The New-York Weekly Magazine, or Miscellaneous Repository Part 122

ODE TO SIMPLICITY.

Haste, pallid nymph, forego thy moss-crown'd cell, Clad in thy milk-white vest, By Nature woven, by the Graces drest: Come seek the adust retreat of these lone groves, Where Shenstone breath'd, ere Fate had rung his knell, And join the requium of confederate loves.

Can you forget how oft in wooing you, He artless led the pa.s.sions in a throng?

No suppliant ever felt a flame more true, And wit and beauty mingled in his song.

Tho' Nepthe blaz'd, her brows with myrtle twin'd, Not all her loveliness could shake his constant mind.

In the meridian of his quiet day, When gentle Reason had matur'd his youth; The relatives of Onus bless that lay He gave to you, and gave it with his truth.

Pure were his morals as the Patriarchs thought, And heaven approv'd the dogma Fancy taught.

Ah me, that breast which glow'd with patriot fire, Beneath this gra.s.s-green mantle lies entom'd!

Cold is that nerve which harmoniz'd the lyre, And all his bright'ning faculties consum'd: Come then, such fallen excellence deplore, His harp's unstrung, his minstrelsy is o'er.

ODE TO HAPPINESS.

Tho' all men aim at happiness, And some their boasted schemes profess, Yet few, alas! too few we find, Take the right course, by nature blind.

Th' ambitious man directs his way Thro' t.i.tle, honours, night and day: The miser hovers o'er his gold, With heaps on heaps, each farthing told:

But sooner or later they'll perceive, These trifling things the mind bereave Of ev'ry solid, dear delight, The soul o'erspread with gloom of night;

That envied t.i.tles, honours, fame, Are but a sounding, empty name: That riches fly on wings away; The brightest name will soon decay:

Yet riches ne'er will satisfy, } Tho' e'er so certain, still they cloy } The dupe, that on them doth rely. } Still surer doth the sensualist His pleasures, and his good resist; With loss of health, misfortunes rues The man, who sensual paths pursues:

For pleasures dissipate the mind, Bring on diseases, death unkind; Ruin his fortune, robs his soul Of all true joy, without controul.

The philosophic sage also, Unless the fear of G.o.d he know, Unless his Maker's works he scan, } Is but a poor bewilder'd man; } Much knowledge will more sorrows gain. }

But he who would true pleasure find, Delight of a superior kind, Must firmly virtue's steps pursue, To worldly folly bid adieu; Dispos'd, all heav'n's decrees to meet With fort.i.tude, or harsh, or sweet;

If fortune blows in prosp'rous gales, Or adverse wind his skiff a.s.sails, Still he is happy, pleas'd, content, With what kind heav'n, not him hath sent;

Nor pines with grief, himself alone } Bears all the shock of fortune's frown, } Untouch'd, resign'd, G.o.d's will his own: } In patience tastes a greater joy, Than all the world's variety.

Religion doth a good afford, To all, with gladsome pleasure stor'd, Such as the world to give in vain } May boast for all its pleasures pain, } Compar'd with virtue's smiling train, } Of joy refin'd, of peace and health, The greatest good, the best of wealth.

For there's that sweetness, and that peace In virtue's blessed, wholesome ways, Which no disaster can defeat, Its transports so divinely great.

Who would not then this course pursue, Which only leads to bliss, and pleasures ever new?

NEW-YORK: _+Printed by THOMAS BURLING, Jun. No. 115, Cherry-street+-- where +Subscriptions+ for this +Magazine+ (at 6s. per quarter) will be gratefully received--And at No. 33, +Oliver-Street+._

_UTILE DULCI._

THE NEW-YORK WEEKLY MAGAZINE; or, Miscellaneous Repository.

+Vol. II.+] +Wednesday, February 8, 1797.+ [+No. 84.+

For the +New-York Weekly Magazine+.

ESSAYIST. No. III.

"Fav'rite of heaven and friend of earth!

Philanthropy, benignant power!

Whose sons display no doubtful worth, The pageant of the pa.s.sing hour."

HALEY's ode to HOWARD.

In man there appears to be a natural affection for his fellow creatures, this as a general remark is evident, when the whole bulk of mankind is considered; but if we descend to particulars and examine how his affection exists, with regard to individuals, how often do we find him defective. Some under the smiling aspect of friendship conceal the envenomed sting of hatred, while others openly declare their enmity. But philanthropy extends its kindness to all whether friend or foe. It encircles in the arms of love, alike the rich and poor--the bondman and the free. Anger, revenge, and all the rougher pa.s.sions which divest the mind of its serenity, and immerse it in gloom and despondence, as if driven by supernatural power, fly at its approach. It delights to a.s.sist the distressed and infuse hope and comfort into the heart almost broken by misfortune. The soul that is warmed by the genial sparks of philanthropy and benevolence, looks with pleasure on his companions, feels himself interested in all their transactions, and partic.i.p.ates in their prosperity. The persecuted are ever sure to find in him a protector, and the wretched a friend. He exposes himself to the breath of contagion, that he may bring a.s.sistance to those who are sinking under the acc.u.mulated load of poverty and disease. He explores the gloomy dungeon and softens the bonds of the captive: his whole life presents a series of benevolent and worthy actions. Such is the philanthropist; justly admired by the world at large, and sincerely beloved by the small circle of his friends.

And such was Howard---the benevolent, the philanthropic Howard--more worthy of our admiration and more deserving of our envy, while imbibing the deadly vapours of the lazaretto, or exposing his const.i.tution to the chill damps of the subterranean dungeon, than pompous royalty clothed with the ensigns of power and encircled with all the splendors of a court.

A. D.

JANUARY 26.

ON AMBITION.

The best of all good things, says M. Retz, is repose. All the pleasures which nature can bestow, become insipid to him who is agitated by ambition, who is tormented by vanity, or torn by envy. You shall see a man on whom fortune has been prodigal of her choicest favours, to whom nature has given a sound and vigorous body; who is beloved by his wife and his children, whom he cherishes; whose presence spreads pleasure and joy in his family, where he is only an apparition; who, if he lived on his own domains, would enjoy the pleasure of doing good to a set of va.s.sals, but he there makes his appearance only three or four times in a year; and is then scarcely seen till he is gone again. This man does not feel the value of health; he does not enjoy his fortune. His life which might flow on in that kind of animated leisure, which results from the exercise of acts of beneficence, is consumed in agitation and in fear.

Independent by his riches, he devotes himself to servitude, and is tormented by chagrin. His sleep, which ought to be pleasing, is troubled by envy and disquietude. He writes, he cringes, he solicits, he tears himself from pleasures, and gives himself up to occupations that are not suited to his taste; he in a measure refuses to live during forty years of his life, in order that he may obtain employment, dignities, marks of distinction, which, when he obtains them, he cannot enjoy.

TRUE VIRTUE AND HONOUR.

Men possessed of these, value not themselves upon any regard to inferior obligations, and yet violate that which is the most sacred and ancient of all---religion.

They should consider such violation as a severe reproach in the most enlightened state of human nature; and under the purest dispensation of religion, it appears to have extinguished the sense of grat.i.tude to Heaven, and to slight all acknowledgment of the great and true G.o.d. Such conduct implies either an entire want, or a wilful suppression of some of the best and most generous affections belonging to human nature.