Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

world, which you have witnessed, loosened all unreasonable attachment to it? Have they taught you this great lesson, that while the fashion of the world is ever passing away, only in God and in virtue stability is to be found? Of great use amidst the whirl of the world are such pauses as these in life, such resting places of thought and reflection, whence we can calmly and deliberately look back on the past, and anticipate the future. Blair.

THE GATE-KEEPER'S DAUGHter.

No traveller passed, either early or late,

By Tiverton Bar, but would gaze for awhile On the sweet little girl who opened the gate,

And was sure to be paid by a beautiful smile.

The rich and the poor man admired with delight,
No yeoman around but had ardently sought her;
The toast of the village was drank every night,-
The sweet little Mary, the gate-keeper's daughter.

I then was too young, and was buoyant in soul,
And often would linger myself for awhile;
I thought it was heaven whilst paying the toll,
To win from young Mary a beautiful smile.

I went t'other day, still the white bar was there,
I paid down the toll, and rode peevishly on;
I thought that the country looked desert and bare,

For Mary, the gate-keeper's daughter, was gone.

N

I inquired of a peasant that journeyed that way,
Where Mary was flown to; he bow'd his grey head,
He spoke not a word, but I knew he would say,

That Mary, the gate-keeper's daughter, was dead.

And sure 'twas a fact, she lay in the grave,

Far, far from the lovers who ardently sought her; I remembered the smiles she so prettily gave,

And I wept when I thought of the gate-keeper's daughter.

THOUGHT, THE PRIME MOVER OF HUMAN CONDUCT.

ALL that makes a figure on the great theatre of the world, the employments of the busy, the enterprises of the ambitious, and the exploits of the warlike, the virtues which form the happiness, and the vices which occasion the misery of mankind, originate in that silent and secret recess of thought, which is hidden from every human eye. The secrecy and silence which reign there, favour the prejudice entertained by too many, that thought is exempted from all control. Passions they perhaps admit, require government and restraint, because they are violent emotions, and disturb society; but, with their thoughts, they plead--no one is concerned. By these, so long as they remain in their bosom, no offence can be given, and no injury committed. To enjoy unrestrained, the full range of imagination, appears to them the native right and privilege of man. Had they to do with none but their fellow-creatures, such reasoning might be specious; but they ought to remember, that in the sight of the Supreme Being,

thoughts bear the character of good or evil, as much as actions; and that they are, in especial manner, the subjects of Divine jurisdiction, because they are cognizable at no other tribunal. The moral regulation of our thoughts, is the particular test of our reverence for God. If we restrain our passions from breaking forth into open disorders, while we abandon our imagination in secret to corruption, we show that virtue rests with us upon regard to men, and that, however we may act apart in public with propriety, there is before our eyes, no fear of that God who searcheth the heart, and requireth truth in the inward parts. But even abstracting from this awful consideration, the government of our thoughts must appear to be of high consequence, from their direct influence on conduct. It is plain, that thought gives the first impulse to every principle of action. Actions are, in truth, no other than thoughts ripened into consistency and substance; so certain is this, that to judge with precision of the character of any man, and to foretel with confidence what part he will act, no more were requisite than to be rendered capable of viewing the current of thought which passes most frequently within him: though by such a method we have no access to judge of one another, yet thus it is always in our power to judge of ourselves. Each of us, by impartially scrutinizing his indulged and favourite thoughts, may discover the whole secret of his real character. This consideration alone is sufficient to show of what importance the government of thought is to the keeping of the heart. Blair.

It is this external covering of the earth that supplies man with all the true riches he enjoys. He may bring up gold and jewels from greater depths, but they are merely the toys of a capricious being, things upon which he has placed an imaginary value, and for which fools alone part with the more substantial blessings of life. "It is this earth," says Pliny, "that, like a kind mother receives us at our birth, and sustains when born; it is this alone, of all the elements around us, that is never found an enemy to man. The body of waters deluge him with rains, oppress him with hail, and drown him with inundations; the air rushes in storms, prepares the tempest, or lights up the volcano; but the earth, gentle and indulgent, ever subservient to the wants of man, spreads his walks with flowers, and his table with plenty; returns with interest every good committed to her care, and though she produces the poison, she still supplies the antidote: though constantly teased, more to furnish the luxuries of man than his necessities, yet, even to the last, she continues her kind indulgence, and, when life is over, she piously covers his remains in her bosom."

Goldsmith.

THE GRAVE, NOT A PLACE OF REST.

THE grave is not a place of rest,

As unbelivers teach;

Where grief can never win a tear,

Nor sorrow never reach.

The eye that shed the tear is closed,

The heaving breast is cold;
But that which suffers and enjoys,
No narrow grave can hold.

The mouldering earth, and hungry worm,

The dust they lent may claim;

But, the enduring spirit lives,

Eternally the same.

C. Fry.

ON THE DUTIES OF THE YOUNG.

Of all the follies incident to youth, there is none, which either deforms its present appearance, or blasts the prospect of its future prosperity, more than selfconceit, presumption, and obstinacy. By checking its natural progress in improvement, they fix it in long immaturity; and frequently produce mischiefs, which can never be repaired. Yet these are vices too commonly found among the young. Big with enterprize, and elated with hope, they resolve to trust for success to none but themselves. Full of their own abilities, they deride the admonitions which are given them by their friends, as the timorous suggestions of age. Too wise to learn, too impatient to deliberate, too forward to be restrained, they plunge with precipitant indiscretion, into the midst of all the dangers with which life abounds. "Seest thou a young man, wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him." Positive as you now are in your own opinions, and confident in your assertions, be assured that the time ap

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »