TWO LANDSCAPES. ENGLISH AND INDIAN. I STOOD upon an English hill, Sparkling in the summer sun; While adown that green hill's side, And along the valley wide, Sheep, like small clouds touched with light, Or like little breakers bright Sprinkled o'er a smiling sea, Seemed to float at liberty. Scattered all around were seen White cots on the meadows green, Or peeping through the sheltering trees. Oft their glad shouts, shrill and clear, Nearer sat a bright-haired boy, A shepherd's crook was in his hand, Emblem of a mild command; And upon his rounded cheek Were hues that ripened apples streak. And unto that happy mood All seems beautiful and good. Though from home and friends we part, Nature and the human heart Still may sooth the wanderer's care, And his God is every where ! Seated on a bank of green, Gazing on an Indian scene, I have dreams the mind to cheer, And its broad face richly glows Ne'er before did sea or stream Kindle thus beneath his beam, Ne'er did miser's eye behold Sinks the sun-the sudden night On the small waves float and quiver, Of lustres ranged in glittering rows; To light the dim depths of the tide; Though beauteously her regions glow, Never yet hath waking vision Wrought a picture more Elysian; Never gifted poet seen Aught more radiant and serene! There are scenes that could impart Dearer pleasure to my heart, That its tribute could withhold When Enchantment's magic wand Waves o'er this romantic land! Cossipore, Nov. 1839. *This description has reference to the night of some religious festival. THE ATOSSA BRIBE. POPE AND THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH. POPE left by his will, the care of his manuscripts, first to Lord Bolingbroke, and, in the event of his death, to Lord Marchmont, undoubtedly expecting, says Dr. Johnson, that they would be "proud of the trust and eager to extend his fame." It appears, however, that some time after Pope's death, Dodsley solicited preference as the publisher, and was told that the packet of papers had not been even looked at, and "whatever was the reason," adds Johnson, "the world has been disappointed of what was reserved for the next age." It is reasonable to suppose that amongst the manuscripts of Pope there must have been many interesting and valuable papers, but nothing of any value has yet appeared. Pope gave Bolingbroke the option of preserving or destroying the manuscripts, and it is probable, from the circumstances I am about to mention, that he chose the latter alternative. They never got into the possession of the Earl of Marchmont. A work entitled "A Selection from the Papers of the Earls of Marchmont," and published in 1831, by Sir George Rose, contains two letters from Lord Bolingbroke that are calculated to injure materially the memory of Pope, if they are not very closely and candidly considered. They are on the subject of Pope's Satire on the Duchess of Marlborough, included in his Epistle "On the Characters of Women," under the name of Atossa. To refresh the memory of the reader I shall here subjoin it. But what are these, to great Atossa's mind? |