moft delicious Fruits. How tame and tractable, how patient of Labour and of. Thirft, are those large Creatures, who lifting up their lofty Heads, go led and loaden thro' thofe dry and barren Places! Their Shape and Temper fhew them fram'd by Nature to submit to Man, and fitted for his Service; who from hence ought to be more fenfible of his Wants, and of the divine Bounty thus fupplying them. But fee! not far from us that fertileft of Lands, water'd and fed by a friendly generous Stream, which ere it enters the Sea, divides itself into many Branches, to dispense more equally the rich and nitrous Manure, it beftows fo kindly and in due Time on the adjacent Plains.-Fair Image of that fruitful and exuberant Nature, who with a Flood of Bounty bleffes all Things, and, Parent-like, out of her many Breafts fends the nutritious Draught in various Streams to her rejoicing Offspring !-Innumerable are the dubious Forms. and unknown Species which drink the flimy Current; whether they are fuch as leaving the fcorch'd Defarts, fatiate here their ardent Thirft, and promifcuoufly engend'ring, beget a monftrous Race; or whether, as 'tis faid, by the Sun's genial Heat active on the fermenting Ooze, new Forms are generated, and iffue from the River's fertile Bed.-See there the noted Tyrant of the Flood, and Terror of its Borders! when fuddenly difplaying his horrid Form, the amphibious Ravager invades the Land, quitting his watry Den, and from the Deep emerging, with hideous Rufh fweeps o'er the trembling Plain. The Natives from afar behold with Wonder the enormous Bulk, fprung from fo fmall an Egg. With Horror they relate the Monster's Nature, cruel and deceitful; how he with dire Hypocrify, and falfe Tears, beguiles the Simple-hearted; and infpiring Tenderness and kind Compaffion, kills with pious Fraud.-Sad Emblem of that spiritual Plague, dire Superftition! Native of this Soil, where first Religion grew unfociable, and among different Worshipers bred mutual Hatred and Abhorrence of each other's Temples," The Infection fpreads, and Nations now profane one to another, war fiercer, and in Religion's Caufe forget Humanity; whilft favage Zeal, with meek and pious Semblance, works dreadful Massacre, and for Heaven's Sake (horrid Pretence !) makes defolate the Earth. Here let us leave thefe Monsters (glad if we cou'd here confine 'em!) and detefting the dire prolific Soil, fly to the vaft Defarts of thefe Parts. All ghaftly and hideous as they appear, they want not their peculiar Beauties. The WildRefs pleafes, we feem to live alone with Nature: We view D 4 her her in her inmoft Receffes, and contemplate her with more Delight in these original Wilds, than in the artificial Labyrinths and feign'd Wilderneffes of the Palace. The Objects of the Place, the scaly Serpents, the favage Beasts, and poifonous Infects, how terrible foever, or how contrary to human Nature, are beauteous in themselves, and fit to raise our Thoughts in Admiration of that divine Wisdom, fo far fuperior to our fhort Views. Unable to declare the Ufe and Service of all Things in this Universe, we are yet affur'd of the Perfection of all, and of the Juftice of that Oeconomy to which all Things are fubfervient; and in refpect of which, Things feemingly deform'd are amiable, Disorder becomes regular, Corruption wholfome, and Poisons (fuch as these we have feen) prove healing and beneficial. But behold! thro' a vaft Tract of Sky before us the mighty Atlas rears his lofty Head, cover'd with Snow above the Clouds. Beneath the Mountain's Foot, the rocky Coun→ try rifes into Hills, a proper Bafis of the ponderous Mafs above; where huge embody'd Rocks lie piled on one another, and feem to prop the high Arch of Heaven.-See! with what trembling Steps poor Mankind tread the narrow Brink of the deep Precipices! From whence with giddy Horror they look down, miftrufting even the Ground which bears 'em, whilft they hear the hollow Sound of Torrents underneath, and fee the Ruin of the impending Rock, with falling Trees which hang with their Roots upwards, and feem to draw more Ruin after them. Here thoughtless Men, feiz'd with the Newness of fuch Objects, become thoughtful, and willingly contemplate the inceffant Changes of this Earth's Surface. They fee, as in one Inftant, the Revolutions of paft Ages, the fleeting Forms of Things, and the Decay even of this our Globe; whofe Youth and first Formation they confider, whilft the apparent Spoil and irreparable Breaches of the wafted Mountain fhew them the World itfelf only as a noble Ruin, and make them think of its approaching Period. But here, mid-way the Mountain, a fpacious Border of thick Wood harbours our weary'd Travellers, who now are come among the Ever-green and lofty Pines, the Firs and noble Cedars, whofe tow'ring Heads feem endless in the Sky, the reft of Trees appearing only Shrubs befide them. And here a different Horror feizes our fhelter'd Travellers, when they fee the Day diminish'd by the deep Shades of the vaft Wood, which clofing thick above fpreads Darknefs and eternal Night below. The faint and gloomy Light locks horrid as the Shade itself; and the pro found found Stillness of thefe Places impofes Silence upon Men, ftruck with the hoarfe Echoings of every Sound within the fpacious Caverns of the Wood. Here Space aftonishes; Silence itself seems pregnant, whilft an unknown Force works on the Mind, and dubious Objects move the wakeful Sense. Myfterious Voices are either heard or fancy'd, and various Forms of Deity feem to present themselves, and appear more manifeft in these facred Sylvan Scenes; fuch as of old gave rife to Temples, and favour'd the Religion of the ancient World. Even we ourselves, who in plain Characters may read Divinity from fo many bright Parts of the Earth, chufe rather thefe obfcurer Places to fpell out that mysterious Being, which to our weak Eyes appears at best under a Veil of Cloud. LESSON X. On HAPPINES S. Happiness! our Being's End and Aim! Good, Pleasure, Eafe, Content! whate'er thy Name: Afk of the Learn'd the Way, the Learn'd are blind; ORDER ORDER is Heaven's firft Law; and this confeft, Some are, and must be, greater than the rest, More rich, more wife; but who infers from hence, That fuch are happier, fhocks all common Sense.Know, all the Good that Individuals find, Or God and Nature meant to mere Mankind; Reason's whole Pleafures, all the Joys of Senfe, Lie in three Words, Health, Peace, and Competence. A LESSON XI. The JUGGLER. A FABLE. JUGGLER long through all the Town She fought his Booth, and from the Croud Is this then he fo fam'd for Slight? Provok'd, the Juggler cry'd, 'Tis done: Thus faid, the Cups and Balls he play'd VICE now ftept forth, and took the Place, There, hand it round, will charm your Eyes. Next, to a Senator addreffing, See this Bank-note; obferve the Bleffing. A fecond Puff the Magic broke, The Padlock vanifh'd, and he spoke. Blow here, and a Church-warden blows: She shakes the Dice, the Board the knocks, Can |