Long had they trained the inquiring youth, With liberal hand the bread of wisdom dealt, And sung, in solemn verse, mysterious truth, The sacred characters they knew to trace, Derived from Egypt's elder race;

And all that Greece, with copious learning fraught, Through different schools, by different masters taught;

And all Arabia's glowing store

Of fabled truths and rich poetic lore:

Stars, plants and gems, and talismans they knew, And far was spread their fame, and wide their praises grew.

The admiring East their praises spread: But with uncheated eyes themselves they view'd; Mourning they sat with dust upon their head, And oft in melancholy strain

The fond complaint renewed,

[in vain.

How little yet they knew, how much was learned For human guilt and human woe

Their sympathizing sorrows flow;

Their hallowed prayers ascend in incense pure;
They mourned the narrow bounds assigned
To the keen glances of the searching mind;
They mourned the ills they could not cure,
They mourned the doubts they could not clear,
They mourned that prophet yet, nor seer,
The great Eternal had made known,

Or reached the lowest step of that immortal throne.

And oft the starry cope of Heaven beneath, When day's tumultuous sounds had ceased to breathe.

With fixed foot as rooted there,

Through the long night they drew the chilly air, While gliding o'er their head,

In solemn silence dread,

The ethereal orbs their shining course pursued; In holy trance, enwrapt the sages stood,

With folded arms laid on their reverend breast, And to that Heaven they knew, their Orisons addrest.

A star appears; they mark its kindling beam, O'er night's dark breast unusual splendors stream; The lesser lights that deck the sky

In wondering silence softly rolling by, At the fair stranger seemed to gaze, Or veiled their trembling fires and half withdrew their rays.

The blameless men the wonder saw, And hailed the joyful sign with pious awe, They knew 'twas none of all the train With which in shadowy forms and shape uncouth, Monsters of earth and of the main,

Remote from nature as from truth,

Their learned pens the sky had figured o'er No star with such kind aspect shone before; Nor e'er did wandering planet stoop so low To guide benighted pilgrims through this world of [woe

The heavenly impulse they obey, The new-born light directs their way; Through deserts never marked by human tread And billowy waves of loose unfaithful sand, O'er many an unknown hill and foreign strand The silver clue unerring led,

And peopled towns they pass, and glittering spires; No cloud could veil its light, no sun could quench its fires.

Thus passed the venerable pilgrims on,

Till Salem's* stately towers before them shone, And soon their feet her hallowed pavements prest, Not in her marble courts to rest, From pomp and shining state aloof,

Their shining guide its beams withdrew;
And points their path, and points their view,
To Bethlehem's rustic cots, to Mary's lowly roof.

There the bright centinel kept watch,
While other stars arose and set;

For there, beneath its humble thatch,

[met.

Weakness and power, and heaven and earth were Now, sages, now your search give o'er, Believe, fall prostrate, and adore!

[here;

Here spread your spicy gifts, your golden offerings
No more the fond complaint renew,
Of human guilt and mortal woe,

[fear;

Of knowledge checked by doubt, and hope with What angels wished to see, ye view;

What angels wished to learn, ye know;

Peace is proclaimed to man, and heaven begun below.

There are no obscurities in these verses, except in the passage,

"They knew 'twas none of all the train," &c.

Those who have seen a celestial globe, know that its surface represents a map of the stars, The

* Jerusalem.

stars are divided into companies, called constellations. Each constellation is described on the globe under the figure of some animal-the similitude of a goat, scorpion, or lion. These "uncouth

shapes" are only used for convenience; they are the invention perhaps of some Chaldean astronomer; and the "star in the east," which guided the pilgrims, and "stood over the place where the young child was," could not be numbered among those they were accustomed to class within the outline of some "monster of the earth or of the main."

means, that in the country of ancient Egypt, men first practised the useful arts, and that they there first discovered the sciences. About fifteen centuries before Christ, Moses was skilled in the learning of Egypt, and before that time, the history of Joseph shows that the Egyptians understood political government, and the arts which embellish the dignity of high rank.

2. "And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him ride in the second chariot which he had." The ring, the linen garments, and the chariot, show that this people practised the ornamental and useful arts.

3. Egypt is very clearly laid down upon the maps. It is about six hundred miles from north to south, from the Mediterranean to Nubia; and its greatest breadth is one hundred and fifty miles, from Alexandria to Damietta. The desart of Lybia lies on the west of this country, and the Red sea washes its eastern shore.

4. Ancient Egypt was immensely populous. The inundations of the Nile make the soil fertile ; and the wants of man are less pressing in a warm climate. Slight habitations, a few garments, and a little fuel, with the fruits of a productive soil, easily supply all the necessaries of life.

5. The ancient Egyptians have left some splendid monuments of their strength, their industry and skill, in architecture and sculpture. The Pyramids are very extraordinary edifices; it is presumed that they were designed for burial places.

6. The obelisks are very high, quadrangular and taper columns of stone, engraved with hiero