Truth.-Toleratiou.-Tenderness to Animals. 227 it altogether wife to have no other bounds to your impofitions, than the patience of thofe who are to bear them?-Burke. TRUTH. THERE is no crime more infamous than the violation of truth It is apparent, that men can be fociable beings no longer than they can believe each other. When fpeech is employed only as the vehicle of falfehood, every man müst difunite himself from others, inhabit his own cave, and feėk prey only for himself.-Idler. TOLERATION. WE all know, that toleration is odious to the intolerant; freedom to oppreffors; property to robbers; and all kinds and degrees of profperity to the envious-Burke. TENDERNESS to ANIMALS. THE heart is hard in nature, and unfit To love and friendship both, that is not pleas'd Nor feels their happiness augment his own. The horfe as wanton, and almoft as fleet, That skims the fpacious meadow at full speed, Then ftops, and fnorts, and throwing high his heels, The very kine that gambol at high noon, The total herd receiving first from one I WOULD not enter on my lift of friends (Though grac'd with polish'd manners and fine fenfe Yet wanting fenfibility) the man Who needlefsly fets foot upon a worm. Sacred to neatnefs and repofe-th' alcove, Not fo, when, held within their proper bounds, By budding ills, that afk a prudent hand By which heav'n moves in pard'ning guilty man; To-Day and To-Morrow.-Virtue.-Vanity. TO DAY and TO MORROW. TO-DAY man's dress'd in gold and filver bright, To-day he's nice, and fcorns to feed on crumbs, To-morrow not a beggar values him To-day he rifes from a velvet bed, ; To-morrow lies in one that's made of lead; VIRTUE. 229 HE that would govern his actions by the laws of virtue, must regulate his thoughts by the laws of reafon; he must keep guilt from the receffes of his heart, and remember that the pleasures of fancy and the emotions of defire, are more dangerous as they are more hidden, fince they escape the awe of observation, and operate equally in every fituation, without the concurrence of external opportunities—Rambler. TO dread no eye and to fufpect no tongue, is the great prerogative of innocence; an exemption granted only to invariable virtue. But guilt has always its horrors and folicitudes; and to make it yet more shameful and detestable, it is doomed often to ftand in awe of those, to whom nothing could give influence or weight, but their power of betraying. -Idem. VANITY. SO weak are human kind by nature made, Or to fuch weakness by their vice betray'd, Almighty vanity to thee they owe Their zell of pleasure and their balm of woe. Thou, like the fun, all colours doft contain, Tho' hifs'd and hooted by the pointing crowd.-Young. VICE. VICE is a monfter of fo fiightful mien, As, to be hated, needs but to be feen; Yet, feen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace.-Pope. USURPER. AS when the fea breaks o'er its bounds, And overflows the level grounds; Thofe banks and dams, that like a fkreen So when tyrannic ufurpation, : Thofe laws o' th' land that were intended WAR. ONE to destroy is murder by the law; And gibbets keep the lifted hand in awe. To murder thousands, takes a specious name, War's glorious art, and gives immortal fame. When, after battle, I the field have seen Spread o'er with ghaftly fhapes, which once were men ; A nation crufh'd! a nation of the brave! A realm of death! and on this fide the grave! Are there, faid I, who from this fad furvey, This human chaos, carry fmiles away? How did my heart with indignation rife! How honeft nature fwell'd into my eyes! How was I fhock'd, to think the hero's trade Of fuch materials, fame and triumph made !-Young. FIRST Envy, eldest born of hell, embrued Her hands in blood, and taught the fons of men To make a death which nature never made, And God abhorr'd; with violence rude to break The thread of life ere half its length was run, And rob a wretched brother of his being. With joy Ambition faw, and foon improv'd War. The execrable deed. 'Twas not enough To face the luft of power: more horrid still, Yet ftill they breathe deftruction, still go on, New pains for life, new terrors for the grave. From univerfal ruin. Blaft the defign, 231 AS war is the extremity of evil, it is furely the duty of thofe whofe ftation entrufts them with the care of nations, to avert it from their charge. There are diseases of an animal nature which nothing but amputation can remove; fo there may, by the depravation of human paffions, be fometimes a gangrene in collected life, for which fire and the fword are the neceffary remedies; but in what can skill or caution be better fhewn, than in preventing fuch dreadful operations, while there is room for gentler methods?-Johnson. WAR never fails to exhauft the ftate, and endanger its deftruction, with whatever fuccefs it is carried on. Though it may be commenced with advantage, it can never be finished without danger of the most fatal reverse of fortune. With whatever fuperiority of ftrength an engagement is begun, the leaft mittake, the flighteft accident, may turn the fcale and give victory to the enemy. Nor can a nation that fhould be always victorious profper; it would deftroy itself by deftroying others the country would be depopulated, the foil untilled, and trade interrupted: and what is worse, the best laws would lofe their force, and a corruption of manners infenfibly take place. Literature will be neglected among the youth; the troops, confcious of their own importance, will indulge themfelves in the moft pernicious licentiousness with : |