Eyes, dazzled long by fiction's gaudy rays, In modest truth no light nor beauty find: And who, my child, would trust the meteor blaze, That soon must fail, and leave the wanderer blind, More dark and helpless far, than if it ne'er had shined? Fancy enervates, while it soothes the heart, And while it dazzles, wounds the mental sight: And through the throbbing heart, and dizzy brain, And shivering nerves, shoot stings of more than mortal pain And yet, alas! the real ills of life Claim the full vigor of a mind prepared,- How they have borne the load ourselves are doomed to bear. But, now, let other themes our care engage; For, lo! with modest, yet majestic grace, To curb imagination's lawless rage, And from within the cherished heart to brace, By indolence and moping fancy bred- And hope and courage brighten in their stead, Then waken from long lethargy to life The seeds of happiness and powers of thought: Then jarring appetites forego their strife, A strife by ignorance to madness wrought. Pleasure by savage man is dearly bought With fell revenge, lust that defies control, With gluttony and death. The mind untaught Is a dark waste, where fiends and tempests howl; As Phoebus to the world, is science to the soul. And reason, now, through number, time and space, And learns, from facts compared, the laws to trace, Can mortal strength presume to soar so high? * Many a long-lingering year, in lonely isle, Stunned with the eternal turbulence of waves, Lo! with dim eyes, that never learned to smile, And trembling hands, the famished native craves Of Heaven his wretched fare: shivering in caves. Or scorched on rocks, he pines from day to day; But science gives the word; and, lo! he braves The surge and tempest, lighted by her ray, And to a happier land wafts merrily away. And even where nature loads the teeming plain Her bounty, unimproved, is deadly bane: Dark woods and rankling wilds, from shore to shore Stretch their enormous gloom; which, to explore, Even fancy trembles in her sprightliest mood; For there each eyeball gleams with lust of gore, Nestles each murderous and each monstrous brood; Plague lurks in every shade, and steams from every flood. 'Twas from philosophy man learned to tame The waters, bursting from their slimy bed, Bring health and melody to every vale: And from the breezy main and mountain's head, Ceres and Flora, to the sunny dale, To fan their glowing charms, invite the fluttering gale. What dire necessities, on every hand, Our art, our strength, our fortitude, require! Nor less to regulate man's moral frame Science exerts her all-composing sway. Where cares molest not; discord melts away In harmony, and the pure passions prove How sweet the words of truth, breathed from the lips of love. What cannot art and industry perform, When science plans the progress of their toil? And oceans from their mighty mounds recoil. 'Tis he alone, whose comprehensive mind, Of policy, that, midst the wrecks of time, The assault of foreign or domestic crime; LESSON LXII. Extracts from "A Father's Legacy to his Daughters."---GREGORY. THERE are many circumstances in your situation, that peculiarly require the supports of religion, to enable you to act in them with spirit and propriety. Your whole life is often a life of suffering. You cannot plunge into business, or dissipate yourselves in pleasure and riot, as men too often do, when under the pressure of misfortunes. You must bear your sorrows in silence, unknown and unpitied. You must often put on a face of serenity and cheerfulness, when your hearts are torn with anguish, or sinking in despair. Then your only resource is in the consolations of religion. Be punctual in the stated performance of your private devotions, morning and evening. If you have any sensibility or imagination, this will establish such an intercourse between you and the Supreme Being, as will be of infinite consequence to you in life. It will communicate an habitual cheerfulness to your tempers, give a firmness and steadiness to your virtue, and enable you to go through all the vicissi tudes of human life with propriety and dignity. Cultivate an enlarged charity for all mankind, however they may differ from you in their religious opinions. That difference may probably arise from causes in which you had no share, and from which you can derive no merit." in The best effect of your religion will be a diffusive humanity to all in distress. Set apart a certain proportion of your come as sacred to charitable purposes. But in this, as well as in the practice of every other duty, carefully avoid ostentation. Vanity is always defeating her own purposes. Fame is one of the natural rewards of virtue. Do not pursue her, and she will follow you. Do not confine your charity to giving money. You may have many opportunities of showing a tender and compassionate spirit, where your money is not wanted. There is a false and unnatural refinement in sensibility, which makes some people shun the sight of every object in distress. Never indulge this, especially where your friends or acquaintances are concerned. Let the days of their misfortunes, when the world forgets or avoids them, be the season for you to exercise your humanity and friendship. The sight of human misery softens the heart, and makes it better: it checks the pride of health and prosperity; and the distress it occasions is amply compensated by the consciousness of doing your duty, and by the secret endearment which nature has annexed to all our sympathetic sorrows. One of the chief beauties in a female character, is that modest reserve, that retiring delicacy, which avoids the public eye, and is disconcerted even at the gaze of admiration. I do not wish you to be insensible to applause. If you were, you must become, if not worse, at least less amiable women. But you may be dazzled by that admiration, which yet rejoices your hearts. When a girl ceases to blush, she has lost the most powerful charm of beauty. That extreme sensibility, which it indicates, may be a weakness and encumbrance in our sex; but in yours, it is peculiarly engaging. Pedants, who think themselves philosophers, ask why a woman should blush, when she is conscious of no crime. It is a sufficient answer, that nature has made you to blush when you are guilty of no fault, and has forced us to love you because you do so. Blushing is so far from being necessarily an attendant on guilt, that it is the usual companion of innocence. This modesty, which I think so essential in your sex, will naturally dispose you to be rather silent in company, especially in a large one. People of sense and discernment will never mistake such silence for dulness. One may take a share in conversation without uttering a syllable. The expression in the countenance shows it, and this never escapes an observing eye. |