Here milder planets temperately glow;
No scorching blast, but gales that gently blow,
Salute thy cheek; beneath thy way-worn tread
Springs the fresh verdure of the daisied mead.

These woods a soft deciduous foliage wear, With grateful change to recreate the year; Their safe retreats, and unmolested shades No savage din of hungry yell invades,

Nor in the grassy path, and rustling brake
Lurks the fell tiger, or the hooded snake.

What tho' for thee no freighted vessels weigh From Ganges eastward bound to far Cathay, From rich Bahar, and Lanka's* fragrant hills Waft the dull opium, and the spicy quills; And speed in noxious traffic o'er the main Increase of luxury, the public bane;

* Lanka is the mythological capital of Ceylon.

Tho' at thy call no proud retinue wait,
No gorgeous equipage of eastern state;
Nor listless apathy thy spirits drowse,
Nor foul intemperance pour the full carouze;
What tho' nor millions heap thy swelling hoard,
Nor the gemm'd goblet sparkle at thy board,
Yet purer joys to Pageantry deny'd,

Yet sweet content ill-forfeited to Pride,

And every bliss, whose homelier sweets combine
To cheer life's lonely vale, may still be thine;
Thine native freedom, peace, and vigourous health,
And easy competence, for restless wealth:

These at thy wish a liberal father's store

Will freely give; Thy temperance needs no more.

These are the bounds that skirt Life's golden mean; Pride soars beyond, but Wisdom rests between; For these, full many a year of toil and pain Too late reclaim'd, Ambition sighs in vain ; And all her dreams of shadowy joys o'erpast, This solid good confesses at the last.

But thou betimes the moral truth attend, And boldly dare begin where others end, What all by late experience learn to prize, Who first enjoys, is providently wise.

OUR NATIVE SOIL,

A PARAPHRASED TRANSLATION

OF A

LATIN POEM,

ENTITLED

"NATALE SOLUM,"

BY THE LATE

EDWARD VENABLES VERNON,

STUDENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD,

WHICH OBTAINED THE CHANCELLOR'S PRIZE AT THAT

UNIVERSITY, A. D. 1804.

DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO

HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK.