Fix'd to no fpot is happiness fincere,
'Tis no where to be found, or v'ry where ; 'Tis never to be bought, but always free;
And fled from monarchs, St. John! dwells with thee.
Afk of the learn'd the way. The learn'd are blind;
This bids to ferve, and that to fhun mankind :
Some place the blifs in action, fome in ease,
Thofe call it pleasure, and contentment thefe:
Some, funk to beafts, find pleasure end in pain;
Some, fwell'd to gods, confefs ev'n virtue vain ;
Or indolent, to each extreme they fall,
To truft in ev'ry thing, or doubt of all.
Who thus define it, fay they more or less
Than this, that happiness is happiness?
Take nature's path, and mad opinions leave;
All states can reach it, and all heads conceive;
Obvious her goods, in no extreme they dwell;
There needs but thinking right, and meaning well;
And mourn our various portions as we please,
Equal is common fenfe, and common cafe.
Remember, man, "the universal cause
A&s not by partial, but by gen'ral laws;"
And makes what happiness we justly call
Subfift not in the good of one, but all.
SECTION IV.
The Goodness of Providence.
THE Lord my pafture fhall prepare,
And feed me with a fhepherd's care;
His prefence fhall my wants fupply,
And guard me with a watchful eye :
My noon-day walks he fhall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.
When in the fultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirty mountains pant;
To fertile vales and dewy meads,
My weary wand'ring fteps he leads;
Where peaceful rivers, foft and flow,
Amid the verdant landscape flow.
Tho' in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overfpread,
My steadfast heart fhall fear no ill;
For thou, O Lord, art with me still!
Thy friendly crook fhall give me aid,
And guide me through the dreadful fhade.
Tho' in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty fhall my pains beguile;
The barren wilderness shall smile,
With fudden greens and herbage crown'd,
And streams fhall murmur all around.
The Creator's Works atteft his Greatness.
THE fpacious firmament on high,
With all the blue etherial fky,
And spankled heav'ns, a fhining frame,
Their great Original proclaim:
Th' unwearied fun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's power difplay,
And publishes to every land,
The work of an Almighty hand.
Soon as the evening fhades prevail,
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And, nightly, to th' lift'ning earth,
Repeats the ftory of her birth;
Whilft all the ftars that round her burn,
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And fpread the truth from pole to pole.
What though, in folemn filence, all
Move round the dark terrestrial ball!
What tho' nor real voice nor found,
Amid their radiant orbs be found!
In reafon's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
Forever finging as they fhine,
"The hand that made us is divine."
SECTION VI.
An Addrefs to the Deity.
O THOU ! whose balance does the mountains weigh;
Whose will the wild tumultuous feas obey;
Whose breath can turn those wat'ry worlds to flame,
That flame to tempeft, and that tempeft tame;
Earth's meanest fon, all trembling proftrate falls,
And on the boundless of thy goodness calls.
O! give the winds all paft offence to sweep,
To fcatter wide, or bury in the deep.
Thy power, my weakness, may 1 ever fee,
And wholly dedicate my foul to thee.
Reign o'er my will, my paffions ebb and flow
At thy command, nor human motive know!
If anger boil, let anger be my praise,
And in the graceful indignation raise.
My love be warm to fuccour the diftrefs'd,
And lift the burden from the foul opprefs'd.
Oh may my understanding ever read
This glorious volume which thy wisdom made!
May fea and land, and earth and heav'n be join'd
To bring th' eternal Author to my mind!
When oceans roar, or awful thunders roll,
May thoughts of thy dread vengeance shake my foul!
When earth's in bloom, or planets proudly fhine,
Adore, my heart, the Majesty divine!
Grant I may ever at the morning ray,
Open with prayer the confecrated day;
Tune thy great praise, and bid my foul arife,
And with the mounting fun afcend the skies ;
As that advances, let my zeal improve,
And glow with ardour of confummate love!
Nor cease at eve, but with the setting fun
My endless worship fhall be ftill begun.
And oh! permit the gloom of folemn night,
To facred thought may forcibly invite.
When this world's fhut, and awful planets rife,
Call on our minds, and raise them to the fkies;
Compofe our fouls with a lefs dazzling fight,
And how all nature in a milder light;
How every boift'rous thought, in calm fubfides!
How the imooth'd fpirit into goodness glides!
O how divine! to tread the milky way,
To the bright palace of the Lord of day;
His court admire, or for his favour fue,
Or leagues of friendship with his faints renew;
Pleas'd to look down and fee the world asleep;
While I long vigils to its Founder keep!
Canft thou not shake the centre? Oh control,
Subdue by force, the rebel in my foul;
Thou, who canft ftill the raging of the flood,
Refrain the various tumults of my blood;
Teach me, with equal firmnefs, to sustain
Alluring pleasure, and affaulting pain.
O may I pant for thee in each defire!
And with ftrong faith foment the holy fire!
Stretch out my foul in hope, and grasp the prize,
Which in eternity's deep bofom lies!
At the great day of recompenfe behold,
Devoid of fear, the fatal book unfold!
Then wafted upward to the blissful feat,
From age to age my grateful fong repeat;
My Light, my Life, my God, my Saviour fee,
And rival angels in the praife of thee !
The Purfuit of Happiness often ill directed.
THE midnight moon ferenely fmiles
O'er nature's foft repose;
No low'ring cloud obfcures the sky,
Nor ruffling tempest blows.
Now ev'ry paffion finks to rest,
The throbbing heart lies ftill;
And varying fchemes of life no more
Diftract the lab'ring will.
In filence hufh'd to reafon's voice,
Attends each mental pow'r ;
Come, dear Emilia, and enjoy
Reflection's fav'rite hour.
Come; while the peaceful fcene invites,
Let's fearch this ample round,
Where fhall the lovely fleeting form
Of happiness be found?
Does it amidst the frolic mirth
Of gay affemblies dwell;
Or hide beneath the folemn gloom,
That fhades the hermit's cell?
How oft the laughing brow of joy,
A fick'ning heart conceals!
And, through the cloister's deep recefs,
Invading forrow steals.
In vain, through beauty, fortune, wit,
The fugitive we trace;.
It dwells not in the faithlefs fmile
That brightens Clodia's face.
W
Perhaps the joy to thefe deny'd,
The heart in friendship finds :
Ah! dear delufion, gay conceit
Of vifionary minds!
Howe'er our varying notions rove,
Yet all agree in one,
To place its being in some state,
At distance from our own.
O blind to each indulgent aim,
Of pow'r fupremely wife,
Who fancy happiness in aught
The hand of Heav'n denies !
Vain is alike the joy we feek,
And vain what we poffefs,
Unless harmonious reafon tunes
The paffions into peace.
To temper'd wishes, juft defires,
Is happiness confin'd;
And, deaf to folly's call, attends
The mufic of the mind.
SECTION VIII.
The Firefide.
DEAR Chloe, while the bufy crowd,
The vain, the wealthy and the proud,
In folly's maze advance;
Tho' fingularity and pride
Be call'd our choice, we'll ftep afide,
Nor join the giddy dance.
From the gay world, we'll oft retire
To our own family and fire,
Where love our hours employs;
No noify neighbour enters here,
No intermeddling franger near,
To spoil our heart-felt joys.
If folid happiness we prize,
Within our breast this jewel lies ;
And they are fools who roam :
The world has nothing to beftow;
From our ownfelves our joys must flow,
And that dear hut, our home.
Of reft was Noah's dove bereft,
When with impatient wing fhe left
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