167 



Where headlong comets with increasing force 

 Through other systems hend their burning course ' 

 For thee Cassiope her chair withdraws, 

 For thee the Bear retracts his shaggy paws ; 

 High o'er the north thy golden orb shall roll, 

 And blaze eternal round the wondering pole.* 



Miss Seward, after stating that professional generosity 

 distinguished Dr. Darwin's medical practice at Lichfield, 

 farther says, that " diligently also did he attend to the health 

 of the poor in that city, and afterwards at Derby, and sup- 

 plied their necessities by food, and all sorts of charitable 



•The following passage from a favourite book of Dr. Darwin's, (the 

 System of Nature, by Linnaeus) will well apply to that searching and pene- 

 trating mind, which so strongly possessed him through life . — " How small 

 a part of the great works of nature is laid open to our eyes, and how many 

 things are going on in secret which we know nothing of! How many 

 things are there which this age first was acquainted with ! How many 

 things that we are ignorant of will come to light when all memory of us 

 shall be no more ! for nature does not at once reveal all her secrets. We 

 are apt to look on ourselves as already admitted into the sanctuary of her 

 temple; we are still only in the porch." How full of grace, of tenderness, 

 and passion, is that elegy, which he composed the night he feared a life he 

 so passionately loved (Mrs. Pole, of Radburn,) was in imminent danger, 

 and when he dreamed she was dead : 



Stretch'd on her sable bier, the grave beside, 



A snow-white shroud her breathless bosom bound, 

 O'er her white brow the mimic lace was tied, 



And loves, and virtues, hung their garlands round. 

 From these cold lips did softest accents flow 1 



Round that pale mouth did sweetest dimples play I 

 On this dull cheek the rose of beauty blow, 



And those dim eyes diffuse celestial rays ? 

 Did this cold hand unasking want relieve, 



Or wake the lyre to every rapturous sound ? 

 How sad, for other's woes, this breast could heave ! 



How light this heart, for other's transport, bound ! 



