< Then never murmur or repine; Strive in thy humble sphere to shine;

And, trust me, not Potosi's mide,

Nor king's regard,

Can give a bliss. o'ermatching thine,

A rustic Bard.

To give my counsels all in one, 'Thy tuneful flame still careful fan ; • Preserve the Dignity of Man,

With soul erect;

'And trust, the Universal Plan

Will all protect.

And wear thou this'-she solemn said, And bound the Holly round my head: The polish'd leaves, and berries red,

Did rustling play; And, like a passing thought, she fled In light away.

ADDRESS

TO THE UNCO GUID

OR

THE RIGIDLY RIGHTEOUS.

My son, these maxims make a rule,
And lump them ay thegither;
The Rigid Righteous is a fool,
The Rigid Wise anither :
The cleanest corn that e'er was dight
May hae some piles o' caff in ;
So ne'er a fellow-creature slight

For random fits o' daffin.

SOLOMON.-Eccles. ch. vii. ver. 16

I.

OYE wha are sae guid yoursel,

Sae pious and sae holy,

Ye've nought to do but mark and tell
Your neebour's faults and folly!
Whase life is like a weel-gaun mill,
Supply'd wi' store o' water,
The heapet happer's ebbing still,
And still the clap plays clatter.

II.

Hear me, ye venerable core,

As counsel for poor mortals,

That frequent pass douce Wisdom's door
For glaikit Folly's portals;

1, for their thoughtless, careless sakes, Would here propone defences,

Their donsie tricks, their black mistakes, Their failings and mischances.

III.

Ye see your state wi' theirs compar'd,
And shudder at the niffer,

But cast a moment's fair regard,
What maks the mighty differ;
Discount what scant occasion gave
That purity ye pride in,

And (what's aft mair than a' the lave)
Your better art o' hiding.

IV.

Think, when your castigated pulse
Gies now and then a wallop,
What ragings must his veins convulse,
That still eternal gallop:

Wi' wind and tide fair i̇' your tail,

Right on ye scud your sea-way;

But in the teeth o' baith to sail,
It maks an unco lee-way.

V.

See social life and glee sit down,
All joyous and unthinking,
Till, quite transmugrify'd, they're grown
Debauchery and drinking:

O would they stay to calculate

Th' eternal consequences:

Or your more dreaded hell to state,
D-mnation of expences!

VI.

Ye high, exalted, virtuous dames,
Ty'd up in godly laces,
Before ye gie poor frailty names,
Suppose a change o' cases;
A dear lov'd lad, convenience snug,
A treacherous inclination-
But, let me whisper i' your lug,
Ye're aiblins nae temptation.

VII.

Then gently scan your brother man,
Still gentler sister woman;

Tho' they may gang a kennin wrang,
To step aside is human :

One point must still be greatly dark,
The moving why they they do it: "

And just as lamely can ye mark,
How far perhaps they rue it.

VIII.

Who made the heart, 'tis He alone

Decidedly can try us.

He knows each chord-its various tone,
Each spring-its various bias:
Then at the balance let's be mute,

We never can adjust it;

What's done we partly may compute,

But know not what's resisted.

HAS auld K********* seen the Deil? Or great M*******+ thrawn his heel? Or R*******‡ again grown weel,

To preach an' read?

Na, waur than a'!' cries ilka chiel,
Tam Samson's dead!'

K********* lang may grunt an' grane,
An' sigh, an' sab, an' grect her lane,
An' cleed her bairns, man, wife, an' wean,
In mourning weed;

To death, she's dearly paid the kane,

Tam Samson's dead!

The brethren of the mystic level, May hing their head in woefu' bevel,

* When this worthy old sportsman went out last muirfowl season, he supposed it was to be, in Ossian's phrase, ⚫ the last of his fields;' and expressed an ardent wish to die and be buried in the muirs. On this hint the author composed his elegy and epitaph.

† A certain preacher, a great favourite with the million. Vide the Ordination, stanza II.

Another preacher, an equal favourite with the few, who was at that time ailing. For him see also the Ordination, stanza IX.