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  • Sept. 1, 1797
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The Freemasons' Magazine, Sept. 1, 1797: Page 50

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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Poetry.

POETRY .

T ! i £ PROGRESS OF SCIENCE . BY MB . SMITH . O THOU ! whose great all-searching eye Boih penetrate immensity

, Where Nature ' s limits end ; Celestial Wisdom ! thee 1 chuse To be my goddess and my muse , 'My guardian and my friend . What time thy emanation shone Round dark primeval Chaos' throne , And pour'd the beaming light : When " at the awful Godhead ' s call

, , Before thee roll'd this new form'd ball , Then Error fled with Ni g ht . Then did thy influence benign , With gentle splendour , mildly shine On patriarchal sage ; Whilst Innocence , with snowy vest , Content , and dove-ey'd Peace , attest The happv golden

age . But ah ! how soon the empire ends , Lo ! Follv , with her troop of friends , Their gloomy banners spread 1 See ! near her Fraud , with subiile lore , . And Cruelty , besmear'd with gore , By mad Ambition led . Was there no friendly climate found , No part of earth ' s wide spacious bound ,

For thee a safe retreat ! Where Nilus pours his copious urns , As through the fertile / and he turns , There , Science , was thy seat . From whence thy animating flame , To Greece , arous'd by Freedom , came , Bv Freedom ' s gen ' rous aid ; Again their heads the Virtues rear , The Muses in their train

appear , With all their charms display'd . How Homer ' s song impetuous pours . On Eagle's wings , lo ! Pindar soars . His rapid , daring flight ; O Sophocles ! lo thee We owe The tender scenes of tragic woe , And Pity ' s s-. l ' r delight . Thou Reason ' s fnirtx ' teldest child

, , Pliilosf . phv , with radiantc mild , The Greek j-artook thy smile—Plato divine , the s ' . igerite , And he who fix'd the ' orb of light , The sage of Santos * Kie . At once io awe us ; md surprise , How , Alliens 1 do thy temples rise , Above the tow ' ring pine ;

Thv statues , . Hhili , is \ seem -a breathe , And for thy glowing touch the wreath Is , great .-tppilies , thine . VOL . ix . a b

Thus flourisU'd Greece , with glory crown'd . Alike for aris and arms renoivn'd ; At length she mether doom : First by fell Discord ' s flaming brand . Then sunk into the grasping hand Of proud imperial Rome . . To-Home then Science rapid flew , Uhurt bFolly ' s torpid crew

p y , ' Or Prejudice ' s rage ; Whilst Ovid tun'd his tender lays , Virgil and Horace wore the bays , And form'd th' Augus , tan age .. - But Luxury , with baneful art , Distiil'd her poison in the heart , And Tyranny arose ; The empire totters in decay ,

And crumbling falls , an easy prey-To rudest gothic foes . What sparks of science yet remain'd From the fell rage of Goth untam'd , " Or Dulness' leaden doom , Are smotl-. er'd by the stifling veil Of Superstition's furious zeal , Within the cloister ' s gloom

. . . „ .. ThusScience lay in torpid rest , Still in Italia ' s fost'ring breast , Thy cradle and thy tomb ! Till waken'd by a lion ' s voice , .. . . The droonine Arts aeain

reioice-And shew a vernal bloom . "¦ ' 0 say 1 who first dispcll'd the cloud Which shaded Virtue ' s bright abode , Who Science first revives ? Erasmus rouz'd the attic fire , And gentle Petrarch tun'd the lyte , ' And Raphael ' s canvas lives . But wherefore shall the willing Muse servile climes

In her dwelling chuse . Unknown to Freedom's namef - Britannia doth superior shine , Asserts her kindred to the Nine , And Freedom joins the claim . Long had the vain sophistic fiiles Of Amtotle flll'd the schools With wrangling , weak debate . '

The pa hless trackgreat Bacon spied , And by experiments descried The way toScience' gate . Then he , whose penetrating mind Could Nature ' s mazy movements find , By more than human skill—Ncv . -ioii ! from whom base error fled , . ¦ O'er Kurope truth diffusive spread . Obedient to his will

. No more let othtr natiens dare With Britain ' s Genius to compare Their cold corrected stile ; S ' jabpcarc , above thc . ru . Ies of art , Arrests the judgment ; storm * thejvtart , To force a tear of Jniili .

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1797-09-01, Page 50” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 29 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01091797/page/50/.
  • List
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
Untitled Article 2
LONDON: Article 2
TO CORRESPONDENTS, &c. Article 3
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF MR. WILLIAM WHITE. Article 4
ADDENDA TO THE MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS HULL, Article 5
ON THE PECULIAR EXCELLENCIES OF HANDEL'S MUSIC. Article 6
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCES FOR 1797. Article 7
CURSORY REMARKS ON SHAKSPEARE'S MEASURE FOR MEASURE. Article 10
THE COLLECTOR. Article 12
THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF PETER PORCUPINE; Article 18
A BRIEF SYSTEM OF CONCHOLOGY. Article 22
DESCRIPTION OF THE PEAK OF TENERIFFE. Article 26
ACCOUNT OF A REMARKABLE SLEEP-WALKER. Article 30
THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. Article 34
OPINIONS CONCERNING MASONRY. WITH THE CHARACTER OP A TRUE FREEMASON. Article 36
A CHARGE Article 37
A VINDICATION OF MASONRY. Article 40
MASONIC INTELLIGENCE. Article 41
GRAND LODGE OF SCOTLAND. Article 41
REVIEW OP NEW PUBLICATIONS. Article 42
POETRY. Article 50
REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT. Article 54
HOUSE OF COMMONS. Article 57
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. Article 62
OBITUARY. Article 70
LIST OF BANKRUPTS. Article 73
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Poetry.

POETRY .

T ! i £ PROGRESS OF SCIENCE . BY MB . SMITH . O THOU ! whose great all-searching eye Boih penetrate immensity

, Where Nature ' s limits end ; Celestial Wisdom ! thee 1 chuse To be my goddess and my muse , 'My guardian and my friend . What time thy emanation shone Round dark primeval Chaos' throne , And pour'd the beaming light : When " at the awful Godhead ' s call

, , Before thee roll'd this new form'd ball , Then Error fled with Ni g ht . Then did thy influence benign , With gentle splendour , mildly shine On patriarchal sage ; Whilst Innocence , with snowy vest , Content , and dove-ey'd Peace , attest The happv golden

age . But ah ! how soon the empire ends , Lo ! Follv , with her troop of friends , Their gloomy banners spread 1 See ! near her Fraud , with subiile lore , . And Cruelty , besmear'd with gore , By mad Ambition led . Was there no friendly climate found , No part of earth ' s wide spacious bound ,

For thee a safe retreat ! Where Nilus pours his copious urns , As through the fertile / and he turns , There , Science , was thy seat . From whence thy animating flame , To Greece , arous'd by Freedom , came , Bv Freedom ' s gen ' rous aid ; Again their heads the Virtues rear , The Muses in their train

appear , With all their charms display'd . How Homer ' s song impetuous pours . On Eagle's wings , lo ! Pindar soars . His rapid , daring flight ; O Sophocles ! lo thee We owe The tender scenes of tragic woe , And Pity ' s s-. l ' r delight . Thou Reason ' s fnirtx ' teldest child

, , Pliilosf . phv , with radiantc mild , The Greek j-artook thy smile—Plato divine , the s ' . igerite , And he who fix'd the ' orb of light , The sage of Santos * Kie . At once io awe us ; md surprise , How , Alliens 1 do thy temples rise , Above the tow ' ring pine ;

Thv statues , . Hhili , is \ seem -a breathe , And for thy glowing touch the wreath Is , great .-tppilies , thine . VOL . ix . a b

Thus flourisU'd Greece , with glory crown'd . Alike for aris and arms renoivn'd ; At length she mether doom : First by fell Discord ' s flaming brand . Then sunk into the grasping hand Of proud imperial Rome . . To-Home then Science rapid flew , Uhurt bFolly ' s torpid crew

p y , ' Or Prejudice ' s rage ; Whilst Ovid tun'd his tender lays , Virgil and Horace wore the bays , And form'd th' Augus , tan age .. - But Luxury , with baneful art , Distiil'd her poison in the heart , And Tyranny arose ; The empire totters in decay ,

And crumbling falls , an easy prey-To rudest gothic foes . What sparks of science yet remain'd From the fell rage of Goth untam'd , " Or Dulness' leaden doom , Are smotl-. er'd by the stifling veil Of Superstition's furious zeal , Within the cloister ' s gloom

. . . „ .. ThusScience lay in torpid rest , Still in Italia ' s fost'ring breast , Thy cradle and thy tomb ! Till waken'd by a lion ' s voice , .. . . The droonine Arts aeain

reioice-And shew a vernal bloom . "¦ ' 0 say 1 who first dispcll'd the cloud Which shaded Virtue ' s bright abode , Who Science first revives ? Erasmus rouz'd the attic fire , And gentle Petrarch tun'd the lyte , ' And Raphael ' s canvas lives . But wherefore shall the willing Muse servile climes

In her dwelling chuse . Unknown to Freedom's namef - Britannia doth superior shine , Asserts her kindred to the Nine , And Freedom joins the claim . Long had the vain sophistic fiiles Of Amtotle flll'd the schools With wrangling , weak debate . '

The pa hless trackgreat Bacon spied , And by experiments descried The way toScience' gate . Then he , whose penetrating mind Could Nature ' s mazy movements find , By more than human skill—Ncv . -ioii ! from whom base error fled , . ¦ O'er Kurope truth diffusive spread . Obedient to his will

. No more let othtr natiens dare With Britain ' s Genius to compare Their cold corrected stile ; S ' jabpcarc , above thc . ru . Ies of art , Arrests the judgment ; storm * thejvtart , To force a tear of Jniili .

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