Or merry turn in all he ever wrote,
And I consent you take it for your text,
Your only one, till sides and benches fail
No: he was serious in a serious cause,
And understood too well the weighty terms,
That he had tak'n in charge. He would not stoop
To conquer those by jocular exploits,
Whom truth and soberness assail'd in vain.
O Popular Applause! what heart of man
Is proof against thy sweet seducing charms?
The and the best feel urgent need
Of all their caution in thy gentlest gales;
But swell'd into a gust-who then, alas!
With all his canvass set, and inexpert,
And therefore heedless, can withstand thy pow'r ?/
Praise from the rivell'd lips of toothless bald
Decrepitude, and in the looks of lean
And craving Poverty, and in the bow
Respectful of the smutch'd artificer,
Is oft too welcome, and may much disturb
The bias of the purpose. How much more,
Pour'd forth by beauty splendid and polite,
In language soft as Adoration breathes?
Ah spare your idol! think him human still., ƒ`
Charms he may have, but he has frailties too!
Dote not too much, nor spoil what ye admire.
All truth is from the sempiternal source ova aiT ́ Of light divine. But Egypt, Greece, and Rome,I Drew from the stream below. More favour'd wea Drink, when we choose it, at the fountain head, sɗ'I' To them it flow'd much mingled and defil'dist wol With hurtful errour, prejudice, and dreams Illusive of philosophy, so call'd, But falsely. Sages after sages strove In vain to filter off a crystal draught
Pure from the lees, which often more enhanc'd A ST The thirst than slak'd it, and not seldom bred 10 Intoxication and delirium wild.
In vain they push'd inquiry to the birth
And springtime of the world; ask'd, Whence is man?! I
Why form'd at all? and wherefore as he is? di nola
Where must he find his maker? with what ritesbo A
Adore him? Will he hear, accept, and bless ?
Or does he sit regardless of his works ?
Has man within him an immortal seed?
Or does the tomb take all? If he survive
His ashes, where? and in what weal or wo?
Knots worthy of solution, which alone
A Deity could solve. Their answers, vague
And all at random, fabulous and dark,
Left them as dark themselves. Their rules of life,
Defective and unsanction'd, prov'd too weak,
To bind the roving appetite, and lead
Blind nature to a God not yet reveal'd, bus
'Tis Revelation satisfies all doubts,
Explains all mysteries, except her own,
And so illuminates the path of life,
That fools discover it, and stray no more.
Now tell me, dignified and sapient sir,
My man of morals, nurtur'd in the shades
Of Academus-is this false or true?
Is Christ the abler teacher, or the schools?
If Christ, then why resort at ev'ry turn
To Athens or to Rome, for wisdom short
Of man's occasions, when in him reside
Grace, knowledge, comfort an unfathom'd store?
How oft, when Paul has serv'd us with a text,
Has Epictetus, Plato, Tully, preach'd!!
Men that, if now alive, would sit content
And humble learners of a Saviour's worth, ad?
Preach it who might. Such was their love of truth, A
Their thirst of knowledge, and their candour too!
༣༩ སཾ།ས
And thus it is.—The pastor, either vain 360}
By nature, or by flatt'ry made so, taught
To gaze at his own splendour, and t'exalt
Absurdly, not his office, but himself;os y A
Or unenlighten'd, and too proud too learn ;
Or vicious, and not therefore apt to teach ;. Perverting often by the stress of lewd he stop wČī, And loose example, whom he should instruct good Exposes, and holds up to broad disgrace, 23, 186, 3
The noblest function, and discredits much low yM
The brightest truths, that man has ever seen.w 10
For ghostly counsel; if it either fall
Below the exigence, or be not back'd
With show of love, at least with hopeful proof. A
Of some sincerity on the giver's part;
Or be dishonour'd in th' exterior form
And mode of it's conveyance by such tricks, {'
As move derision, or by foppish airs
And histrionic mumm'ry, that let down
The pulpit to the level of the stage;
Drops from the lips a disregarded thing.
The weak perhaps are mov'd, but are not taught,
While prejudice in men of stronger mindst spŰ
Takes deeper root, confirm'd by what they see.ne
A relaxation of religion's hold
Upon the roving and untutor'd heart
Soon follows, and, the curb of conscience snapp'd, The laity run wild.-But do they now?
Note their extravagance, and be convinc'd.
As nations, ignorant of God, contrive A wooden one; so we, no longer taught By monitors, that mother church supplies,MA Now make our own. Posterity will ask
(If e'er posterity see verse of mine)
Some fifty or a hundred lustrums hence,,} What was a monitor in George's days?
My very gentle reader, yet unborn,
Of whom I needs must augur better things, Since Heav'n would sure grow weary of a world Productive only of a race like ours,
A monitor is wood-plank shaven thin.
We wear it at our backs. There, closely brac'd
And neatly fitted, it compresses hard
The prominent and most unsightly bones,
And binds the shoulders flat. We prove it's use
Sov'reign and most effectual to secure
A form, not now gymnastic as of yore,
From rickets and distortion, else our lot.
But thus admonish'd, we can walk erect-
One proof at least of manhood! while the friend
Sticks close, a Mentor worthy of his charge.
Our habits, costlier than Lucullus wore,
And by caprice as multiplied as his,
Just please us while the fashion is at full,
But change with ev'ry moon. The sycophant,
Who waits to dress us, arbitrates their date;
Surveys his fair reversion with keen eye;
Finds one ill made, another obsolete,
This fits not nicely, that is ill conceiv'd;
And, making prize of all that he condemns,
With our expenditure defrays his own.
Variety's the very spice of life,
That gives it all it's flavour. We have run
Through ev'ry change, that Fancy, at the loom
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