The Mirrour — Concord, N.H., 1794-05-19 00:00:00, page 4

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SEAT OF THi MUSES.
FOR THE MIRROUR.,
MR. RUSSELL,;
Please to give the following lines a place in
your ufeful Mirrour, and you will ob
lige a friend to the paper. iambs.
LINES on the SPRING.
HAPPY tfa bard, who can indulgent,fing
Th' unnumber'd beauties of the verdant Spring;
When mountains green lift up their beads on bi,,
And birds melodious charm the lifeningjky.
'Tis then the air,jalubrious and kind.
Breathes not contamination on the mind;
And cleans'd by winter from tbe fumes of death,
' Thefofering zephyrs clarify our breath.
Then vivid verdure o'er the plain is spread,
Arid balm, dross upon the earth are feed.
And, totient of fatigue, the labouring swain
is fill'd with hope, and sows bisfield With grain.
All-parent earth the Scatter'd corn receives,
And bringsfortbfalks adorndwith verdant leaves
The earth profufe with herbs is cover'd green,-
To case the phthific, or to cure tbe Jpleen.
Oft, when Aurora in her faffion roefl
Diffafes balmy light, and from tbe weft
Dis pels tbe lingering Jhades ; I walk with joy,
Down to tbe neighbouring grove ; where birds,
(tbo' coy,
Diffufe their notes dijeordant o'er tbefald,
From pendant branches, where tbe,Jing conceal'd. .
But here, 'midft nature's charms, an oak Ifee,
With top half dead, which seems to fay to me,
In language mute, " conquer'd b, time fond youth,
You must theft pleasures leave." ' Undoubted truth
You hint ;' I soon reply'd, ' but that's no reason,
Why I ora, not withjo, indulge this feafon.'
May io, 1794.'
Miscellany.
There it no Ha„ine/j quitbout Virtue.
„ [Continued^
IF one could but fee the mind of a
good man, as it is illustrated with
virtue ; the beauty and the majesty of
it, which is a dignity not so much as
to be thought of, without ! ove, and
veneration ; would not a man bless
himfelf at the fight of such an objed,
to,tthe encounter of some fupernao
ural pote? A power so miraculous
UftM " * kind of charm upon the
fouls of those that are truly affeded
with it. There is so wonderful a grace
and authority in it, that even the worst
of men approve it, and fee up for the
reputation of being accounted virtu
ous themselves. They covet the
fruit indeed, and the profit of wicked
fyefs, but they hate, and are ashamed
of the imputation of it. It is by an
tympreffion of nature, that all men
have a reverence for virtue : They
know it, and they have a refpea for
6, chough they do not pradife it :
N a y, Mrthe countenance of their ve
'U^ mifeal it virtue.
Their injuries they call benefits, and
expe& a man should thank them for
doing him a tyfchief ; they cover
their most & notorious iniquities with a
pretext of justice. He that robs upon
the highfaghad rather find his booty
than force it, Ask any of them that
live upon rapine, fraud, oppreflion, if
not rather enjoy a fortune
honestly gotten, and their consciences
ffm&fuffer them to deny it. Men
are vicious only for the profit of vil
lainy •, for at the fame time that they
commit it, they condemn it. Nay, so
powerful is virtue, and so gracious is
providence, tyfyffifa ta a
tight set up within him for a guide ,
, which we do all of u$ both fee and
;ackoowledge, though we fa not pur
fee it. This is it |ta makes the pris
oner upon the torture happter than
the executioner, and fickoefs better
fan health, if we bear # without
wimldihcy or reDining • This is ft that
overcomes ill fortune^ moderates
^ and tte other%ithin equal coffin|X
.f both. Itunlike fire) all so
into itfeif ; our anions,abd our friend
ships are tinaured with it ; and what
ever it touches, becomes amiable. —
That which is fail and mortal, rifea,
and falls, grows, wastes, and varies
from itfeif ; but the state of things
divine is al ways the fame : And so is
virtue, let the matter be what it will.
It is never the worse for the difficulty
of the action, nor the better for the
eafioefs ofiu It is the fame in a
rich man, as in a poor; in a sickly
man, as in a found ; in a strong, as in
a weak : The virtue of the besieged
is as great as that of the befiegers,—
There are some virtues, I confefs,
which a good man cannot be with
out, and yet he had rather have no
occasion to employ them. If there*
were any difference, I should prefer
the virtues of patience before those of
pleasure : For it is braver to break
through difficulties, than to temper
our delights; But, though the fub
jed of virtue may possibly be agaiaft
nature, as to be burnt or wounded ;
yet the virtue hfelf of an invincible
patience is according to nature. We
may seem perhaps to promise more
than human nature is able to perform ;
but we speak with a refpea to the
mind, and not to the body.
If a man does not live up to his
own rules, it is fomethiog yet to have
virtuous meditations, and good pur
poses ; even without anting : It is
very generous, the very adventure of
being good, and the bare proposal of
an eminent course of life, though be
yond the force of human frailty to
accomplish. There is something of
honour yet in the miscarriage ; nay,
in the naked contemplation of it:l
would receive my own death with as
little trouble, as I would hear of an
other man's ; I would bear the fame
mind, whether I be rich or poor,
whether I get or lose in the world ;
what I have, 1 will not either sordid
ly spare, or prodigally fquaoder away ;
and I will reckon upon benefits %|I
placed, as the faireft part of my pbf
feffions : Not valuing them by num
ber or weight, but by the profit and ,
esteem of the receiver ; accounting
myfelf never the poorer for that which
I give to a worthy perform What I
do shall be done for conscience, not
ostentation. I will eat and drink, not,
to gratify my palate, or only to fill
and empty, but to fatisfy nature: I
will be chearful to my friends, mild
and placable to my enemies: I will
prevent an honest request, if I can
for fee it, and I will grant it without
asking : I will look upon the whole
world as my country, and upon the
Gods, both as the witnesses and the
judges of words and deeds, I will
live and die with this testimony, That
I loved, good, students and a good
conscience ; that I never invaded an
other man's liberty, and that I pre
ferred my own. I will govern my
life, and my thoughts, as if the whole
world were to fee the one, and to read
the other ; for, What does it feif,,
to make at, thing a fecrct to m, neigh
bour, when to God (who is the search
er of our hearts) all out privacies art
open.
Virtue is divided into two parts,
contemplation and adion. The one
is delivered b, institution, the other
by admonition : One part of virtue
tonfifts in discipline; the other in ex
etcife ; for we must firft learn, and
then praftife. The sooner we begin
to apply burfelves to it, and the more
haste we make, the longer (hall we
enjoy the comforts of a rectified mind,
nay, we have the fruition of it in eve
ry a^ of formingit ; but it is anoth
ef fort of delights,! must confer,
that arises from the contemplation of
a foul, which is advanced into the
I possession of wi@dm and virtue. If
it was so great a comfort to us, to
pass from the fubjedion of our child
hood into a state of liberty, and busi
ness; how much greater will it be,
when we come to cast off the boyilh
levity of our minds, and range our
selves among the philosophers.? We
are past our minority, it is true, but
not our indiscretions ; and, which is
yet worse, we have the authority of
seniors, agd the weaknesses of chil
dren ; (I might have Aid of infants,
for every little thing frights the one,
and every trivial fancy the other.)
Whoever studies this point well, will
find, that many things are the left to
be feared, the more terrible they ap
pear. To think any thing good that
is not honest, were to reproach provi
dence ; for good men buffer incon
veniencies ; but virtue like the fun
goes on still with her work, let the air
be never so cloudy, and finilhes her
course ; extinguishing likewise al! oth
er fp!endors, and oppositions ; inso
much that calamity is no more to a
virtuous mind, chan a shower into foe
sea. That which is right, is not to be
valued by quantity, number, or time ;
a life of a day may be as honest as a
life .of an hundred years ; but yet
virtue in one man may have a larger
field to shew itfeif in, than in another.
One man perhaps may be in a ftarion
to administer unto cities and king
doms ; to contrive good laws, create
friendfllips, and do beneficial offices
to mankind : It is another man's for
tune to be ftriitned by poverty, or put
out of the way by banishment; and
yet the latter may be as virtuous as
the former ; and may have as great !
mind, as exa& a prudence, as inviola
ble a justice, and as large a knowledge
of things both divine and human ;
without which, a mao cannot be hap
py? For virtue is open to all ; as
well to servants and exiles as to princ
es: It is profitable to the world, and
to itfeif, at all diftaneef, and in all
conditions ; and there is no difficulty
can excuse a man from the exercise of
it ; and it is only to be found in a
, wife mao, though there may be some
faint resemblances of it in the com
' mon people. The Stoicks hold all
virtues to be equal ; but yet there is
a great variety in the matter they have
, to work upon, according as it is larg
er or narrower ; il!uftribui or tefs no
ble; of more or left extent ; as all
good men are equal ; that is to fay,
as they are good ; but yet one may
be young, another old ; one may be
rich, another poor ; one eminent and
powerful, another unknown and ob
scure. There are many things which
have little or no grace in themselves,
and yet arG made glorious and re
markable by virtue. Nothing can be
good which gives neither greatness
nor security to the mind ; but on the
contrary, infeds it with insolence, ar
rogance, and tumour: Nor does vir
tue dwell upoq,the tip of the tongue,
but in the temple of the purified heart.
He that depends upon any other
good, becomes covetous of life, and
what belongs to it ; which exposes a
man to appetites that are vast, uolim
ited and iotollerable. Virtue is free,
and indefatigable, and accompanied
with concord and gracefulnefs :—
Whereas pleasure i, mean, servile,
transitory, tiresome, and sickly, and
scarcely outlives the,tafting of it : It
is the good of the belly, and not of
the man, & only the felicity of brutes.
Who does not know that foo|s enjoy 1
their pleasures, and that there is great
variety in the entertainments of wick
edness ? Nay, the mind itfeif has its
as the body ; as felf-con
ceit, pride, garrulity, lazioefs, and the
abusive wittftening every thing
I into ridicule , whereas virtue weighs
all this, and correasit It is the know
ledge both of others and of itfeif ; it
is to be learned from itfeif ; and, the
very will itfeif is to be taught: Which
will cannot be right, unteft the whole
habit of the mind be right, from
whence the will comes. It is by the
impulse of virtue that we love virtue,
so that the very way to virtue lier by
virtue, which takes in alfogat a vie%
the laws of huntan life. j
(To bo continued.);
WILD DEER
Q YT/ILL cover dft&
VV ft* 61 ' rftht jub*
1 Jeriber, this season, for nine,
Ljhillings a leap, three dol
.'4"''' t b e /a°"'° r f^
dollars to wdr+arit a foal.
Wild Deer @afull blooded
Horse, a bright bay colour, black mans, tail, and
kgs--and is sixteen bands high.
^He is the Hvrfe tody own*
ed by Me. Partridge, trader, of this town —ana
is eftumidtbe be, horje ever owned in this part of
tbe country ,for his firmnejs, good con,station, and
deportment,—and gets tbe befrof celts.
JOHN BATCHELDER.
Concord, Maty §, 1794°'"
Dunbarton.:
PUBLIC nortce is hereby given
to all concerned. That tbe proprietors meet
ing is to be boldQt 44 Dunbarton,,befo 4 T^efday
offurte next, at the Meeting House, by adjourn
ment, at heiioftht dock in tbeforenoon— at which
meetings, tberewid be fold —
Some Common LA N D,
at Public Vendue, to pay tbeproprittors charges.
Atfo it is dejired that all those
who have bad their lands laid rc in the commons,
would make, t appear, to tbe proprietors clerk, tbe
criminal rights they owned.
JEREMIAH PAGE,
Proprietors Clerk.
Dunbarton, May 2,1794.1 '^ 80 —4^
_ -— — —ft—-
Runaway Negro Boy.
Q UN away from me the sub.
■ scriber, the faft week in April last, a
black Boy, named
CJESAR FOWLER.
This is to forbid all persons trusting him oh
my accounts —and also to caution all -persons
against harbouring Aid blacK boy, as they
would avoid the penalty of the law,
Whoevcr will flop said Boy,
and return him to me, (hall have from me
the fubferiber,
One Penny Reward,
and no charges paid. ._
ELIJSON FOWLER.
Northfield, May 6, 1,94. ft
N^THER^'ard WESTERN POST
THE Pri^
grateful acknowledgements so bis p,^,,,
in Bofedwen, Sakfaery, Warmer j Hopkinton,
Henniker, and Dunbareon, and informs &,}^f
Capt. Joseph Leached Mr. Ifrad Clffirj,tf
Dunbarton, "have controlled to ride pof through
said towns, for the term Os oneyear from tbe yb
day of Ma, infant, a,4 ttg^M,^ "^
jeribers weekly during said termr-Tbe Printer
fatten bimfelf, @,fe the . punaualstj witb
,which tbe, have cenroged tbe papers,for tbe three
months left past, they will give general fatisfac
tionrc-4s they are so ridikg f* themselves, it
will be neoffab tb&a fattort fa&hrt&
b, all to the present tyrfboir accounts are made
out from No. 4; to N 0.79,.79, which are fe ty tbe
printer—-and which, 'be hopes, the, will be so
good as to dijebarg^g fan as cowtoient, as be
is in present REAL raant offomething io pa, tbe
Paper Maker, Pofi, and otber incidental ^bargee:
Tbe account; are lodged with tbe grejent feofts, and
when paid fall be receipted for, $ their bumble,
ferv^t, : E. RUSSELL^
LEACH & CLEFFORD,
HEREBY inform their friends and the pub
lic, That tbe, have contraaed with the
Printer, to ride peflfr o*, year from tbe present
date, and convey tbe Mirrqur,mr, week,
to fubferibers in tbe following towns, viz. Eofc
cawen, SaliJbury, Earner, Hopkinton, Henniker
and Dunbarton—Tb, Joliet tW pattens
the inhabitants of said towns in general—tbe ft
per;fall be left at tbe bpufes tfjutycribers on tbe
read, and those who live off fall have their pa
pers left at a, place on the read they ma, dire#.
The, will ye fair utmtf endeavours &[gfy g«te
eral fatisfa#ion to those, who will favour theta
with their cujlom—and all business entrafled to
them, ihall he attended to vrithfiddit,,and ever,
fdroonrgrdtefkl§ acknowledged.
.%!#to^ #^
:" ^ ifosEPH LEACH^^
L ^'W+ ISRAEL CLEFFORQ,
IQtfe^ 1794.W^'W
?.<^#^A< ^^