And the dark Winter of my dream,
Oppression's emblem well may seem;
For many a clime that meets our view
Will prove these varying symbols true.
Unhappy Spain! though nature pours
Wide wealth o'er thy enchanting shores,
Though richer fruits, or prouder coast,
Or purer skies, no realm may boast,
Yet moral midnight wraps the mind,
And Winter rules o'er human kind,
Bids his dark storms unpitying roll,
And famine blight the dwindled soul.
Far hence, where western suns decline,
Behold an infant empire shine,
Where Spring protects with florist's care Of peace and hope the blossoms fair, And liberty doth strike her lyre
From rock, and vale, and village spire,
Warning each free and valiant sire,
Nightly to teach his cradled son
The watch-word name of Washington.
Bright Albion! look from Ocean's breast,
In Summer's radiance richly drest,
Anointed land! where monarchs reign
Without the despot's scourge and chain,
Where, sleepless at their mighty helm,
The watchful pilots of thy realm
Allot to all the fair degree,
Not meanly tame, or madly free.
But oh, Italia! mark'd by fate,
So glorious, yet so desolate !
What vernal warmth can e'er reclaim
The sick'ning Autumn of thy fame?
Thy buried harvest who resume
From the deep garner of the tomb ?"
He ceased, for tears of anguish fell,
And hasting to his inmost cell,
O'er Rome, of earth the ancient queen,
Who on her ruin'd throne is seen
With hectic cheek, and withering eye,
In desolated majesty,
He mourn'd, till Memory's flowrets sigh'd,
And Hope's last, faint illusion died.
"HONOR thy father and thy mother," is the first commandment, with promise. The honor which children are required to give to their parents includes in it, love, reverence, obedience, and relief, if needed. From them, they have received their very existence, and consequently all the pleasures and enjoyments of life.
The occasion which demands from children the greatest tokens of respect and tenderness in their behaviour to their parents, is when they labor under infirmities of body or mind, and in the time of extreme old age.
"Me let the tender office long engage
To rock the cradle of declining age,
With lenient arts extend a parent's breath,
Make languor smile, and smooth the bed of death;
Explore the thought, explain the asking eye,
And keep awhile a parent from the sky."
UPON a time, a neighing Steed,
Who grazed among a numerous breed,
With mutiny had fired the train,
And spread dissension through the plain..
On matters that concern'd the state,
The council met in grand debate.
A Colt, whose eyeballs flamed with ire,
Elate with strength and youthful fire,
In haste stepp'd forth before the rest,
And thus the listening throng address'd:-
"Good gods! how abject is our race!
Condemn'd to slavery and disgrace.
Shall we our servitude retain,
Because our sires have borne the chain?
Consider, friends, your strength and might,
'Tis conquest to assert your right.
How cumb'rous is the gilded coach!
The pride of man is our reproach.
Were we design'd for daily toil,
To drag the ploughshare through the soil;
To sweat in harness through the road;
To groan beneath the carrier's load?
How feeble are the two-legg'd kind!
What force is in our nerves combined!
Shall, then, our nobler jaws submit
To foam and champ the galling bit?
Shall haughty man my back bestride?
Shall the sharp spur provoke my side?
Forbid it, heavens! reject the rein;
Your shame, your infamy disdain.
Let him the lion first control,
And still the tiger's famish'd growl!
Let us, like them, our freedom claim;
And make him tremble at our name."
A general nod approved the cause,
And all the circle neigh'd applause;
When, lo! with grave and solemn pace
A Steed advanced before the race,
With age and long experience wise ;
Around he casts his thoughtful eyes,
And, to the murmurs of the train,
Thus spake the Nestor of the plain :
"When I had health and strength, like you
The toils of servitude I knew.
Now grateful man rewards my pains,
And gives me all these wide domains.
At will I crop the year's increase;
My latter life is rest and peace.
I grant, to man we lend our pains,
And aid him to correct the plains.
But doth not he divide the care,
Through all the labors of the year?
How many thousand structures rise,
To fence us from inclement skies!
For us he bears the sultry day,
And stores up all our winter's hay,
He sows, he reaps the harvest's gain;
We share the toil and share the pain."
The tumult ceased. The colt submitted,
And like his ancestors was bitted.
Since every creature is decreed
To aid each other's mutual need;
Subinit with a contented mind,
To act the part by heaven assign'd.
"Friendship's the wine of life; but friendship new
Is neither strong nor sweet."
Without friendship, life has no charm. The only things which can render friendship sure and lasting, are virtue, purity of manners, an elevated soul, and perfect integrity of heart.
Lovers of virtue should have none but men of virtue for their friends; and on this point, the proof ought principally to turn; because where there is no virtue, there is no security that our honor, confidence and friendship will not be betrayed and abused. The necessary appendages of friendship are confidence and benevolence.
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