Murray's English Reader

10. But if a hermit you're resolv'd to dwell,

And bid to social life a last farewell;
'Tis impious
God never made an independent man;
"Twovid jar the concord of his gen'ral plan.
See every part of that stupendous whole,
" Whose body nature is, and God the soul ;''
To one great end the general good conspire,
From matter, brute, to man, to seraph, fire.
11. Should man through nature solitary roam,

His will his sovereign, every where his home,
What force would guard him from the lion's jaw!
What swiftness wing him from the panther's "paw ?
Or should fate lead him to some safer shore,
Where panthers never prowl, nor lions roar,
Where liberal nature all her charms bestows,
Suns shine, birds sing, flowers bloom, and water flows,
Fool, dost thou think he'd revel on the store,
Absolve the care of Heaven, nor ask for more ?
Though waters flow'd, flow'rs bloom'd, and Phebus

shone,
lle'd sigh, he'd murmur, that he was alone.
For know, the Maker on the human breast
A sense of kindred, country, man, impress'd.
12. Though nature's works the ruling mind declare,

And well deserve inquiry's serious care,
The God (whate'er inisanthropy may say,)
Shines, beams in marı with most unclouded ray.
What boots it thee to fly from pole to pole?
Hang o'er the sun, and with the planets roll?
What boots through space's furthest bourns to roam I
If thou, O man, a stranger art at home.
Then know thyself, the human mind survey :

The use, the pleasure, will the toil repay.
13. Nor study only, practise what you know;

Your life, your knowledge, to mankind you owe.
With Plato's olive wreath the bays entwine;
Those who in study, should in practice shine.
Say, does the learned lord of Hagley's shade,
Charm man so much by mossy fountains laid,
As when arous'd he stems corruptions course,
And shakes the senate with a Tully's force ?
Wuen freedom gasp'd beneath a Cesar's feet,
Then public virtue might to shades retreat :
But where she breathes, the least may useful be,
And freedom. Britain, still belongs to thee.

$

14. Though man's ungrateful,or though fortune frown;
Is the reward of worth, a song, or crown ?
Nor yet unrecompens'd are virtue's pains;
Good Allen lives, and bounteous Brunswick reigns.
On each condition disappointments wait,
Enter the hut, and force the guarded gate.
Nor dare repine though early friendship bleed :
From love, the world, and all its cares, he's freed.
But know, adversity's the child of God;

Whom Heaven approves of most, must feel her rod. 15. When smooth old Ocean, and each storm's asleep,

Then ignorance may plough the wat'ry deep :
But when the demons of the tempest rave,
Skill must conduct the vessel through the wave
Sidney, what good man envies not thy blow?
Who would not wish Anytus* for a foe?
Intrepid virtue triumphs over fate :
The good can never be unfortunate ;
And be this maxim graven in thy mind ;,

The height of virtue is, to serve mankind.
16. But when old age has silver'd o'er thy head,
When memory fail

and all thy vigour's fled, Then mayst thou seek the stillness of retreat, Then hear aloof the human tempest beat; Then will I greet thee to my woodland cave, Allay the pangs of age, and smooth thy grave.

GRAINGEL. * One of the accusers of Socrates.

FINIS.

PART I.

PIECES IN PROSE.

71

CHAPTER I.

Select Sentences and Paragraphs.

CHAPTER II.

Narrative Pieces.

Bect. 1. No rank or possessions can make the guilty inind happy,

2. Change of external condition often adverse to virtue,

45

3. Haman; or the misery of pride,

47

4. Lady Gray,

49

5. Ortogrul; or the vanity of riches,

52

6. The hill of science,

54

7. The journey of a day; a picture of human life,

58

CHAPTER 1II.

Didactic Pieces.

Sect. L The importance of a good education,

4. Motives to the practice of gentleness,

67

5. A suspicious temper the source of misery to its possessor,

68

6 Comforts of religion,

69

7. Diffidence of our abilities a mark of wisdom,

70

8. On the importance of order in the distribution of our time,

9. The dignity of virtue amidst corrupt examples,

74

10. The mortifications of vice greater than those of virtue,

75

11. On contentment,

77

12. Rank and riches afford no ground for envy,

80

13. Patience under provocations our interest as well as duty,

81

14. Moderation in our wishes recommended,

83

15. Omniscience and omnipresence of the Deity, the source of conso-

lation to good men,

85

CHAPTER IV.

Argumentative Pieces.

Soct. 1. Happiness is founded in rectitude of conduct,

89

2. Virtue man's highest interest,

90

3. The injustice of an uncharitable spirit,

91

4. The misfortunes of men mostly chargeable on themselves,

93

5. On disinterested friendship,

96

6. On the immortality of the soul,

2. The cataract of Niagara, in Canada, North America,

104

3. Grotto of Antiparos,

105

4. The grotto of Antiparos, continued,

107

5. Earthquake at Catanca,

8. Prosperity is redoubled to a good man,.

111
9. On the beauties of the Psalms,

112
10. Character of Alfred, king of England,

114
11. Character of Queen Elizabeth,

115
12. On the slavery of vice,

117
13. The man of integrity,

118
14. Gontleness,

1x

126

CHAPTER VI.

Pathotic Picces.
Boct. 1. Trial and exccution of the Eerl of Strafford,

122
2. An eminent instance of true corude of mind,

124
3. The good man's comfort in a fiction,

125
4. The cinse of Efe,
5. Exaited society, and the renewal of virtuous connections, two
sources of future felicity,

123
6. The clemency and amiable character of the patriarch Joseph, 129
7. Altamont,

132
CHAPTER VI.

Dialogues.
Sect. 1. Democritus and Heraclitus,

135
2. Dionysius, Pythias, and Daison,

137
3. Locke and Bayle,

140
CHAPTER VIII.

Public Speeches.
Sect. 1. Cicero against Vorres,

146
2. Speech of Adherbal to the Roman Senate, imploring their protec-
tion against Jugurtha,

150
3. The Apostle Paul's noble defence before Festus and Agrippa 154
4. Lord Mansfield's speech in the House of Lords, 1770, on the bill

for preventing the delays of justice, by claiming the privilege
of parliament,

156
5. An address to young persons,

161
CHAPTER IX.

Promiscuous Pieces.
Bect. 1. Farthquake at Calabria, in the year 1638,

165
2. Letter from Pliny to Geminius,

169
3. Letter from Pliny to Marcellinus, on the death of an amiable young
woman,

170
4. On Discretion,

• 171
5. On the government of our thoughts,

174
6. On the evils which flow from unrestrained passions,

176
7. On the proper state of our temper, with respect to one another, 178
8. Exceilence of the Holy Scriprures,

180
9. Reflections occasioned by a review of the blessings, pronounced by
Christ on his disciples, in his sermon on the mount,

181
10. Schemes of life often illusory,

1892
11. The pleasures of virtuous sensibility,

185
12. On the true honour of man,

187
13. The influence of devotion on the happiness of life,

189
14. The planetary and terrestrial worlds comparatively considered, 191
15. On the power of custum, and the uses to which it may be applied, 194
16. The pleasures resulting from a proper use of our faculties. 196
17. Description of Candour,

197
18. On the imperfection of that happiness which rests solely on world-
ly pleasures,

198
19. What are the real and solid enjoyments of human life,

202
20. Scale of beings,

204
21. Trust in the care of Providence recommended,

207
22. Piety and gratitude enliven prosperity,

209
23. Viriue, when deeply rooted, is not subject to the influence of for-
tone,

211
24 The speech of Fobricius, a Roman ambassador, to king Pyrrhus,

who attempted to bribe him to his interests, by the offer of a
great sum of money,

213
25 Character of James I king of Engiand,

214
36. Charles V. Emperor of Germany, resigns his dominions, and re-
tires from the world,

215
9. The same subject continuau,

PART II.
PIECES IN POETRY.

237

CHAPTER I.

Select Sentences and Paragraphs. Bact. 1. Short ani esxy sentences, 2. Verses in which the lires are of different length,

224 3. Vers98 containing exclamations, interrogations, and parentheses, 225 4. Versas in varicus forms,

227 5. Verses in which scund correspoyds to signification,

229 6. Paragraphs of greater length,

231 CHAPTER II.

Narrative Pieces. Sect. 1. The bears and the bees

233 2. The nightingale and the glow worm,

234 3. The triais of virtue,

ib. 4. The youth and the philosopher,

236 5. Discourse between Adam and Eve retiring to rest, 6. Religion and death,

240 CHAPTER III.

Didactic Pieces. Sect 1. The vanity of wealth,

242 -2. Nothing formed in vain,

ib. 3. On pride,

243 4. Cruelty to brutes censured,

244 5. A paraphrase on the latter part of the 6th chap. of Matthew, 245 6. The death of a good man a strong incentive to virtute,

246 7. Reflections on a future state, from a review of winter,

ih, 8. Adam's advice to Eve, to avoid temptation,

247 9. On procrastination,

248 10 That philosophy, which stops at secondary causes, reproved, 249 11. Indignant sentiments on national prejudice and hatred ; and on slavery,

250 CHAPTER IV.

Descriptive Pieces. Sect. 1. The morning in summer,

253 2. Rural sounds, as well as rural sights, delightful,

ib, 3. The Rose,

253 4. Care of birds for their young,

254 5. Liberty and slavery contrasted,

ib. 6. Charity. A paraphrase on the 13th chap. of the First Epistle to the Corinthians,

255 7. Picture of a good man,

257 8. The pleasures of retirement,

258 9. The pleasure and benefit of an improved and well directed imagination,

259 CHAPTER V.

Pathetic Pieces. Sect. 1. The Hermit,

261 2. The Beggar's Petition,

262 3. Unhappy closc of life,

263 4. Elegy to Pity,

ib. 5. Verses supposed to be written by hesander Selkirk, during his solitary abode in the island of Juan Fernandez,

264 6. Gratitude,

266 7. A man perishing in the snow; from whenco reflections are raised on the miseries of life,

287 & A morning bymn,

989

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Murray's English Reader: Or, Pieces in Prose and Poetry, Selected from the ...