My honest soul each abject doubt disdain'd,
Yet rolling years his fuit was unobtain'd,
Till imprecations, hermits might deceive,
Made me to endless infamy a Aave;
Dafh'd the rich cup where focial comforts flow,
And left me heir to everlasting woe.

Can I forget the ftill, the folemn night,
Scene of my joy, my ruin, and delight?
When modeft Cynthia veil'd her filver face,
Too chafte to evidence my fad difgrace;
When with affected piety of look

His impious hands unclos'd the facred book, And join'd our hearts with that celeftial chain,

Which death can only difunite again;
The myftic ring upon my finger plac'd,
Emblem of love, unchangeable and chafte;
Then, Tarquin like, to my embraces flew ;
While every angel from my fide withdrew.

Own, wretch obdurate, though you can't relent,

Your prefent ftate is diftant from content;
Her you abandon'd, in pursuit of wealth,
Had cafe, good humour, fprightlinefs, and
health:

Had love to cheer, fhould every comfort fail,
And temper gentle as the fouthern gale;
Unlike thy canker'd, thy mif-fhapen bride,
Fraught with detraction, enmity, and pride;
Who, while her coffers burit with gems and
plate,

Grudges each taftelefs morfel that you eat;
Whofe fiead-like foul afpires at no contest,
But the infernal pleafure to torment.
Here would I clofe the grief-awaking tale,
And o'er the fequel caft a fable veil ;
To dumb obfcurity the ills confign
That adverfe fortune deftin'd to be mine;
But, though my heart at every fentence bleed,
My fex's welfare prompts ne to proceed.

With hope and fear alternate conflicts
spent,

Two tedious days fince my destroyer went ;
I figh'd, I lov'd, I look'd, I long'd in vain,
And every moment was an age of pain;
No freaming tears could give my woes relief,
Tears, the poor refuge of a common grief:
The third a fever's burning heat exprefs'd
The potent fury of a flame fupprefs'd.
Vain was recourfe to tenderness of art,
Sorrow and shame were written on my

heart;

And wild diftraction let my tongue reveal The fatal fecret reafon would conceal.

Life from the great, the rich, the happy. Alies,

But grief's immortal, and it never dies 3

Elfe, why ye powers did I this ftroke fur vive?

Why am I fill in mifery alive?

A tender mother, to compaffion wrought,
The fatal caufe of my affliction fought;
Told him, in words that might a Nero melt,
The ftings her daughter in his abfence felt;
While from her eye the tear of pity ftole,
That fpoke the kind sensations of her foul.
But to her pleadings no regard was fhewn,
The wretch was callous as the frigid zone :
Then 'gainst her life her trembling hand she
bent,

Nor e'er return'd to tell me the event.
No longer worthy her esteem to claim,
She left me full of agony and shame.

Oh! thou to nature's vifitings unknown, From whom those evils took their rife alone, This tragic tale unfhaken who can hear, Nor pay the gen'rous tribute of a tear? Know that, when worldly artifice fball fail, To awful Heav'n's tribunal I'll appeal, Of joys eternal let thy foul despair, For clad in terrors I'll arraign thee there ; My bleeding mother fhall confront thy fight, And furies fnatch thee from the realms of light.

ADVICE, or moral Maxims."

T°

O God give glory, as he does come mand; Confider will ere aught you take in hand. Let your companions fill be worthy nien, And of your own perfections be not vain. Rather with others in opinion join, Than fondly think they should conform to thine.

All that's faid to you with attention hear; Aim not to make too much of wit appear. In converfation ever be fincere,

And ftrive to fuit it unto each man's fphere. In point of promife ufe not too much hafte,

But firmly flick to't, when it once is past.

Be courteous, affable, of gentle mind, And with no haughty airs receive mankind. Tho' not familiar, be in carriage free, Let nothing without thought decided be.

Love without int'reft, pardon without fear, Refpect to Nobles without cringing bear.

Carefully ftrive to gain the love of all; Shun the litigious bar, and lawyer's brawl.

Into the affairs of others do not pry, And to conceal your own with caution try. Lend with good grace, yet with discernment teo ;

Place your rewards but where you're fure they're due.

Whatever figure in the world you bear, Know your own force, and don't exceed your sphere.

On the unfortunate compaffion take; Beat with men's failings, don't your friend

F

forfake,

When

When griev'd, your forrow ftruggle to fub due,

And with too poignant rallery none pursue. Strive amongst friends to make contention ceafe;

Where difcord reigns, endeavour after peace. Reprove with mildness, without flatt'ry praife;

Receive a jeft, no noify laughter raise.

Judge of each perfon on his better fide,
And do not cenfure with too great a pride.
Upbraid nobody with a fervice done,
But keep that fecret in your breaft alone.
Reftrain your anger, check your boiling
blood:

Of perfons abfent nothing fay, but good;
Unless it be for this peculiar end,
That no fuch perfon fhould infnare
friend.

Be not ungrateful, to be fober chufe;
Play for diverfion, without paffion lofe.
To your poor debtor don't a tyrant be;
To him, and all men, fhew humanity.

your

Of nothing boaft; keep your own fecret well:

Tell no tales yourself, nor mind what others tell.

A FABLE.

From Fables for grown Gentlemen.

·A

Fox contriv'd, tho' lock'd and barr'd,
Contrivance was the fox's trade,

To fteal into a farmer's yard,

A la fourdine, by escalade;
With appetite wicked and loose,
Improv'd by travelling and art,
He fuck'd the blood out of a goose,

Ravish'd a hen, and broke her heart.
To put an end to thefe lewd courses,
Before the caitiff was aware,
Surrounding him with all his forces,
The farmer caught him in a fnare.
He ftudied till he crack'd his brains,
The writers of thofe times relate,
To find out penalties and pains,

To fuit his cruelty and hate;
Revenge will help you at a pinch,
E'en when your parts begin to fail.
To make Volpone die inch by inch,
He tied a fire-brand to his tail.
The fox ran ftraight to Hodge's corn,
And caus'd as great a conflagration,
As when Wilkes came and blew his horn,
That, like the last trump, rous'd the na-
tion :

Turn'd out of doors with an intention

To get him bafted well and roafted; But they pay'd dear for their invention, They got him only nicely toafted. With Bills of Rights to his tail tied,

With red-hot Humphry too he came, And more combustibles befide.

That fet all Brentford in a flame. The rain fpread, and made fuch hafte, For all the engines they employ'd;

The neighbouring towns were foon laid wafte, And Middlefex was quite deftroy'u

The flames reach'd London ; but anon The wind chop'd round, or London too hat gone.

Both thefe examples are complete ;

I wish fome folks would learn from hence To know that no revenge is (weet,

Without a little common sense.

The following is taken from two Pillars in a Grove which fands in the Centre of a Laby. rinth at a Nobleman's Seat in Surry. On the Top of each Pillar is a buman Skull, faid to belong to a former Lard and bis Lady, who were the Au bors of the following Lines, and who faw the Pillars erected in their Lifetime, and by their Defires their Skulls were placed there at a certain Number of Years after their Deceafe.

W

LORD's.

WHY ftart! the cafe is your's, or will be foon;

Some years perhaps, perhaps another moon! Life in its utmost (pan is ftill a breath,

And those who longest dream, must wake in death.

Like you, I once thought every blifs fecure; And gold, of every ill, the certain cure; "Till, fteep'd in forrows, and befieg'd with pain,

Too late! I found all earthly riches vain; Difeafe, with fcorn, threw back the fordid fee, And Death ftill anfwer'd, What is goid to

me,

Fame, titles, honours, next I vainly fought, And fools, obfequious, nurs'd the childish thought;

Gilded with brib'd applaufe, and purchas'd praise,

I built on endless grandeur, endless days;
But death awak'd me from a dream of pride,
And laid a prouder beggar by my fide.
Pleasure I courted, and obey'd my taste,
'The banquet fmil'd, and fmil'd the gay repast:
A loathfome carcafe was my conftant care,
And worlds were ranfaek'd-but for me to
fhare.

Go on, vain man! in luxury be firm;
Yet know, I feafted-but to feast a worm.
Already fure lefs terrible I feem,

And you, like me, can own that life's a

dream:

Whether that dream may boaft the longest date,

Farewell, remember-left you wake too late.

No mere, alas! that coral lip is feen,
Nor longer breathes the fragant gale between.
Torn from your mirrour! and behold in me,
At once, what thousands can't or dare not fee;
Unvarnish'd I the real truth impart,

Nor here am plac'd but to direct the heart;
Survey me well, ye fair ones, and believe,
The grave may terrify, but can't deceive.
On beauty, frailty's bafe, no more depend;
Here youth and pleasure, age and forrows,
end:

Here droops the mafk, here fhuts the final fcene,

Nor differs grave threefcore from gay fifteen; All prefs alike to that fame gaol-the tomb, Where wrinkled Laura fmiles at Chloe's bloom.

When coxcombs flatter, and when fools adore,

Learn here the lesson, to be vain no more ;'
Yet virtue ftill against decay can arm,
And even lend mortality a charm.

While the peafant, inactive, ftands shivering with cold,

As the bleak winds northerly blow; And the innocent Rocks run for cafe to the fold,

With their fleeces befprinkled with snow: In the yard when the cattle are fodder'd with straw,

And they fend forth their breath like a fteam;

And the neat-looking dairy-maid fees fhe muft thaw

Flakes of ice that she finds in the cream: When the fweet country maiden, as fresh as a rofe,

As the carelelly trips, often flides; And the ruftics laugh loud, if by falling the

shows

THERE is a charge of a very heinous nature, which has been often urged against the Profeffors of Phyfic, I mean infidelity and contempt of religion. I think the charge abfolutely falfe, and will venture to affert, that the most eminent of the faculty have been diftinguished for their regard to gion. I fhall only mention, as examples, Harvey, Sydenham, Arbuthnot, Boerhaave, Stahl, and Hoffman.-It is eafy, however, to fee whence this calumny has arifen. Men whofe minds have been enlarged by extenfive knowledge, who have been accuftomed to think and reafon upon all fubjects with a liberal and generous freedom, are not apt to become bigots to any fect or fyftem whatever. They can be teady to their own principles, without thinking ill of thofe who differ from them; but they are particularly impatient of the authority and controud of men who pretend to lord it over their confciences, and to dictate to them what they are to believe in every article where region is concerned. This freedom of fpirit,

this moderation and charity for those of different fentiments, have frequently been afcribed, by narrow-minded people, to secret infidelity, fcepticifin, or, at least, lukewannnefs in religion; while, at the fame time, fome men, who were fincere and devout Chriftians, exasperated by fuch reproaches, have expreffed themfelves fometimes in an unguarded manner, and thus given their enemies an apparent ground of clamour against them. This, I imagine, has been the real fource of that charge of infidelity fo often and fo unjustly brought against Physicians. In a neighbouring nation, where few people have been ufed to think or reafon with freedom on religion, and where, till of late, no man durft exprefs himself with freedom on the fubject, fome ingenious and fpirited writers have within thefe few years fhone forth, who, impatient to fhew their newly-acquired liberty, have attempted to fhake the foundations of all religion, natural as well as revealed. Lately emancipated from fuperftition, by a tranfition not unufual, they have plunged at

F 2

once

once into atheifm. It is happy for mankind, that thefe people have carried matters this length; because the evil muft very quickly cure itself. Mankind may have their religious opinions diverfified by various fupertitions; but religion is natural to the human mind, and every attempt to eradicate it is equally wicked and impotent. But fuppofing that Atheism came univerfally to prevail, together with the disbelief of a future ftate of existence, of the immortality of the foul, and, what has generally been thought intimately connected with it, of its immateriality, the duration of fuch fentiments would neceffarily be very fhort; because they would at once unhinge all the bonds of fociety, and produce a fcene of univerfal anarchy, wickedness, and defpair. Yet, forry I am to fay, that at prefent they are making a very alarming progrefs. Divefted of that uncouth, metaphyfical drefs, under which they long lay. conceated, the gloomy entertainment of a few reclufe men, void of fenfibility, and abftracted from the bufinefs of human life, they are now produced to the world, adorned by all the arts of eloquence, wit, and humour, and perfectly adapted to the capacities of petit-maitres and chambermaids. So far as they contain any argument, their futility has been demonftrated a thousand times over; but indirect hints, infinuations, and ribaldry are unanswerable. The method taken by the prefent patrons of infidelity to propagate their opinions is extremely dangerous. With a matchless effrontery they infinuate, that all who avow their belief in natural or revealed religion are either hypocrites or fools. This is attacking youth upon a very weak fide. A young man, of a high and liberal fpirit, diflains the idea of hypocrify; and, from an ill-judged pride, is afraid of what ever may fubject him to fo mean an imputation. Vanity, again, is the moft univerfally ruling paffion among mankind, especially among young people, who commonly dread contempt above every thing, and refent any reflection on the weakness and narrowness of their understandings much more than any imputation on their principles or morals. But I will venture to affirm, that men of the most enlarged, clear, and folid underftandings, who have acted in life with the greateft fpirit, dignity, and propriety, and who have been regarded as the most useful and amiable members of fociety, have never been the men who have openly infulted. or infidiously attempted to ridicule the principles of religion; but, on the contrary, have been its belt and wameft friends.-Medicine, of all profeffions, fhould be the leaft fufpected of leading to impiety. An intiinate acquaintance with the works of nature

elevates the mind to the most fublime conceptions of the fupreme Being, and at the fame time dilates the heart with the most pleafing profpects of Providence. The difficulties that muft neceffarily attend all deep inquiries into a fubject fo difproportionate to the hu man faculties, should not be fufpected to furprife a Phyf.cian, who, in his daily practice, is involved in perplexity and darkness, even in fubjects expofed to the examination of his fenfes. Yet fuch is the inconfiftency fometimes found in characters, that we find examples of men difputing the evidence of the moft interefting principles of religion, who, in the bufinefs of common life, betray a childish credulity; and who embrace, with the moft enthusiastic attachment, fuch theories as are the mere fportings and vagaries of a lively imagination.-But there are fome peculiar circumstances in the profeffion of a Phyfician, which fhould naturally difpofe him to look beyond the prefent fcene of things, and engage his heart on the fide of religion. He has many opportunities of feeing people, once the gay and the happy, funk in deep retired diftrefs; fometimes devoted to a certain, but painful and lingering death; fometimes ftruggling with bodily anguish, or the still fiercer tortures of a diffracted mind. Such afflictive fcenes, one should suppose, might foften any heart, not dead to every feeling of humanity, and make it reverence that religion, which alone can fupport the foul in the most complicated diftrelles; that religion which teaches to enjoy life with chearfulness, and to refign it with dignity. A Physician, who has the misfortune to be cut off from the happy prospect of futurity, if he has common good-nature, will conceal his fentiments from thofe under his charge, with as much care as he would preferve them from the infection of a mortal difeafe. Fortified with infenfibility, or ardent in the purfuits of bufinefs or pleasure, he may not feel in how forlorn and melancholy a fituation he himself is placed; but it is barbarous to deprive expiring nature of its laft fupport, and to blaft the only furviving comfort of those who have taken a laft farewell of every sublunary pleafure and connection. If motives of humaniry, and a regard to the peace and happiness of fociety, cannot reftrain a Phyfician from expreffing fentiments deftructive of religion or morals, it is vain to plead the obligations of politeness, and the decency of his profeffion. The most favourable conftruction we can put upon fuch a condu&t is to fuppofe, that it proceeds from an uncontroulable levity of mind, or an unbounde vanity, that forgets all the tics of morals, decency, and good-manners.