To thee, high thron'd, above all height,.

Let all our voices raife;

And the whole human race unite

In one great hymn of praife.

LOVE humility in all its inftances, practife it in all its parts, for it is the nobleft ftate of the foul of man; it will fet your heart and affections right towards God, and fill you with every temper that is tender and affectionate towards

men.

virtue

MODESTY always fits gracefully upon youth; it covers a multitude of faults, and doubles the luftre of every which it feems to hide: the perfections of men being like those flowers which appear more beautiful when their leaves are a little contracted and folded up, than when they are full blown, and difplay themselves, without any referve to the view.

HE that thinks he loves God enough, fhews himself too much a stranger to that holy fenfation; fo he that thinks he has humility enough, fhews that he is far fhort of the practice of true humility.

AS in the fucceffion of the feafons, each, by the invariable laws of nature, affects the productions of what is next in courfe; fo, in human life, every period of our age, according as it is well or ill fpent, influences the happiness of that

which is to follow.

Virtuous youth gradually brings forward accomplished and flourishing manhood; and fuch manhood pales of itfelf, without uneafinefs, into refpectable and tranquil old

age.

But when nature is turned out of its regular course, diforder takes place in the moral, juft as in the vegetable world. If the fpring put forth no bloffoms, in fummer there will be no beauty, and in autumn no fruit: fo, if youth be trifled away without improvement, there is great danger of manhood's being contemptible, and old age miferable.

AN abfolute perfection of understanding is impoffible: he makes the nearest approaches to it, who has the sense to difcern, and the humility to acknowledge, its imperfections.

IF good we plant not, vice will fill the mind,
And weeds defpoil the space for flow'rs defign'd.
The human heart ne'er knows a state of reft;
Bad tends to worse, and better leads to best.
We either gain or loose, we fink or rife,
Nor refts our ftrugg'ling nature till she dies:
Those very paffions that our peace invade,
If rightly pointed, bleffings may be made.

GRACEFUL in youth is the tear of fympathy, and the heart that melts at the tale of woe. Let not ease and indulgence contract your affections, and wrap you up in selfish enjoyment. Accuftom yourselves to think of the diftreffes of human life; of the folitary cottage, the dying parent, and the weeping orphan,

Never fport with pain and diftrefs, in any of your amufements; nor treat even the meanest insect with wanton cruelty.

per

DISSIMULATION in youth is the fore-runner of fidy in old age. Its first appearance, is the fatal omen of growing depravity, and future fhame. It degrades parts and learning; obfcures the luftre of every accomplishment; . and finks them into contempt.

THINK how God loves all mankind, how merciful he is to them, how tender he is of them, how carefully he preferves them, and then strive to love the world as God loves it.

FAR rather wou'd I in fome humble cell,
Distant from all that's gay, for ever dwell,
Than wafte my flying hours, and thus divide,
My time 'twixt folly, calumny, and pride;
Still trifling, thus debase the gift of fenfe,
And live the flave of dull impertinence.

SUBMIT your minds to early impreffions of reverence for facred things. Let no wantonnefs of youthful fpirits, no compliance with the intemperate mirth of others, ever betray you into profane fallies.-Befides the guilt which is thereby incurred, nothing gives a more odious appearance of petulance and prefumption to youth, than the affectation of treating religion with levity. Inftead of being an evidence of fuperior understanding, it discovers a pert and fhallow mind; which, vain of the firft fmatterings of knowledge, prefumes to make light of what the best of mankind

revere.

The SHEPHERD and the PHILOSOPHER.

REMOTE from cities liv'd a swain,
Unvex'd with all the cares of gain;
His head was filver'd o'er with age,
And long experience made him fage.
In fummer's heat, and winter's cold,
He fed his flock, and penn'd his fold:
His hours in cheerful labour flew,
Nor envy nor ambition knew.
His wisdom, and his honest fame,
Thro' all the country rais'd his name. —
A deep Philofopher, whofe rules

Of moral life were drawn from schools,
The Shepherd's homely cottage fought,
And thus explor'd his reach of thought:

Whence is thy learning? hath thy toil
O'er books confum'd the midnight oil?
Haft thou old Greece and Rome furvey'd,
And the vast sense of Plato weigh'd?
Haft thou thro' many cities stray'd?
Their customs, laws, and manners weigh'd?

The Shepherd modeftly reply'd,
I ne'er the paths of learning try'd;
Ner have I roam'd in foreign parts,
To read mankind, their laws, and arts:

For

For man is practis'd in difguife;
He cheats the most discerning eyes:
Who by that fearch shall wiser grow,
Whence we ourselves can never know?-
The little knowledge I have gain'd
Was all from fimple nature drain'd;
Hence my life's maxims took their rife;
Hence grew my
fettled hate to vice.-
The daily labours of the bee
Awake my foul to industry.
Who can obferve the careful ant,
And not provide for future want?
My dog, the trueft of his kind,
With gratitude inflames my mind;
I mark his true and faithful way,.
And in my service copy Tray、.
In conftancy and nuptial love,
I learn my duty from the dove.
The hen, who from the chilly air,
With pious wings protects her care;
And ev'ry fowl that flies at large,
Inftructs me in a parent's charge.
My tongue within my lips I reign;
For who talks much muft talk in vain..
We from the wordy torrent fly,
Who liftens to the chatt'ring pye?
Do not we just abhorrence find
Against the toad and ferpent kind:
But envy, calumny, and fpite,
Bear ftronger venom in their bite..

Thus every object of creation
Can furnish hints for contemplation.
Thy fame is juft, the Sage replies,
Thy virtue proves thee truly wife: .

For he who ftudies nature's laws,
From certain truth his maxims draws:
And thofe, without our schools, fuffice
To make men moral, good, and wife.

IN order to render yourselves amiable in fociety, correct every appearance of harfhness in behaviour. Let that courtesy diftinguish your demeanor, which springs, not fo much from ftudied politenefs, as from a mild and gentle heart.

INDOLENCE unfits a man for the focial offices of life. An idle man is a blank in the creation: he seems made for no end, and to live to no purpose.

OF all the follies incident to youth, there are none which either deform its prefent appearance, or blaft the profpect of its future profperity, more than felf-conceit, prefumption, and obstinacy.

BAD as the world is, refpect is always paid to virtue. In the ufual courfe of human affairs it will be found, that a plain understanding, joined with acknowledged worth, contributes more to profperity, than the brightest parts without probity or honour.

FEEBLE are the attractions of the faireft form, if it be fufpected that nothing within correfponds to the pleafing appearance without.

BY whatever arts you may at first attract the attention, you can hold the teem and fecure the hearts of others, only by amiable difpofitions, and the accomplishments of the mind. These are the qualities whofe influence will laft, when the luftre of all that once sparkled and dazzled has paft away.

SOME people urge, that if prohibited the topick of fcandal, they would have nothing to render them acceptable company, and perhaps be reproached as morofe or dull by those who would conftrue their filence to proceed, not from an abundance of charity, but a defect of wit. But furely he that has nothing of his own growth to fet before company, had better make no invitation, than break down his neighbour's inclofures for their entertainment.

THE