Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1817-05-10
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REFLECTIONS FOR SATUR.
DAY EVENING.
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90 thou that rolest above rcunt
as the shield Of my fathers I! Whence
gro thy beams, D Sun thy ererlast
ing light Thou contest forth, il
my awful beauty ; the stars hide
themselves in the sky the moon
cold and pale, sinks ia the western
wave. But thou myself moves
alone. Who can be a companion Of
thy coursei The oaks ofthe moan
tsips fall, the mountains themselves
decay with years; tie Ocean shrink,
sud grows again the moon herseil
i, lost in heaven, but thou art forerer
the same, rejoicing 10 the brightness
Of thy course. When the world Is
dark with temPests /; when thundc,
rolls, and lightning dies, thou lookes'
in thy beauty, from the clouds, and
iaugdest 1T the storm. But TO 0s-
sian thou ieokest in vain Tor he be-
holds thy beams no more whether
fhy yellow hair flows on tho eastern
clouds, or thou trsDblest ii the gates
Of the west. But thou art perhaps
like ,e, for a season thy years will
have an end. Thou sLalst sleep in thy
clouds. regardless Of the voice OF
the morning. Exuit then, q Saa
in the strength Of Thy yoa'h Age
Is dark and unlsye!. il is like the
slimmering light Of the moon. when
il shiues throus., broken clouds,
end the mist on the hills the blast
OF the north is On the plans, the
traveller shriaSs in the midst oil his
Journey"
No reader or taste has Turned o.
yer the pages OF OssIAN, without
dwelling With delight OF the above
glowing and feeling address of the
poet, TO the bright orb that sheds his
rays oflire and light alike upon the
animal aud the vegetable. the ami
mate and inanimate Kingdoms Of the
earth We have quoted the whole
passage for its beauty and sublimty,
and because Il leads the mind natu-
rally, through The medium oil one OF
Lis beet aud brightest works, to the
contemplation ofthe omnipotent pow
er Of God. " Whence are thy beams
o Sun ! thy crrlasling light" 1t Isl
the bard OF a harbarou- age that
speaks, one upoa whose mind the light
Of the GOSPEL had not shed its di
vine radio nee hen"e the syn clothed
10 attribute Of everlasting light /; and
hence the author Of the Apostrophe|
i. at a loss to know, from whence
are the beams. fiad he known the
YospeI it woald have taught him that
all things, are Of God: and that HE
alone is everiasting that Sun,
moon. and stars, shall pass away,
whilst bis name, bis power, his slo-I
fy. shall never fade, but everlast'
ingly flourish lie seems indeed to
have doubted, whether the sun
would not, like himself. have an end !;
whether it was not subject to the
mutations of animal aud vegetable
life, frOm youth to sge and LON age
10 dissolution. " Exuit then, U sun
10 the strength of thy youth ! Age
Is dark and unlovely it is like the
glimnering light ofthe moon, when
K shines through broken clouds :"
And this brings US to the immediate
subject of our reflections for this
evening. From the expressions OF
the bard, " Age is dark and unlove-
w." we derive a striking contrast
between those who have not, and
those who have, received the ljsh,
Of Revelation. To the aututored
savage or barbarian who like OssIAs
ba, net heard the glad iidiuss Of
salvation !; and who expects to Pc
rish like the wild beasts. that he
hunts from day to day is 1t any
wonder that age should DO dark and
unloyelya The strength Of his lo'th
is speat in tie tolls of the chase ;
the perils of savage warfare and
the Heeting pleasures OF love. From
the tolls Of the chase, or of var, in
deed, he finds no exemption, till bis
limbs, through the infirmity of age.
becomes so Ianguid. that he can no
longer rush through the thiekst. or
the fisod, bouad over the hills, or
scale the lofty mountain top. in per-
suit of his game or his foe. When
arrived at this gloomy period Of ex-
istsuce, he sits down in helpless, JOY