The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1807-06-25 00:00:00, page 1

THE
WHEELING REPOSITORY.
-^-—-—
(\ol. I.) ThuPvSday, 2cth June, i807. (No. 17.)
OR IGIArA L PO E TR T.
Literary Fables.
Translated from the Spanish of
Thomas De YriartE,
By an Inhabitant of Wheeling.
FABLE IX.
The Ant and the Plea.
Some people have a way so queer,
Ol making light of all they hear,
That one is tempted to suppose
T hey know what any mortal knows.
For when they hear a thing, or sec,
However new or rare it be,
I hey rate it low, to save their wit,
Which might be risqued bv praising it.
I nis class of men shall not escape
Al v song of satire, though to shape
A table for it into rhyme
Cost lour-and-twenty hours' of time.
A civil Ant once told a Flea,
How much it tax’d her industry
To lay provisions in; the mode [stow’d;
In which, when gather’d, they were
I'he manner they their work perform’d,
And how they managed when they
swarm’d;
1'heir factories she next explains ;
Tells where were lodg’d their different
grains;
Describes what loads they sometimes
carried ;
"What ceremonies, when they married ;
With some minutiae, which to us
Would seem intirely fabulous,
Did not acquaintance with them show
H ow much the ants—are said to know.
To all the Ant rehears d, with pride
The silly, simpering Flea replied :
“ I understand ; ’tis well ; indeed !
Doubtless ; l know it; yes ; agreed ;
I’ve seen the same ; why, I declare,
All this is neither new nor rare.”
The Ant now bustling from her cell,
Appear’d quite vex’d, St cried outu well/
Since nothing I have said is new,
Come, let me see what thou canst do.
Since thou appear’st so much to know,
Tray lend a hand, and kindly show
A pattern for us to work by.” i
I'he tartness of the Ant’s replv
Touch'd the pert Flea, who, with a hop,
Declar’d she had not time to stop ;
Else,” said she, “ 1 would teach thee
’Tis only—but I cant stay now— [Acm*.
In any labour to excel,
’Tis but—but business calls—farewell.”
The Happy Man ;
Or the Art of living, in any condition,
with Content.
An Eric Poem, in xxir Books.
Book I.-§ 33-to.
33. In a state little short of ecstacv,
Sophia and the count listened to the dis
course of Misano, as of an oracle from
heaven : and having promised him all
the attention which he might require,
were addressed by him as follows :
34. The great desire which we have
to be happy in life, is a sufficient proof
that this state is possible. There is no
thirst so parching, no hunger so insatia
ble, as the desire \ve have for happiness.
I'he magnetic needle, tremulous, unea
sy, and restless, reposes not till it finds
the north ; now moving to one side,now
to the other, it goes and comes, till it
meets with it, when, only, it becomes
still. W hat though the pole he afar, at
the very end of the world, covered by
the waters of the frozen ocean,*—it
matters not; the needle still looks that
way, however remote the object, and in
steady attention remains absorbed and
fixed, and, without winking, is forever
gazing upon it; and whilst the globe re
volves and re-revolvcs upon its axis, it
never loses sight of it. It is the same,
you know, with the human heart in its
desire of happiness.
35. But, my friends, whence do we
derive this innate desire ? Whence, but
from the Supreme Being?—You know
very well, that it was he who formed
the hearts which he has given us ; and
doubtless it is he who planted in our
* The earth for the diftanceof many leagues
round the north pole is covered by the Icy fea.
souls this strong Inclination to perfect
happiness ; for this desire is not like
those,which we likewise feel, and which
solely proceed from the depravity and
corruption of Nature. Now tell me,
whether God would oblige us to desire
an impossible thing ? If the universal
Father had not supplied the world with
one drop of water, to what end would
he have made us thirst ? Merely for
the pleasure of seeing us parch without
remedy? No; God cannot act in this
manner ; and therefore you must cither
deny that we possess this innate desire
to he happy in this life, or grant that it
is possible to arrive at this state. Mi
sano spoke, and was silent.
ub. i ruiy, my brother, answered bo
phia,ilpon due reflection, this desire
after perfect felicity, this sentiment so
lively and general, so deeply engraven
in our souls, is a voice of nature, which,
without consulting our choice, speaks
to the heart and obliges us to make the
search. I have observed that whatever
proceeds from the human will is subject
to change and caprice, and that the
world has never agreed on any thing but
what arises from an innate impulse of
nature.* God, who formed it, is he
whose hand impels, excites, and obliges
us to desire a state of happiness: there
fore it is he who, without ceasing, per
suades me to seek it; and consequently
there must infallibly he, in this world,
the treasure which he urges me to s ek#
with so much earnestness ; for Nature
does nothing in vain.f—To which Mi
sano answered:
37. In order to know that it was God
who placed this anxious desire within
us, hear what happened to me.—When
my heart burnt most Vehemently with
these desires ; when this thirst for hap
piness tormented me in the greatest de
gree; when melancholy preyed in my bo
som, and reduced me almost to phren
zy; in this condition a divine sentence*
* Omni in re cnr.fe' ft1 omt uim fr- nt um, lex
naturae putanda e(i — Cc lib. i.deTuic quujt.
+ Nattira nibil ogit /ruitra. This nrirXim h
adopted by all philolophcr#.