, ftruggling with distress,
Whom rig'rous laws, and rigid hunger prefs,
In Western regions feeks a milder ftate,
Braves the broad ocean, and refigns to fate;
Scarce well arriv'd, and lab'ring to procure
Life's free fubfiftence, and retreats fecure,
Sudden, he fees the roving Indian nigh,
Fate in his hand, and ruin in his eye!
Scar'd at the fight, 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 Mufe, when livelier themes I fought,
Why change the rural scenes to fober thought?
Why rouze the patriot ardour in my breaft?
Useless it's glow, when Freedom droops deprefs'd.
Not mine to combat Lux'ry's lordly ftride;
My humble lot forbids th' aspiring pride;
Forbids to ftop Depopulation's hand,
That crushes induftry, and frights the land;

That robs the poor of half their little ftore,
And infurrection fpreads from fhore to fhore.
These to prevent, be ftill the ftatefman's end,
And this the task of fov'reigns to attend :
Be mine the care, to range this ample field,
Try what it's fprings, and what it's thickets yield;
Purfue the game that to the fkies afpire,

And purge the æther with fucceffive fire;
Spring o'er the fence that bars my active mind,
And rouze my friend that ling'ring stays behind;
Guard the fteep bank, to catch with eager pains,
The forward bound, that fcarce the margin gains;
Or loudly laugh, when, diligently nice,

He backward flides, and bumps the crackling ice.
Oh, friendship! name for ever lov'd, ador'd;
Thou richest gift, which Heaven for man has ftor'd!
To me more dear, congenial to my breaft,
Than all the hoards and honours of the Eaft.
Whene'er thro' life's more arduous paths I bend,
Be there to guide, and aid me to my end ;
Or when the sports of rural fcenes I try,
With converfe fweet each interval supply
In all extremes of bufinefs or of ease,
Be there to comfort, and be here to please;
Unlock the fluices of my flowing heart,
And to it's courfe thy genial warmth impart ;
Augment it's ftream, refine it as it flows,
Till fair creation it's clear current fhews !-
May no rude paffions tofs it into foam,
Nor reftlefs commerce on it's bofom roam;
But chear'd by bright'ning fcience may it run,
No cares to ruffle, and no rocks to fhun;
Or glide fequefter'd thro' Sylvanus' fhades,
The flocks of Pan, and Flora's flow'ry meads;
While the pleas'd Mufes, with aufpicious smile,
Breathe paft'ral mufick, and the time beguile.

And

And thou, dear fpaniel! friend in other form!
Obfequious come, thy duty to perform ;

Whofe fond affection ever glows the fame,
Lives in each look, and vibrates thro' thy frame.
And thou, dear pointer! never devious stray,
But fearch the plains inquifitively gay;
With lengthen'd fide, and fapient nofe, inhale
The floating vapour of the scented gale—
Oft have I feen thee, when the balanc'd year,
By Libra weigh'd, rewarded Ceres' care,
Thro' new-fhorn fields, with active vigour bound,
Snuff the fresh air, and traverse all the ground;
Or cautious tread, and step by step survey,
With keenest attitude, the tim'rous prey;
Then, ftatue-like, with lifted foot proclaim
The partridge near, and certify the game.
Where'er I range, whatever fports pursue,
Be ftill attendant, and be ftill in view.

Now had the fun, in noon-tide robes array'd,
Of fleecy clouds, the fubject world furvey'd;
Onward we move, to gain the mountain's fide*,
That Eaft and Weft attends in folemn pride;
With lofty head that breathes the gelid gale,
Brow-beats the city, and o'erlooks the vale:
Adown it's face the trickling riv'lets run,
Spread at his feet, and bathe them in the fun.
These to difclofe, we trace the rugged foil,
And many a fhot repays the pleafing toil;
Till tir'd at length with new-difcover'd game,
We mark the course referv'd for future fame.

As when the Spaniards, with unceafing pains,
Thro' Chili rov'd to Charcas' barren plains,

* That part of the Wicklew Mountains which lies about three miles to the South of Dublin.

Approach'd Potofi's arduous height, that boasts
The richest treasures of the Southern coasts;
The latent veins they labour to explore,

Of pregnant mines that teem with sparkling ore;
With rifing rapture fpring them into day,
And flush'd with pleasure, plan their future fway.
The day advanc'd, and waning to the weft,
Demands a thought for refpite and for reft;
Back to the city calls a fudden eye,
Where vary'd beauties all in profpect lie:
The pointed steeples menacing the skies,
The fplendid domes that emulously rife;
The lowly hamlets fcatter'd here and there,
That scarcely fwell to breathe refreshing air;
The hedge-row'd hills, and intermingled vales,
The distant villas, fann'd by floating gales;
And eastward still, the wide-extended main,
By commerce cover'd, awes the folemn scene.

These to behold may please the vacant mind;
More pleafing far the cottage of the hind,
That yonder smokes, by ruffet hawthorn hedg'd,
By hay-yard back'd, and fide-long cow-houfe edg'd:
Oft have I there my thirft and toil allay'd,
Approach'd as now, and dar'd the dog that bay'd.
The smiling matron joys to fee her guests,

Sweeps the broad hearth, and hears our free requests;
Repels her little brood that throng too nigh,
The homely board prepares, the napkin dry;
The new-made butter, and the rasher rare,
The new-laid egg, that's dress'd with nicest care:
The milky ftore, for cream collected first,
Crowns the clean noggin, and allays our thirst;
While crackling faggots, bright'ning as they burn,
Shew the neat cupboard, and the cleanly churn;
The plaintive hen, the interloping goofe,
The lambkin dear that frisks about the houfe-

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