life for himself, as would have suited the condition of a private person of a moderate fortune. His table was neat but plain; his domestics few; his intercourse with them familiar; all the cumbersome and ceremonious forms of attendance on his person were entirely abolished, as destructive of that social ease and tranquillity, which he courted, in order to sooth the remainder of his days.

13. As the mildness of the climate, together with his deliverance from the burdens and cares of government, procured him, at first, a considerable remission from the acute pains with which he had been long tormented, he enjoyed, perhaps, more complete satisfaction in this humble solitude, than all his grandeur had ever yielded him.

14. The ambitious thoughts and projects which had so long engrossed and disquieted him, were quite effaced from his mind. Far from taking any part in the political transactions of the princes of Europe, he restrained his curiosity even from any enquiry concerning them; and he seemed to view the busy scene which he had abandoned, with all the contempt and indifference arising from his thorough experience of its vanity, as well as from the pleasing reflection of having disintangled himself from its cares.-DR. robertson,

H 2

PART II.

PIECES IN POETRY.

CHAPTER I.

SELECT SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS.

SECTION I.

SHORT AND EASY SENTENCES.

EDUCATION.

"TIS education forms the common mind;

Just as the twig is bent, the tree 's inclin’d.

CANDOUR.

With pleasure let us own our errors past;
And make each day a critic on the last.

REFLECTION.

A soul without reflection, like a pile
Without inhabitant, to ruin runs.

SECRET VIRTUE.

The private path, the secret acts of meu,
If noble, far the noblest of their lives.

NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE EASILY ATTAINED.

Our needful knowledge, like our needful food,
Unhedg'd, lies open in life's common field;
And bids all welcome to the vital feast.

DISAPPOINTMENT.

Disappointment lurks in many a prize,
As bees in flow'rs; and stings us with success.

VIRTUOUS ELEVATION.

The mind that would be happy, must be great;
Great in its wishes; great in its surveys.
Extended views a narrow mind extend.

NATURAL AND FANCIFUL LIFE.

Who lives to nature, rarely can be poor;
Who lives to fancy, never can be rich.

CHARITY.

In faith and hope the world will disagree;

But all mankind's concern is charity.

NOTE. In the first chapter the Compiler has exhibited a cons..... Ale variety of poetical construction, for the young reader's preparatory

exercise.

THE PRIZE OF VIRTUE.

What nothing earthly gives, or can destroy,
The soul's calm sunshine, and the heartfelt joy,
Is virtue's prize.

SENSE AND MODESTY CONNECTED.

Distrustful sense with modest caution speaks;
It still looks home, and short excursions makes ;
But rattling nonsense in full volleys breaks.

MORAL DISCIPLINE SALUTARY.

Heav'n gives us friends to bless the present scene,
Resumes them to prepare us for the next.
All evils natural, are moral goods;
All discipline, indulgence, on the whole.

PRESENT BLESSINGS UNDERVALUED.

Like birds, whose beauties languish, half conceal'd,
Till, mounted on the wing, their glossy plumes
Expanded shine with azure, green, and gold,
How blessings brighten as they take their flight!

HOPE.

Hope, of all passions, most befriends us here;
Passions of prouder name befriend us less.
Joy has her tears, and transport has her death;
Hope, like a cordial, innocent, though strong,
Man's heart at once inspirits and serenes.

HAPPINESS MODEST AND TRANQUIL.

-Never man was truly blest, But it composed and gave him such a cast As folly might mistake for want of joy; A cast unlike the triumph of the proud; A modest aspect and a smile at heart.

TRUE GREATNESS.

Who noble ends by noble means obtains,
Or, failing, smiles in exile or in chains,
Like good Aurelius let him reign, or bleed
Like Socrates, that man is great indeed.

THE TEAR OF SYMPATHY.

No radiant pearl, which crested fortune wears,
No gem, that twinkling hangs from beauty's ears,
Nor the bright stars, which night's blue arch adorn
Nor rising suns that gild the vernal morn,
Shine with such lustre, as the tear that breaks,
For others' woe, down Virtue's manly cheeks

SECTION II.

Verses in which the lines are of different length.

BLISS OF CELESTIAL ORIGIN.

RESTLESS mortals toil for naught;
Bliss in vain from earth is sought;
Bs, a native of the sky,

Never wanders. Mortals, try ;
There you cannot seek in vain ;
For to seek her is to gain.

THE PASSIONS.

The passions are a num'rous crowd,
Imperious, positive, and loud.
Curb these licentious sons of strife;
Hence chiefly rise the storms of life;
If they grow mutinous, and rave,
They are thy masters, thou their slave.

TRUST IN PROVIDENCE RECOMMENDED

'Tis Providence alone secures,
In ev'ry change, both mine and yours.
Safety consists not in escape
From dangers of a frightful shape;
An earthquake may be bid to spare
The man that's strangled by a hair.
Fate steals along with silent tread,
Found oft'nest in what least we dread;
Frowns in the storm with angry brow,
But in the sunshine strikes the blow.

EPITAPH.

How lov'd, how valu'd once, avails thee not,
To whom related, or by whom begot :

A heap of dust alone remains of thee;
Tis all thou art, and all the proud shall be.

FAME.

All fame is foreign, but of true desert;

Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart
One self-approving hour, whole years outweighs
Of stupid starers, and of loud huzzas ;
And more true joy Marcellus exil'd feels,
Than Cæsar with a senate at his heels.

VIRTUE THE GUARDIAN OF YOUTH.

Down the smooth stream of life the stripling darts, Gay as the morn; bright glows the vernal sky, Hope swells his sails, and passion steers his course Safe glides his little bark along the shore,

Where Virtue takes her stand: but if too far
He launches forth beyond discretion's mark,
Sudden the tempest scowls, the surges roar,
Blot his fair day, and plunge him in the deep.

SUN-RISE.

But yonder comes the powerful king of day,
Rejoicing in the east. The lessening cloud,
The kindling azure, and the mountain's brow,
Illum'd with fluid gold, his near approach
Betoken glad. Lo, now, apparent all

Aslant the dew-bright earth, and colour'd air,
He looks in boundless majesty abroad;
And sheds the shining day, that burnish'd plays
On rocks, and hills, and towers, and wand'ring streams
High gleaming from afar.

SELF-GOVERNMENT.

May I govern my passions with absolute sway;
And grow wiser and better as life wears away.

SHEPHERD.

On a mountain, stretch'd beneath a hoary willow,
Lay a shepherd swain, and view'd the rolling billow.

SECTION III.

Verses containing exclamations, interrogations, parentheses. &c.

COMPETENCE.

A COMPETENCE is all we can enjoy ;

Oh! be content, where heaven can give no more!

REFLECTION ESSENTIAL TO HAPPINESS.

Much joy not only speaks small happiness,
But happiness that shortly must expire.
Can joy unbottom'd in reflection, stand?
And, in a tempest, can reflection live?

FRIENDSHIP.

Can gold gain friendship? Impudence of hope!
As well mere man an angel might beget.
Love, and love only, is the loan for love
Lorenzo! pride repress; nor hope to find
A friend, but what has found a friend in thee.
All like the purchase; few the price will pay !
And this makes friends such miracles below.

PATIENCE.

Beware of desperate steps. The darkest day,
Live till to-morrow) will have pass'd away.