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TYPOGRAPHIA. AN ODE, ON PRINTING.

Inscrib'd to the Honourable WILLIAM GOOCH, Esq His Majesty's Lieutenant-Governor, and Commander in Chief of the Colony of VIRGINIA.

[...] sapientum v [...]ces, plena Exem' [...]rum vetustas; qu [...]e jacerent in Tenebris omnia, nisi [...]terarum Lumen accederet.

Cic. Orat. pro Archia.

WILLIAMSBURG: Printed by WILLIAM PARKS. M, DCC, XXX.

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To the Honourable WILLIAM GOOCH, Esq His Majesty's Lieutenant-Governor, and Commander in Chief of the Colony of VIRGINIA.

SIR,

THE following Piece, occasion'd by the setting up a Printing-Press in Williamsburg, justly claims a Title to some Share of Your Protec­tion, as the Subject-Matter of it, the Art of PRINTING, owes to You its Patronage and En­couragement; whence, by a natural Deduction, this ought as necessarily to follow the Fate and Fortune of that, as Effects do their Causes.

IF upon the Prospect of a great many Advantages be­yond-peradventure likely to accrue to this Colony, from an ART so long wanting among us, I have not been able to restrain my own Inclinations to write the ensuing Trifle, (the first Essay of this Kind attempted here,) I hope this at least will make it the less inexcusable, that I have said nothing herein, which, I am confident, will not be readily assented to, by all who have the Happiness to live under the present Administration, in this Colony: Unless, perhaps, this Exception be taken, that where a disinterested and unprejudic'd PATRIOTISM, [Page iv] (for I will not be asham'd of the Word) of a Governor to his People, and a reciprocal Affection and Obedience of them to Him is to be describ'd, the Author of this Piece may have wanted a Scale of Thought and Compre­hension equal to the Height of the Merits [...] the One, or the cordial Duty of the other; and that on such a Subject it were better to be silent, than to say too little. I must confess there is some Weight in the Argument; but I seek not to palliate my Imperfections of that Na­ture, lest I should be answer'd with the same sarcastic Question as Albinus, a Roman Author, was by Cato, on the same Occasion, Whether any one had compelled me to write?

BUT, to obviate this Objection, I would only have Recourse to the Sense of this whole Colony, so often and so heartily express'd in their several Addresses; which I hope will freely remit me to the Moderation of ONE, whose Judgment, tho' it must censure the Weakness, whose Modesty, tho' it must tax the Boldness, yet His Candor will excuse the Endeavours of so humble a Talent as mine, who could propose no other to myself by this present Undertaking, than to manifest with what Sincerity of Observance and [...] to be thought,

SIR,
Your Honour's Most Obedient, Humble Servant, J. MARKLAND.
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TYPOGRAPHIA. AN ODE, ON PRINTING.

I.
YE NYMPHS, who o'er Castalian Springs,
With joint Command preside,
Who trill the Lyre's sonorous Strings,
Record the great and glorious Things,
Of Godlike Rulers, matchless Kings,
And poetic Numbers guide;
Daughters of eternal Iove,
Gently to my Assistance move:
[Page 6]Whether on Pindus' lofty Top you play,
Or, with Heav'n-kindled Fire,
M [...]ouian Notes inspire,
And shew another Ilium's fatal Day;
Or, if upon the Elian Plain
You sing the Victor's glorious Deeds,
Where [...]in [...]ar lash'd his fiery-footed Steed▪
His fiery-footed Steeds impatient of the Rein
II.
Or if your more exalted Will
To those sweet Seats of blissful Quiet leads,
Where gentle CAM the slow'ry Mead.
With genial Moisture overflows;
Or, where the Silver ISIS, smooth and still.
Does, like a bashful Bride,
Into the Arms of amorous THAME
Without a Murmur glide:
Hence ADDISON, the British Maro, rose,
Thence DRYDEN soar'd the highest Pitch of Fame:
Leave, leave awhile those blest Abodes,
To view a new-arising Land,
A Land, whose fertile Plains,
And peaceful shady Woods,
May well demand
[Page 7]Your sweetest Notes, and loftiest Strains,
Where, with supreme Command, your own AUGUSTUS reigns.
III.
AUGUSTUS reigns;
His far-extended Sway,
Nor Length of boundless Land restrains,
Nor separating Sea.
But oh! much more extended is the Pow'r,
Than o'er the Length of boundless Land,
Or o'er the Sea's remotest Strand,
Where Goodness and paternal Care
The Sovereign's native Vertues are,
And Subjects Hearts with Loialty run o'er:
Where envious Thoughts abortive die,
Nor Malice rowls her low'ring Eye:
Where, with contending Zeal,
The Prince and People strive,
The Prince to make his People thrive,
Their Grievances to heal;
And all their good and adverse Fortune shares;
They, in Return to Him,
Pay mutual Rev'rence and Esteem,
And all his Pow'r, his Honour, Happiness, is theirs.
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IV.
Such BRITAIN is, — "Oh happy envy'd Isle,
"Sea-wall'd Commander of EUROPA's Trade,
(Mournful VIRGINIA, sighing said)
"Plac'd in thy Sovereign's Smile,
"Whose Presence, like th' enliv'ning Sun,
("Who, where his genial Rays appear,
"Productive of a fruitful Year.
"The lab'ring Hind's most greedy Hopes does bless)
"Does a diffusive Course of Goodness run,
"And ripens all thy Hopes into Success.
"Whilst I — and yet thy eldest Forei [...] Care —
"Am numb'd with Winters cold and bare,
"And toilsome Summers fruitless Harvests share.
"O happy were my Lot,
"Would that kind Sun dispense
"On me a nearer Ray of his mild Influence!
"I see his Light, I guess his Warmth, — I feel it not.
V.
She said, she sigh'd, — AUGUSTUS heard;
And straight, with willing Mind,
For her Relief prepar'd,
[Page 9]Her Sufferings to remove;
He knew the MAN design'd
To be VIRGINIA's future Boast and Love;
He knew His native Vertue and His Worth;
Nor long He staid,
But all Things ready made,
With eager Haste He sent Him forth.
VI.
He came, He saw, and was belov'd;
Like Lightning, quick, but strong,
An universal Gladness mov'd
Throughout th' admiring Throng.
No sooner was He seen,
His calm, yet awful Look,
Majestic, yet serene,
The very Pow'r of Prejudice remov'd,
And ev'n His Silence spoke.
But when His graceful Tongue,
Copious of Reason, did display
To Happiness, our nearest, surest Way,
Ev'n Party-Rancour dy'd away,
And private Spleen.
[Page 10]We found whence Britain is so blest▪
Which had so much our Envy bore,
We found — and griev'd we found it not before —
We found, that when by Love and Peace,
A Prince has fix'd his Throne
In ev'ry Subject's loial Breast,
No wonder Factions end, and Murmurs cease, —
Since now, what GEORGE is there, GOOCH here has amply shewn.
VII.
Great REPRESENTATIVE!
What Thanks shall we return? What Honours shew?
To whom our Staple does its Being owe,
By whom our Hopes revive:
By whom all Arts recov'ring live,
That erst like drooping Plants had dropt their Head▪
And once again, with native Vigour thrive:
From whom VIRGINIA's Laws, that lay
In blotted Manuscripts obscur'd,
By vulgar Eyes unread,
Which whilome scarce the Light endur'd,
Begin to view again the Day,
As rising from the Dead.
For this the careful Artist wakes,
And o'er his countless Brood he stands,
[Page 11]His numerous Hoards,
Of speechless Letters, unform'd Words,
Unjointed Questions, and unmeaning Breaks,
Which into Order rise, and Form, at his Commands.
VIII.
At his Commands they rise,
And cloath themselves with Sense,
Whether an antient Law that dormant lies,
The sage judicious FIVE revise,
(Great is your Care, your Pains be blest,
In all you undertake or do,
Ye separated FEW
[...] Genius of the rest▪)
Or where the newer Acts commence:
Or where, on solemn Subjects to enlarge,
In more harmonious Word▪ they shine;
New Beauties crowding every Line
Come forth their Patron's CHARGE.
There, PARKS, thy Pains are lost — We find
The Eloquence employs the Mind,
The Artist lags behind.
HIS lab'ring Thoughts with Wisdom teem,
And struggle with the mighty Birth;
[Page 12]Thy Art does like Lucina seem,
And only helps to send the [...]fect Embrio forth.
IX.
Yet fair befal His Fame,
And may his Mem'ry long
In latest Annals live,
Who first contriv'd the wondrous Frame,
That to dead Types supply'd a Tongue,
And Speech to lifeless Characters could give.
O well was he employ'd the while,
And happy was the vent'rous Toil!
His Breast had compass'd some great Thought,
Tho' formless yet, and void,
His busy Faculties were all employ'd,
How future Ages might be surest taught,
By old Examples, long since done,
What Paths to follow, what to shun,
How Vertue ev'n in Death befriends,
And how Ambition ends,
How Socrates instructed, Caesar fought;
Long Time, his swelling Breast
The great Idea had opprest,
'Till, fix'd at Length, be in a Rapture bid,
Come up a glorious, great Design, — And so it did.
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X.
With less Expence of Care and Thought
Did th' antient Sage surmise
The Frame, (thus Epicurus taught)
And Order of the Earth to rise;
And first he told the Dance
Of Atoms through th' expanded Vast,
With Accidents endu'd,
Of Figure, Gravity, and Magnitude;
By whose Cohesion fast,
As each to other did advance,
The homogeneous Parts ally'd,
Were in the strictest Closure ty'd,
And Matter hence arose▪
Directed thence by sightless Chance,
The jumbled Mass fortuitous was hurl'd,
Where Hap a beauteous Fabric did compose,
And made an accidental World.
XI.
Thus sung Neocles' unenlighten'd Son,
When Nature, not improv'd by Grace,
But dimly on her Vot'ries shone,
And half conceal'd her Face:
[Page 14] Foolish Wise-men! Nor was their Sense
Acuter to perceive a Providence.
To Us, a surer Doctrine's shewn,
Which Truth it self has spoke;
And faithful TYPES, by Time unbroke,
Through many Ages have continu'd down
The mighty Works to Them unknown
In Clouds of wilful Ignorance They err'd,
Peccant in wild Conjectures of their own,
And each his own preferr'd.
Hence some the World eternal Thought.
To Discord some its Origin assign'd,
Others a perfect Harmony could find,
Destructive of that Scheme;
All with delusive Fancies fraught,
Dreamt idle Whims — Creation only was no Dream.
XII.
Happy the Art, by which we learn
The Gloss of Errors to detect,
The Vice of Habits to correct,
And sacred Truths, from Falshood to discern!
By which we take a far-stretch'd View▪
And learn our Fathers Vertues to pursue,
Their Follies to eschew.
[Page 15]And may that Art to latest Times proclaim
Its PATRON's Honourable Name.
As some Sybillin Book of old,
Had Sybils known the Times to come,
Wrapt in Futurity's dark Womb,
Would thus these happy Days have told:
"Revolving Ages hence,
"In Climates now unknown,
"A Ruler's gentle Influence
"Shall o'er his Land be shewn;
"Saturnian Reigns shall be renew'd,
"Truth, Justice, Vertue, be pursu'd,
"Arts flourish, Peace shall crown the Plains,
"Where [...]OOCH administers, AUGUSTUS reigns.
FINIS.

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