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Untitled Article
to the bouse of feasting i" the mental and corporeal sufferings and untimely death of the hero of this tale may be an useful lesson to those whose respectful attention and friendly exertions would save many a man of worth and genius from a similar fate ; whilst
the melancholy sketch at the same time , warns the retired student against the morbid sensibility to which his habits and situation render him peculiarly -liable , and which too often counteracts the influence of pure principle , pious feeling , and conjugal happiness . The effect of penury and anxious care is well portrayed in the 5 th Canto :
* f Opposing duties now distract his mind , With care perplex'd , to toil too long coniin'd : For when , with day ' s laborious work oppress'd , His weary frame demanded needful rest ,
The lonely vigils of the studious night Were oft prolong'd to morn ' s returning light , Which mingled with his lamp ' s expiring gleam
The faint , cold lustre of its purer beam ; And day itself , ere sleep had clos'd his eyes , In all its brighter radiance oft would
e , Glow o ' er his cheek , pale as some marble tomb , And shew , but not revive , its faded bloom . " Oh 1 bless'd , whose days in one pursuit are spent ,
To one sole object all their studies bent , Not wanting leisure , when the mind , o ' er wrought , May rest from too intensely labouring thought . With baffled aim th' exhausted spirit tries
In fancy ' s lofty nights sublime to rise : Its heaven-born powers unfold their wings with pain , And in the effort sink to earth again , Whilst , spent with toil , the soul can r ise no more , Compell'd to creep , tho' longing still to soar .
" How oft o ' er his vain toil would Alfred sigh , Hang o ' er the blotted page with thoughtful eye , And hope success , tho' lat *! , would crown his care—V&in hope ! at last resign ed to sad despair .
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Yet were there times when inspiration came ' In looks of lightning , and in words of flame : But these inspiring moments might not last—The transient ardor from his spirit pass'd , Fleeting as sunshine on a wintry morn , Ere aught beneath its fruitless ray fo . born !" Pp . 11—13 .
The author shews , iff the character of Alfred ' s wife , how justly he appreciates the power of a timid , gentle female to support her husband ' s integrity , when the worldling and the bigot would tempt him to adopt a more lucrative religion , and to alleviate his sufferings when his overtasked mind i& quitting its earthly abode : we select the two following passages :
" Her soul beam'd forth indignant in her glance : * Renounce thy creed !—nay first renounce thy life , And perish all— -thy children and thy wife : Ere thou for gain forsake thy father ' s God , And leave the path in which thy sires have trod .
No : let the worst of human ills befall—Virtue , unmov'd by pain , can bear them all , Less wretched , when oppress ed by hardest fate , Than vice , tho' dress'd in purple robes of state . Oh ! then , my Alfred , as in all the past , Still let thy worth be upright to the
last—To others leave their splendour , and their pride , And let the sons of wealth the poor deride : Thine be the greatest bliss to mortals given , A peaceful conscience , and approving Heaven ! * u Woman ! dear partner of our softer hour—On life ' s frail stem the loveliest , tenderest
flower—Thy form so slight , so delicately fair , It asks supporting love ' s most gentle care—When every sunny beam of joy is fled , And sorrow ' s tempests darkly round us spread ,
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, - \ 228 Review . —BtetteWs Country Minuter :
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1825, page 228, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2535/page/36/
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