pectation leffens furprise, yet some surprise is neceffary to gaiety; and that those who defire to partake of the pleasure of wit must contribute to its produc tion, fince the mind stagnates without external ventilation, and that effervefcence of the fancy, which flashes into transport, can be raised only by the infu fion of diffimilar ideas.

66

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NUMB. 102.

SATURDAY, March 9, 1751.

Ipfa quoque affiduo labuntur tempora motu
Non fecus ac flumen: neque enim confiftere flumen,
Nec levis bora poteft; fed ut unda impellitur undâ,
Urgeturque prior veniente, urgetque priorem,
Tempora fic fugiunt pariter, pariterque fequuntur.

With conftant motion as the moments glide,
Behold in running life the rolling tide!
For none can ftem by art, or ftop by pow'r,
The flowing ocean, or the fleeting hour:
But wave by wave purfu'd arrives on shore,
And each impell'd behind impels before:
So time on time revolving we defcry;
So minutes follow, and fo minutes fly.

OVID.

ELPHINSTON.

3

LIFE," fays Seneca, "is a voyage, in the progrefs of which we are perpetually changing ❝our fcenes: we first leave childhood behind us, "then youth, then the years of ripened manhood, "then the better and more pleafing part of old age." The perufal of this paffage having incited in me a train of reflections on the ftate of man, the inceffant fluctuation of his wifhes, the gradual change of his

difpofition to all external objects, and the thoughtleffness with which he floats along the stream of time, I funk into a flumber amidst my meditations, and, on a fudden, found my ears filled with the tumult of labour, the fhouts of alacrity, the fhrieks of alarm, the whistle of winds, and the dafh of waters.

4

My astonishment for a time repreffed my curiofity; but foon recovering myself fo far as to inquire whither we were going, and what was the cause of fuch clamour and confufion, I was told that they were launching out into the ocean of life; that we had already paffed the ftreights of infancy, in which multitudes had perifhed, fome by the weakness and fragility of their veffels, and more by the folly, perverfeness, or negligence, of those who undertook to fteer them; and that we were now on the main fea, abandoned to the winds and billows, without any other means of fecurity than the care of the pilot, whom it was always in our power to choose among great numbers that offered their direction and affift

ance.

I then looked round with anxious eagerness; and first turning my eyes behind me, faw a ftream flowing through flowery islands, which every one that failed along feemed to behold with pleasure; but no fooner touched, than the current, which, though not noify or turbulent, was yet irrefiftible, bore him away. Beyond thefe iflands all was darknefs, nor could any of the paffengers defcribe the shore at which he first embarked.

Before me, and on each fide, was an expanse of waters violently agitated, and covered with fo thick a mist, that the most perfpicacious eye could fee but a little

a little way. It appeared to be full of rocks and whirlpools, for many funk unexpectedly while they were courting the gale with full fails, and infulting those whom they had left behind. So numerous, indeed, were the dangers, and fo thick the darkness, that no caution could confer fecurity. Yet there were many, who, by falfe intelligence, betrayed their followers into whirlpools, or by violence pufhed those whom they found in their way against the rocks.

The current was invariable and infurmountable; but though it was impoffible to fail against it, or to return to the place that was once paffed, yet it was not fo violent as to allow no opportunities for dexterity or courage, fince, though none could retreat back from danger, yet they might often avoid it by oblique direction.

It was, however, not very common to steer with much care or prudence; for by fome universal infatuation, every man appeared to think himself safe, though he faw his conforts every moment finking round him; and no fooner had the waves closed over them, than their fate and their misconduct were forgotten; the voyage was purfued with the fame jocund confidence; every man congratulated himself upon the foundness of his veffel, and be lieved himself able to ftem the whirlpool in which his friend was swallowed, or glide over the rocks on which he was dafhed: nor was it often obferved that the fight of a wreck made any man change his course: if he turned afide for a moment, he foon forgot the rudder, and left himself again to the difpofal of chance.

This negligence did not proceed from indiffe rence, or from weariness of their prefent condition for not one of those who thus rushed upon deftruc tion, failed, when he was finking, to call loudly upon his affociates for that help which could not now be given him; and many spent their last moments in cautioning others against the folly by which they were intercepted in the midft of their courfe. Their benevolence was fometimes praised, but their admo, nitions were unregarded.

The veffels in which we had embarked being confeffedly unequal to the turbulence of the ftream of life, were visibly impaired in the courfe of the voyage; fo that every paffenger was certain, that how long foever he might, by favourable accidents, or by inceffant vigilance, be preserved, he must fink at last..

This neceffity of perishing might have been expected to fadden the gay, and intimidate the daring, at least to keep the melancholy and timorous in perpetual torments, and hinder them from any enjoyment of the varieties and gratifications which nature offered them as the folace of their labours: yet in effect none seemed lefs to expect deftruction than those to whom it was moft dreadful; they all had the art of concealing their danger from themselves; and those who knew their inability to bear the fight of the terrours that embarraffed their way, took care never to look forward, but found fome amusement for the prefent moment, and generally entertained themselves by playing with HOPE, who was the constant affociate of the voyage of life.

Yet

Yet all that HOPE ventured to promife, even to those whom the favoured moft, was, not that they fhould efcape, but that they fhould fink laft; and with this promife every one was fatisfied, though he laughed at the rest for seeming to believe it. HOPE, indeed, apparently mocked the credulity of her com panions; for in proportion as their veffels grew leaky, fhe redoubled her affurances of safety; and none were more bufy in making provifions for a long voyage, than they whom all but themselves faw likely to perish foon by irreparable decay.

In the midft of the current of life was the gulph of INTEMPERANCE, a dreadful whirlpool, interfperfed with rocks, of which the pointed crags were concealed under water, and the tops covered with herbage, on which EASE fpread couches of repose, and with fhades, where PLEASUSE warbled the fong of invitation. Within fight of thefe rocks all who failed on the ocean of life muft neceffarily pass. REASON, indeed, was always at hand to fteer the paffengers through a narrow outlet by which they might escape; but very few could, by her entreaties or remonftrances, be induced to put the rudder into her hand, without ftipulating that she should approach fo near unto the rocks of PLEASURE, that they might folace themselves with a fhort enjoyment of that delicious region, after which they always determined to pursue their courfe without any other deviation.

REASON was too often prevailed upon fo far by thefe promises, as to venture her charge within the eddy of the gulph of INTEMPERANCE, where, indeed, the circumvolution was weak, but yet inter