Philosophy: A poem address'd to the ladies who attend Mr. Booth's lectures. By the bricklayer.

Table of contents

- [titlepage]

PHILOSOPHY, A POEM.

TO Science sacred, Muse, exalt thy Lays,

Science of Nature and to Nature's Praise:

Attend ye Virtuous, and rejoice to know

Her mystic Labours, and her Laws below;

Her ways above with curious Eyes explore,

Admire her Treasures, and her God adore.

BEHOLD ye FAIR how radiant Colours glow,

What dyes the Rose, what paints the Heav'nly Bow,

The purpling Shade, the rich refracted Ray,

And all the bright Diversity of Day.

Lo! here the Magne•'s Magic charms the Sight,

And fills the Soul with Wonder and Delight,

In her coy Nature turns her Face aside,

And mocks th' enquiring Sages learned Pride,

Here less reserv'd she shows her plainer Course

In mutual Contest of Elastic Force,

Saving each vital Frame from crushing Fate,

For inward Act sustains external Weight.

Which holds reciprocal in ballanc'd Strife,

The Shield of Nature, and the Fence of Life:

The ambient Atmosphere embracing all

The wide Circumf'rence of this circling Ball,

The Vehicle of Life to those that breath

On solid Land, or liquid Waves beneath;

The Universe pervading, filling Space,

And like its Maker unconfin'd to Place.

WHAT pleasing Fervours in my Bosom rise,

What fix'd Attention and what deep Surprize,

When quick as Thought th' electric Vigour springs,

Swifter than Light'ning on its rapid Wings,

A Flight so instant to no Space confin'd,

Eludes Ideas, and outstrips the Mind?

Lo! to the Brain the bright Effluvium flies,

Glows in the Heart and flashes from the Eyes:

Here the fond Youth wi•h ••p•••'d Eye shall gaze,

And proudly warm, enjoy th' extatic Blaze:

See the proud Nymph partake his Flame by Turns,

See! like a Seraph, how she smiles and burns.

Contracted here by wond'rous Art is seen

A boundless System in a small Machine;

Here human Skill to proud Perfection brought,

The mortal Mimic of Omnific Thought,

Th' Almighty's Model to the Mind conveys,

The Universe, and all it's Pow'rs displays:

How wander Planets, how revolves the Year,

The Moon how changes, and how Comets glare.

The Sun's bright Globe illumes th' unmeasur'd Space,

While waiting Worlds enjoy by Turns his Face,

From his bright Presence drink enliv'ning Rays,

From him their Seasons gain, from him their Days;

See Wisdom here her brightest Beams display,

To fill the Soul with philosophic Day,

The Springs unfolding of mechanic Laws,

Tracing through known Effects th' eternal Cause,

Whose pow'rful Fiat▪ whose creative Will

First founded Nature, and supports her still.

Here godlike NEWTON's all capacious Mind,

(The Glory and the Guide of human Kind)

Shows wedded Worlds far distant Worlds embrace

With mutual Bands, yet keep their destin'd Space,

Roll endless Measures through th' etherial Plain,

Link'd by the social strong attractive Chain,

Whose latent Springs exert all Nature's Force,

Inwrap the Poles, and point the Stars their Course.

Mysterious Energy! stupendous Theme!

Immediate Mover of this boundless Frame,

Who can thy Essence, or thy Pow'r explain?

The Sons of Wisdom seek thy Source in vain;

Thyself invisible, yet seen thy Laws,

This goodly Fabrick thy Effect, and GOD thy Cause.

THRICE happy few who wisely here attend

The Voice of Science, and her Cause befriend:

Let others, heedless of their youthful Prime,

Squander on empty Toys their fleeting Time;

'Tis yours with Reason's searching Eye to view

Great Nature's Laws, and trace her winding Clue;

Behold her Book the op'ning Page expand,

Fill'd with the Wonders of her Maker's Hand,

In awful Characters, which clearly shine,

Worthy of Wisdom, and of Pow'r divine.

Peruse GOD's Ways, his perfect Workings trace,

In Nature's Mirrour shines his heavenly Face.

To you, bright Nymphs, where Goodness charms us most,

The Pride of Nature, and Creation's Boast,

To you Philosophy enamour'd flies,

And triumphs in the Plaudit of your Eyes.

When Worth like yours her sapient Throne sustains,

The Queen of Science with true Splendour reigns;

By Beauty aided she extends her Sway,

And, won by you, Mankind glad Homage pay.

FINIS.

PHILOSOPHY. A POEM Address'd to the LADIES Who attend Mr. BOOTH's LECTURES.

By the BRICKLAYER.

DUBLIN: Printed by and for S. POWELL, in Crane-Lane.

M DCC XLVI.

Information about this book

Title statement

Philosophy: A poem address'd to the ladies who attend Mr. Booth's lectures. By the bricklayer.

Jones, Henry, 1721-1770.

Publication

Distributor

University of Oxford Text Archive
Oxford University Computing Services
13 Banbury Road
Oxford
OX2 6NN
ota@oucs.ox.ac.uk

ID [ota]

http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/5097

ID [isbn10]

1106020960

ID [isbn13]

9781106020963

ID [TCP]

K099681.000

ID [BIBNO]

CW3310272482

ID [ECLL]

0157502000

Availability

Distributed by the University of Oxford under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Source

— Philosophy: A poem address'd to the ladies who attend Mr. Booth's lectures. By the bricklayer., Jones, Henry, 1721-1770.. 8p. ; 8⁰. Dublin :: printed by and for S. Powell,. 1746.. [Bricklayer = Henry Jones.] [Reproduction of original from the British Library.] [Foxon, J94] [English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT124958.] [Electronic data. Farmington Hills, Mich. : Thomson Gale, 2003. Page image (PNG). Digitized image of the microfilm version produced in Woodbridge, CT by Research Publications, 1982-2002 (later known as Primary Source Microfilm, an imprint of the Gale Group).]

Creation

Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2p5.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

Editorial practices

This electronic text file was keyed from page images and partially proofread for accuracy. Character capture and encoding have been done following the guidelines of the ECCO Text Creation Partnership, which correspond roughly to the recommendations found in Level 4 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines. Digital page images are linked to the text file.