LONDON: Printed by and for J. NICHOLS and SON, where LETTER ero Head, ed Ion rticurly qeffer Po UCD LIBRARY And oy. ARRIS Suc efr ON THE DEATH OF CHRIST, FOR THE YEAR 1806. BY JOHN STOYLE, Lieutenant Royal Navy. FRAUGHT with the gifts of heavenly love, Meffiah's natal hour defcends From realms of living light above, And pureft joy its path attends. While jubilant the ranfom'd race below, Inspir'd with àrdour, catch the votive lay, The grateful ftrains in happier regions flow; [way Salvation echoes through the pathlefs Of Æther, where created space Still knows th' incarnate God; Where difcord filed before his face; And darkness at his nod. On fable wing in hafte descending down, To join the dire profound of antient Night, By his omnific word adverfe was thrown; Leaving the field to Harmony and Light, That with their native radiance bleft th' admiring fight, The fame of Heaven's eternal Son, Sublimely at Creation rang; [done, HE fpake the word, and, lo! 'twas And morning ftars together fang. of joy The fons of God proclaim'd with fhouts When on the wings of Mercy came, Whofe goodness infinite fhall never ceafe; Since Love Divine through all extent Stillies the reach of Fancy's wing, Beyond all thought moft excellent, Inspire me, O Eternal King. [rife, Though high in lofty themes I may not Thou wilt not fcorn a tribute well defign'd; [the fkies, Though I may not with NEWTON trace Or with Miltonian flight thy greatnefs find. Yet, as I tread Life's checquer'd ftage, The truths to me difclofe That grace thy ever facred page. O let me ftill repofe While Heaven's exalted ftrains extel Their duteous hymns of praise afford. His all-pervading fpirit ever near, Would in the vaft expanfe moft gloriously appear. PREFACE TO VOLUME LXXVI. Ir has been our painful and melancholy office for many fucceeding years, to call the attention of our Readers to fcenes and incidents of the moft difaftrous tendency; involving not only the interefts of Learning and the Arts, but almoft the individual fecurity of their Difciples. The din of war, and the clang of arms, has been fo loud and fo inceffant, that the Mufes have trembled within their bowers, and retired to weep over the afhes of Heroes and of Statefmen. The Genius of this Country, in particular, has veiled its awful front in facred forrow, whilft it lamented the premature lofs of her nobleft Offspring. The memories of NELSON, and of PITT, of CORNWALLIS, and of Fox, will, indeed, live for ever; but we may be allowed to mourn, though not to defpond, that the moment feems arrived when all their talents, and all their virtues, are more than ever to be required. The period appears to be at hand, when a vaft Coloffal Power, rifing every hour in ftrength, ferocity, and cruelty, threatens to devour all that is revered by Virtue, Freedom, and Honour; and having ravaged the Earth, and fwallowed up all that was fair and lovely, menaces to roll the Tide of Defolation to thefe beloved Shores. "But that all-healing and all-forming Power Will preserve it." On this hope we reft-were it otherwife, the gloom which now overfpreads Europe, menaces to bring back thofe dark and melancholy fcenes when Freedom, Learning, and the Arts, were fo deeply interred as almost to extinguifh the hope of reftoration to light, and life, and beauty. In that Region, where for fo many Centuries the Mufes have been cherished and adored, where every branch of Science and Philofophy have been cultivated with ingenuous zeal and honeft enthufiafm, what diftinction is now courted, or what merit is now rewarded, but fuch as is connected with that fcourge of mankind, Ambition, and the Thirft for Military Glory; and to what do fuch paflions and |