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Important treasure how immenfe the amount
Improv'd; abus'd, how dreadful the account!
A ftock, if well improv'd, that will maintain
The foul in ftate while endless years remain.
Millions, who liv'd t' enjoy but half that store,
Now reign on high, enrich'd for evermore;
And Oh! what clouds once burdened with a day,
Once kill'd in arts to trifle it away,
Now for one hour a thousand worlds would
Alas! muft time's importance be conceal'd,
Until by death eternity's 'reveal'd?-
Lo! here, I vow-if one fo frail and weak,
May venture yet one humble vow to make ;

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Lo! here, I vow-be witness earth and heaven,--
I'll catch the flying moments as they're giy❜n;
Each hour to fome important end affign'd,
Worthy the care of an immortal mind:
This I engage; but O'tis only thou
Great GOD! can'ft aid me to perform my vow.

WRITTEN EXTEMPORE, ON A LADY'S PRESENTING THE AUTHOR A VOLUME OF SEA WEEDS, SO DISPOSED ON THE LEAVES, AS TO IMITATÈ TREES, SHRUBS, &c.

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TUDIOUS of art, the foft affiduous fair
Makes mimic life the object of her care;

With scenes defcriptive ftrikes the wond'ring eyes,
While pictur'd nature in her volume lies.

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WRITTEN BY A LADY AT BATH, AND SENT TO HER HUSBAND A FEW DAYS BEFORE SHE DIED.

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HOU who doft all my worldly thoughts employ, Thou pleafing fource of all my earthly joy, Thou tendereft husband, and thou dearest friend, To thee this last, this fond adieu I fend. At length the conqueror death afferts his right, And will forever vail me from thy fight. He woos me to him with a chearful grace, And not one terror clouds his awful face. He promises a lafting reft from pain, And fhews that all life's fleeting joys are vain. Th' eternal scenes of heaven he fets in view, And tells me that no other joys are true. But love, fond love, would yet refift his power, Would fain awhile defer the parting hour.

He brings thy weeping image to my fight,

And stays my paffage to the realms of light,

But fay, thou deareft, thou unwearied friend,

Say, shouldst thou grieve to fee my forrows end?
Thou know'ft a painful pilgrimage I've paft,
And canft thou mourn that reft is come at laft?
Rather rejoice to see me shake off life,
And die, as I have liv'd, thy faithful wife,

THE

Y

THE

MESSIAH.

BY MR. POPE.

E nymphs of Solyma! begin the fong:

To heavenly themes fublimer ftrains belong.
The mofly fountains and the sylvan shades,
The dreams of Pindus and the Aonian maids,
Delight no more.O thou my voice infpire
Who touch'd Ifaiah's hallowed lips with fire!
Rapt into future times, the bard begun,
A virgin fhall conceive, a virgin bear a fon!
From Jeffe's root behold a BRANCH arise,
Whofe facred flow'r with fragrance fills the fkies,
Th' ethereal spirit o'er its leaves fhall move,
And on its top defcends the mystic dove.
Ye heavens from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in foft filence fhed the kindly show'r!
The fick and weak the healing plant fhall aid,
From ftorms a fhelter, and from heat a shade.
All crimes fhall ceafe, and ancient fraud fhall fail,
Returning juftice lift aloft her fcale;

Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
And white-rob'd innocence from heaven defcend.
Swift fly the years, and rife th' expected morn!
Oh spring to light, aufpicious babe be born:
See nature haftes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incenfe of the breathing fpring:

See

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See lofty Lebanon his head advance,
See nodding forefts on the mountains dance,
See fpicy clouds from lowly Saron rife,

And Carmel's flow'ry top perfumes the skies!
Hark! a glad voice, the lonely defart chears,
Prepare the way! a God, a God appears!
A God, a God! the vocal hills reply,
The rocks proclaim th' approaching deity.
Lo! earth receives him from the bending fkies:
Sink down ye mountains, and ye vallies rise!
With heads declin'd, ye cedars homage pay!
Be fmooth ye rocks, ye rapid floods give way!
The Saviour comes, by ancient bards foretold:
Hear him ye deaf, and all ye blind behold!

He from thick films fhall purge the visual ray,
And on the fightless eye-ball pour the day:
'Tis he th' obftructed paths of found fhall clear,
And bid new mufic charm th' unfolding ear;
The dumb fhall fing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap exulting like the bounding roe.

No figh, no murmur the wide world shall hear,
From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear:
In adamantine chains fhall death be bound,
And hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good fhepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks freshest pasture and the purest air,
Explores the loft, the wand'ring sheep directs,
By day o'erfees them, and by night protects,
The tender lambs he raifes in his arms,
Feeds from his hand," and in his bofom warms:

Thus

Thus fhall mankind his guardian care engage;
The promis'd father of the future age.
No more fhall nation against nation rife,
Or ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes,
Or fields with gleaming steal be covered o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But useless lances into scythes shall bend,
And the broad faulchion in a plowshare end.
Then palaces shall rife; the joyful son
Shall finish what his fhort-liv'd fire begun;
Their vines a fhadow to their race fhall yield,
And the fame hand that fow'd fhall reap the field.
The fwain in barren defarts with furprize
Sees lilies fpring, and fudden verdure rise,
And fstarts, amidst the thirsty wilds to hear
New falls of water murm'ring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,
The green reed trembles, and the bulrufh nods.
Waste fandy vallies, once perplex'd with thorn,
The fpiry fir and fhapely box adorn;

To leaflefs fhrubs the flow'ring palms fucceed,

And od❜rous myrtle to the noisome weed.

The lambs with wolves fhall graze the verdant mead, And boys in flow'ry bands the tyger lead;

The steer and lion at one crib fhall meet,

And harmless ferpents lick the pilgrim's feet,
The smiling infant in his hand shall take
The crefted bafilifk and fpeckled fnake,

Pleas'd the green luftre of the scales furvey, [play. And with their forky tongue and pointless sting shall

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