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and Diospolis, as being sacred to Jupiter. In the time of its splendour, it extended above twentythree miles; and, upon any emergency, could send into the field, by each of its hundred gates, twenty thousand fighting men, and two hundred chariots. Thebes was ruined by Cambyses, king of Persia.

277 A Seraph wing'd

285.

The Seraphim: each one had six wings. Isaiah, vi. 2.

Like Maia's sons he stood,

Mercury, the son of Jupiter and Maia: he is represented as being the messenger of the gods; and was the god of eloquence: is represented as a young man, with a cheerful countenance; with winged shoes and hat; holding in his hand a winged rod, bound about with two serpents.

339 In India, east or west,

The East Indies, in Asia. The West Indies are in America, from whence come our spices, &c. 340 In Pontus

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A kingdom of Asia Minor, bounded on the east by Colchis, west by the Halys, north by the Euxine Sea, and south by part of Armenia.

or the Punic coast.

The ancient Carthage, at present Tunis ; a part of Africa, on the Mediterranean Sea. 341 Alcinous reign'd

Alcinous was king of Phœcia, an Island of the Ionian Sea, anciently called Scheria, afterwards Corcyra. He kindly entertained Ulysses, who had been shipwrecked on his coast. The gardens

of Alcinous, and his love of Agriculture, have been greatly celebrated.

Close to the gates a spacious garden lies,
From stones defended and inclement skies.
Four acres was th' allotted space of ground,
Fenc'd with a green enclosure all around;
Tall thriving trees confess'd the fruitful mould;
The redd'ning apple ripens here to gold;
Here the blue fig with luscious juice o'erflows,
With deeper red the full pomegranate glows,
The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear,
And verdant olives flourish round the year.
The balmy spirit of the western gale
Eternal breathes on fruits, untaught to fail;
Each dropping pear a foll'wing year supplies;
On apples, apples; figs on figs arise:
The same mild season gives the bloom to blow,
The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow.
Here order'd vines in equal ranks appear,
With all the united labours of a year;
Some to unload the fertile branches run,
Some dry the black'ning clusters in the sun,
Others to tread the liquid harvest join,
The groaning presses foam with floods of wine.
Here are the vines in early flow'r descry'd,
Here grapes discolour'd on the sunny side,
And there in autumn's richest purple dy❜d.
Beds of all various herbs, for ever green,

In beauteous order terminate the scene.
Two plenteous fountains the whole prospect
crown'd;

This thro' the gardens leads its streams around,

Visits each plant, and waters all the ground;

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While that in pipes beneath the palace flows,
And thence its current on the town bestows;
To various use their various streams they bring,
The people one, and one supplied the king.
Such were the glories which the gods ordain'd,
To grace Alcinous and his happy land. HOMER.
till this meridian heat
Meridian, from the Latin word meridies, i. e.
mid-day.

that like Pomona's arbour smil'd Pomona, a nymph at Rome, who was supposed to preside over gardens, and to be the goddess over all sorts of fruit trees. She had a temple at Rome, and a regular priestess called Flamen Pomonolis, who offered sacrifices to her divinity, for the preservation of fruit. She was generally represented as sitting on a basket full of flowers and fruit; and holding a bough in one hand, and apples in the other.

381 Than wood-nymph.

381

Certain female deities among the ancients; some presided over woods, and were called Dryades and Hamadryades; others presided over mountains, and were called Oreades: some presided over hills and dales, and were called Napone.

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or the fairest goddess feign'd

Of three that in Mount Ida

Ida, a mountain in the Island of Crete. At the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the goddess of discord, who had not been invited to partake of the entertainment, shewed her displeasure, by throwing, into the assembly of the gods, a golden

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apple, on which was written: To the fairest. All the goddesses claimed it as their own: the contention was at first general; but at last only three, Juno, Venus and Minerva, wished to dispute their respective rights to beauty. The gods, willing not to become arbiters in an affair of so tender and delicate a nature, appointed Paris to adjudge the prize of beauty to the fairest: the goddesses appeared before their judge, without covering or ornament, and each tried to gain the attention of Paris. Juno promised him a kingdom; Minerva, military glory; and Venus, the fairest woman in the world for his wife. After he had heard their several claims and promises, Paris adjudged the prize to Venus, and gave her the golden apple, as the goddess of beauty.

Bestowed,

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And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured. Luke, i. 28. With exemplary meekness and lowliness of spirit she confesses, how unmerited are the extraordinary blessing conferred upon her; filled with faith, love, hope, joy and gratitude, she adores and magnifies the power, goodness and mercy of the Almighty, saying; "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Saviour." Luke, i. 46, 47.

398 These bounties, which our Nourisher, from whom All perfect good,

Good when he gives, supremely good,

Nor less when he denies;

E'en crosses, from his sovereign hand,

Are blessings in disguise.

"Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above; and cometh down from the Father of Lights. James, i. 17.

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440 Of sooty coal th' empyric alchymist

A quack; one that teaches the transmutation of metal, and the making the philosophers' stone, according to their cant.

501 If ye be found obedient,

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1 Peter, iv. 17. Therefore, imagine that none of thy actions are absolutely indifferent. Keep a watch upon them all; do, as far as possible, whatever thou dost, with a clear consciousness of thyself, with reflection, with deliberation. Let thy duty, the true end of thy creation; thy dignity, thy relative situations to God and man, be ever present to thy mind: so wilt thou, without becoming anxious and formal, no less quickly than surely, chuse, think, speak, do what is right and fit, and, in every case, the best. Let, therefore, the superior life hereafter, and the influence of thy present actions upon it, be continually before thy eyes. Consider, judge, chuse, reject, enjoy, bear, forbear, do, omit all with reference to the state of retribution that awaits thee. Say to thyself: That pleasure, that satisfaction, which I now purchase with the violation of my duty, will then be loss, irretrievable loss; the source of pain and sorrow to me. That advantage, that pleasure, that satisfaction, on the other hand, which I sacrifice to duty and to

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