Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, If nothing more than purpose in thy power, In faith and hope the world will disagree, To be resign'd when ills betide, Whose fragrance smells to Heav'n. All fame is foreign, but of true desert; And more true joy Marcellus exil'd feels Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. What nothing earthly gives, or can destroy, old man, Pity the sorrows of a poor Who lives to nature, rarely can be poor: When young, life's journey I began, Joy after joy successive rise. But soon I found 'twas all a dream; And learn'd the fond pursuit to shun, Where few can reach the purpos'd aim, And thousands daily are undone. 'Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours; And ask them, what report they bore to Heav'n. All nature is but art unknown to thee; All chance, direction which thou canst not see; All discord, harmony not understood; All partial evil, universal good. Heav'n's choice is safer than our own; Of ages past inquire, What the most formidable fate; "To have our own desire." If ceaseless, thus, the fowls of heav'n he feeds, The spacious firmament on high, And spangled heav'ns, a shining frame, Soon as the ev'ning shades prevail, The moon takes up the wond'rous tale, And, nightly, to the list'ning earth, Repeats the story of her birth : Whilst all the stars that round her burn, And spread the truth from pole to pole. What tho', in solemn silence, all D 2 PART II. EXERCISES IN ORTHOGRAPHY. CHAP. I. Containing instances of false Orthography, arranged under the respective Rules. RULE I. Monosyllables ending with f, 1, or s, preceded by a single vowel, double the final consonant; as, staff, mill, pass, &c. The only exceptions are, of, if, as, is, has, was, yes, is this, us, and thus. See Gram. 21st edit. p. 37 It is no great merit to spel properly; but a great defect to do it incorrectly. Jacob worshiped his Creator, leaning on the top of his staf. We may place to little, as well as too much stres upon dreams. Our manners should be neither gros, nor excessively refined. RULE II. Monosyllables ending with any consonant but f, 1, or s, and preceded by a single vowel, never double the final consonant; excepting only, add, ebb, butt, egg, add, err, inn, bunn, purr, and buzz. A carr signifies a chariot of war, or a small car. riage of burden. In the names of druggs and plants, the mistake in a word may endanger life. Nor undelightful is the ceaseless humm To him who muses through the woods at noon. The finn of a fish is the limb, by which he balances his body, and moves in the water. Many a trapp, is laid to insnare the feet of youth. Many thousand families are supported by the simple business of making matts. RULE III. Words ending with y, preceded by a'consonant, form the plurals of nouns, the persons of verbs, verbal nouns, past participles, comparatives, and superlatives, by changing y into i; as spy, spies; I carry, thou carriest; he carrieth or carries; carrier, carried; happy, happier, happiest. The present participle in ing, retains the y, thati may not be doubled; as, carry, caring; bury, burying, &c. But y, preceded by a vowel, in such instances as the above, is not changed; as, boy, boys; I cloy, he cloys, cloyed, &c; except in lay, pay, and say; from which are formed, laid, paid, and said; and their compounds, unlaid, unpaid, &c. We should subject our fancys to the government of reason. If thou art seeking for the living amongst the dead, thou wearyest thyself in vain. If we have denyed ourselves sinful pleasures, we shall be great gainers in the end. We shall not be the happyer for possessing talents and affluence, unless we make a right use of them. The truly good mind is not dismaied by poverty, afflictions, or death. |