July 23. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



71 



poor ; its title is, The State and Case of a Design 

 for the better Education of Thousands of Parish 

 Children successively in the vast Northern Suburbs 

 of London vindicated, ^x. Besides the above, 

 there is another remarkable little piece which I 

 liave seen, beginning abruptly, " Here folio weth a 

 briefe exhortation which I gave in my owne house 

 «t my wife's funerall to our friends then present," 

 by Blake, with the MS. date, 1650 ; and exhibits 

 this original character in another not less amiable 

 light : — "I was brought up," says he, " by my 

 parents to learne Hail Mary, paternostei*, the 

 Beliefe, and learne to reade ; and where I served 

 my apprenticeship little more was to be found." 

 He attributes it to God's grace that he fell a 

 reading the Practice of Piety, by which means he 

 got a little persuading of God's love to his soul : — 

 *' Well, my time being out, I set up for myselfe ; 

 and seeking out for a wife, which, with long waiting 

 :and difficulty, much expence and charge, at last I 

 got. Four children God gave me by her ; but he 

 hath taken them and her all again too, who was a 

 woman of a thousand." Mr. B. then naturally 

 indulges in a panegyric upon this pattern of wives, 

 and reproaches himself for his former insensibility 

 to her surpassing merits : relating with great 

 naivete some domestic passages, with examples of 

 her piety and trials, in one of which latter the 

 enemy would tempt her to suicide : — " There lie 

 your garters," said he ; " but she threw them aside, 

 and so escaped this will of the Devil." 



In conclusion, let me inquire if your Highgate 

 correspondents are cognisant of any existing in- 

 stitution raised upon the foundation of William 

 Blake's Charity School at Dorchester House ? 



J.O. 



[Our correspondent's interesting communication 

 •suggests a Query : Is there any biographical notice of 

 William Blake ; and was he the author of the following 

 piece, preserved among the Kings' pamphlets in the 

 British Museum ? " The Condemned Man's Reprieve, 

 or God's Love-Tokens, flowing in upon the heart of 

 William Blake, a penitent sinner, giving him assur- 

 ance of the pardon of his sins, and the enjoyment of 

 eternal happiness through the merits of Christ his 

 Saviour. Recommended by him (being a condemned 

 prisoner for manslaughter within the statute) unto his 

 sister, and bequeathed unto her as a legacy." It is 

 -dated from "Exon Jayle," June 25, 1653, and was pub- 

 lished July 14, 1653."— Ed.] 



A POEM BY SHELLEY, NOT IN HIS WORKS. 



The following poem was published in a South 

 ■Carolina newspaper in the year 1839. The per- 

 son who communicates it states that it was among 

 the papers of a deceased friend, in a small packet, 

 endorsed " A letter and two poems written by 

 Shelley the poet, and lent to me by Mr. Tre- 

 lawney in 1823. I was prevented from returning 



them to him, for which I am sorry, since this is 

 the only copy of them — they have never been 

 published." Upon this poem was written, "Given 

 to me by Shelley, who composed it as we were 

 sailing one eveninjr together." Uneda. 



Philadelphia. 



" The Cahn. 



" Hush ! liark ! the Triton calls 



From his hollow shell, 



And the sea is as smooth as a well ; 



For the winds and the waves 

 In wild order form, 



To rush to the halls 



And the crystal-roof'd caves 



Of the deep, deep ocean, 

 To hold consultation 



About the next storm. 



" The moon sits on the sky 



Like a swan sleeping 

 On the stilly lake : 

 No wild breath to break 

 Her smooth massy light 



And rvffie it into beams : 



" The downy clouds droop 



Like moss upon a tree ; 

 And in the earth's bosom grope 



Dim vapours and streams. 

 The darkness is weeping, 



Oh, most silently 1 

 Without audible sigh, 



All is noiseless and bright. 



" Still 'tis living silence here, 

 Such as fills not with fear. 

 Ah, do you not hear 



A humming and purring 



All about and about ? 



'Tis from souls let out, 



From their day-prisons freed, 

 And joying in release. 



For no slumber they need. 



** Shining through this veil of peace, 



Love now pours her omnipresence, 

 And various nature 

 Feels through every feature 



The joy intense, 



Yet so passionless. 

 Passionless and pure ; 



The human mind restless 

 Long could not endure. 



« But hush while I tell. 



As the shrill whispers fuller 

 Through the pores of the sea,— • 



Whatever they utter 



I'll interpret to thee. 

 King Neptune now craves 



Of his turbulent vassals 

 Their workings to quell ; 



And the billows are quiet, 



Though thinking on riot. 

 On the left and the right 

 In ranks they are coil'd up, 



