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From huge leviathan that foams the deep,

To periwinkles on the shore that creep,From the proud eagle to the twittering

wren,

All seem'd familiar to his piercing ken. He next the vegetable world display'd, What plants requir'd the sun, and what

the shade;

What grew spontaneous in a sterile soil, And what were rear'd by constant care and toil;

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Tree, plant, and flow'r, to him alike were known,

Their names, their natures, and their vir

tues shewn ;

How some were nutritive, delicious food,
And some salubrious, purify the blood;
While others kill, inflicting mortal pain,
Lock up the sense, or stupify the brain:-
Of all, his penetrating skill could say,
If in the root or flow'r the virtue lay:
From lofty Lebanon with cedars tall,
To humble hyssop on the mould'ring
wall.

The Queen delighted, listen'd to the

sage,

While he with ease expounded Nature's

page;

Such graceful elegance adorn'd his tongue, That on her ears the sounds symphonious rung;

Nor less delighted was the King, to hear Her praises titillate his royal ear;

For true or false, the softly plausive strain From beauty's lips is seldom pour'd in vain.

Again the King his eloquence renew'd, And Nature through her secret paths pursued:

With fluent tongue he dwelt with fond delight,

On treasur'd stores, deep buried from the sight;

On richest ores, that in earth's bosom lie, Or precious stones, so pleasing to the eye; What mingling shades were in the agate seen,

The yellow topaz, and the emerald green; How rubies blaze and bright carbuncles shine,

And diamonds ripen in the darksome mine;

Of coral reefs, beneath the deep that

dwell,

And precious pearls within a puny shell; How central fires earth's firm foundations

shake,

Till rocks are shiver'd and the mountains

quake ;

Through wide creation's ample field he

ran,

Up to her noblest work and wonder

man:

What wond'rous wisdom, and what skill divine,

Could bones and muscles, veins and nerves combine;

Some to accelerate, and some controul, Yet all unite in one harmonious whole, Best suited strength and motion to supply,

While all agree, and none their aid deny ; What varied features mark the human face,

What countless forms of dignity and grace!

While thus he spoke, the philosophic

sage

Had still preserved the gravity of age; But now, his eyes were fix'd on Sheba's Queen,

And softer feelings mark'd his youthful mien ;

For though with more than mortal wis. dom blest,

Still human passions glow'd within his breast;

And female beauty strikes the dullest

sense

With some magnetic, secret influence ; And when, with outward loveliness, we find

The nobler graces of capacious mind, We feel an impulse which must be obey'd,

And willing homage to the fair is paid. Such were the royal stranger's mind and face,

Both ornamented with peculiar grace; Nor could the King a sister Queen behold In beauty's bloom, and still his heart be cold:

In tones and accents suited to his theme, His language flowing in a copious stream, From man, he talk'd of woman's softer

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Talk'd of confederacies and friendly

leagues,

Of diplomatic skill and court intrigues;
How best to cultivate the useful arts,
And reign by love within the subjects'
hearts;

Diffuse content, and happiness increase,
And give the State security and peace.

Such was the knowledge from the King
she drew,

Each word an oracle, still wise and new.
Day after day she listen'd and admir'd,
Though still delighted, yet her pride was
fir'd,

And much she wish'd to make the mo-
narch halt,

And see his royal wisdom once at fault.

The human heart is apt to mope and
pine,

When others with superior lustre shine :

To dazzle, does not always give delight, For suns will scorch when too intensely bright;

The summer sky is loveliest to the view,

With light clouds floating o'er the ether
blue:

Man is a being of imperfect sight,
Who cannot always see, or judge aright;
And should one justly full perfection
claim,

He were a man in nothing but the name:
Some weakness still we love, and wish to
find,

To speak the owner of congenial kind;
Perpetual wisdom will the wisest tire,
And they may envy what they must ad-
mire.

So thought and felt fair Sheba's beauteous
Queen,

Her admiration changing to chagrin ;
All her desire, a stumbling-block to fling,
To check the triumph of this sapient
King.

By day she mused, at night she could
not rest,

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Deep plung'd in thought, a sleepless couch she press'd.

"This Solomon," she said, "profoundly wise,

Howe'er he may his self-esteem disguise, Must think of Sheba's Queen with secret scorn,

Himself unmatch'd by man of woman

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flower,

A toy, a gew-gaw, for an idle hour!
At best, this were but outward beauty
priz'd,

Each mental charm neglected or despised,
Till Wisdom wak'd, when his first
thought would be

To scorn himself for losing time with me! I would nonplus, and not seduce the mind,

That, highly-gifted, soars above its kind; I would convince the royal Hebrew's soul,

That knowledge, wit, and wisdom have a goal;

That something mocks his search, remains conceal'd,

That Nature yet has mysteries unreveal'd;

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She found the Hebrew maiden had the art, The seeming stamp of Nature to impart; Bud, leaf, and flower, beneath her plastic hand,

Seem'd wet with dew, and ready to expand.

The Queen delighted, now engag'd the fair,

A bouquet, rich and ample, to prepare ; With native charms to stamp each flow. ret's breast,

And Nature's seal on every part im press'd;

Gave gold with liberal hand, and promis'd more,

When fully fram'd the artificial store. Each day she went the growing work to view,

While keen impatience with her wonder grew;

For beauties sprung beneath the maiden's hand,

As if produced by necromancer's wand.

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All richly scented with such rare perfume

As breathes around, where sweets commingling bloom;

They almost still deceiv'd the wondering Queen,

Who every day had the deception seen: But all was fram'd with such peculiar care,

That not a wild, nor garden flower was there,

Which Nature to the climate had denied, Or was not in its season's fairest pride.

The Jewess next, at morn, must range the fields,

And cull the fairest flowers the garden yields,

From Nature's lap a floral group to frame, To match the first, another and the same: Now, swelling buds and blushing flowers

are seen,

'Midst leaves that glow in Nature's loveliest green

Arrang'd alike, in order stand the pair, Twin-sisters seeming, exquisitely fair. They to the Queen are secretly convey'd, And in her royal chamber both display'd; In crystal vases blooming side by side, Their blushing beauties glow in rival pride.

Now enters Solomon with brow serene, While thus to him, spoke Sheba's beau teous Queen :

"Most sapient Monarch! see, before you stand,

These blooming flowers, the work of Na. ture's hand,

Their rival sisters, though produced by

Art,

As richly glow and equal sweets impart ; Approach them not, but mark their beauties well,

And which is Nature's work, great Sove. reign, tell."

Such was the beauty of each rival

bloom,

So sweet the fragrance floating round the

room,

Both seem'd so lovely in each native

grace,

The royal eye could no distinction trace; He mark'd a rose-bud wet with morning

dew,

But found it glittering on its fellow too;
A fly was resting on a lily's bell,
While in its rival's bosom seem'd to dwell
A similar tenant of the lower sky,
Its form as perfect to the gazer's eye;
He knew, that when the clasping tendrils
twine,

Some to the right, and some the left incline;

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And, buzzing, gather rich nectareous dew. In vain the counterfeits their bloom display,

They glow as richly and they smile as gay; Within their breasts no bee is heard to

"These humble insects can the know. ledge teach,

Which seems too high for human skill to reach!

See Nature's sweets alone by them are "priz'd,

The works of Art neglected and despis'd: And Sheba's Queen, so lovely and so fair, May haply learn a moral lesson there; From these may see, how vain the charms of Art,

Compar'd with Nature, to attract the heart.

Cosmetics, essences, and paints may grace,
And give a gaudier lustre to the face;
To soothe her pride, or lure to love, the
fair

With costly gems may deck her flowing hair,

With practis'd glances she may roll the eye, Or haply heave the sentimental sigh; Perhaps may smile, with sly coquettish leer,

A giddy wanton, or a prude severe; With constant care, displaying studied charms,

To lure some headless lover to her arms; But Prudence still will shun the wiles of Art,

And Wisdom scorn to woo a worthless heart;

For chaste Simplicity, a bashful maid,
Is still in Nature's loveliness array'd;
The blush of Modesty in sweetness glows,
Like twilight smiling on the budding rose;
The spotless lily, in the dews of morn,
Is Innocence, whose bosom knows no
thorn :

These are the charms that blossom in

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Nor was his generosity confin'd To moral maxims, to improve her mind; No petal waves beneath its fluttering His royal bounty sooth'd the stranger's

sing,

wing.

"Behold, fair Queen!" the sapient Monarch cried,

With gentle smile, but secret conscious pride;

heart,

Till fondly lingering, she was loth to

part;

And when to Sheba's court return'd again, She thought of Solomon, the wisest, best

of men!

TOUR IN GERMANY

THIS is the best book of Travels which has appeared since the publication of Forsyth's "Italy," and is filled with a great deal of interesting, and not a little new information respecting places and countries, where a less acute and intelligent observer would have gleaned nothing that had not been already forestalled and repeated in every possible form of style and letter-press. After wading through the sickening and execrable trash, yclept "Tours," "Travels," "Journals," aut quocunque alio nomine gaudent, and which generally contain little more than a posting iti nerary, and the bills of fare at the regular stages; it is truly delightful to encounter a work of this sort, stored with the results of patient and accurate observation, conveyed in a clear, vigorous, and occasionally sarcastic style, and totally free from the sins which so easily beset the gentlemen who take walk and make

book." The author, whoever he be, is evidently a man of taste and learning; the former of which he displays without affectation, and the latter without pedantry. He has an eye for the beauties of Nature, which he brings full before the view by his skilful and graphic descriptions, and he has somehow contrived to criticise the works of art, without having recourse to that bloated and bastard jargon of connoisseurship,

That Babylonish dialect

Which would-be amateurs affect,and than which it is barely possible to conceive any kind of nonsense more perfectly silly and disgusting. But the chief merit of his work consists in the pictures which he has given of the state of society and manners, as affected by existing political institutions, in the different states in which he sojourned, and in the very precise and satisfactory information it contains respecting the literature and literary men of Germany. In both these respects it is extremely

interesting, as the extracts we are about to give will abundantly show; and the opinions of the author are entitled to the more respect, as he is evidently possessed of the qualifications necessary for the successful execution of his task. We shall, therefore, without farther preamble, introduce him to the acquaintance of our readers,-in the full and honest conviction that the specimens we shall produce will amply justify the opinion we have been led to pro

nounce.

The author proceeding from Paris to Strasburgh, of which he gives us a good description, enters Baden, and proceeds to Manheim, recently so famous as the place of Kotzebue's residence, and, ultimately, of his assassination by the fanatic Sandt.

I found the murderer, who had been

executed shortly before, still the subject of general conversation. Though his deed, besides its moral turpitude, has done Germany much political mischief, the public feeling seemed to treat his me Most mory with much indulgence. people, except the students, were liberal enough to acknowledge that Sandt had done wrong in committing assassination, but they did not at all regard him with disrespect, much less with the abhorrence due to a murderer. The ladies were implacable in their resentment at his execution. They could easily forgive the necessity of cutting off his head, but they could not pardon the barbarity of cutting off, to prepare him for the block, the long dark locks which curled down over his shoulders, after the academical fashion. People found many things in his conduct and situation which conspired to make them regard him as an object of pity, sometimes of admiration, rather than of blame. Nobody rehave done, all claims to talent and lite grets Kotzebue. To deny him, as many rary merit, argues sheer ignorance or stupidity; but his talent could not redeem the imprudence of his conduct, and no man ever possessed in greater perfection the art of making enemies wherever he was placed. Every body

⚫ A Tour in Germany, and some of the Southern Provinces of the Austrian Empire, in the years 1820, 1821, and 1822. Printed for Archibald Constable & Co. Edin burgh; and Hurst, Robinson, & Co. London. 1824.

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