If truth, my dear Laura, can merit regard,
If love, faith and honour, deserve a reward;
’Tis thine to dispense--Oh! bestow it on me,
Whose love, faith, and truth are directed to thee.
In strains more harmonious than Orpheus e’er sung,
More soft than the sounds of Cecilia’s sweet tongue,
Ye zephyrs, this truth to my Laura convey,
That my love, faith and honour, can never decay.
The lover, whose heart a fair face can engage,
May by caprice grow fickle, or cool in old age;
But founded in sense, my love, honour and truth,
Shall bloom in old age, as they flourish in youth.
NEW-YORK: _+Printed by THOMAS BURLING, Jun. & Co. No. 115,
Cherry-street.+-- +Subscriptions+ for this +Magazine+ (at 6s. per
quarter) are taken in at the Printing-Office, and at the Circulating
Library of Mr. J. FELLOWS, No. 60, +Wall-Street+._
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[Transcriber’s Note:
At this point there is a visible change in the front page of the
Magazine. The typeface is different, and the new masthead omits the
phrase “utile dulci”.]
THE NEW-YORK WEEKLY MAGAZINE;
or, Miscellaneous Repository.
+Vol. II.+] +Wednesday, April 5, 1797.+ [+No. 92.+
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_For the +New-York Weekly Magazine+._
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_EXTRACT from a LETTER to +Miss+ ****._
----Since we both fancy ourselves unhappy, permit me, in this place, to
make a few serious reflections on the extreme mutableness and
instability of all terrestrial felicity; and the long duration and
permanency of misfortune and disappointment. Those halcyon days I oft
remember, when I enjoyed the pleasure of your society. Then, indeed,
I tasted for a moment, something like unmixed happiness: not a wave of
sorrow rolled across my breast; nor was corroding care an inmate of my
bosom. The loveliness of the season, in union with the serenity of the
atmosphere, conspired to increase my tranquility, and to render every
thing delightful. When we sailed gently down the harbour, the clear
cerulean of the sky added a softer beauty to the adjacent landscapes,
and rendered the prospect enchanting. When we strayed over the flowery
fields, or penetrated the leafy grove, the flocks grazing the green
herbage, the zephyrs rustling through the trees, and the birds warbling
on the branches, exhibited a resemblance of the pristine happiness of
ancient Eden. And when listlessly wandering on the rocky beach, the idle
murmuring of the waves upon the sandy shore, the confused gabbling of
the sea fowl, and the distant view of the “full spread vessel
majestically advancing over the white capp’d billows,” tended to sooth
the sorrows of humanity, and lull the mind to quietude. The day ended,
and still evening drew on. Then did nature appear in silent
magnificence; while the silver rays of the full orbed moon shed a
majesty on each surrounding object. The lofty summit of the cloud-topt
mountain appeared in solemn grandeur; the dusky forest reflected a
yellow radiance; and the rolling wonders of the skies glittered over our
heads: while the awful stillness that reigned, interrupted only by the
lonely strains of the whip-poor-will, served to exalt the soul, and
distend the heart.
These were beatific seasons of bliss--golden moments indeed, while they
lasted, but, alas! where are they fled? They have vanished like the
fading glories of the west, when the illustrious monarch of day resigns
our hemisphere to the sable goddess of darkness. Or like the gay
delusions of a morning dream, which only tantalize the mind with the
prospect of unsubstantial happiness, and render the real evils of life
more intolerable. A true, but melancholy picture of unhappy man. Joy,
for a moment, expands his countenance with smiles; but it is suddenly
overclouded with a gloom of sadness, and misery and woe become his
inseparable companions. Youth and beauty just open into bloom; and then
are succeeded by the solicitudes of manhood, and the dull unjoyous
season of old age. Humiliating reflections are these to the sorrowing
child of humanity: yet, where virtue has a residence in the heart, she
quickly calms the throbbing breast, and allays the gathering storm of
affliction. ’Tis virtue alone that can enable the soul to bear up
cheerfully against the calamities of life, and give her a joyful
assurance of happiness in a future state. Virtue will command respect
among men, adorn the wrinkles of age with dignity, and crown the hoary
head with respect. It will shine forth in the evening of life, like the
refulgent glories of a setting sun, and glow with increasing splendor in
never-ending worlds.
This invaluable jewel, I admit not the least doubt, dear madam, but you
possess; and it is the great object of my pursuit. Then let life’s
tempestuous ocean roar, and fortune inauspiciously frown upon us; we
shall surely outride the stormy gale, and ere long make the blessed port
of an happy immortality.
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