poly of salt, betel-nut, and tobacco, the historian proceeds thus:-" Money in this current came but by drops; it could not quench the thirst of those who waited in India to receive it. An expedient, such as it was, remained to quicken its pace. The natives could live with little salt, but could not want food. Some of the agents saw themselves well situated for collecting the rice into stores: they did so. They knew the Gentoos would rather die than violate the principles of their religion by eating flesh. The alternative would therefore be between giving what they had or dying. The inhabitants sunk; they that cultivated the land, and saw the harvest at the disposal of others, planted in doubt-scarcity ensued. Then the monopoly was easier managed-sickness ensued. In some districts the languid living left the bodies of their numerous dead unburied." - Short History of English Transactions in the East Indies, page 145. Note (o.) Nine times hath Brama's wheels of lightning hurl'd His awful presence o'er the prostrate world! Among the sublime fictions of the Hindoo mythology, it is one article of belief, that the Deity Brama has descended nine times upon the world in various forms, and that he is yet to appear a tenth time, in the figure of a warrior upon a white horse, to cut off all incorrigible offenders. Avater is the word used to express his descent. Note (p.) And Camdeo bright, and Genesa sublime. Camdeo is the God of Love, in the mythology of the Hindoos. Genesa and Seriswattee correspond to the pagan deities Janus and Minerva. 4 ANALYSIS OF PART II. APOSTROPHE to the power of Love-its intimate connexion with generous and social Sensibility-allusion to that beautiful passage in the beginning of the book of Genesis, which represents the happiness of Paradise itself incomplete, till love was superadded to its other blessings-the dreams of future felicity which a lively imagination is apt to cherish, when Hope is animated by refined attachment-this disposition to combine, in one imaginary scene of residence, all that is pleasing in our estimate of happiness, compared to the skill of the great artist, who personified perfect beauty, in the picture of Venus, by an assemblage of the most beautiful features he could find a summer and winter evening described, as they may be supposed to arise in the mind of one who wishes, with enthusiasm, for the union of friendship and retirement. Hope and Imagination inseparable agents-even in those contemplative moments when our imagination wanders beyond the boundaries of this world, our minds are not unattended with an impression that we shall some day have a wider and distinct prospect of the universe, instead of the partial glimpse we now enjoy. The last and most sublime influence of Hope, is the concluding topic of the Poem, the predominance of a belief in a future state over the terrors attendant on dissolution-the baneful influence of that sceptical philosophy which bars us from such comforts-allusion to the fate of a suicide-Episode of Conrad and Ellenore-Conclusion. THE PLEASURES OF HOPE. PART II. In joyous youth, what soul hath never known Thought, feeling, taste, harmonious to its own? Who hath not paused while Beauty's pensive eye Ask'd from his heart the homage of a sigh? Who hath not own'd, with rapture-smitten frame, The power of grace, the magic of a name? There be, perhaps, who barren hearts avow, Cold as the rocks on Torneo's hoary brow; There be, whose loveless wisdom never fail'd, In self-adoring pride securely mail'd; But, triumph not, ye peace-enamour'd few! Fire, Nature, Genius, never dwelt with you! For you no fancy consecrates the scene Where rapture utter'd vows, and wept between; 'T is yours, unmoved to sever and to meet; No pledge is sacred, and no home is sweet! Who that would ask a heart to dullness wed, The waveless calm, the slumber of the dead? |