"Can I fuch matchlefs Slight withstand?
"How Practice hath, improv'd your Hand!
"But now and then I cheat the Throng;
"You ev'ry Day, and all Day long.

D

LESSON XII.

On MUSIC.

Efcend, ye Nine! defcend and fing;
The breathing Inftruments infpire,
Wake into Voice each filent String,
And fweep the founding Lyre!
In a fadly-pleafing Strain

Let the warbling Lute complain:
Let the loud Trumpet found,
Till the Roofs all around

The fhrill Echoes rebound:

While in more lengthen'd Notes and flow,
The deep, majeftic, folemn Organs blow.
Hark! the Numbers foft and clear,

Gently fteal upon the Ear;

Now louder, and yet louder rife,

And fill with spreading Sounds the Skies;
Exulting in Triumph now fwell the bold Notes,
In broken Air, trembling, the wild Mufic floats;
Till by Degrees, remote and small,

The Strains decay,

And melt away,
In a dying, dying Fall.

LESSON XIII.

The RURAL LIFE.

O

H knew he but his Happiness, of Men

The happiest he! who far from public Rage,

Deep

Deep in the Vale, with a choice Few retir'd,
Drinks the pure Pleasures of the Rural Life.
What tho' the Dome be wanting, whofe proud Gate
Each Morning vomits out the fneaking Croud
Of Flatterers falfe, and in their Turns abus'd?
(Vile Intercourse!) What tho' the glitt❜ring Robe
Of every Hue reflected Light can give,

Or floating loose, or stiff with mazy Gold,
(The Pride and Gaze of Fools!) opprefs him not?
What tho' from utmoft Land and Sea purvey'd,
For him each rarer tributary Life

Bleeds not, and his infatiate Table heaps
With Luxury and Death? What tho' his Bowl
Flames not with coftly Juice; nor funk in Beds,
Oft of gay Care, he toffes out the Night,
Or melts the thoughtless Hours in idle State?
What tho' he knows not those fantastic Joys,
That ftill amuse the Wanton, ftill deceive;
A Face of Pleasure, but a Heart of Pain;
Their hollow Moments undelighted all ?
Sure Peace is his; a folid Life, eftrang'd
To Difappointment, and fallacious Hope:
Rich in Content, in Nature's Bounty rich,
In Herbs and Fruits; whatever greens the Spring,
When Heaven defcends in Show'rs; or bends the Bough,
When Summer reddens, and when Autumn beams;
Or in the wintry Glebe whatever lies

Conceal'd, and fattens with the richest Sap:
These are not wanting; nor the milky Drove,
Luxuriant, fpread o'er all the lowing Vale;
Nor bleating Mountains; nor the Chide of Streams,
And Hum of Bees inviting Sleep fincere
Into the guiltless Breaft, beneath the Shade,
Or thrown at large amid the fragrant Hay:
Nor aught befide of Profpect, Grove, or Song,
Dim Grottos, gleaming Lakes, and Fountains clear,
Here too dwells fimple Truth; plain Innocence
Unfully'd Beauty; Sound unbroken Youth,
Patient of Labour, with a Little pleas'd;
Health ever-blooming; unambitious Toil;
Calm Contemplation, and poetic Eafe.

LESSON

LESSON XIV.

The Morning HYMN of ADAM and EV E.

T

HESE are thy glorious Works, Parent of Good!
Almighty! Thine this univerfal Frame,

Thus wondrous fair; Thy felf how wond'rous then!
Unfpeakable! who fitt'ft above these Heav'ns,
To us invifible, or dimly feen

In these thy loweft Works: yet these declare
Thy Goodness beyond Thought, and Pow'r divine.
Speak ye who beft can tell, ye Sons of Light,
Angels! for ye behold him, and with Songs,
And choral Symphonies, Day without Night,
Circle his Throne rejoicing; ye in Heav'n :
On Earth join all ye Creatures to extoll
Him first, Him last, Him midst, and without End.
Faireft of Stars! laft in the Train of Night,
If better thou belong not to the Dawn,

Sure Pledge of Day, that crown'ft the fmiling Morn
With thy bright Circlet, praife Him in thy Sphere
While Day arifes, that fweet Hour of Prime.
Thou Sun, of this great World both Eye and Soul,
Acknowledge him thy Greater; found His Praise
In thy eternal Course, both when thou climb'st,
And when high Noon haft gain'd, and when thou fall'ft.
Moon! that now meets the orient Sun, now fly'ft
With the fix'd Stars, fix'd in their Orb that flies;
And ye

five other wand'ring Fires! that move

In myftic Dance not without Song, refound
His Praife, who out of Darkness call'd up Light.
Air, and ye Elements! the eldest Birth

Of Nature's Womb, that in Quaternion run
Perpetual Circle multiform; and mix,

And nourish all Things: let your ceafelefs Change
Vary to our great Maker still new Praise.
Ye Mifts and Exhalations! that now raife
From Hill, or fteaming Lake, dufky, or grey,
Till the Sun paint your fleecy Skirts with Gold,
In Honour to the World's great Author rife:
Whether to deck with Clouds th' uncolour'd Sky,
Or wet the thirfty Earth with falling Show'rs,

Rifing,

Rifing, or falling, ftill advance His Praise.

His Praife, ye Winds! that from four Quarters blow,
Breathe foft, or loud; and wave your Tops, ye Pines!
With every Plant, in Sign of Worship, wave.
Fountains and ye that warble, as ye flow,
Melodious Murmurs! warbling, tune his Praife!
Join Voices, all ye living Souls! ye Birds,
That finging up to Heaven-gate ascend,

Bear on your Wings, and on your Notes, His Praise!
Ye that in Waters glide, and ye that walk
The Earth, and stately tread, or lowly creep!
Witness if I be filent, Morn or Even,

To Hill, or Valley, Fountain, or fresh Shade,
Made vocal by my Song, and taught His Praise.
Hail univerfal Lord! be bounteous ftill
To give us only Good: and if the Night
Have gather'd aught of Evil, or conceal'd,
Difperfe it, as now Light difpels the Dark!

IN

SECT. II. On SPEAKING.

'N these few Leffons which I have felected for the Improvement of your Reading, I have endeavour'd as much as was poffible to chufe fuch as contain good and useful Sentiments, and at the fame time require many different Manners of Reading, as in the Study and Practice of them we have obferv'd. I now proceed to lay before you some Lef fons for your Improvement in Speaking, to which a diftinct and proper Manner of Reading is the beft Preparative. I thought it beft to take the Speeches I would have you make ufe of from the Roman Hiftory; as it is of all other Hiftories the moft entertaining, the moft interefting, and the moft useful and I have chofen to felect thofe Speeches from Mr. Hooke, as his Stile is generally allow'd to be more pure and elegant than any other Roman History in our Language. To each Speech is prefix'd a fhort Account of the Occafion on which it was made, which will enable you to enter the better into the Sense and Meaning of it, and into the Spirit and Manner in which it ought to be spoke. These short Arguments fhould always be read to thofe who are to hear you, before you begin to speak.

2

LESSONS

Romulus and Remus being fent by their Grandfather Numitor from Alba, at the Head of a Colony, to feek a new Settlement, quarrell'd about the Choice of a Spot where they fhould fix, and build them a City; Romulus chufing Mount Palatine, and Remus Mount Aventine. Remus is faid to have loft his Life in this Difpute. The City was therefore built on Mount Palatine, and, in Compliment to its Founder, called Rome. As Romulus had not taken upon him the chief Command of the Colony for any longer Time than while the City was building, he, as foon as the Work was finish'd, fubmitted the Form of its future Government to the Choice of the People, and calling the Citizens together, harangu'd them in Words to this Effect.

F all the Strength of Cities lay in the Height of their Ramparts,

have great Reason to be in Fear for that which we have now built. Are there in Reality any Walls too high to be scaled by a valiant Enemy? And of what Use are Ramparts in inteftine Divifions? They may ferve for a Defence against fudden Incurfions from Abroad; but it is by Courage and Prudence chiefly, that the Invafions of Foreign Enemies are repelled; and by Unanimity, Sobriety, and Juftice, that Domestic Seditions are prevented. Cities fortified by the strongest Bulwarks, have been often seen to yield to Force from without, or to Tumults from within. An exact mili→

Rome, properly fpeaking, fays Mr. Hooke, was at first but a very forry Village, whereof even the principal Inhabitants follow'd their own Ploughs; and until it was rebuilt, after the burning of it by the Gauls, did not deferve the Name of a City. Such were the Beginnings of the Capital of the World!

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