The Mirror — Concord, N.H., 1798-09-04 00:00:00, page 4

SENTIMENTAL MEDLEY.
• A Rebus.
W"' T ’ 'meant by a Rebut?
Come tell me I pray ,
Says Dolly to Enos
When raking of hay.
Let me buff you again,
I And again, sass the youth,
I And that will explain
IWhaJsa Rebufi in truth.
fflfcellanp..
I Frm^FARMER'j WeeklyMusbum.
I THE LAY PREACHER.
|"bi aw f, for thou DIDST CALL
ME."
WITH a voice, O Public, so
finely modulated, so grate-
Ifullylfully soothing to the ear of an am-
I bifioui author, that he hearkens
I to the fummboa, and is aduall,
linditinglinditing a fermoo, apologetical for
I laziness, aod negled of hit flock.
I But who it there among the
fona of men, of such felf denying
humor, that will not, fometimee,
flee from confinement aod hit cot
tage to breathe a little frefh air,
and ramble, yea run a moment
I from the drudgery of methodized
life ?
IThe clergy mao, fatigued with
I Flavel, and panting under the
annual load of heavy sermons,
I afki from the parish a respite ;
and, Il he cheerily urges hit pacer,
Lplodding and flow, like hit owner,
I (jogs, instead of David's pfalmi, a
hymn to the Goddefe of Leisure.
[fife Lawyer, choked with the
drift of courts, and deafened by
the gibberish of the laws, canters
from the circuit ; and, placed at
his desk, fuftrs not a plea in bar
to obftruft the Current of his yaw
ning humor.
The Doctor too, and the Mer
chant, in gaping hours, fcoto the
recipe and the invoice, and idly
dream of fubjeds more pleasant,
i^^lliWf^'^b coofumptive, or sub-I
jects commercial.
Many circumftancet may, at a
ny stage of hit course, command a
Lay Preacher to rest from hit It
bort. Like a Bithop Watson, or
Porteus, he is not sassed with
holy lawn, to iofpire awe io rhe
vulgar ; oor, if he tike them, bril
liter and learned, to excite the
admiration of the wife. Reflec
ting, in sober hourr, on the obfar
rity of his station, and the fimplici
tv nt him IpAnno he has nerceived
that many object to a lermon
cxciaimiwuuuCo icfiiiuUii
In/aAwaahumr mithifi thaf narrAua rar. 1
-oared <mygening ptyfe^n;l
*' TO RAISE THE GENIUS, \AND TO MEND THE HEART."
i#l°rnr rihhand the writer fhnuld
at least drink tea in the Tontine
balding, „d go one morning
Mil'll'
y' tri
Irnni# that'the French
Ithat Hooetta was denied power
in a lonely situation, converses
with few, besides his books and
himfelf. But, if an author keeps
no other company, he will not be
long quafified to give interest, and
novelty to his refeatche#/
line Will favour of the lamp, and
every page will be mouldy, by the
damp sir of a monkish cell. Hence,
to write what the world will gaily
read, it is necessary sometimes for
a man of letters to obey the advice
of the poet, Green, and make
" Trips to the town, life to amuse,
*“ To purcbafe books and hear the
news. • :
" To fee old friends, brush off the
" And quicken taste"
Uolef, he occafiona/ly go to the
great city, aod forfake his elofet
for a saunter io “ vanity fair,'
haw could a Lay Preacher correct
ly describe, or justly censure fash
ionable follies, and the blameful
luxury of a capita?? To ridicule
with pein, and effect the fantaftic
foppery of dress, one must aaually
look down the street, or through
the coffee house, and mark !$
peacock beau, (porting his " Jo
seph's coat, or jockey pantaloons.
To laugh at gowns without a
waist, or the brick dust hue of co-
He, who resolves to (peculate,
flies, in conformity to the sugges
tion of Horace, co the grove, and,
In the firft place, I hooeftly de
clare, with wonted franknefs, that
many roil Spirits have domineered
over my mind, and that Laziness,
Spleen, and ill humor have been
too frequently (offered to tock up
my quills,& to overfet my inkhorn.
Like a venerable predcceffor, I
have been, during the above peri
od, " in journeying^ often, in wes
rioefi & paiofulneh, & watchings;''
all Which are unfriendly to preach
ing ; nor do I believe the Arch
bifhopof Canterbury himfelf could
indite a paftorai letter, or make a
visitation charge fuccefifully, under
such unfavorable circumstances.
passion hat cholen, or habit has
worn (moofb ; and the monitory
sermon, if read, is soon forgotten.
To those, who, from the inti
macy or the partiality of friend
(hip, are anxious that my weekly
advice should again be given, and
to the public, who have condescen
ded once or twice to ask for me,
I will narrate the private motives,
which have persuaded me to be
silent for a year.
A N Irishman falling Out of the
main top of a fiift rate ©an
of war, by great good luck fell
plump on bit breech on the deck,
,unhurt, and seized faft bold of rhe
ring-bolt. A messmate hiked
him what he did that for ? * „
,/,„" laid he, "for far I fall
f^ktr
A Gafcon officer, who had
out receiving any pay lor ac
confidcrable time, came to
the King and confidently said
to him, “ Sir, three words
^^
A young fellow was extol
'°]inga lady's beauty very ™
^^highly,^and one.? of his coni?
beauty, except that the had'
a had let teeth • VArv ,r>,p
laid the nrlt, , But me is a
conftsotly in hand. His effufions
would become wretchedly trite, if
he were not permitted to go &.
broad, searching for feme new ob
jed. or some new face, to serve at
freth topics for Speculation -
While i was mingling in the
crowd on change, lounging io
bookfellers' (hops, arguing in a
coffee-houfe, io defence of the
Executive, or chatting with sensi
ble women round a (upper table,
I was in fid competing Lay
Preachers. The process, though
iovifible, still continued. I enter
ed hints in my note bock, though
I did not expand them in the
Museum ; aod kept for future ule
the fruit of my observations, as
my tender 1 aod prudent mother
used to tore for me autumnal rofi
fetins, co blefa ray infant palate in
the scarce, and the fpriog time.
But though for a year, the Lay
Preachet's && has been (hut,
yet his books have been open,
and his thoughts awake. Having
seen some novel objeft,, and read
many curious tomes io the course
of hit vacation, perhaps he is qual
ified to resume his labours, with
some degree of spirit. He has
meditated 'not merely the works
of the fathers, but the lighter fe
dutlions of the tons ; and perufea
laboriously many a heavy book,
with a view, by studious chimiftry
to extras some essence to relieve
the fpirita as his readers. At any
rate, to continue to the end of
his fermoo the fame egotism, with
which it began, he is determined,
as this mode of writing is approv
ed by those, whom it is hit ardent
with to please, to fay aside every
weight of Interest, which might
bias him to more gainful occupa
tions ; to lay aside that fin of In
dolence, which doth so easily beset
an invalid and an author § and to
run with patience the race, that is
fee before him.
Banquet or Comm;.
^3p^e? ;v