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The women of the wiser kind
Did never once refuse me;
But yet I never once could find
That maids of honour use me.

The lily hand and brilliant eye
May charm without my aid;
Beauty may strike the lover's eye,
And love inspire the maid.

But let the' enchanting nymph be told,

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her life,

She must have wondrous store of gold,
Or make a wretched wife.

Although I never hope to rest,
With Christians I go forth;
And while they worship to the east,
I prostrate to the north.

If you suspect hypocrisy,

Or think me insincere;

Produce the zealot, who like me
Can tremble and adhere.

[NEEDLE.]

I AM by nature soft as silk,
By nature too as white as milk;
I am a constant friend to man,
And serve him every way I can.
When dipp'd in wax, or plunged in oil,
I make his winter evening smile;

By India taught I spread his bed,
Or deck his favourite Celia's head;
Her gayest garbs I oft compose,
And, ah! sometimes I wipe her nose.
[COTTON.]

I AM a small volume, and frequently bound
In silk, satin, silver, or gold;

My worth and my praises the females resound,
By females my science is told.

My leaves are all scarlet, my letters are steel,
Each letter contains a great treasure;
To the poor they spell lodging and fuel and meal;
To the rich entertainment and pleasure.

The sempstress explores me by day and by night, Not a page but she turns o'er and o'er; Though sometimes I injure the milliner's sight, Still I add to her credit and store.

"Tis true I am seldom regarded by men,

Yet what would the males do without me? Let them boast of their head, or boast of their pen, Still vain is their boast if they flout me.

[NEEDLE-BOOK.]

TRANSLATIONS.

HORACE.

BOOK II. ODE II.

Inscribed to T. A. Esq.

DEAR youth, to hoarded wealth a foe,
Riches with faded lustre glow;

Yes, dim the treasures of the mine,
Unless with temperate use they shine:
This stamps a value on the gold ;-
So Proculeius thought of old.

Soon as this generous Roman saw
His father's sons proscribed by law,
The knight discharged a parent's part,
They shared his fortune and his heart.
Hence stands consign'd a brother's name
To immortality and fame.

Would you true empire ascertain ?
Curb all immoderate lust of gain:
This is the best ambition known,
A greater conquest than a throne.
For know, should Avarice control,
Farewell the triumphs of the soul.
This is a dropsy of the mind,
Resembling the corporeal kind;

For who with this disease are cursed,
The more they drink, the more they thirst:
Indulgence feeds their bloated veins,
And pale-eyed, sighing languor reigns.

Virtue, who differs from the crowd,
Rejects the covetous and proud;
Disdains the wild ambitious breast,
And scorns to call a monarch bless'd;
Labours to rescue truth and sense
From specious sounds and vain pretence.

Virtue to that distinguish'd few,
Gives royalty and conquest too;
That wise minority, who own,
And pay

their tribute to her throne; Who view with undesiring eyes,

And spurn that wealth which misers prize.

HORACE.

BOOK II. ODE X.

WOULD you, my friend, true bliss obtain?
Nor press the coast, nor tempt the main:
In open seas loud tempests roar,
And treacherous rocks begirt the shore.

Hatred to all extremes is seen

In those who love the golden mean:
They nor in palaces rejoice,

Nor is the sordid cot their choice.

The middle state of life is best,
Exalted stations find no rest;

Storms shake the' aspiring pine and tower,
And mountains feel the thunder's power.

The mind prepared for each event,
In every state maintains content:
She hopes the best when storms prevail,
Nor trusts too far the prosperous gale.

Should time returning winters bring,
Returning winter yields to spring :
Should darkness shroud the present skies,
Hereafter brighter suns shall rise.

When Paan shoots his fiery darts,
Disease and death transfix our hearts;
But oft the god withholds his bow,
In pity to the race below.

When clouds the angry heavens deform,
Be strong, and brave the swelling storm;
Amidst prosperity's full gales

Be humble, and contract your sails.

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