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So high at last the contest rose,
From words they almost came to blows :
When luckily came by a third;
To him the question they referr'd;
And begg'd he'd tell 'em, if he knew,
Whether the thing was green or blue.
"Sirs," cries the umpire, cease your pother-
The creature's neither one nor t'other:
I caught the animal last night,
And view'd it o'er by candle-light:
I mark'd it well 'twas black as jet-
You stare-but, sirs, I've got it yet,
And can produce it." "Pray, sir, do;
I'll lay my life the thing is blue."
"And I'll be sworn, that when you've seen
The reptile, you'll pronounce him green."
"Well then, at once to ease the doubt,"
Replies the man, « I'll turn him out;
And when before your eyes I've set him,
If you don't find him black, I'll eat him."
He said; then full before their sight
Produc'd the beast and lo 'twas white!
Both star'd; the man look'd wond'rous wise.-
My children," the cameleon cries,

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(Then first the creature found a tongue,)
You all are right and all are wrong :
When next you talk of what you view,900
Think others see as well as you :
Nor wonder if you find that none
Prefers your eye-sight to his own."

SELF-DENIAL.

THOUGH Our comfortable passage through this life, and the attainment of unspeakable blessedness in another, are the allowed, the necessary, the enjoined objects of our pursuit, yet still, in a great degree, we are to renounce ourselves. By sincere humility we are to consider the vileness and wretchedness of our natural

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state; we are to acknowledge, that of ourselves we are able to do nothing as we ought; and, far from indulging any thoughts of vanity or self-complacence, we are, when we have done our very best, to confess, with unfeigned lowliness, that we are unprofitable servants: we are to trust and hope alone in the merits and intercession of our blessed Redeemer, and to own ourselves "less than the least of God's mercies." As his creatures, we are to direct all our thoughts and actions to his honour and service.." Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we are to do all to the glory of God." In every thing we are to consider carefully the rule of duty; not scrupulously or superstitiously, for that tends to the dishonour of God and religion, as well as our own discomfort: we are never to do any thing for so low an end, as merely to gratify our own childish humour; but in all cases, to moderate and guide ourselves by the rules of reason and religion. Thus, even in using the necessary refreshments, the easy amusements, and innocent pleasures of life, we are to behave with a due sense of that God who is every where present. We are to look up to him with thankfulness, as the bountiful bestower of all good, and cheerfully accept these indulgences for the ends to which he has appointed them: food, to restore our strength, wasted in active service, to preserve our health and ease; sleep, to renew our wearied spirits; pleasure, to gladden our hearts, and fill them with pious gratitude and filial love. This cuts off at once all that intemperance, which crosses those good purposes, destroys our health, distresses our hearts, makes our lives sluggish and useless, and dissipates or corrupts our minds. Riches and honours, also, are to be received with thanksgiving by whomsoever providence allots them to. But then they are to be diligently, and carefully, and generously employed in the best purposes: and even the richest and the greatest ought to deny themselves, all indulgences of mere humour and fancy, how well soever they may seem able to afford it, and kindly and faithfully consider the more pressing wants of their distressed fellow-creatures. To answer the purposes of charity, the rich must be frugal, and

208

SIGNS OF HUMILITY.

the poor industrious; and all give freely and discreetly, as proper calls require. Every body, in their turns, to maintain the peace of society and Christian concord, must repress the little risings of temper, and fretfulness of humour; must be ready to forgive and forget, to indulge and overlook. It is endless to go on enumerating instances, in which the just, the necessary adherence to our duty, requires us to deny our sinful selves. Our cowardice, our false shame, our vanity, our weakness and irresolution, our fondness and partial affection, our indolence and love of ease these, and numberless infirmities more, must be struggled with, and conquered, when we are called out to encounter dangers; to confess our Saviour before men; to withstand the strong torrent of custom and fashion, of importunity and ill example; to turn a deaf ear to flattery, or candidly acknowledge our errors; to resist solicitations; to give righteous judgment; to forget all our private relations and attachments, where justice or public good is concerned; to resign our dearest enjoyments, when it is the will of God we should; to check our sorrows in their fullest flow; and to go on indefatigably improving ourselves, and doing good to others, till the night overtakes us," in which no man can work."

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THE humble man trusts not to his own discretion, but in matters of concernment relies rather upon the judgment of his friends, counsellors, or spiritual guides. He does not pertinaciously pursue the choice of his own will, but in all things lets God choose for him, and his superiors in those things which concern them. He does not murmur against commands. He is not inquisitive into the reasonableness of indifferent and innocent commands, but believes the command to be reason enough in such cases to exact his obedience. He lives according to a rule, and with compliance to public customs, without any affectation or singularity. He is meek and indifferent in all accidents and chances. He patiently

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bears injuries. He is always unsatisfied in his own conduct, resolution, and counsels. He is a great lover of good men, and a praiser of wise men, and a censurer of no man. He is modest in his speech, and reserved in his laughter. He fears when he hears himself commended, lest God make another judgment concerning his actions than men do. He gives no pert or saucy answers, when he is reproved, whether justly or unjustly. He loves to sit down in private, and, if he may, he refuses the temptation of offices, and all honours. He is ingenuous, free, and open in his actions and discourses. He mends his fault, and gives thanks when he is admonished. He is ready to do good to the murderers of his fame, to his slanderers, backbiters, and detractors, as Christ washed the feet of Judas. And he is contented to be suspected of indiscretion, so before God he may be really innocent, and not offensive to his neighbour, nor wanting to his just and prudent inte

rest.

WAR.

Jesse. O WAR! what art thou !

A. once the proof and scourge of man's fallen state!
After the brightest conquest, what appears
Of all thy glories? For the vanquish'd, chains!
For the proud victor, what? Alas! to reign
O'er desolated nations! a drear waste,
By one man's crime, by one man's lust of power,
Unpeopled! Ravag'd fields assume the place
Of smiling harvests, and uncultur'd plains
Succeed the fertile vineyard; barren waste
Deforms the spot once rich with luscious fig
And the fat olive.-Devastation reigns.→→
Here, rifled temples are the cavern'd dens
Of savage beasts, or haunt of birds obscene;
There pop'lous cities blacken in the sun,
And in the general wreck, proud palaces
Lie undistinguish'd, save by the dim smoke
Of recent conflagration. When the song

210 APPEARANCES OF NATURE IN NOVEMBER.

Of dear-bought joy, with many a triumph swell'd,
Salutes the victor's ear, and soothes his pride,
How is the grateful harmony profan'd

With the sad dissonance of virgins' cries,

Who mourn their brothers slain! of matrons hoar,
Who clasp their wither'd hands, and fondly ask
With iteration shrill, their slaughter'd sons!
How is the laurel's verdure stain'd with blood,
And soil'd with widows' tears!

David. Thrice mournful truth!

father!

Yet when our country's sacred rights are menac'd;
Her firm foundations shaken to their base;
When all we love, and all that we revere,
Our hearths and altars, children, parents, wives,
Our liberties and laws, the throne they guard,
Are scorn'd and trampled on-then, then, my
'Tis then Religion's voice; then God himself
Commands us to defend his injur'd name,
And think the victory cheaply bought with life.
'Twere then inglorious weakness, mean self-love,
To lie inactive, when the stirring voice
Of the shrill trumpet wakes the patriot youth,
And, with heroic valour, bids them dare
The foul idolatrous bands, e'en to the death.

APPEARANCES OF NATURE IN NOVEMBER.

"Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground,
Another race the following spring supplies;
They fall successive, and successive rise:
So generations in their course decay;

So flourish these, when those are pass'd away."

THE preceding month was marked by the change, and this is distinguished by the fall of the leaf. The whole declining season of the year is often, in common language, named the fall. There is something extremely melancholy in this gradual process, by which the trees are stripped of their beauty, and left monuments

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