madam, answered this best of kings.

"Now, my

dear Sir, are you convinced? I was certain that my fubmiffion, and keeping incognito, would fave the King of Pruffia from difgrace."

CONTEMPLATION ON NIGHT.

WHETHER, amid the gloom of night I

ftray,

Or my glad eyes enjoy revolving day,
Still nature's various face informs my fenfe
Of an all-wife, all-powerful providence.

When the gay fun first breaks the shades of night,
And ftrikes the diftant hills with eaftern light,
Colour returns, the plains their liv'ry wear,
And a bright verdure clothes the fmiling year;
The blooming flowers with opening beauties glow,
And grazing flocks their milky fleeces fhew.
The barren cliffs, with chalky fronts, arife,
And a pure azure arches o'er the fkies.
But when the gloomy reign of night returns,
Stript of her fading pride, all nature mourns;
The trees no more their wonted verdure boast,
But weep, in dewy tears, their beauty loft.
No diftant landscapes draw our curious eyes,
Wrapt in night's robe the whole creation lies,

Yet

Yet fill ev'n now, while darkness clothes the land,
We view the traces of th' Almighty hand;

Millions of ftars in heaven's wide vault appear,
And with new glories hang the boundlefs fphere.
The filver moon her weftern couch for fakes,
And o'er the fkies her nightly circle makes;
Her folid globe beats back the funny rays,
And to the world her borrow'd light repays.

Whether thofe ftars, that twinkling luftre fend,
Are funs, and rolling worlds thofe funs attend,

Man

may conjecture, and new fchemes declare, Yet all his fyftems but conjectures are.

But this we know that heaven's eternal king,
Who bid this univerfe from nothing spring,
Can at his word bid num'rous worlds:
And rifing worlds th' all-powerful word fhall hear.

appear,

When to the western main the fun defcends,
To other lands a rifing day he lends ;
The fpreading dawn another fhepherd fpies,
The wakeful flocks from their warm folds arife.
Refresh'd, the peafant fecks his early toil,
And bids the plough correct the fallow foil.

While

we,

in fleep's embraces, wafte the night,
The climes oppos'd enjoy meridian light.
And when thofe lands the bufy fun forfakes,
With us again the roly morning wakes;

In lazy fleep the night rolls fwift away,
And neither clime laments his abfent ray.

When the poor foul is from the body flown,
No more fhall night's alternate reign be known;
The fun no more fhall rolling light beftow,
But from th' Almighty ftreams of glory flow.
Oh! may fome nobler thought my foul employ,
Than empty, tranfient, fublunary joy!
The stars fhall drop, the fun fhall lofe his flame,
But thou, O God! for ever fhine the fame.

OF CULTIVATING CHEARFULNESS

THE

AND GOOD-HUMOUR.

HE chearful man reflects that the greatest forrow cannot indemnify him for an evil that is paft; that it is madness to chagrin himself for what cannot be prevented, and impiety to murmur at the difpenfations of Providence; and that melancholy and fadnefs are the greatest of misfortunes: he avoids mournful reflections, which might impair his health; for fear of giving up himfelf to forrow, he takes up a book to amufe, or goes in queft of company to enliven him. The body is worn out by forrow, as the heart by love,

or

r

or the faculties of the mind by ftudy: we fhould. therefore take care to fortify ourfelves against all crofs accidents.

We are not in health but when our nerves are elaftic, and our whole being, as well fpiritual as material, is in a certain degree of eafe: therefore forrow, which overwhelms us, muft neceffarily dif turb our health; by fufpending the free course of our defires and our thoughts, it works in us the fame alteration which happens in rivers in very cold weather. The water which is converted into a kind of marble, is an image of the change that melancholy produces. Chearfulness, on the contrary, like a gentle heat, conftantly expands the mind and heart. Scarron, whofe foul was united to a very ill-organized body, would not have lived

two

years, had not Chcarfulness, his only fortune, continually fuftained and comforted him: fhe put herfelf in the place of his diforders, and inspired him with the most burlefque ideas, at the time he was enduring the most cruel fufferings.

We are

greatly deceived concerning the nature of chagrins, if we imagine that thofe only which

destroy
our reputation, or overthrow our fortune,
have a hurtful impreffion on our health. Difquiets

are relative to conftitutions, to characters, to taftes,

to fituations of life. Every one has his imaginary troubles. One is as much affected by the lofs of a favorite animal, as another is by the loss of his fortune. Chearfulness alone diffipates our alarms, and reduces them to their juft value: then our days pafs tranquilly, and we infenfibly arrive at old age, without perceiving we grow old. Perfons who affli&t themfelves voluntarily, or who are ignorant of the art of virtuous rejoicing, are only half alive; while chearful men enjoy a complete existence, and every moment are fenfible of the pleasure of being and of thinking.

But it will be fufficient to examine the countenance of a man naturally and habitually chearful, to convince us of the happy influences of goodhumour: he has a ferene vifage, which, as clear as the finest day, announces neither clouds nor ftorms; clear and fpeaking eyes, which indicate the harmony of the body and mind; a fmiling mouth, expreffive of the joy of his heart. Seldom do wrinkles disfigure a countenance naturally and habitually open in vain does time trace furrows on every thing that breathes, and engrave himself in a manner on our foreheads and our cheeks: he does but lightly touch the chearful, becaufe they depend much lefs than others on his caprices, revolutions and misfortunes. In fact, the Philofopher,