Leave the rash soldier spoils of war to win,
Won by the soldier thou shalt share the spoil:
These softer cares my best allies employ,
New pleasures to invent, to wish, and to enjoy.'
Her winning voice the youth attentive caught:
He gaz'd inpatient on the smiling maid;
Still gaz'd, and listen'd; then her name besought:

My name, fairyouth, is Happiness," she said..
"Well can my friends this envied truth maintain;
They share my bliss, the best can speak my
praise:
Tho' Slander call me Sloth (detraction vain!),

Heed not what Slander, vain detractor, says; Slander,still prompttrue merit to defame.[name." To blot the brightest worth, and blast the fairest By this arriv'd the fair majestic Maid;

pace,

'She all the while, with the same modest Compos'd advanc'd: "Know, Hercules," shesaid With manly tone, thy birth of heav'nly race: Thy tender age, that lov'd instruction's voice,

64

Promis'd thee generous, patient, brave, andwise: When manhood should confirm thy glorious

Now expectation waits to see thee rise. [choice, Rise, youth! exalt thyself and me; approve Tay high descent from heaven, and dare be worthy Jove. [disguise:Th' "But what truth prompts, my tongue shall not The steep ascent must be with toil subdued, Watching and cares must win the lofty prize

Propos'd by Heaven-true bliss and real good. Honor rewards the brave and bold alone;

(Abrupt says Sloth). "I'll fit thy tender age
Tumult and wars, fit age for joy and love.
Turn, gentle youth, to me, to love, and joy!
To these I lead: no monsters here shall stay
Thine casy course; no cares thy peace annoy;
I lead to bliss a nearer, smoother way:
Short is my way, fair, casy, smooth, and plain:
Turn, gentle youth-with me eternal pleasures

reign."

Wouldst thou, to quell the proudandliftth'opprest,
In arts of war and matchless strength excel?
First conquer
thou thyself: to case, to rest,
To cach soft thought of pleasure, bid farewell.
The night alternate, due to sweet repose,

In watches waste; in painful march, the day:
Congeal'd amidst the rigorous winter's snows,

Scorch'd by the summer's thirst-inflaming ray, Thy hardend limbs shall boast superior might: Vigor shall brace thine arm, resistless in the light." "Hear'st thou what monsters then thou must engage? prove?" What dangers, gentle youth, she Eids thre

[thine" What pleasures, vain mistaken wretch, are (Virtue with scorn replied)"who sleep'stinease Insensate; whose soft limbs the toil decline

That seasons bliss,andmakes enjoyment please: Draining the copious bowl ere thirst require; Feasting ere hunger to the feast invite: Whose tasteless joys anticipate desire,

Whom luxury supplies with appetite:
Yet nature loaths, and you employ in vain
Variety and art to conquer her disdain.
"Thesparkling nectar cool'd with summer shows,

The dainty board with choicest viands spread,
To thee are tasteless all! sincere repose

Flies from thy flow ry couch and downy bed.
For thou art only tired with indolence;

Nor is thy sleep with toil and labor bought,
imperfect sleep, that lulls thy languid sense
In dull oblivious interval of thought;
That kindly steals th' inactive hoursaway [theday.
From the long ling ring space, that lengthens out

66

From bounteous nature's unexhausted stores Flows the pure fountain of sincere delights : Averse to her, you waste the joyless hours;

Sleep drown's thy days, and riot rules thy Immortal tho' thou art, indignant Jove [nights Hurl'd thee from heav'n, th' immortals blissful place,

For ever banish'd from the realms above,

To dwell on earth with man's degenerate
Fitter abode! on earth alike disgrac'd; [race:
Rejected by the wise, and by the fool embrac d.
"Fond wretch, that vainly weenest all delight
To gratify the sense, reserv'd for thee!
Yet the most pleasing object to the sight.

Thine own fair action never didst thou see.
Tho' lull'd with softest sounds thou liest along,
Soft music, warbling voices, melting lays, [song
Ne'er didst thou hear, more sweet than sweetest

Charming the soul, thou ne'er didst hear thy No-to thy revels let the fool repair; [praise! To such go smooth thy speech, and spread thy tempting snare.

of cares ;

"Vast happiness enjoy thy gay allies!
A youth of follies, an ofd age
Young yet enervate, old yet never wise, [pairs.
Vice wastes their vigor, and their mind im-
Vain, idle, delicate, in thoughtless ease, [spend;

All wretched, hopeless, in the evil Jays,
Reserving woes for age, their prime they

With sorrow to the verge of life they tend.
Griev'd with the present, of the past asham'd,
They live and are despis'd; they die, nor more
are nam'd.
"But

"But with the gods, and godlike men I dwell; | Teach me! possess my soul! be thou my guide.

From thee oh never, never let me stray!"
While ardent thus the youth his vows address'd,
With all the goddess fiil'd, already glow'd his

Me, his supreme delight, th' Almighty Sire
Regards well pleas'd: whatever works excel,
All, or divine or human I inspire.
Counsel with strength, and industry with art,
In union meet conjoin'd with me reside:
My dictates arm, instruct, and mend the heart,

breast.

The surest policy, the wisest guide. [bind With me true friendship dwells: she deigns to Those generous souls alone, whom I before have join'd.

"Nor need my friends the various costly feast,
Hunger to them th' effects of art supplies;
Labor prepares their weary limbs to rest;
Sweet is their sleep; light, cheerful, strong,
[nown
Thro' health, thro' joy, thro' pleasure and re-
They tread my paths: and by a soft descent
At length to age all gently sinking down,

they rise.

Look back with transport at a life well spent,
In which no hour flew unimprov'd away; [day
In which some gen'rous deed distinguish'dev'ry
“And when the destin'd term at length's com-
Their ashes rest in peace, eternal fame [plete,
Sounds wide their praise: triumphant o'er fate,
In sacred song for ever lives their name.
This, Hercules, is happiness! obey

My voice, and live: let thy celestial birth
Lift and enlarge thy thoughts: behold the way!
That leads to fame, and raises thee from earth,
Immortal! Lo, I guide thy steps, Arise, [skies."
Pursue the glorious path and claim thy native
Her words breathe fire celestial, and impart

New vigor to his soul, that sudden caught
The generous flame: with great intent his heart
Swells full, and labors with exalted thought.
The mist of errors from his eyes dispell'd,

Thro' all her fraudful arts, in clearest light, Sloth in her native form he now beheld;

Unveil'd she stood confest before his sight False Siren! All her vaunted charins, that shone So fresh erewhile and fair, now wither'd, pale, and gone.

No more the rosy bloom in sweet disguise [grace
Masks her dissembled looks; each borrow'd
Leaves her wan cheek; pale sickness clouds her
Livid and sunk, and passions dim her face. [eyes
As when fair Iris has awhile display'd

Her wat'ry arch with gaudy painture gay, While yet we gaze the glorious colors fade,

And from our wonder gently steal away; Where shone the beauteous phantom, erst so bright,

Now low's the low-hung cloud, all gloomy to the sight.

The heav'nly maid with strength divine endued
His daring soul; there all her pow'rs com-
Firm constancy, undaunted fortitude, [bin'da

Unmov'd in toils, in dangers undismay'd,
Enduring patience, arm'd his mighty mind,

By many a hardy deed and bold emprize, From fiercest monsters, thro' her powerful aid,

He freed the earth! thro'her he gain'd the skies, 'Twas Virtue plac'd him in the blestabode; [god. Crown'd with eternal youth, among the gods a

$78. The Hermit. Parnell.
FAR in a wild, unknown to public view,
From youth to age a rev'rend Hermit grew;
The moss his bed, the cave his humble cell.
His food the fruits, his drink the crystal well
Remote from man, with God he pass'd his days,
Pray'r all his business, all his pleasure praise.

A life so sacred, such serene repose,
Seem'd heav'n itself till one suggestion rose →→→
That vice should triumph, virtue vice obey;
This sprung some doubt of Providence's sway:
His hopes no more a certain prospect boast,
And all the tenor of his soul is lost.

To clear this doubt, to know the world by
To find it books or swains report it right, [sight,
(For yet by swains alone the world he knew,
Whose feet caine wand'ring o'er the nightly dew)
He quits his cell; the pilgrim stall he bore,
And fix'd the scallop in his hat before!
Then with the sun a rising journey went,
Sedate to think, and watching each event.

The morn was wasted in the pathless grass,
And long and lonesome was the wild to pass;
But when the southern sun had warm'd the day,
A youth came posting o'er a crossing way;
His raiment decent, his complexion fair,
And soft in graceful ringlets wav'd his hair :
Then near approaching, "Father, hail!" he cried:
And "Hail, my sou!" the rev'rend sire replied.
Words followed words, from question answer
flow'd,

And talk of various kind deceiv'd the road;
Till each with other pleas'd, and loth to part,
While in their age they differ, join in heart.
Thus stands an aged elin in ivy bound,
Thus youthful ivy clasps an elin around.

Now sunk the sun; the closing hour of day
Came onward, mantled o'er with sober grey;
Nature in silence bid the world repose:
When near the road a stately palace rose. [pass,
There, by the moon, through ranks of trees they
Whose verdure crown'd their sloping sides of
It chanc'd the noble master of the dome [grass.
Stillmadehishousethewand'ring stranger's home;
Yet still the kindness, from a thirst of praise,
Prov'd the vain flourish of expensive ease.
The pair arrive the liveried servants wait;
Their lord receives them at the pompous gate.
The table groans with costly piles of food,
And all is more than hospitably good. drown,
Then, led to rest, the day's long toil they
Deep sunk in sleep, and silk, and heaps of down.

But now the clouds in airy tumult fly;
The sun emerging opes an azure sky;
A fresher green the smelling leaves display,
And, glitt'ring as they tremble, cheer the day:

With all the travail of uncertain thought;
His partner's acts without their cause appear;
'Twas there a vice; and seem'd a madness here:
Detesting that, and pitying this, he goes,
Lost and confounded with the various shows.

At length 'tis morn, and at the dawn of dayThe weather courts them from the
poor retreat,
Along the wide canals the Zephyrs play; And the glad master bolts the wary gate.
Fresh o'er the gay parterres the breezes creep, While hence they walk the Pilgrim's bosom
And shake the neighb'ring wood to banish wrought
Uprise the guests obedient to the call; [sleep.
An early banquet deck'd the splendid hall;
Rich luscious wine a golden goblet grac'd,
Which the kind master forc'd the guests to taste,
Then pleas'd and thankful, from the porch
they go;
And, but the landlord, none had cause of woe:
His cup was vanish'd; for in secret guise
The younger guest purloin'd the glitt'ring
As one who spies a serpent in his way, [prize.
Glist'ning and basking in the summier ray,
Disorder'd stops to shun the danger near,
Then walks with faintness on, and looks with
So seem'd the sire, when far upon the road [fear;
The shining spoil his wily partner show'd.
He stopp'd with silence, walk'd with trembling
heart,

Nownight's dimshades again involve the sky.
Again the wand'rers want a place to lie :
Again they search, and find a lodging nigh.
The soil improv'd around, the mansion neat,
And neither poorly low nor idly great,
It seem'd to speak its master's turn of mind,
Content, and not for praise but virtue kind,'

Ilither the walkers turn.with weary feet,
Then bless the mansion, and the master greet.
Their greeting fair, bestow'd with modest guise,
The courteous master hears and thus replies:

"Without a vain, without a grudging heart,
To him who gives us all, I yield a part;
From him you come, for him accept it here,
A frank and sober, more than costly cheer."
He spoke, and bid the welcome table spread,
Then talk'd of virtue till the time of bed;
When the grave household round his hall repair,
Warn'd by a bell, and close the hours with pray'r.

At length the world renew'd by calm repose,
Was strong for toil; the dappled morn arose
Before the Pilgrims part, the younger crept,
Near the clos'd cradle, where an infant slept,
And writh'd his neck: the landlord's little pride,
O strange return! grew black, and gasp'd, and
Horror of horrors! what! his only son? [died,
How look'dour Hermit when the fact was done?
Not hell, tho' hell's black jaws in sunder part,
Andbreathe blue fire, could more assault his heart.

And much he wish'd, but durst not ask, to part:
Murm'ring he lifts his eyes, and thinks it hard
That gen'rous actions meet a hase reward.

While thus they pass, the sun his glory shrouds,
The changing skies hang out their sable clouds;
A sound in air presag'd approaching rain,
And beasts to covert scud across the plain.
Warn'd by the signs, the wand'ring pair retreat
To seek for shelter at a neighb'ring seat:
'Twas built with turrets on a rising ground,
And strong, and large, and unimprov'd around;
Its owner's temper, tim'rous and severe,
Unkind and griping caus'd a desart there,
As near the miser's heavy doors they drew,
Fierce rising gusts with sudden fury blew ;
The nimble lightning mix'd with show'rs began,
And o'er their heads loud rolling thunder ran,
Here long they knock, but knock or call in yain,
Driv'n by the wind and batter'd by the rain.
At length some pity warm'd the master's breast
(Twas then his threshold first receiv'd a guest):
Slow creaking turns the door with jealous care,
And half he welcomes in th' shiv'ring pair;
One frugal faggot lights the naked walls, [calls:
And nature's fervor through their limbs re-
Bread of the coarser sort with ineagre wine,
(Each hardly granted) serv'd them both to dine:

And when the tempest first appear'd to cease,
A ready warning bid them part in peace.

With still remark the pond'ring Hermit view'd,
In one so rich a life so poor and rude;
And why should such (within himself he cried)
Lock the lost wealth a thousand want beside?
But what new marks of wonder soon took place
In ev'ry settling feature of his face
When from his vest the young companion bore
That cup the gen'rous landlord own'd before.
And paid profusely with the precious bowl
The stinted kindness of this churlish soul!

Confus'd and struck with silence at the deed,
He flies; but, trembling fails to fly with speed,
His steps the youth pursues: the country lay
Perplex'd with roads; a servant show'd the way:
A river cross'd the path; the passage o'er
Was nice to find; the servant trod before:
Longarms of oaks an open bridge supplied, [glide.
And deep the waves beneath the bending branches
The youth, who seem'd to watch a time to sin,
Approach'd the careless guide, and thrust him in:
Plunging

poor

The
humbled in the dust,
fond parent,
Now owns in tears the punishment was just,
"But how had all his fortunes felt a wrack,
Had that false servant sped in safety back!
This night his treasur'd heaps he meant to steal,
And what a fund of charity would fail!
Thus Heav'n instructs thy inind: this trial o'er,
Depart in peace, resign, and sin no more."

On sounding pinions here the youth withdrew;
The sage stood wond'ring as the seraph flew.
Thus look'd Elisha, when, to mount on high,
His master took the chariot of the sky:
The fiery pop ascending left the view;
The prophet gaz'd, and wish'd to follow too.

Plunging he falls; and rising lifts his head;
Then flashing turns and sinks among the dead.
Wild sparkling rage inflames the father's eyes;
He bursts the bands of fear, and madly cries,
“Detested wretch!”--But scarcehisspeechbegan,
When the strange partner scem'd no longer man.
Ilis youthful face grew more serenely sweet;
His robe turn'd white, and flow'd upon his feet;
Fair rounds of radiant points invest his hair;
Celestial odors breathe through purpled air;
And wings whose colors glitter'd on the day,
Wide at his back their gradual plumes display.
The form ethereal bursts upon his sight,
And moves in all the majesty of light.

Tho' loud at first the Pilgrim's passion grew,
Sudden he gaz'd and wist not what to do;
Surprise in secret chains his words suspends,]
And in a calm his settling temper ends.
But silence here the beauteous angel broke
(The voice of music ravish'd as he spoke):

The bending Hermit here a pray'r begun : Lord! as in heav'n, on earth thy will be done. Then, gladly turning, sought his antient places And pass'd a life of piety and peace.

$79. The Fire-Side. Cotton.
DEAR Chloe, while the busy crowd,
The vain, the wealthy, and the proud,
In Folly's maze advance:
Tho' singularity and pride
Be call'd our choice, we 'll step aside,
Nor join the giddy dance.
From the gay world we 'll oft retire
To our own family and fire,

Where love our hours employs ;
No noisy neighbour enters here,
No intermeddling stranger near,

To spoil our heart-felt joys.
If solid happiness we prize,
Within our breast this jewel lies;

"Thypray'r,thypraise,thylifetoviceunknown,
In sweet memorial rise before the throne:
These charins success in our bright region find,
And force an angel down to calm thy mind;
For this comunission'd, I forsook the sky-
Nay, cease to kucel!-thy fellow-servant I.
"Then know the truth of government divine,
And let these scruples be no longer thine.
"The Maker justly claims that world he made,
In this the right of Providence is laid;
Its sacred majesty through all depends
On using second means to work his ends;
'Tis thus withdrawn in state from human eye,
The pow'r exerts his attributes on high;
Your actions uses, nor controls your will,
And bids the doubting sons of men be still. [prise,
"What strange events can strike with more sur-
Than those which latelystruckthywond'ringeyes?
Yet, taught by these, confess th' Almighty just;The world has nothing to bestow;
And, where you can't unriddle, learn to trust.
The great vain man, who far'd on costly food,
Whose life was too luxurious to be good;
Who made his iv'ry stands with goblets shine,
And fore'd his guests to morning draughts ofwine;
Has with the cup, the graceless custom lost,
And still he welcomes, but with less of cost.
Themeansuspiciouswretch, whosebolted door
Ne'er mov'd in pity to the wand'ring poor,
With him I left the cup, to teach his mind
That Heaven can bless, it mortals will be kind.
Conscious of wanting worth, he views the bowl,
And feels compassion touch his grateful soul.
Thus artists melt the sullen ore of lead,
With heaping coals of fire upon its head;
In the kind warmth the metal learns to glow,
And loose from dross, the silver runs below.

And they are fools who roam:

64

"Long had our pious friends in virtue trod,
Butnow the child half-wean'd his heart from God;
(Child of his age) for him he liv'd in pain,
And measur'd back his steps to earth again.
To what excesses had his dotage run!
But God, to save the father took the son.
To all but thee in fits he seem'd to go;
And 'twas my ministry to deal the blow.

From our own selves our joys must flow,
And that dear hut, our home.

Of rest was Noah's dove bereft,
When with impatient wing she left
That safe retreat, the ark;
Giving her vain excursion o'er,
The disappointed bird once more
Explor'd the sacred bark.

Tho' fools from Hymen's gentle pow'rs,
We, who improve his golden hours,
By sweet experience know,
That marriage, rightly understood,
Gives to the tender and the good
A paradise below.

;

Our babes shall richest comforts bring:
If tutor'd right, they 'll prove a spring
We'll form their minds, with studious care,
Whence pleasures ever rise:
To all that's manly, good and fair,
And train thein for the skies.
While they our wisest hours engage,
They'll joy our youth, support our age,
And crown our hoary hairs:

F4

They 'H

$ 80.
VISIONS for the Entertainment and
Instruction of younger Minds. Cotton.

Virginibus puerisque canto.

Though Dr. Cotton is well known to have been the author of these Visions, they have generally been published without prefixing his name.

Maintain