degree of difcredit and infamy upon all who converse with them. But as you may fometimes, by accident, fall into fuch a company, take great care that no complaifance, no good-humour, no warmth of feftal mirth, ever make you feem even to acquiefce, much less approve or applaud, fuch infamous doctrines. On the other hand, do not debate, nor enter into serious argument, upon a subject so much below it; but content yourself with telling them, that you know they are not ferious; that you have a much better opinion of them, than they would have you have; and that you are very fure they would not practise the doctrine they preach. But put your private mark upon them, and fhun them for ever afterwards.
There is nothing fo delicate as a man's moral character, and nothing which it is his intereft so much to preferve pure. Should he be fufpected of injustice, malignity, perfidy, lying, &c. all the parts and knowledge in the world will never procure him esteem, friendship, or respect. I therefore recommend to you a most scrupulous tenderness for your moral character, and the utmost care not to fay or do the leaft thing that may, ever so slightly, taint it. Show yourself, upon all occafions, the friend, but not the bully of virtue. Even Colonel Charteris (who was the most notorious blasted rafcal in the world, and who had, by all forts of crimes, amaffed immenfe wealth) fenfible of the difadvantage of a bad character, was once heard to say, that,
though he would not give one farthing for virtue, " he would give ten thousand pounds for a character; "because he should get an hundred thousand pounds "by it." Is it poffible, then, that an honest man can neglect what a wife rogue would purchase so dear?
There is one of the vices above mentioned into which people of good education, and, in the main, of good principles, fometimes fall, from mistaken notions of fkill, dexterity, and felf-defence; I mean lying; though it is infeparably attended with more infamy and
lofs than any other. But I have before given you my fentiments very freely on this fubject; I fhall, therefore, conclude this head with intreating you to be fcrupuloufly jealous of the purity of your moral character, keep it immaculate, unblemished, unfullied; and it will be unfufpected. Defamation and calumny never attack where there is no weak place; they magnify, but they
Messiah.-A sacred Eclogue.
E nymphs of Solyma! begin the song:
To heav'nly themes fublimer strains belong.
The moffy fountains, and the fylvan shades,
The dreams of Pindus, and th' Aonian maids,
Delight no more-Oh Thou my voice inspire
Who touch'd Ifaiah's hallow'd lips with fire!
Rapt into future times, the Bard begun :
A Virgin fhall conceive, a virgin bear a Son!
From Jeffe's root behold a branch arise,
Whofe facred flow'r with fragrance fills the skies;
Th' æthereal spirit o'er its leaves shall move,
And on its top defcend the myftic Dove.
Ye heavn's! from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in foft filence fhed the kindly show'r!
The fick and weak the healing plant fhall aid,
From storms a shelter, and from heat a fhade.
All crimes fhall ceafe, and ancient fraud fhall fail;
Returning Juftice lift aloft her scale;
Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
And white-rob'd Innocence from heav'n descend,
Swift fly the years, and rise th' expected morn!
Oh fpring to light, aufpicious Babe! be born.
See Nature, haftes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incenfe of the breathing Spring:
See lofty Lebanon his head advance,
See nodding forefts on the mountains dance :
See fpicy clouds from lowly Sharon rife,
And Carmel's flow'ry top perfume the skies!
Hark! a glad voice the lonely desert chears;
Prepare the way! a God, a God appears!
A God, a God! the vocal hills reply,
The rocks proclaim the approaching Deity.
Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies!
Sink down, ye mountains! and ye vallies, rise !
With heads declin'd, ye cedars, homage pay!
Be fmooth, ye rocks! ye rapid floods, give way!
The Saviour comes, by ancient bards foretold:
Hear him, ye deaf; and all ye blind, behold!
He from thick films fhall purge the visual ray,
And on the fightlefs eye-ball pour the day:
'Tis he th' obftructed paths of found fhall clear,
And bid new mufic charm th' unfolding ear:
The dumb fhall fing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap exulting like the bounding ree.
No figh, no murmur, the wide world fhall hear,
From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear.
In adamantine chains fhall Death be bound,
And Hall's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good fhepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks fresheft pasture, and the pureft air,
Explores the loft, the wand'ring sheep directs,
By day o'erfees them, and by night protects,
The tender lambs he raifes in his arms,
Feeds from his hand, and in his bofom warms;
Thus fhall mankind his guardian care engage,
The promis'd father of the future age.
No more fhall nation against nation rife,
Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes,
Nor fields with gleaming fteel be cover'd o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But useless lances into fcythes fhall bend,
And the broad faulchion in a plowfhare end.
Then palaces fhall rife; the joyful fon
Shall Anifh what his fhort-liv'd fire begun;
Their vines a fhadow to their race fhall yield,
And the fame hand that fow'd shall reap the field.
The fwain in barren deferts with fuprise
Sees lilies fpring, and fudden verdure rise;
And starts amidst the thirsty wilds to hear
New falls of water marm'ring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,
The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods.
Waste fandy valleys, once perplex'd with thom,
The fpiry fir and shapely box adorn :
To leaflefs fhrubs the flow'ry palms fucceed,
And od❜rous myrtles to the noisome weed.
The lambs with wolves fhall graze the verdant mead,
And boys in flow'ry bands the tiger lead;
The fteer and lion at one crib fhall meet,
And harmless serpents lick the pilgrim's feet.
The smiling infant in his hand shall take
The crefted bafilifk and speckled snake,
Pleas'd the green luftre of their scales furvey,
And with their forky tongues fhall innocently play.
Rife, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rise !
Exalt thy tow'ry head, and lift thy eyes!
See a long race thy fpacious courts adorn;
See future fons and daughters yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on every fide arife,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
See barb'rous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend;
See thy bright altars throng'd with proftrate kings,
And heap'd with products of Sabæan springs!
For thee Idumea's fpicy forests blow,
And feeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See Heav'n its fparkling portals wide difplay,
And break upon thee in a flood of day!
No more the rising sun shall gild the morn,
Nor ev'ning Cynthia fill her filver horn;
But loft, diffolv'd in thy fuperior rays,
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze
O'erflow thy courts, the light himself fhall fhine
Reveal'd, and God's eternal day be thine!
The feas fhall waste, the skies in smoke decay,
Rocks fall to duft, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd his word, his faving pow'r remains;
Thy realm for ever lafts, thy own MESSIAH reigns!
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