Those balmy lips outvie the rose,
A thousand sweets at once disclose;
Each kiss is heaven itself confess’d,
And nature made them to be press’d.
As feasts the bee on Flora’s plain,
I’d sip, and sip, and sip again;
At every taste new joy I’d prove,
And die of aromatic love.
Then, charmer, ne’er deny the bliss
That flows from thy delicious kiss;
And if there be a joy intense
In gratifying human sense,
Be love, and love alone, your plan,
And me alone the happy man.
NEW-YORK: _+Printed by JOHN BULL, No. 115, Cherry-Street+, where every
Kind of Printing work is executed with the utmost Accuracy and
Dispatch.--+Subscriptions+ for this +Magazine+ (at 2s. per month) are
taken in at the Printing-Office, and by E. MITCHELL, Bookseller, No. 9,
Maiden-Lane._
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_UTILE DULCI._
THE NEW-YORK WEEKLY MAGAZINE;
or, Miscellaneous Repository.
+Vol. II.+] +Wednesday, August 10, 1796.+ [+No. 58.+
[[For sources, see the end of the e-text.]]
+The singular state of man when asleep.+
In order to know the omnipotence and wisdom of God, we need not have
recourse to extraordinary events. The most common things, the daily
changes which happen in nature, and in our own bodies, are alone
sufficient to convince us, in the strongest manner, that it is a Being
infinite in wisdom, goodness, and power, who has created the world, and
who directs every event in it. Of the great number of wonders of which
he is Author, I will now mention one only; and, though it happens daily,
it does not the less deserve to be remarked, and to become the object of
our admiration. How often have those been refreshed and recruited by
sleep, who possibly have never reflected on that state; or at least have
never considered it as one of the remarkable effects of divine goodness.
They think that nothing extraordinary happens when balmy sleep comes
upon them. They think the machine their body is formed for that
situation; and that their inclination to sleep proceeds from causes
purely natural.
But perhaps sleep may be considered in two different lights. On one side
there is nothing in it which may not result necessarily from our nature.
On the other, there is in this natural effect something so striking and
wonderful, that it is well worth a closer examination. In the first
instance it is a proof of the wisdom of our Creator, that we go to sleep
imperceptibly. Let us try only to watch the moment in which we are
falling asleep, and that very attention will prevent it. We shall not go
to sleep till that idea is lost. Sleep comes uncalled. It is the only
change in our manner of existence in which reflection has no share; and
the more we endeavour to promote it, the less we succeed. Thus God has
directed sleep, that it should become an agreeable necessity to man; and
he has made it independent of our will and our reason. Let us pursue
this meditation, and reflect on the wonderful state we are in during our
sleep. We live without knowing it, without feeling it. The beating of
the heart, the circulation of the blood, the digestion, the separation
of the juices; in a word, all the animal functions continue and operate
in the same order. The activity of the soul appears for a time in some
degree suspended, and gradually loses all sensation, all distinct ideas.
The senses deaden, and interrupt their usual operations. The muscles by
degrees move more slowly, till all voluntary motion has ceased. First,
this change begins by the forehead; then the muscles of the eye-lids,
the neck, the arms, and the feet, lose their activity, to such a degree,
that man seems to be metamorphosed into the state of a plant. The
situation of the brain becomes such, that it cannot transmit to the soul
the same notions as when awake. The soul sees no object, though the
optic nerve is not altered; and it would see nothing, even if the eyes
were not shut. The ears are open, and yet they do not hear. In a word,
the state of a person asleep is wonderful in all respects. Perhaps there
is but one other in the world so remarkable, and this is visibly the
image of that state which death reduces us to. Sleep and death are so
nearly alike, it is right to observe it. Who, in reality, can think of
sleep, without recollecting death also. Perhaps, as imperceptibly as we
now fall into the arms of sleep, shall we one day fall into those of
death. It is true that death often gives warning of its approach several
hours or days before: but the real moment in which death seizes us,
happens suddenly, and when we shall seem to feel the first blow, it may
be already our last. The senses which lose their functions in our sleep,
are equally incapable of acting at the approach of death. In the same
manner, the ideas are confused, and we forget the objects which surround
us. Perhaps, also, the moment of death may resemble the moment of
falling asleep: and the convulsions of dying people may possibly be as
little disagreeable a sensation to them, as the snoring is to those that
sleep.
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