As plain in these the precept kill and eat, As in thy skill to carve the living treat." "To this," she cries, "persuade me, if you canMan's lord of all, and all was made for man." "Vain thought; the child of ignorance and pride!" Disdainful smiling quickly he reply'd, "To man, vain reptile! tell me of what use Are all that Afric's peopl'd wastes produce! The nameless monsters of the swarming seas, The pigmy nations, wafted on the breeze? The happy myriads, by his eyes unseen, That bask in flow'rs and quicken all the green? Why live these numbers blest in nature's state? Why lives this spider object of thy hate? Why man?-but life in common to possess, Wide to diffuse the stream of happiness; Blest stream!- th' o'erflowing of the parent mind, Great without pride, and without weakness kind!" With downcast eyes, and sighs, and modest air, Thus in soft sounds reply'd the wily fair : "This fatal subtilty thy books impart To baffle truth, when unsustain'd by art; For this, when Cloe goes at twelve to bed, Till three you sit, in converse with the dead; No wonder then, in vain my skill's employ'd To prove it best that vermin be destroy'dBut though you proudly triumph o'er my sex, Joy to confute, and reason but to vex, Yet, if you lov'd me, to oblige your wife, What could you less! you'd take a spider's life. Once to prevent my wishes Philo flew ;But time, that alters all, has alter'd you! Yet still, unchang'd poor Cloe's love remains; These tears my witness, which your pride disdains; He, who had often, and alone, o'erturn'd Reason's last effort now the stroke suspends; But Jove with hate beheld th' atrocious deed, Yields him thus chang'd a vassal to the fair, To fix their power, and rivet fast the chain, They lead where pleasure spreads her soft domain; Where, drown'd in music reason's hoarser call, Love smiles triumphant in thy groves, Vauxhall ! ELIZABETH CARTER. BORN 1717.-DIED 1806. -Time gently led Her steady footsteps down the giddy steep In early youth, from pleasure's train retir'd, Mild in the even temper of her mind, Benevolent to all, to merit just, Still on the side of mercy most inclin'd, Unwillingly she blam'd, where blame she must. Pious as learned; and in faith sincere, Her trust was fix'd in heaven, her hope already there. (MRS. OPIE.) This learned and excellent lady was born at Deal, where her father, the Rev. Nicholas Carter, D. D. was curate of the episcopal chapel; he was also rector of Woodchurch and Ham, and one of the six preachers in the cathedral of Canterbury. Dr. Carter was a pious, learned, and highly respectable clergyman, and author of a volume of sermons, and some tracts on religious controversy. He gave all his children a learned education; Elizabeth was the eldest, and she had the misfortune to lose her mother, who was the daughter of Richard Swayne, Esq. of Bere, in the county of Dorset, when she was only ten years old. Mrs. Carter, for by that term she chose to be distinguished at a very early period of her life, evinced when yet a child, a determined resolution to become a scholar, but we are assured by her relation and biographer, that she acquired the rudiments of learning with much difficulty, and not without severe sacrifice of time, and it is to be feared even of health and comfort. She devoted herself to regular and intense study, and consumed in severe application to books, the hours which should have been devoted to repose. She accustomed herself to rise at four o'clock in the morning, and did not usually retire to rest until past midnight; to prevent sleep during this long period, she not only acquired the disgusting practice of snuff-taking, but she was also accustomed to chew green tea and coffee, and even to bind a wet towel round her head, or apply it to the region of the stomach. By these practices she laid the foundation of an incurable head-ache, which accompanied her through life, and in all probability prevented her from making the fair use of the learning so painfully acquired. Though the ruling passion of this excellent woman's mind was certainly a fondness for acquiring languages, yet she did not absolutely neglect the accomplishments more peculiar to her sex. She acquired some proficiency in music, attempted to learn drawing, was fond of dancing, subscribed to assemblies, and once in her life acted a part in a play for the amusement of a family party. She had in her youth some share of beauty; her complexion was fair and clear, and her features regular, but she never possessed a good figure. She had offers of marriage, and formed at least one attachment, which does not appear to have been |