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suspicions, and join in that abuse, which a selfish world so lavishly bestows upon every generous deed, which its own mercenary and grovelling disposition render it unable to comprehend.

In minds of a more enlarged and enterprising character, it expands into that inordinate ambition, whose accursed influence has devastated the fairest portions of the globe with rapine and slaughter; whose ferocious career is marked by fire, and bloodshed, and famine; and whose memory is preserved by the sighs, and tears, and execrations, of the childless parent, the widow, and the orphan. Yet, so infatuated is man,—so dazzled by the meretricious glitter of false glory,-as to decorate with the title of great, and consecrate as heroes, those insensate beings whom this passion has led to perpetrate enormities, which ought to have drawn down upon their devoted heads the severest punishment, and consigned their names to eternal oblivion, or retained them only to be held up to the detestation of posterity, to serve as beacons to warn others from the dangerous shores on which they were wrecked. Love, which all at some period have felt, or been supposed to feel, which steals so sweetly o'er the stripling's heart," extends its influence from the palace to the cottage,- from the most refined societies of civilized life, to the rudest haunts of the untutored savage. Its power is confessed by the mighty of the earth, and the lowliest being that walks over its surface; by the man of letters, and the illiterate mechanic;-by him whose mind is devoted to business, and him whose sole business is the pursuit of pleasure.

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A passion so strongly and so universally implanted in the human heart, can only have been placed there for the most benevolent of purposes; and, accordingly, we find that virtuous love is the source of the purest pleasure, the most extatic delight, to be experienced in this vale of tears. Than friendship -stronger, dearer,-love possesses all its advantages in a higher degree, and has mental enjoyments of its own, infinitely superior. More firmly united,-more kindly attached, the reliance for protection on the one hand, the support afforded on the other, the mutual sympathy, the mutual confidence, the unreserved communication, the disinterested regard-these, united in well-placed mutual affection, form a picture of felicity, the most perfect which can be conceived in this imperfect state.

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To the virtuous pair, thus united in the bands of love, every pleasure is doubled, every grief lessened, by participation-the path of youth is strewed with flowers, their reciprocal kindness smoothes the rugged descent of declining age, and the sunset of such a life, gilds an horizon clear and spotless,

which shews them, in the retrospect, an uninterrupted scene of innocence and happiness,-in perspective, an endless futurity of bliss.

Yet, while such are the benefits of a proper indulgence of this amiable passion, man, in the wild depravity of his heart, seeks for impure gratification in lawless variety, until at length, in ruined health and debased morals, he finds himself the wretched victim of unbridled lust and unprincipled licentiousness; and, in the premature decrepitude of age, views with horror and remorse those follies and vices, which afforded but transient and trivial enjoyment, and have left behind such dreadful and lasting pangs, to embitter the sad remains of existence.

Anger, hatred, and revenge,-whose direful influence when unrepressed, drives reason, pity, and humanity, from their seat, leaving the breast one troubled ocean of malignant passions,-like the fabled Upas tree of Java, which spreads death and desolation for miles around the envenomed spot on which it grew, spread horror and dismay around the hapless wretch, who, yielding to their impetuous force, becomes a terror to others, a torment to himself.

Of these, it has been contended by some, that we should entirely divest ourselves: but, doubtless, these passions were engrafted on the human mind for wise and good purposes. Though sinful in a vicious excess, they all have their legitimate use, when confined within the necessary limits.

Anger is a strong emotion of the mind, quickly excited on the receipt of an offence; violent in its effects, but, in ingenuous minds, at least of transient duration; it is very properly exerted on all occasions of wanton or unprovoked aggression, and is necessary to enable us to vent against such, a just indignation, and to defend ourselves from insult and injury.

Hatred, a deep and lasting passion, distorts and degrades the character of all who submit to its sway. Viewing every thing through a discoloured medium, it blackens even the virtues of its object, and seeks to gratify its malignity at any expence, violation of justice or humanity; yet is it naturally, and therefore properly excited by vice, injustice, and oppression; and, if it be not lawful to indulge it against the criminal, we may safely bestow our unmixed hatred upon the crime.

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Of all the passions which agitate the mind, revenge is most to be dreaded, since it has so frequently led to the most heinous excesses. Urged on by revenge, and blinded by its fury, we seek the destruction of our victim at all hazards, even of life itself; would immolate him on the domestic hearth, in the bosom of his family;-would defile the sanctuary of the temple with his blood. Opposed to Christian charity, which teaches to forgive, such a passion is detestable; yet, under the

denomination of resentment, which is but a modification of the same passion restrained by reason, the iniquities of the world will furnish us but too many occasions for its just

exercise.

The foregoing are most powerfully exerted during the period of youth; and a celebrated writer has observed, that the happiest period of life is, when a man has attained that age, when all the turbulent passions have subsided, and, possessing a good state of health, can enjoy his friend and his bottle.

He who through life has duly controlled his passions, and, arriving at healthy old age, can dismiss the arrogance and petulance which so generally accompany it, is truly a pleasing object, a delightful companion,-happy in himself, diffusing happiness and the benefits of his experience on all around; but the turbulence of ill-directed passions, too frequently leaves but the wreck of manhood, incapable of such enjoyment. The ebullition and impetuosity of youth, its fondness for dress and licentious gaiety, are succeeded by the sensualities of the epicure and the drunkard; and the latest stage of existence may become a prey to the sordid passion of avarice. Heaping up riches, and knowing not who may enjoy them : anxious only to add to the useless store, which, in accumulating, still increases his care; depriving himself, not merely of the only rational object of wealth-to dispense his bounty among his unfortunate fellow-creatures, but denying himself the common necessaries of life; his evil passion carries with it a perpetual sting, the more strongly indulged it becomes the bitterer curse, and the degraded being unpitied dies, a wretched proof, that, even the prudent care which all ought to exercise in conformity to their station, when carried to excess, becomes one of the most desperate vices.

To trace out all the passions, would extend to far too great a length. Enough has been said to shew, that they have not been bestowed in vain; since each, under proper restraint, is calculated to promote the happiness of mankind. In proportion, therefore, as the Almighty has furnished man with a number and variety of passions, he has provided him with means to increase and enlarge his enjoyments. Had man, indeed, been left under the sole dominion of the passions, he would have been the most miserable of created beings; but, in giving him the powers of reason to control and guide them, the Deity has displayed, at once, his wisdom and his benevolence.

With such means in his possession, man has but to exert the first gift of God-reason, aided by that revelation which has in mercy been bestowed upon him, to secure happiness both here and hereafter.

THE POET'S PICTURES.

O, VANITY! the Poet's looking-glass!
Grant me a double share

Of self-complacency-all potent brass;
Thus may I egotists of yore surpass,
To think these verses rare.

Leave sober sense to vulgar tell-truth prose,
And waft me to Elysium,

Where perfum'd clouds regale Apollo's nose,
Ambrosia feasts the heart, and nectar flows;
For poets scorn all medium.

A poet must have vanity to write;
For, if he did not think

Folks would peruse his verses with delight,
Or, haply, Delia steal an hour from night,
He would not waste his ink.

Suppose à case,-a young Apollo hears
His own vile see-saw chaunted

By his dear grandmamma, who greets his ears
With "charming "" while her eyes o'erflow with tears,
For some princess enchanted.

"Charming!" soon reaches youthful rhymers' hearts,

And even warms the icy;

Away goes L. s. d. for flames and darts,

Phaeton against the field; forward be starts,— "Tis "Veni, vidi, vici."

The sweetest similiés,-the tropes on tropes,

Cloy the delighted ears;

Most lively metaphors,-Tell me of Pope's!

To fathom his, the man that ever hopes,
Must live a hundred years.

Now, then, to suit my fashion to the age,
A horrid German story;

From the Terrific Register a page,
And spirits of the middle air shall rage
In all their awful glory.

By every spell that ancient seer could boast
To raise a spirit, or to lay a ghost,

By magic wands,—by mystic lambent flame,—
By words which none but conjurors may name,
Sweet fancy's offspring, bold Romance, appear!
Appear! appear!—no measures curb thy wing,
Treasures from every clime and region bring;
Round strew thy daggers, and thy poison'd bowl,
Thy flow'ry wreaths, thy mask and mystic cowl;
I crave a subject for the glowing pen

Of one who soars above the haunts of men,-
A mystic cloud o'erspreads my longing eyes,
And scenes imperfect all around me rise.

Romance sprang forth," I hear," he cried, "thy call,
And introduce thee to great Fancy's hall;
Thine eyes unseal, that thou may'st learn to prize
Alone such deeds as from true virtue rise:

I go to call them from the tomb of

years,

Prepare!-the mighty pageantry appears;"

He said, and pois'd his motley wings for flight,
Soon soar'd amid the glowing rays of light;

The mist dispell'd, and indistinctly seen

Were seas and towers, and knights, and meadows green, —
Till order, harmony, and beauty crown'd,
Beneath a temple's canopy were found;
A vast rotunda, splendid columns bore,
While varied curtains graceful swept the floor, -
O'er each, in golden characters, did blaze
Some Christian virtue, or some hero's praise;
Each view my wavering heart by turns beguil'd,
While Fancy in the centre sweetly smil'd;
Her flaxen locks with beauteous flow'rets grac'd,
A burnish'd belt bright glitter'd round her waist;
Her dress at every turn bore varied hue,

Fix'd to no color, to no fashion true;

Anon she danc'd, -my beating heart was glad;
Anon the flow'rets fading,-she was sad.
My cheek in unison the tears o'erflow,

'Twas fascination wrapt my heart in woe.

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My faithful votary, welcome here!" she cries,

"I know your wishes, and your queen complies:
You ask a subject, which shall hold to view
Some moral lesson, and some emblem true,
Read from the glitt'ring name each curtain bears;
Command,-the veil obtruding disappears,
The times long past again be acted o'er,
And thus enrich thy mind with classic lore;
Speed with thy choice, lest sprightly Fancy flies,
And Dulness' pow'r o'ercloud thy faculties."

My bounding feet pervade the glittering round,
Fancy on filmy pennons left the ground,

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