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The circumftances related in them, as
are interesting, will attract the attention,
wilf awaken curiofity, and will gratify it
abundantly, by imparting a fpecies of
knowledge hitherto new and unthought-of.
Thus, in the very first inttance, a barrier
will be erected against the attacks, whe-
ther openly or concealed, of Philofophy,
falfely fo called, which has fuggefted the
most pernicious principles, and produced

Whilst the
the muft licentious conduct.
young man derives conviction to his mind,
and confolation to his heart, by the perufal
of the first and fecond parts of this Abridg-
ment, he will learn, from the attentive
reading of the third part, to comprehend
with clearness the characteristic doctrines
of that church of which he is a member:
and from this expofition of the thirty-nine
articles, being taught to judge, not merely
from the literal expreffion, but from the
general fcope and tendency of the writer,
he will be enabled, when he reads the
Efties, in which, it must be acknow-
ledged, there are fore things hard to he
understood, or hears them read in the
church, to fee a confiftency and meaning
in them to which he has hitherto been a
franger; when he hears difcourfes from
the pulpit, where the terms faith, juffi
cation, and election, may frequently occur,
deriving his knowledge from the fame
furce, he will fee how far they are appli-
Cable to his itate and circumittances; and
thus, instead of being carried about with
every wind of doctrine,' he will be prefer
ved from the contagion of error, and will

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have the comfortable conviction of know

ing in whom he believeth.' Happy would it be for fociety would every teacher of youth direct his endeavours to inftruct his pupils in the truth of the evidences, in a knowledge of the doctrines, and in the obfervance of the precepts, of the Gofpel." (p. x.)

Applying the fame arguments to the fuperintendants of feniale education, he goes on:

"Let not any governefs be deterred by the apprehenfion, that the work I am recommending is of too ferious a caft for gay and youthful minds; let her remember, that it contains what every Chriftian ought to know; and let her, during her future life, be poffeffed of the conicioufnefs, that, while fh has been folicitous to improve the understandings, and to accomplish the manners of the young perfons committed to her charge, the has not been inattentive to establish them in that knowledge, without which every other is, comparatively fperking, of little value.

"But, befides the teachers of youth, there are others, who are bound by ftil Stronger obligations to imprefs upon young minds a knowledge of the Scriptures; [ mean, parents and heads of families. Thele

are the perfons to whom I would, with importunate folicitude, recommend the frequent and ferious perufal of the following Abridgment. If they confider Chrift anity as the chatter of their falvation, their firft object furely fhould be to convince all under their roof of the authenticity and infpiration of the Sacred Writings. The young people, being thus inftructed in the fundamentals of religion, will progreffively advance from a conviction of its truth to a knowledge of its doctrines; and, instead of being blinded by ignorance, nifled by error, and fettered by prejudice, may be abic to judge for themfelves, whether what they hear is the true Word of God. If the parents and heads of families, into whose hands this book may fall, will only confider the numerous and extenfive advantages that will arife from a thorough acquaintance with it; if they will confider how nuch more fatisfied they will feel within them felves, and how much more refpectable they will appear in the eyes of their families, by underfanding in reality what they profefs in appearance of the Chriftian religion, and by being able to communicate a knowledge of it to those who are ignorant of its na ure, and careless of its blefsings; the truth of the Scriptures, and the doctrines of our Church, will foon be better understood, more generally received, and more tenaciously supported." (p. xiii.)

This Abridgment may be likewise confidered an ufeful compendium for candidates for holy orders, which indeed was the principal defign of the Bihop's work; but its cheapnefs throws it within the reach of many to whom it may be inconvenient to purchase the original. It bears evident marks of having been undertaken only for the purpose of rendering fervice to mankind; and its execution, we are happy to fay, is equal to the intention.

We fhall clofe this article with the conclufion of Mr. Clapham's Introduction:

"If this Abridgment appear to the Clergy, as I am fanguine enough to hope it will, calculated to overcome the ignorance, remove the errors, and dipel the prejudices, by which fo many, who make a profeffion of Chriftianity, are unhappily diftinguished; may we all with one mind and one foul fupplicate the Throne of Grace that the Bleffed Spirit may guide and direct the heart of every reader, and of every hearer of it, giving understanding to the ignorant, wifdom to the weak, docility to the vain, diffidence to the prefumptuous, conviction to the prejudiced; that there may henceforth be no divifion among us;' but that, as members of a true and apoftolical church, we be all joined together in the fame mind, and in the fame judgment.”

SONNET,

SONNET,

On the unfortunate MARY ROBINSON, of Buttermere.

A

By W. CUNNINGHAM*.

S fome fair floweret in an humble vale Rifes beneath a genial fky ferene, And lends new odours to the paffing gale, There mildly blooms unenvied and unfeen; Till fome rude peafant wand'ring o'er the green [vain, Refolves its fall, while beauty pleads in He, when no friendly hand uplifts be ween, Tramples, and leaves it pining on the plain: So hapless Mary, firft in Beauty's train, Unknown, unenvied, bloom'd a village maid;

Till he, who dai'd each facred rite profane, In borrow'd guife th' unconfcious fair betray'd!

1

To her deceiv'd, forfaken, left to mourn, The heaving figh of pity still muft turn!

Dromore bufe, Jan. 10.

SONNE T,

On reading an Account of EMILY SPENCER, the unfortunate Beauty †. By the fame.

HOW

OW fhort the triumph Beauty can beflow! [time, The chance of fortune, and the fport of Difeafe may mar, nay blast its early prime, And age must teal his winter o'er its brow. 'Twas thine, unhappy Fair! the wanton joy, 'Twas thine from Nature angel form to boast, [toat,

Ever to claim the first, the reigning A fhort, a chequer'd race to run,-to die! Say what avails a form in beauty drefs'd,

Say what avails each envious fair thy foe, Or e'en the fulfome flatt'y fools beltow, If Heaven-born Virtue never warm the breaft?

'Tis the, yt fair, the wrath of time can

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fore,

Whofe countless acres crowd upon the fight, [roar. Whole barquet revels in the feftive For this with lighter heart, from morn till (along;

eve, With frenu uts arm he drives the share In thought he views the rip'ning harvests

wave, [long. And cheers his labours with the uncouth

For this at night his hearth more cheerful burns, Lplay: Whitt all around his infant offspring And whilft with fond carefs to each he turns,

No more he feels the labours of the day. At thy return, fweet Spring, each fullen [felt but joy;

care

Flies from man's heart, and nought is From earth, air, fea, afcends the fervent pray'r, {employ.

And hymns of praife each varied voice Defcend, ye genial dews, ye fertile fhow'rs, In Nature's lap your choiceft blefings

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How vain lis hopes, if not the parching ในก [biefs! And genial fhow'rs his anxious labours Yet let not man of bounteous Heaven mifdeem; [he seeds; Full well Omnifcience knows the boon Where'er he turns, he finds for praife a theme; [reads. Where'er he turns, Almighty Pow'r he For him the Spring leads forth her laughing train; [appear;

For him the Summer's brightest tints For him the Autumn bends the towny [year.

grain;

For him the Winter binds the languid Thus cold to heat and heat to cold fucced;

(For thus of old Creation's law was giv') And tell aloud-the pure in thought and deed

May find in ev'ry change a leffer Heav'n. INSCRIPTION

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Invenit mea Mufa Nihil, ne defpice munus !
Nam Nihil eft gemmis, Nihd eft pretiofis
[nignos :
Huc animum, huc igitur vultus adverte be-
Res nova narrator, quæ nulli audita pri-
orum;

Aufonii & Graii dixerunt cetera Vates,
Aufoniæ indictum Nihil eft Græcæque Ca-

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arva,

E cœlo quacunque Ceres fua profpicit [ulnis Aut Genitor liquidis orbem complectitur Oceanus, Nihil interitus & originis expers, Immortale Nihil, Nilil omni parte beatum. Quod fi hinc Majeftas et Vis divina probatur, [bimur aris ? Numquid honore D ûn, numquid dignaConfpeétu ducis Nihil ett jucundius almæ, Verè Nihil, Nihil irrigao for mefius horto, Floridius pratis, zephi clementius amâ; In bello fanctumn Nihil eft, Martifque tufcutum. multu; Juftum in pace Nihil, Nihil eft in fore Felix cui Nihil eft, (fuerant hæc vota fi

hallo ;)

Non time: fidias; fures, incendia temnit;
Solicitas fequitur nullo fub judice lites.
Ille ipfe invitis qui fojicit om..ta Fatis,

*Palfrat was Roy Pfeffor in the
University at Paris in the fixteenth century.

Zenonis fapiens, Nihil admiratur & optat.
Socraticique gregis fuit ifta fcientia quon-
dar,

Scire Nihil, ftudio cui nunc incumbitur uni.
Nec quicquam in ludo mavult dificille
[norum.

juventus,

Ad magnas quia ducit opes, & culmen ho-
Nofce Nihil, nofces quod fertur Pythagorea
Grano hærere Fabæ, chi vox adjunéta ne→
gantis.

Multi Mercurio freti duce vifcera terræ
Pura liquefaciunt fimul, & patrimonia mif-

cent,

arenæ.

Arcano inftantes operi, & carbonibus atris,
Qui tandem exhausti damnis, fractique la
bore,
[requirunt.
Inveniunt, atque inventum, Nibil ufque
Hoc dimetiri non ulla decempeda poffit:
Nec numere Libycæ numerum qui callet
[aftris;
E: Phobo ignotum NIHIL eft, Nihil altius
Tuqu, tibi licet eximium fit mentis acu-
[dita rerum,
men,
Omnem in Naturam penetrans, & in ab-
Pace tura, Men, Nihil ignorare vicėris.
Sole tamen Nihil eft, & puro clarius igne.
Tange Nihil, dicefque Nil fine corpore
[lore.
tangi.

Cerne Nihil, cerni dices Nihil abfque co-
Surdum audit, loquiturque Nihil fine voce,
volatque
[cruribus ullis.
Abfque ope pennarum, & graditur- fire
Abfque loco motuque Nihil per inane va-
gatur.

Humano generi utilius Nihil arte medendi.
Neu rhombos igitur, neu Theffala murmura

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my Mule

See while the roams creation's round, [refuse? Finds Nothing: Nothing can my Friend Nothing more precious is than gems or gold: O then her theme with favouring eye behold!

A theme by Rome or Greece unheard of yore; [before; All elfe their claffic ftrains have fung All elfe the Bards of Greece and Rome have tried;

But to their numbers Nothing is denied. Where'er glad Ceres views the fertile plain, [tain,

Or Neptune's billowy arms the world conNothing from life, Nothing from death is

free,

Nothing immortal, fully bleft can be. Hence, if we own the Height and Pow'r divine,

Say what is worthy to adorn its fhrine?
Nothing is fweeter than the light or spring;
Nothing is fofter than the zephyr's wing;
Nothing is facred in war's impious form;
Nothing in peace is jutt, in concord firm.
Thrice happy he, (Tibullus, fuch thy
prayer!)
[fare;
Who Nothing has; he dreads no fubtle
Nor midnight thieves, nor flames diiturb
his life;
[ftrife.
In the loud court he feeks no wrangling
He who yields all to fate, like Zeno wite,
He Nothing withes, Nothing wins his eyes.
Nothing to know, was, Socrates, thy rule,
Now the fole ftudy of thy fapient school.
And this alone to learn the youth applies,
For this of wealth and honour wins the
prize.

Know Nothing, and you know the virtue feen

In the mute emblem of the Samian bean. Some melt the entrails of the pregnant foil, And waste their birthrights in Hermetic

toil;

O'er the myfterious work they ceafelefchend, In foot and fmoke their golden vifions end; Till spent with lofs and care, with labour weak, [feek. Nothing they find, and found, till Nothing Nothing what rule can meafure ? not the wit [it. That counts the Libyan fands can number Nothing is bid from Phoebus' fearching eye, Nothing is higher than the ftarry sky. And, Memmius, blame not thou thy Poet's Long, [strong; Though vaft thy genius, and thy judgment Though Nature's fecret laws to thee are

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By wings unaided, Nothing foars above, And Nothing without feet on earth can

move.

Nothing, unmark'd by motion or by place,
Can penetrate the void of endless space.
Nothing is mightier than the healing art;
If then thy breaft hath felt th' Idalian dart,-
Truft not in fpells, nor firains of witching
power,

heal,

Nor cull on Ida the Dictain flower.
Nothing, O cruel Love, the wound can
[feel.
Pierc'd by thy burning shaft, our bosoms
Nothing to light and life recalls the ghoft,
Left by ftern Charon on the Stygian coatt.
Nothing can foften Pluto's iron fou',
And Fate's inexorable will control.
Stretch'd on Phlegræcan plains, the giant foe
Felt Nothing mightier than the thunder's
blow.

Nothing extends beyond the World's high
walls.
[palis.
Nothing th' immortal Gods with fear ap-
Why thus its praile recites the tedious fong?
Than Virtue's felf more graceful and more
frong

Nothing is feen. Nothing is raised above The deathlefs fplendour of the throne of Jove.

But let thefe trifles find at length an end; No farther fhall the jingling rhyme extend, Left while its praife I fing in wearying frain,

Nothing from Nothing move my Friend's difdain. January, 1802.

TO WINE.'

S it the purple grape that throws
Its luftre on the fparkling eye?
Is it the nectar draught that glows
Upon the tip of ruby dye?

Is it the Bacchanalian fet
That makes old Time his feythe forget,
And gives the long, long joyous night
To fill the breaft with rich delight?
Does Wine expand the glowing foul?

Does Friendship weave the magic vine a And, ftrengthen'd in the mantling bowl,

Does Genius own its power divine ? Does Science fmile, and Wisdom find The nectar draught exalt the mind ? And does the Mora's returning light Approve the long, long joyous night 2 If fo, thou rofy god, then take

My ardent vows; and give to mirth The fleeting hour, for thou canst make

This mortal (cene a Heaven on earth! Bring, bring the magic cup, and we Will laugh and fport fo merrily, That all the long, long joyous night Our hearts fhall glow with rich delight. But if thy purple ftream fhould prove The spells my finer fenfe to bind; If it can dim the flame of Love, Or chill the fource that warms the mind; mind Lf

If Reafon, Bacchus, flies from thee,
I fcorn thy grov'ling flave to be;
Nor will I fhare the long, long night,
That robs the foul of pure delight.

L

LINES

Accompanying a Prefent to a Friend.
ET not the hand of amity be nice,

Nor the poor tribute of the heart
difclaim;

A Trifle fhall become a pledge of price,
If Friendship itamps it with a facred name.
The little rofe that laughs upon its stem,

One of the fweets with which the gar
dens teem,

In value fours above the Eastern geri,
If tender'd as a token of eitsem.

Had I vaft hoards of maffy wealth to fend, Such as your merits might command their due;

Then Chould the golden tribute of your friend Rival the treafures of the rich Peru.

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W North

Your pow' fal light breaks forth, We think of thofe bright beams in bounty giv❜n, [Heav'n, That bravely light the artic vault of Which oft, as learned trav'llers fay,

Befriend the elfe benighted mariner, And aid him on his cold and tracklefs way. Such is thy work, juft reas'ner, we aver, Well able to guide all (fave wilful blind) to day.

The wisdom of Supreme Intelligence, The mechanism of Omnipotence, Detected in thy well-itor'd page we fee With equal frength and perfpicuity. E'en from th' ephemeron we trace Up to the cibs of boundless space, By neither time nor place contin'd, One all-connecting and contriving miad. Let us then, whie we read, adore ; (Northou unprais'd that doftfo weilexplore.) But you, blind wand'ring fons (if fons at all Of pure divine Philofophy),

You fober Truth in accents clear doth call
From the licentious wiles of Error's thrall,
The hafelefs dreanis of Phantafy;

Il coth it you befrem,
Where exhalations teem,
With foul apoftate steps to run,

Nor heed the light of a meridian Sun:
O quit thofe devious paths, by truth untrod,
For one eternal caufe, a Parent God.
For thee who doft so ably lead,
Where wilt thou find thy labour's meed?
It is not for the Mute,
Who else would not refufe

Her faireft chaplet to thy memory,

To give thee that bright fame in idle rbyme,

Which thou thy felf haft fnatch'd from hoary time,'

Juft earnest of thy immortality.
As the now mellow'd rays

Of the declining fan,

So may thy evening's days,
Glide tranquilly along,

Till thou receiv'ft thy Sov'reign Mafter's boon,

The fuller glory of that orb at noon.

ÆMULUS.

THE PET, A FABLE. AMMA'S fole comfort, all her joy, Was centred in one darling Boy;

MA

She doated on her petted Willy, Yes, never cub more pert and filly; He ne'er was fuffer'd to be chid, And all was right that Willy did. The little neft-robb'd eggs, in rows High-frung, his cruel thefts difclose. In drowning kittens, killing fl.es, In fcooping out young puppies' eyes, Ripping up birds and frogs, to try Which longeft ftruggle ere they die, With pattimes of a kindred fort, Were Mater Willy's fav'rite fport. To humour him Mamma intent Gave to each with encouragement; Whate'er he afk'd was got to please him, She could not bear to fret and tesze him. One day young Willy truant play'd, (An adept Willy in that trade;) At noon no darling came to bless Mamma, and claim the fond carefs; Alarm'd, the fent the village round, No Mafter Willy to be found: At length impatient out the went, To chide and lecture fully bent; She fought, and fought, but alt in vain; A thoufand fears diftract her brain; When lo! a distant crowd efpying, As anxious the was thither bying, A Neighbour met her with a look That Arongly fome difafter spoke, From him the learn'd her foa was drown'd, His body in the river found; That old Cathartic paling by Had mark'd it with a careful eye, And after much obfervance faid, "The boy was pofitively dead." Mamma turn'd pale; the ran, the flew, She found her neighbour's tidings true; She beat her bofom, tore her hair, She rail'd at Heav'n, the fcream'd despair, When from a yew-tea near the road, That in th' adjacent churchyard food, A little linnet, fore opprefs'd,. The wailing mother thus addrefs'd:

"Thou wretch! the' to another's moan Thy heart more obdurate than stone, You now for your own child can fhow A mother's wild extreme of wee;

How

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