Soon after, he perceived the favourite fultana, who, before, was feated by his fide, enter with a bowl of poifon, which fhe compelled Aboran to drink; and, afterwards, married the fucceffor to his throne.

"HAPPY," faid Caloc, "is he, whom Providence has, by the angel of death, fnatched from guilt! from whom that power is with-held, which, if he had poffeffed, would have accumulated upon himself, yet greater mifery, than it could bring upon others."

"Ir is enough," cried Bozaldab; "I adore the infcrutable schemes of Omniscience!-From what dreadful evil has my fon been refcued, by a death, which I rafhly bewailed as unfortunate and premature! a death of innocence and peace, which has bleffed his memory upon earth, and tranfmitted his fpirit to the fkies!'

"CAST away the dagger," replied the heavenly meffenger," which thou waft preparing to plunge into thine own heart. Exchange complaint, for filence; and doubt, for adoration. Can a mortal look down, without giddiness and ftupefaction, into the vast abyss of eternal wifdom? Can a mind, that fees not infinitely, perfectly comprehend any thing, among an infinity of objects, mutually relative? Can the channels, which thou commandeft to be cut, to receive the annual inundations of the Nile, contain the waters of the ocean? Remember, that perfect happiness cannot be conferred on a creature; for, perfect happiness is an attribute, as incommunicable as perfect power and eternity."

THE angel, while he was fpeaking thus, ftretched out his pinions, to fly back to the Empyreum; and the flutter of his wings, was like the rufhing of a cataract.

XIV.

ADDRESS TO ART.

O

ART! thou diftinguishing attribute and honour of human kind! who art not only able to imitate nature in her graces, but even to adorn her with graces of thine own! Poffeffed of thee, the meaneft genius grows deferving, and has a juft demand for a portion of our esteem: devoid of thee, the brightest of our kind, lie loft and ufelefs, and are but poorly diftinguished from the moft defpicable and bafe. When we inhabited forefts in common with brutes, nor otherwife known from them, than by the figure of our fpecies, thou taughteft us to affert the fovereignty of our nature, and to affume that empire, for which providence intended us. Thousands of utilities owe their birth to thee; thousands of elegancies, pleasures and joys, without which, life itself, would be but an infipid poffeffion.

WIDE and extenfive is the reach of thy dominion. No element is there, either fo violent or fo fubtile, fo yielding or fo fluggish, as, by the powers of its nature, to be fuperior to thy direction. Thou dreadeft not the fierce impetuofity of fire, but compelleft its violence to be both obedient and ufeful. By it, thou fofteneft the stubborn tribe of minerals, fo as to be formed and moulded into fhapes innumerable. Hence weapons, armour, coin: and, previous to thefe and all other thy works and energies, hence all those various tools and inftruments, which impower thee to proceed to farther ends more excellent. Nor is the fubtile air lefs obedient to thy power; whether E 2

thou

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thou willeft it to be a minifter, to our pleasure, or utility. At thy command, it giveth birth to founds, which charm the foul with all the powers of harmony. Under thy inftruction, it moves the fhip over feas; while that yielding element, where, otherwise, we fink; even water itself, is, by thee, taught to bear us; the vaft ocean, to promote that intercourfe of nations, which ignorance would imagine it was destined to intercept. To fay how thy influence is feen on earth, would be to teach the meaneft what he knows already. Suffice it but to mention, fields of arable and pafture; lawns, and groves, and gardens, and plantations; cottages, villages, caftles, towns; palaces, temples, and fpacious cities.

NOR does thy empire end in fubjects thus inanimate. Its power alfo extends through the various race of animals; who, either patiently fubmit to become thy flaves, or are fure to find thee an irresistible foe. The faithful dog, the patient ox, the generous. horfe, and the mighty elephant, are content, all, to receive their inftructions from thee, and readily to lend their natural inftincts or ftrength, to perform thofe offices, which thy occafions call for. If there be found any fpecies, which are ferviceable when dead, thou fuggefteft the means to investigate and take them if any be fo favage as to refufe being tamed, or of natures fierce enough to venture an attack, thou teacheft us to fcorn their brutal rage, to meet, repel, purfue, and conquer.

SUCH, O art! is thy amazing influence, when thou art employed only on thefe inferior fubjects, on natures inanimate, or, at beft, irrational. But whenever thou chooseft a fubject more noble, and fettest to the cultivating of Mind itself, then 'tis thou becomest truly amiable and divine, the ever-flowing fource of

thofe

thofe fublimer beauties, of which, no fubject, but mind alone, is capable. Then 'tis thou art enabled to exhibit to mankind, the admired tribe of poets and orators; the facred train of patriots and heroes; the godlike lift of philofophers and legiflators; the forms of virtuous and equal polities, where private welfare is made the fame with public, where crowds themselves prove difinterested, and virtue is made a national and popular characteristic.

HAIL! facred fource of all thefe wonders! Thyfelf inftruct me, to praise thee worthily; thro' whom, whatever we do, is done with elegance and beauty; without whom, what we do, is ever graceless and deformed.-Venerable power! by what name shall I addrefs thee? Shall I call thee ornament of mind, or art thou more truly MIND itself! 'Tis MIND thou art, most perfect MIND: not rude, untaught; but fair, and polished: in fuch thou dwelleft; of fuch thou art the form; nor is it a thing more poffible, to fepárate thee from fuch, than it would be, to feparate thee from thy own existence.

XVI.

(1

SIR JOHN ST. AUBIN'S SPEECH FOR REPEALING THE SEPTENNIAL ACT.

09

MR. SPEAKER,

T

HE fubject of this debate, is of fuch importance, that I fhould be afhamed to return to my electors, without endeavouring, in the best manner I am able, to declare, publicly, the reasons, which induced me to give my moft ready affent to this queftion.

THE

E 3

THE people have an unquestionable right to frequent new parliaments, by ancient ufage; and this ufage has been confirmed by feveral laws, which have been progreffively made by our ancestors, as often as they found it neceffary to infist on this effential privilege.

PARLIAMENTS were, generally, annual; but never continued longer than three years, till the remarkable reign of Henry VIII. He, Sir, was a prince of unruly appetites, and of an arbitrary will he was impatient of every reftraint: the laws of God and main fell equally a facrifice, as they flood in the way of his avarice, or difappointed his ambition. He, therefore, introduced long parliaments, because he very well knew, they would become the proper inftruments of both; and what a flavish obedience they paid to all his measures, is fufficiently known.

If we come to the reign of Charles the Firft, we muft acknowledge him to be a prince of a contrary temper: he had, certainly, an innate love for religion and virtue. But here lay the misfortune-he was led from his natural difpofition, by fycophants and flatterers: they advised him, to neglect the calling of frequent new parliaments; and, therefore, by not taking the conftant fenfe of his people in what he did, he was worked up into fo high a notion of prerogative, that the commons, in order to reftrain it, obtained that independent fatal power, which, at laft, unhappily brought him to his most tragical end, and, at the fame time, fubverted the whole conftitution. And, I hope, we fhall learn this leffon from it, never to compliment the crown with any new or extravagant powers, nor to deny the people thofe rights, which, by ancient ufage, they are entitled to; but to preferve the juft and equal balance, from