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which are to propel us through the ocean of life. It is these alone which can give a zest to existence; without them, life would be one continued scene of monotonous indifference. Uninfluenced by hope, unbiassed by fear, the mind would be a painful vacuum, a stagnant lake, whose muddy waters could only be acted upon by those gross and sensual appetites, which we share in common with the lowest of the animal creation. Our talents would be completely dormant, for want of a sufficient stimulus to call them into action.

To the passions, then, we owe every thing which can interest the imagination, or excite the energies of man ;-those splendid exhibitions of talent, which have in all ages delighted and astonished the world; those acts of heroism, which have dignified and exalted our species. But, while they are thus necessary for the production of any thing, which can shew the human intellect in its proper light,-can shew, by the operations of reason, that the image of God is indeed stamped upon the mind of man; while, under due restraint, they can so largely contribute to our happiness, and to our exaltation in the scale of creation, there is not one of them whose power is so limited, that, if left to exert its influence without control, will not produce effects directly the reverse, in the misery and degradation of those, who are thus submitted to its tyrannic dominion.

Accident and circumstance, undoubtedly, often occasion the predominance of a particular passion; but it is by no means thence to be concluded, that the empire of circumstance is universal or omnipotent, and that all mankind are originally the same. An attentive observance of the youthful mind will shew, that the peculiar bias exists and is perceptible, at a much earlier period than is generally imagined. In our boyish days, and among our boyish companions, the ruling passions are developed, and continue their powerful sway through the remainder of life.

That noble emulation, which has produced so many and so important benefits to mankind, which has given rise to so many heroic achievements, early exhibits itself in the desire to excel our juvenile competitors, as well in those feats which constitute the amusement of our leisure hours, as in the studies which are to fit us for the future business of the world. Virtuous emulation may be considered the main spring of honourable enterprise; but, in some minds, this laudable principle degenerates into the base passion of envy. Unequal, from their sordid nature and impotent capacity, to the attainment of any excellence, they regard with malicious dislike the suc- cessful efforts of genius and virtue; exult with malignant satisfaction over their failure; and are ever ready to excite those

suspicions, and join in that abuse, which a selfish world so lavishly bestows upon every generous deed, which its own mercenary and grovelling disposition render it unable to comprehend.

In minds of a more enlarged and enterprising character, it expands into that inordinate ambition, whose accursed influence has devastated the fairest portions of the globe with rapine and slaughter; whose ferocious career is marked by fire, and bloodshed, and famine; and whose memory is preserved by the sighs, and tears, and execrations, of the childless parent, the widow, and the orphan. Yet, so infatuated is man,-so dazzled by the meretricious glitter of false glory,-as to decorate with the title of great, and consecrate as heroes, those insensate beings whom this passion has led to perpetrate enormities, which ought to have drawn down upon their devoted heads the severest punishment, and consigned their names to eternal oblivion, or retained them only to be held up to the detestation of posterity, to serve as beacons to warn others from the dangerous shores on which they were wrecked.

Love, which all at some period have felt, or been supposed to feel, "which steals so sweetly o'er the stripling's heart," extends its influence from the palace to the cottage,- from the most refined societies of civilized life, to the rudest haunts of the untutored savage. Its power is confessed by the mighty of the earth, and the lowliest being that walks over its surface; by the man of letters, and the illiterate mechanic;-by him whose mind is devoted to business, and him whose sole business is the pursuit of pleasure.

A passion so strongly and so universally implanted in the human heart, can only have been placed there for the most benevolent of purposes; and, accordingly, we find that virtuous love is the source of the purest pleasure, the most extatic delight, to be experienced in this vale of tears. Than friendship -stronger, dearer,-love possesses all its advantages in a higher degree, and has mental enjoyments of its own, infinitely superior. More firmly united,-more kindly attached,—the reliance for protection on the one hand, the support afforded on the other, the mutual sympathy, the mutual confidence, the unreserved communication, the disinterested regard-these, united in well-placed mutual affection, form a picture of felicity, the most perfect which can be conceived in this imperfect state.

To the virtuous pair, thus united in the bands of love, every pleasure is doubled, every grief lessened, by participation-the path of youth is strewedwith flowers, their reciprocal kindness smoothes the rugged descent of declining age, and the sunset of such a life, gilds an horizon clear and spotless,

which shews them, in the retrospect, an uninterrupted scene of innocence and happiness,-in perspective, an endless futurity of bliss.

Yet, while such are the benefits of a proper indulgence of this amiable passion, man, in the wild depravity of his heart, seeks for impure gratification in lawless variety, until at length, in ruined health and debased morals, he finds himself the wretched victim of unbridled lust and unprincipled licentiousness; and, in the premature decrepitude of age, views with horror and remorse those follies and vices, which afforded but transient and trivial enjoyment, and have left behind such dreadful and lasting pangs, to embitter the sad remains of existence.

Anger, hatred, and revenge, whose direful influence when unrepressed, drives reason, pity, and humanity, from their seat, leaving the breast one troubled ocean of malignant passions,-like the fabled Upas tree of Java, which spreads death and desolation for miles around the envenomed spot on which it grew, spread horror and dismay around the hapless wretch, who, yielding to their impetuous force, becomes a terror to others, a torment to himself.

Of these, it has been contended by some, that we should entirely divest ourselves: but, doubtless, these passions were engrafted on the human mind for wise and good purposes. Though sinful in a vicious excess, they all have their legitimate use, when confined within the necessary limits.

Anger is a strong emotion of the mind, quickly excited on the receipt of an offence; violent in its effects, but, in ingenuous minds, at least of transient duration; it is very properly exerted on all occasions of wanton or unprovoked aggression, and is necessary to enable us to vent against such, a just indignation, and to defend ourselves from insult and injury.

Hatred, a deep and lasting passion, distorts and degrades the character of all who submit to its sway. Viewing every thing through a discoloured medium, it blackens even the virtues of its object, and seeks to gratify its malignity at any expence, at any violation of justice or humanity; yet is it naturally, and therefore properly excited by vice, injustice, and oppression; and, if it be not lawful to indulge it against the criminal, we may safely bestow our unmixed hatred upon the crime.

Of all the passions which agitate the mind, revenge is most to be dreaded, since it has so frequently led to the most heinous excesses. Urged on by revenge, and blinded by its fury, we seek the destruction of our victim at all hazards, even of life itself; would immolate him on the domestic hearth, in the bosom of his family;-would defile the sanctuary of the temple with his blood. Opposed to Christian charity, which teaches to forgive, such a passion is detestable; yet, under the

denomination of resentment, which is but a modification of the same passion restrained by reason, the iniquities of the world will furnish us but too many occasions for its just

exercise.

The foregoing are most powerfully exerted during the period of youth, and a celebrated writer has observed, that the happiest period of life is, when a man has attained that age, when all the turbulent passions have subsided, and, possessing a good state of health, can enjoy his friend and his bottle.

He who through life has duly controlled his passions, and, arriving at healthy old age, can dismiss the arrogance and petulance which so generally accompany it, is truly a pleasing object, a delightful companion,-happy in himself, diffusing happiness and the benefits of his experience on all around; but the turbulence of ill-directed passions, too frequently leaves but the wreck of manhood, incapable of such enjoyment. The ebullition and impetuosity of youth, its fondness for dress and licentious gaiety, are succeeded by the sensualities of the epicure and the drunkard; and the latest stage of existence may become a prey to the sordid passion of avarice. Heaping up riches, and knowing not who may enjoy them: anxious only to add to the useless store, which, in accumulating, still increases his care; depriving himself, not merely of the only rational object of wealth-to dispense his bounty among his unfortunate fellow-creatures, but denying himself the common necessaries of life; his evil passion carries with it a perpetual sting, the more strongly indulged it becomes the bitterer curse, and the degraded being unpitied dies, a wretched proof, that, even the prudent care which all ought to exercise in conformity to their station, when carried to excess, becomes one of the most desperate vices.

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To trace out all the passions, would extend to far too great a length. Enough has been said to shew, that they have not been bestowed in vain; since each, under proper restraint, is calculated to promote the happiness of mankind. In proportion, therefore, as the Almighty has furnished man with a number and variety of passions, he has provided him with means to increase and enlarge his enjoyments. Had man, indeed, been left under the sole dominion of the passions, he would have been the most miserable of created beings; but, in giving him the powers of reason to control and guide them, the Deity has displayed, at once, his wisdom and his be

nevolence.

With such means in his possession, man has but to exert the first gift of God-reason, aided by that revelation which has in mercy been bestowed upon him, to secure happiness both here and hereafter.

THE POET'S PICTURES.

O, VANITY! the Poet's looking-glass!
Grant me a double share

Of self-complacency-all potent brass;
Thus may I egotists of yore surpass,

To think these verses rare.

Leave sober sense to vulgar tell-truth prose,
And waft me to Elysium,

Where perfum'd clouds regale Apollo's nose,
Ambrosia feasts the heart, and nectar flows;
For poets scorn all medium.

A poet must have vanity to write ;
For, if he did not think

Folks would peruse his verses with delight,
Or, haply, Delia steal an hour from night,
He would not waste his ink,

Suppose a case,

-a young Apollo hears

His own vile see-saw chaunted

By his dear grandmamma, who greets his ears

With "charming" while her eyes o'erflow with tears, For some princess enchanted.

"Charming!" soon reaches youthful rhymers' hearts,

And even warms the icy;

Away goes L. s. d. for flames and darts,

Phaeton against the field; forward he starts,

"Tis "Veni, vidi, vici.”

The sweetest similies,-the tropes on tropes,
Cloy the delighted ears;

Most lively metaphors,-Tell me of Pope's!

To fathom his, the man that ever hopes,
Must live a hundred years.

Now, then, to suit my fashion to the age,
A horrid German story;

From the Terrific Register a page,
And spirits of the middle air shall rage
In all their awful glory.

By every spell that ancient seer could boast
To raise a spirit, or to lay a ghost,

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