The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1808-04-14 00:00:00, page 1

WHEELINGREPOSITORY.
(Vol. I.) Thursday, 14th April, 1808. (No. 49.)
MISCELLANY,
True Beauty.
f5A.Y, is it height, or shape, or air,
That to the mind true worth impart?
Can brillant eyes, can flowing hair,
Can grace external, win the heart ?
fl height gives worth,the flowers in vain
O’er blooming fields their sweets dio
close ;
The thorn exceeds Maria’s train,
The lofty Yew excels the Rose.
If graceful shape can worth create,
I he I yger’s graceful form must please ;
l he deadly Adder’s taper shape,
Declares her worthier than the Bees.
?f graceful movements claim applause,
f he savage Blasts our praises claim ;
"Whilst blood distains the Lyon’s jaws,
v\ ho moves more graceful o'er the plain?
If brilliant eyes true merit claim,
Or flowing ringlets worth possess ;
The Serpent’s eye, the Lvon’s mane,
Look brilliant, and show gratefulness.
Since neither shape, nor height, nor air,
Nor grace external, worth impart ;
W hat ornaments must be my care ?
How shall I deck my youthful heart ?
Far nobler graces I’ll pursue,
Which reptiles, flowers, and beasts don’t
share ;
x4air knowledge, open to the view,
Is truly great and truly fair.
To Providence always resign’d,
My heart shall flow with gratitude?
ith meekness I’ll adorn my mind,
And to be lovely, I’ll be good.
Hers is by far the happiest case,
Whose mental beauties are her care ;
.They give to homeliness a grace,
And e’en the fairest make more fair.
Patience.
The wife of Cowper, bishop of Lin
coln, burnt all those notes which he had
been eight years in gathering, out of a
certain tenderness and fear she had,
lest he should kill himself with over
much study ; so that he was forced to
tall to work again, and was eight years
more in gathering the same notes,
wherewith he composed that useful and
learned book, which at this day is call
ed his dictionary. Though a greater
vexation than this could hardly befal a
scholar, yet he received it with that pa
tience, as not to give his wife an unkind
word upon that account.
Extract,
From Whelp ley''s Historical Compered.
As a man who stands on an eminence
and looks attentively over a wide and
diversified prospect ; so is the histori
an. Through the long period of 5000
years his eye wanders among innume
rable millions, and descries people,
nations and languages, who were active
in the busy scenes of time ; but are now
reapi ng the retribution of eternity.
i ne great nations which enjoyed uni
versal empire, are now silent in the
dust. And, as objects subtend a glass
angle in proportion to their distance, so
a century, buried deep in the vale of an
tiquity, appears but as an hour ; and the
duration of a nation, as a day. In the
morning its infancy is weak, and its de
fence is in the weakness of others. It
gathers strength by, adversity* and at
length acquires a vigorous youth. At
mid day its manhood is strong and lof
ty : it basks for an hour in the beams
oi prosperity, and drinks deep the in
ebriating draught of luxury and plea
sure. And now its beauty fades—its
strength decays—its glory perishes ;
and the declining day hastens a night
of storms and cloqds, and everlasting
darkness.
The nations of men resemble the
perpetual and conflicting waves of the
ocean. . If a billow rise high, it is but to
sink as low : if it dash its neighboring
billow, it is to be dashed in its turn._
I fit rage and foam ; it is hut to exhaust
itself the sooner. If n roll tranquil on
the bosom of the deep, it is but to sink
forever by its own gravity.
It is thus with all nations—with all
human institutions—with all the noble
inventions and works of aft.
“ The cloud-capt towers—the gorgeous
palaces,
The solemn temples—the great globe
itself;
Yea 1 all which it inherits, shall dissolve.
And, like the baseless fabric of a vision.
Leave not a wreck behind.”
And, alas! the ravages of time,
though rapid and resistless, are too slow
to satisfy the furious rage of restless
mortals. They must share the empire
of destruction : To them the work of
death is most pleasant; and to cultivate
the art of killing and destroying, has
been their chief pride and glory in all
ages ; and whilst employed in that
dreadful work, they sink in destruction
themselves.
Unhappy children of men ? when
will you learn to know and to prize your
true interests ? When will you be con
vinced of that, than which nothing is
more certain, that Avar adds infinitely
to the number and weight of your cala
mities, that it fills the world with mis
ery, and clothes all nature in mour
ning ; that it covers your souls with
crimson, inexpiable guilt, and brings
upon you the wrath and curse of hea
ven.
Is there to be no change in this tra
gick—this direful scene of blood and
slaughter ? Shall brotherly love and
cordial affection never become univer
sal, and peace unfurl her white banner*
throughout the earth ? Is there no du
rable institution founded in virtue, and
permanent as the eternal rule of justice?
Is there no firm ground of hope-no
rock on which truth and reason may
build a fabrick that shall ncVer fall ? Ye*
—there is a kingdom* Its foundations
were laid of old. Its king is the God
of Heaven—Its law, is perfect lo\re_
Its dominions are wide, for they extend
to the wise and virtuous in all worlds—