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Whom joys with soft varieties invite,

By day the frolic, and the dance by night,
Who frown with vanity, who smile with art,
And ask the latest fashion of the heart, [save,
What care, what rules your heedless charms shall
Each nymph your rival, and each youth your slave?
Against your fame with Fondness hate combines,
The rival batters, and the lover mines.
With distant voice neglected Virtue calls,
Less heard and less, the faint remonstrance falls;
Tir'd with contempt, she quits the slippery reign,
And Pride and Prudence take her seat in vain.
In crowd at once, where none the pass defend,
The harmless Freedom, and the private Friend.
The guardians yield, by force superior ply'd;
By Interest, Prudence; and by Flattery, Pride.
Now Beauty falls betray'd, despis'd, distress'd,
And hissing Infamy proclaims the rest.

Where then shall Hope and Fear their objects find?
Must dull Suspense corrupt the stagnant mind?
Must helpless man, in ignorance sedate,
Roll darkling down the torrent of his fate?
Must no dislike alarm, no wishes rise,
No cries attempt the mercies of the skies?
Inquirer cease! petitions yet remain,

Which Heav'n may hear, nor deem religion vain.
Still raise for good the supplicating voice,

But leave to Heav'n the measure and the choice.
Safe in His pow'r, whose eyes discern afar
The secret ambush of a specious pray'r,
Implore his aid, in his decisions rest,
Secure whate'er he gives, he gives the best.
Yet when the sense of sacred presence fires,
And strong devotion to the skies aspires,

Pour forth thy fervours for a healthful mind,
Obedient passions, and a will resign'd;
For love, which scarce collective man can fill;
For patience, sovereign o'er transmuted ill;
For faith, that, panting for a happier seat,
Counts death kind Nature's signal of retreat:
These goods for man the laws of Heav'n ordain,
These goodsHe grants, who grants the pow'r to gain;
With these celestial Wisdom calms the mind,
And makes the happiness she does not find.

Johnson.

THE TRIALS OF VIRTUE.

PLAC'D on the verge of youth, my mind
Life's op'ning scene survey'd:

I view'd its ills of various kind,
Afflicted and afraid.

But chief my fear the dangers mov'd,
That Virtue's path enclose:

My heart the wise pursuit approv'd ;
But, oh, what toils oppose

e!

For see! ah see! while yet her ways
With doubtful step I tread,

A hostile world its terrors raise,
Its snares delusive spread.

O how shall I with heart prepar'd
Those terrors learn to meet ?

How from the thousand snares to guard
My unexperienc'd feet?

As thus I mus'd, oppressive sleep
Soft o'er my temples drew
Oblivion's veil.-The watery deep,
An object strange and new,

Before me rose: on the wide shore
Observant as I stood,

The gathering storms around me roar,
And heave the boiling flood.

Near and more near the billows rise;
E'en now my steps they lave!
And death to my affrighted eyes
Approach'd in every wave.

What hope, or whither to retreat!
Each nerve at once unstrung;
Chill fear had fetter'd fast my feet,
And chain'd my speechless tongue.

I feel my heart within me die;
When sudden to mine ear
A voice, descending from on high,
Reprov'd my erring fear:

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'What though the swelling surge thou see Impatient to devour ;

Rest, mortal, rest on God's decree,
And thankful own his pow'r.

Know, when he bade the deep appear, "Thus far," th' Almighty said,

"Thus far, nor further, rage; and here Let thy proud waves be stay'd.” ›

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I heard; and lo! at once control'd,

The waves, in wild retreat,
Back on themselves reluctant roll'd,
And murmuring left my feet.

Deeps to assembling deeps in vain,
Once more the signal gave:
The shores the rushing weight sustain,
And check th' usurping wave.

Convinc'd, in Nature's volume wise,
The imag'd truth I read;
And sudden from my waking eyes
Th' instructive vision fled.

Then why thus heavy, O my soul!
Say why, distrustful still,

Thy thoughts with vain impatience roll
O'er scenes of future ill?

Let faith

suppress each rising fear, Each anxious doubt exclude;

Thy Maker's will has plac'd thee here, A Maker wise and good!

He to thy ev'ry trial knows

Its just restraint to give; Attentive to behold thy woes, And faithful to relieve.

Then why thus heavy, O my soul!
Say why, distrustful still,

Thy thoughts with vain impatience roll
Ŏ'er scenes of future ill?

Though griefs unnumber'd throng thee round,
Still in thy God confide,

Whose finger marks the seas their bound,

And curbs the headlong tide.

Merrick.

COUNSELS OF REASON AND RELIGION.

Is life, alas!,our favourite theme!
"Tis all a vain, or painful dream.
A dream which fools or cowards prize,
But slighted by the brave or wise.
Who lives, for others' ills must groan,
Or bleed for sorrows of his own;
Must journey on with weeping eye,
Then pant, sink, agonize, and die.

And shall a man arraign the skies, Because man lives, and mourns, and dies? 'Impatient reptile!' Reason cried;

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Arraign thy passion and thy pride:

Retire, and commune with thy heart,

Ask, whence thou cam'st, and what thou art?
Explore thy body and thy mind,

Thy station too, why here assign'd?
The search shall teach thee life to prize,
And make thee grateful, good, and wise.
Why do you roam to foreign climes,
To study nations, modes, and times?
A science often dearly bought,
And often what avails you nought?
Go, man, and act a wiser part,
Study the science of your heart.
This home philosophy, you know,
Was priz'd some thousand years ago.*

* Know Thyself-a celebrated saying of Chilo, one of the seven wise men of Greece.

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