Whatever flation be for me defign'd,
May virtue be the mistress of my mind;
May I defpife th' abandon'd and the base,
Tho' opulent, or dignified with place;
And spurn the wretch who meanly lost to shame.
Thinks wealth or place, a substitute for fame :
If wifdom, wealth or honour, Heav'n lend,
Teach me thofe talents happily to spend ;
Nor make fo bleft, as I would wish to live,
Beyond those moments Heav'n is pleas'd to give;
Then when life-trembles on the verge of rest,
And brings expended minutes to the teft;
Abfolve me confcience, thou imperial Power!
O blefs me with a felf-approving hour.
HEN Egypt's hoft God's chosen tribe pursued, In cryftal walls th' admiring waters flood; When thro' the dreary wastes they took their way, The rocks relented, and pour'd forth a sea! What limits can th' Almighty goodness know, Since feas can harden, and fince rocks can flow!
THE BEE, THE ANT, AND THE SPARROW,
Addreffed to Phæbe and Kitty C. at Boarding School,
Y dears, 'tis faid in days of old,
That beafts could talk, and birds could fcold
But now, it feems the human fáce
Alone engrofs the fpeaker's place.
Yet lately, if report be true,
(And much the tale relates to you)
There met a Sparrow, Ant, and Bee,
Which reafon'd and convers'd as we.
Who reads my page will doubtless grant
That Phe's the wife induftrious Ant ;-
And all with half an eye may fee
That Kitty is the bufy Bee.
Here then are two-but where's the third ?
Go fearch the school, you'll find the bird.
Your school! I ask your pardon, Fair;
I'm fure you'll find no fparrow there.
Now to my tale-One fummer's morn
A Bee rang'd o'er the verdant lawn;
Studious to hufband ev'ry-hour,
And make the moft of ev'ry flow'r,
Nimble from ftalk to ftalk fhe flies, And loads with yellow wax her thighs ; With which the artift builds her comb, And keeps all tight and warm at home: Or from the cowflip's golden bells Sucks honey, to enrich her cells: Or ev'ry tempting rofe pursues, Or fips the lily's fragrant dews; Yet never robs the fhining bloom Or of its beauty or perfume. Thus the discharg'd in ev'ry way The various duties of the day.
It chanc'd a frugal Ant was near, Whose brow was wrinkled o'er by care: A great œconomist was the,
Nor lefs laborious than the Bee;
By penfive parents often taught
What ills arife from want of thought;
That poverty an floth depends;
On poverty the loss of friends.
Hence ev'ry day the Ant is found
With anxious fteps to tread the ground;
With curious fearch to trace the grain,
And drag the heavy load with pain.
The active Bee with pleasure faw
The Ant fulfil her parent's law.
Ah! fifler labourer says fhe,
very fortunate are we!
Vol. VI. 24.
Who, taught in infancy to know
The comforts which from labour flow,
Are independant of the great,
Nor know the wants of pride and flate.
Why is our food so very fweet ?
Because we earn before we eat,
Why are our wants so very few? ›
Because we nature's calls purfue.
Whence our complacency of mind?
Because we act our parts affign'd.
Have we inceffant talks to do ?
Is not all nature busy too?
Doth not the fun, with conflant pace,
Perfift to run his annual race P
Do not the ftars, which fhine fo bright,
Renew their courfes ev'ry night P
Doth not the ox obedient bow
His patient neck, and draw the plough ?
Or when did e'er the gen'rous fleed
Withhold his labour or his speed P
If you all nature's system scan,
The only idle thing is man.
A wanton Sparrow long'd to hear
Their fage discourse, and ftraight drew near.
The bird was talkative and loud,
And very pert and very proud;
As worthless and as vain a thing.
Perhaps, as ever wore a wing.
She found, as on a spray fhe fat,
The little friends were deep in chat ;
That virtue was their fav'rite theme,
And toil and probity their scheme :
Such talk was hateful to her breaft;
She thought them arrant prudes at beft.
When to difplay her naughty mind,
Hunger with cruelty combin'd,
She view'd the Ant with favage eyes,
And hopt and hopt to fnatch her prize.
The Bee, who watch'd her op'ning bill,
And guefs'd her fell defign to kill,
Alk'd her from what her anger rofe,
And why she treated Ants as foes?
The fparrow her reply began,
And thus the conversation ran :
Whenever I'm difpos'd to dine,
I think the whole creation mine
That I'm a bird of high degree,
And ev'ry infect made for me.
Hence oft I fearch the emmet-brood
(For emmets are delicious food)
And oft, in wantonnefs and play,
I flay ten thousand in a day.
For truth it is, without difguife,
That I love mischief as my eyes.
|