The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1807-06-18 00:00:00, page 1

-THE
WHEELING REPOSITORY.
~~ ' " -- -r ■. * . f
(Vol. 1.) Thursday, 18th June, 1807.. (No. 16.)
O RIC, IN A L PO E TR T.
Literary Fables.
Translated from the Spanish of
Thomas De Yriarte,
Bij an Inhabitant of Wheeling.
FABLE VII.
The city bell and the village bell.
In a cathedral, we are told,
A certain bell, that chimed or k nolle d,
Only at stated times, was kept ;
J7ntt\yould it speak,three times or four,
With dignity, but seldom more ;
Which done, the bell in silence slept.
Its serious tone, its measur’d pause,
Its size,—for large it seems it was,—
And something not described,perhaps,
Had spread its fame the country round;
For far anti wide was heard its sound,
Not much unlike loud thunder-claps.
Adjacent to this city bell,
(Exactly where, I need not tell)
A hall deserted village stood,
Whose population being small,
Could scarce afford a bell at all ;
Yet one they had—tho’ not so good.
I say not good, for it was broke,
So th.it it jarred at every stroke,
And sadly grated on one’s ears :—
Yet still it might have answered well
Th e one sound purpose of a bell,
For any thing that now appears.
But now, behold ! the village people
Kesolv’d to make their little steeple
Vie with the belfry of the town,
By ringing it at stated times,
In solemn, pompous, measured chimes,
Shrill herald of its own renown.
The moral of this fable strike s
At him, whoe’er he lie, that Iik^s
To show his knowledge by grave looks;
As if, by rule, to move the lip
Could fix him in i rivals hip
VV'ith men of judgment and of books.
An orator wi loutj., yn .u, was in
nnei nt times compared to a horse with
out a bridle
i
The IIappy Man;
Or the Art of living, in ant/ condition,
■with Content.
An Epic Poem3 in xxiv Books.
Book I-§ 26—32.
26. After a short pause, during which
the heart of Sophia settled into a calm,
Misano answered her in this manner:
If, lady, thou knew who the old man is
that has the honour to address thee,
without any thing further thy sorrow
would find some alleviation. But this
is not necessary, seeing without such
knowledge I can impart another, and a
more substantial consolation. Thou and
thy brother are in the road to real feli
city:—how to follow it is the only ques
tion. In the same way I acquired the
portion which I enjoy, and which can
not be greater in this life. But be as
sured that you can never find it in either
ol die roads in which you have sought it.
Those same roads I also have travelled;
but the further I went, the further I
wandered out of the right way. Like
you I have lived in melancholy, much
melancholy, and almost in despair. If
Fortune followed thee, my son, as a
slave ; mt, on the contrary, black and
furious Misfortune has dragged many
years miserably entangled in her abomi
nable train. Those infernal monsters.
tnvi/ 6c Hatred, issuing from the abyss,
and furiously disturbing the sea of the
world, re ndered it for me so troubled
and black, so raging and tempestuous,
that it was a miracle not to have suffered
shipwreck. At times I found myself
almost w holly overw helmed bv the bil
lows. Heaven rained down upon me
many, very many perplexities ; the hit
ter waters of affliction made my whole
soul feverish ; my heart w as full of ve
nom and gall; without breath, without
strength, and without hopes ; 1 was near
perishing altogether, w hen (happy, hap
py day!)* I discovered the secret of
swimming above every kind of evil, of
escaping pain, and of establishing the
* The day here alluded to Ji fpojcen of in the
j third book.
throne of my happiness on a firm and
impregnable Hock. From this safe
standing, I behold those furious dragons
raising their proud crests, extending
their murderous claws, and shaking
their sharp horns to attack me. I see
them come from far, I see them ap
proach, without feeling any alarm ; for
Omnipotence keeps me in safety. Yes?
Omnipotence himself has promised*
that “ with his right hand he will hido
me and with his mighty arm he will de
fend me.” Behold, then, the reason I
have for defying the world, the fates,
[ and the deeps, that conspire, but con
| spire in vain, to destroy me ; for, with
out stirring a foot, I will joyfully shut
my eyes, and repose on the breast of
Providence. The Supreme Being coun
sels me to leave all my cares to him, as
suring me that he will sustain me, as a,
mother sustains her son whom she is
suckling at the breast.f Hence it is,
that no power whatever is able to tear
from my heart this blessed hope, noi4
the peace,tranquility,and joy which flow
from it.
27. I’he narration of Misanofilled So
phia and the count with astonishment ;
and the more novelty and mystery it
contained, the more was their curiosity
excited. Whereupon Sophia, to satisfv
herself, expressed herself thus: The
imposing air of thy person, and the ir
resistible force with which thy counte
nance impresses every thing thou utter
est,oblige me to give credit to thy words,
notwithstanding, like the count, I had
been persuaded of the impossibility of
enjoying such a state in this life. In
this respect l had adopted the sentiment
of a poet, who says:
Of Happinefs, the higheft pme
Ip bis who meets life's scantiest ills;
Whofe bofom fwells the least with sigbs i
Whofe eye the fewest tears diftils.
But thou givest me an idea of a higher
degree of happiness, and of a felicity
more complete.
• W Ji:un v. id.
t C>ft thy burdc * upon 'he Lord, and trt
lulUin thee.—Plains 1?. at.
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