88 



" View where sage elders, prostrate at the door 

 " Of some low wretch, in vain relief implore ; 



" In vain their anguish and their wrongs disclose : 

 " Behold the sons of rank debauchery bind 

 " The holy anchorite, by heaven resign'd, 



" A prey to dungeons, and to sharpest woes. 



" Is there, where Ruin reigns in dreadful state, 



" Whom fortune smiles on, or whom joys await ? — 



" 'Tis yonder corse descending to the tomb : 

 " Is there a spotless female to be found, 

 " Where deeds of diabolic lust abound ? — 



" 'Tis yonder infant issuing from the womb. 



" — O thou, descended from a noble race ! 



" By him who gave the crown thy brows to grace; 



" Who gave, t'adorn the minted ore, thy name : 

 " By him, by heaven's just King, we thee conjure, 

 " To loose our chains, — our painful wounds to cure; — 



" So shall a grateful world thy praise proclaim." 



Dr. Robertson has drawn a beautiful picture of an oriental 

 sovereign : but I fear the original is only to be found in Utopian 

 climes. I confess I never met with such a character in my travels; 

 nor can I find one among those of more extensive research in the 

 courts of Asiatic princes, modern as that amiable writer thus de- 

 scribes his virtuous monarch. " A Hindoo rajah, as I have been in- 

 formed by persons well acquainted with the state of India, resem- 

 bles more a father presiding in a numerous family of his own chil- 

 dren, than a sovereign ruling over inferiors, subject to his domi- 

 nion. He endeavours to secure their happiness with vigilant 

 solicitude; they are attached to him with the most tender affec- 

 tion, and inviolable fidelity/' 



