The most durable freedom.

The secret is, to plant the sacred tree

In ground so sound, so clear from all alloy,

That there may spring no branch that can annoy
The parent stem. There is such worthless land,

So poor, so steril, that 'twere vain ť employ
The usual means, or the most skilful hand,

Till sure the noisome weeds you can withstand.

XVII.

E'en once obtain'd, this jewel, with what care

Must she be guarded', or from regal frown,

1 Perhaps few subjects admit of more interesting discussion, than that of the causes of revolutions in empires ; and, notwithstanding all that has been written on the occasion, there is perhaps yet wanting some philosophical and able work, to embrace this momentous question in all its bear. ings. The fall and decline of the Roman Empire by Gibbon, requires no eulogy. Froissart's Chronicle is a valuable work; so is Koch's Revolu. tions of Europe. The Revolutions of Rome and of Portugal, by Vertot, are admirable ; but even all these leave still much to be desired, Chateaubriand's Historical, Political and Moral Essay on Revolutions, Ancient and Modern, contains a good portion of the defects, and many of the beauties, of that accomplished scholar; but it was written at a period when the author was too much alive to the horrors of the French Revolution, to admit of his giving an unbiassed opinion. For instance, he questions whether there is such a thing at all as genuine civil liberty. “ I doubt it,” adds he,

were the

66

Or from the cold insidious artful snare,

Take care of her.

Of proud patrician, that oft worse than crown;

The topic

Greeks happier or better after their republican revolution ?-No! their
evils were changed as to nominal extent, but their real extent continued
to be the same.”—(P. 250.) The world has to regret that Cicero's work
De Republica, has been lost in the lapse of ages. With regard to the
Greek sages, Solon was of opinion, that the best government was that in
which the collective body of citizens takes a part, when an injury is of-
fered to the individual. Bion thought that was preferable, in which good
laws were despotic; Thales, that in which equality of property prevailed ;
Cleobulus, that in which fear of disgrace is stronger than the law. Ac-
cording to Chilon, that is the best in which the law speaks instead of the
lawyer; and, according to Periander, that in which power is confided to a
small number of enlightened, disinterested, and humane men.
of political constitution is at this moinent more than commonly absorbing,
from the peculiar state of the world, and when changes are even contem-
plated in our own. We can here but express an anxious hope, that, as the
subject is one of vital importance, it will meet with that calm and dispas-
sionate consideration it so loudly demands; and, that it will do so, no man
in these realms, in his senses, can doubt. Of the commanding talents of
many of the members of the present Parliament, on either side of the
House, we are proud. In the honourable and patriotic feeling of all we
place perfect confidence, however different may be the views taken of this
exciting question, for we profess ourselves to be of no particular party;
nor can we comprehend how, when the safety and glory of our happy land
is at stake, any sentiment but one could for an instant influence a British
heart-the welfare of England ! It is a melancholy truth that both Greece
and Rome rang the changes of monarchical and republican governments,
and it becomes doubtful at this day, under which they were most happy
or miserable. The continual vicissitudes which nations are undergoing
with regard to civilization, scientific discovery, agriculture, commerce, &c.,
may render slight alterations sometimes necessary. To effect these requires

1

Or from, if she would not be trampl’d down,
Her own mad worshippers !—What did Brutus ' gain

When Tarquins fled ? —why, freedom and renown.-
What gain’d the Romans, spite of Cæsar slain
By t'other patriot? ? Tyrants and a chain !

а

XVIII.

There's better hope for Europe, in this age

Of wonderment.—The noble cause just won

the most delicate management, and all the respect which is due to institutions which have stood the ordeal of ages. But, perhaps, a still nicer discernment should be exercised, to foresee when such alterations ought to be for a season altogether abstained from, in the fear of inducing a greater calamity than they were intended to remedy. The desideratum for preserving moderation and harmony in a state would seem to be, an enlightened and moral population, who can the best judge which is the safest road to worldly prosperity, which the surest path to conscientious reposewhat the conduct to be observed to preserve concord in the community. If the people of a country are, generally speaking, virtuous, from the monarch down to the artisan, that country will be happy, let the constitution be what it may ; if, on the other hand, they are ignorant and corrupt, it will be unprosperous under any form of government; nay, then, the republi. can must be that most to be dreaded, in so far as many tyrants are more dangerous than one or than a few.

1 Lucius Junius Brutus. He avenged the death of Lucretia, who destroyed herself.

a

2 Marcus Junius Brutus. He died B. C. 42, having fallen on his Let us hope.

(In truth right hasty work, but wrought in rage-)

Is a loud lesson for each hauty Don,

Of power magnific,—loud enough to stun The Autocrat himself, with serf and slave

Surrounded ;-but he will not be outdone In Fame's career, in what is just and braveHe who disdain'd to make the Turk a grave

XIX.

1

A Prince's
First Love.

Amidst the ruins of his capital"!

"Tis said, that in his blithe and buxom years, Good, graceful, gracious, debonnair withal,

That Nicholas was soften'd into tears

On quitting England. - Courtiers whisper'd fears, 'Twas not the beauty of the smiling isle

Had gain’d the youthful heart.-No ! it appears There was the far-far lovelier smile

Of a bright Nameless She, who charmed the while.

Countess

of

sword after the battle of Philippi. The Roman Republic lasted about 480 years, from the expulsion of the Tarquins to the reign of Augustus.

1 This poem was written before the Russians and Poles proceeded to extremities.

XX.

Fruits better than flowers.

With this first love, so chivalrous and gay,

Were gather'd, ay! and with no sluggard's hand,
Amidst the myrtle leaves (which soon decay),

Those fairer fruits, which keep, and may command,

The weal of millions ! In our happy land,
Through causes it were bootless to repeat,

There's much to learn !-Oh ! may it long withstand
That discord, which the base or indiscreet
Would sow with reckless heads and trampling feet.

XXI.

We will not blot our unpretending page

With hydras, like those horrors which are past.
Let princes be but courteous, just and sage,
Like ours, God bless him ! they will stand full fast.

Where should bright honour never be surpass'd ?
Why ! in that high-plum’d, proud, patrician race,

Which dignifies a state.—Then come, though last,
The people of the realm-treat them with grace,
And make them virtuous, they wont deface;