Goods fo fuperior, fuch exalted blifs!

1

See with what seeming eafe, what labour'd He, hapless hypocrite! refines his nail,

peace

His chief amufement! then how feign'd, how forc'd,
That care-defying fonnet, which implies

His debts discharg'd, and he of half a crown
In full poffeffion, uncontefted right

And property! Yet ah! whoe'er this wight
Admiring view, if fuch there be, diftrust

The vain pretence; the fmiles that harbour grief,
As lurks the serpent deep in flow'rs enwreath'd.
Forewarn'd, be frugal; or with Prudent rage
Thy pen demolish; chufe the truftier flail,
And bless those labours which the choice infpir'd.
But if thou view'ft a vulgar mind, a wight
Of common fenfe, who feeks no brighter name,
Him envy, him admire, him, from thy breast,
Prefcient of future dignities, falute

Sheriff, or may'r, in comfortable furs

Enwrapt, fecure: nor yet the laureat's crown
In thought exclude him! He perchance shall rise
To nobler heights than forefight can decree.
When fir'd with wrath, for his intrigues display'd
In many an idle fong, Saturnian JOVE
Vow'd fure deftruction to the tuneful race;
Appeas'd by fuppliant PHOEBUS, "Bards, he faid,
Henceforth of plenty, wealth, and pomp debarr'd,
But fed by frugal cares, might wear the bay.
Secure of thunder."-Low the Delian bow'd,
Nor at th' invidious favour dar'd repine.

The

RUIN'D ABBY;

OR,

The EFFECTS of SUPERSTITION.

A

T length fair peace with olive crown'd regains
Her lawful throne, and to the facred haunts
Of wood or fount the frighted mufe returns.
Happy the bard, who, from his native hills,
Soft-mufing on a fummer's eve, furveys
His azure stream, with penfile woods enclos'd!
Or o'er the glaffy furface, with his friend,
Or faithful fair, thro' bord'ring willows green
Wafts his fmall frigate. Fearless he of shouts,
Or taunts, the rhetoric of the wat❜ry crew

That ape
confufion from the realms they rule!
Fearless of these; who shares the gentler voice
Of peace and mufic; birds of fweetest fong
Attune from native boughs their various lay,
And chear the foreft; birds of brighter plume
With bufy pinion fkim the glitt'ring wave,
And tempt the fun; ambitious to display
Their several merit, while the vocal flute,
Or number'd verse, by female voice endear'd,
Crowns his delight, and mollifies the scene.
If folitude his wand'ring steps invite

To fome more deep recefs, (for hours there are,
When gay, when focial minds to friendship's voice,
Or beauty's charm, her wild abodes prefer)
How pleas'd he treads her venerable shades,

Her

pot-built cave, by far-extended rocks ad embosom'd, how it foothes the foul! op'd at firft by fuperftitious hands ugged cell receiv'd alone the fhoals got-minds, religion dwells not here, irtue pleas'd, at intervals, retires: ere may wisdom, as she walks the maze, ferious truths collect, the rules of life, ferious truths of mightier weight than gold! fk not wealth; but let me hoard with care, frugal cunning, with a niggard's art, w fix'd principles; in early life, indolence impede the fearch, explor❜d. n like old LATIMER, when age impairs judgment's eye, when quibbling schools attack grounded hope, or fubtler wits deride,

l I not blush to fhun the vain debate,

this mine anfwer; "Thus, 'twas thus I thought.
My mind yet vigorous, and my foul entire ;
Thus will I think, averse to listen more
To intricate difcuffion, prone to ftray.
Perhaps my reason may but ill defend

My fettled faith; my mind, with age impair'd,
Too fure its own infirmities declare.

But I am arm'd by caution, ftudious youth,
And early forefight; now the winds may rife,
The tempeft whistle, and the billows roar ;
My pinnace rides in port, defpoil'd and worn,

"Shatter'd by time and ftorms, but while it fhuns
"Th' inequal conflict, and declines the deep,
"Sees the ftrong veffel fluctuate lefs fecure."

Thus while he ftrays, a thoufand rural fcenes
Suggest inftruction, and inftructing please.
And fee betwixt the grove's extended arms
An abby's rude remains attract thy view,
Gilt by the mid-day fun: with lingʼring ftep
Produce thine axe, (for, aiming to destroy
Tree, branch, or fhade, for never fhall thy breast
Too long deliberate) with timorous hand
Remove th' obftructive bough; nor yet refuse,
Tho' fighing, to deftroy that fav'rite pine,
Rais'd by thine hand, in its luxuriant prime
Of beauty fair, that fcreens the vast remains.
Aggriev'd but conftant as the Roman fire,
The rigid MANLIUS, when his conqu❜ring fon
Bled by a parent's voice; the cruel meed
Of virtuous ardor, timelessly difplay'd;
Nor cease till, thro' the gloomy road, the pile
Gleam unobstructed; thither oft thine eye
Shall sweetly wander; thence returning, foothe
With pensive scenes thy philofophic mind.

These were thy haunts, thy opulent abodes,
O fuperftition! hence the dire disease,
(Ballanc'd with which the fam'd Athenian pest
Were a fhort head-ach, were the trivial pain
Of tranfient indigeftion) feiz'd mankind.

Long time fhe rag'd, and fcarce a fouthern gale

Warm'd our chill air, unloaded with the threats
Of tyrant ROME; but futile all, till fhe,
ROME's abler legate, magnify'd their pow'r,
And in a thoufand horrid forms attir'd.

Where then was truth, to fanctify the page
Of British annals? if a foe expir'd,

The perjur'd monk fuborn'd infernal fhrieks,
And fiends to fnatch at the departing foul
With hellish emulation. If a friend,
High o'er his roof exultant angels tune

Their golden lyres, and waft him to the skies.

What then were vows, were oaths, were plighted faith? The fovereign's juft, the fubjects loyal pact

To cherish mutual good, annull'd and vain,
By Roman magic, grew an idle scroll

Ere the frail fanction of the wax was cold.

With thee, *PLANTAGENET, from civil broils
The land awhile refpir'd, and all was peace.
Then BECKET rofe, and impotent of mind,
From regal courts with lawless fury march'd
The church's blood-ftain'd convicts, and forgave ;
Bid murd'rous priests the fov'reign frown contemn,
And with unhallowed +crofier bruis'd the crown.
Yet yielded not fupinely tame a prince

Of HENRY's virtues; learn'd, courageous, wife,
Of fair ambition. Long his regal foul
Firm and erect the peevish prieft exil'd,

And brav'd the fury of revengeful ROME.

In