[320] Freneau doubtless wrote this poem in Charleston, S. C., in July, 1786. It appeared first in the _Freeman's Journal_, August 2, 1786, and was republished in the edition of 1788, and in the later editions, almost without change. The poet probably refers to the _Rhododendron Viscosum_, or as some call it the _Asalia viscosun_ since it is the only flower popularly known as the wild honeysuckle that is both white and fragrant. According to Chapman's _Southern Flora_, it flowers in the latitude of Charleston in July and August. The text is from the edition of 1809. ON A BOOK CALLED UNITARIAN THEOLOGY[321] In this choice work, with wisdom penned, we find The noblest system to reform mankind, Bold truths confirmed, that bigots have denied, By most perverted, and which some deride. Here, truths divine in easy language flow, Truths long concealed, that now all climes shall know Here, like the blaze of our material sun, Enlightened Reason proves, that God is One-- As that, concentered in itself, a sphere, Illumes all Nature with its radiance here, Bids towards itself all trees and plants aspire, Awakes the winds, impels the seeds of fire, And still subservient to the Almighty plan, Warms into life the changeful race of man; So--like that sun--in heaven's bright realms we trace One Power of Love, that fills unbounded space, Existing always by no borrowed aid, Before all worlds--eternal, and not made-- To That indebted, stars and comets burn, Owe their swift movements, and to That return! Prime source of wisdom, all-contriving mind, First spring of Reason, that this globe designed; Parent of order, whose unwearied hand Upholds the fabric that his wisdom planned, And, its due course assigned to every sphere, Revolves the seasons, and sustains the year!-- Pure light of Truth! where'er thy splendours shine, Thou art the image of the power divine; Nought else, in life, that full resemblance bears, No sun, that lights us through our circling years, No stars, that through yon' charming azure stray, No moon, that glads us with her evening ray, No seas, that o'er their gloomy caverns flow, No forms beyond us, and no shapes below! Then slight--ah slight not, this instructive page, For the mean follies of a dreaming age: Here to the truth, by Reason's aid aspire, Nor some dull preacher of romance admire; See One, Sole God, in these convincing lines, Beneath whose view perpetual day-light shines; At whose command all worlds their circuits run, And night, retiring, dies before the sun! Here, Man no more disgraced by Time appears, Lost in dull slumbers through ten thousand years; Plunged in that gulph, whose dark unfathomed wave Men of all ages to perdition gave; An empty dream, or still more empty shade, The substance vanished, and the form decayed:-- Here Reason proves, that when this life decays, Instant, new life in the warm bosom plays,