صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

Thy fober autumn fading into age,
And pale-concluding winter comes at laft
And huts the scene. Ah! whither now are fled,
Those dreams of greatness? thofe unfolid hopes
Of happiness? thofe longings after fame ?
Those restless cares? thofe bufy buftl'ing days?
Those gay-fpent festive nights? thofe varying thoughts?
Loft between good and ill, that shar'd thy life!
All now are fled! Religion fole remains
Immortal, never-failing friend of man,

His guide to happiness on high.

IF people took as much pains to be good, as they do to appear fo, they would, through grace, bring about their purpose.

GOD, the Lord and Father of all, has given no one of his children fuch a property in his peculiar portion of the things of this world, but that he has given his needy brother a right in the furplufage of his goods; fo that it cannot justly be denied him, when his preffing wants call for it.

WHO is wife? He that learns from every one. Who is powerful? He that governs his paffions. Who is rich He that is content.

FIX'D in the fhade of this imperfect ftate,
'Tis ours, fubmiffive, better fcenes to wait;
And plaintive mufing on each various pain,
Or o'er the pebbly brook, or on the plain,}
In love with nature, let us, while we stay,
To nature's parent, true devotion pay.
By him foon fummon'd, fhall we take our flight,
Far to the realms of uncreated light.

TRANSPORTING period! when wilt thou appear?

Thou blissful dawn of that immortal day,
That ne'er fhall fee a dusky ev'ning spread

Το

To veil its light; which ne'er fhall need the fun,
Nor ftars, nor glimm'ring moon, to cheer its shade.
Ye fair inhabitants of blissful feats,

Unfold your golden gates, and call me hence!
Sick of this mortal ftate, this round of error,
Of darkness, and mistake, I long for reft.

THY force alone, religion, death difarms,
Breaks all his darts, and every viper charms.
Soften'd by thee, the grifly form appears
No more the horrid object of our fears.
We, undifmay'd, this awful pow'r obey,
That guides us thro' the fafe, tho' gloomy way,
Which leads to life.

THE advantages of frequent thoughts on death are certainly unspeakable; and moft erroneous is the notion, that gloominefs must be the confequence of fuch meditation.

IT moft certainly becomes us, as we are rational and mortal, to confider the high things expected of us, as rationals ; and the hafte we ought to make in accomplishing them, as we are mortal and it would befpeak us wife, as we ourselves would receive the benefit, if we, with great feriousness and attention, pondered over and meditated upon that, which muft, ere long, be our lot: that hour, which high and low, rich and poor, must all arrive at; and by which the beggar and the prince will be levelled with the duft.

LET prudence always attend your pleasures; it is the way to enjoy the fweets of them, and not to be afraid of the confequences.

COMPANY and cheerfulness are neceffary, and of ufe; but a conftant course of mirth betrays fuch a levity of mind, that your prefence will never be desired, but to divert others, whofe regard ceafes the inftant the laughter is over; and fhould your wit offend, you may be affured of an enemy.

37

IF you have any good quality, do not make eulogiums yourself upon it; as it will not be credited upon your word only.

WE have to do with one whofe power is unbounded, whofe knowledge is infinite, and whofe juftice is perfect; and therefore from him we can hide no guilt; we can fly to no place of defence, nor can we expect acceptance, but in the paths of reafon and religion. In them we shall find the highest pleasure, and join to the cheerful enjoyment of the things of this world, the profpect of a continuance and increase of pleafures when this world has no more to give.

SHORT is the date, and narrow is the span,
Which bounds the little life of foolish man.
Gay scenes of blifs the ravish'd foul furprize,
Raife his vain hopes, and glitter in his eyes.
Of fwelling titles, he fupinely dreams;
Vaft are his projects, and refin'd his schemes.
But when his morning views of joy are past,
The melancholy ev'ning comes at laft;
The tyrant, Death, a hafty fummons fends,
And all his momentary glory ends.

SINCE then Old Time fteals all away,
Take heed the funshine of your day
Nought but true joys may find :
To proper use apply what's fent;
For know no beauty's permanent,
But beauty of the mind.

THE life of man is compared to the herbage of the field, but a fhadow is a more ftriking emblem; and the flux of time, measured by a fhadow, is a lesson that teaches us the neceffity of preparing ourselves for a more permanent state.

AS too long a retirement weakens the mind, fo too much company diflipates it. It is good fometimes to re

collect

collect one's felf; nay, it is even neceflary to give an exact account of one's words and thoughts to one's felf; and of the progrefs we have made in wifdom. A man that would reap the fruits of reading and converfation, and improve by what he has feen, must be no stranger to filence, repofe, and meditation.

AS arrogance and conceitedness of our own abilities are very difguftful to men of fenfe and virtue, we may be fure they are highly difpleafing to that Being who delights in an humble mind.

THE reproofs of a relation may be thought to proceed from affectation of a fuperiority; of an enemy, from a fpirit of malice; and of an indifferent perfon, from pride or impertinence, and fo be flighted. But when they come from one who loves us, and come armed with all the tender concern that an unfeigned affection is known to dictate, they ought of courfe to take effect, and become irresistible.

IT is poffible to be happy in the abfence of all that people call amufement and diversion. When the mind is in a fituation fuperior to the changing fcenes below the fun, in pursuit of boundless and immortal bliss, the foul, with a noble freedom, afcends the celestial heights, in fearch of its great original, the fountain of its exiitence, and centre of all its hopes.

Ο Ν

CONTENTMENT.

O THOU! whofe pow'r can fharpeft grief affuage, Or ftop the torrent of impetuous rage; Contentment, hear! Oh listen to my strain ! Nor let the mufe implore thy aid in vain ; Teach me thro' life's advent'rous paths to go, T' enjoy the good, and calmly bear the woe; To view unmov'd the miser's hoarded store, Without a figh, or greedy wish for more; To fcorn the pomp, and pageantry of state, The empty fhew, and titles of the great.

Grant

Grant me to live a peaceful, rural life,
Remote from envy and tumultuous ftrife.
There may I pafs each hour by virtue's rules,
Nor vainly feek th' applauding breath of fools.

GLIDE on fecurely, wifely tread,
The paths where truth and virtue lead.
It matters not how great the man,
If all's confin'd to life's fhort span;
It matters not how rich or poor,
Peace is no gift in human pow'r.
They find her who contented dwell
In the cool grot or moffy cell.

TO keep the paffions of others fubmiffive, there is a neceffity of triumphing over one's own; to oblige them to be virtuous, one muft fet the example and be the model. There is not a better leffon than that which a superior makes it his duty to practise.

THERE is fo great a grace authority in virtue, that it never fails to attract the eff even of thofe that are moft abandoned to vice and immorality; fo that religion, by its own authority, and the reasonable force of it, is fufficient to eftablish its empire in the mind of any thinking perfon.

LET your expectations be higher than any dignity or enjoyment this world can boaft. Let a celeftial crown fire your ambition; and in the purfuit of infinite happinefs, grafp at nothing below the glories of immortality. With what a divine ambition does the profpect of heavenly joys infpire the foul! If you are reckoned by any of the gay and giddy world the lefs polite for entertaining fuch exalted thoughts of pleasure, be content in being unfashionably good, fince thereby you can keep your peace; be fearless and open to the inspection of Heaven; juftify yourself to your own confcience, and fecure the divine intereft. Be always affured, that no character is more amiable, than that of a female, who in the gayest

bloom

« السابقةمتابعة »