ELE GY;

DESCRIBING THE SORROW OF AN INGENUOUS MIND, ON THE MELANCHOLY EVENT OF A LICENTIOUS AMOUR.

W

BY W. SHEN STONE, ESQ

HY mourns my friend? why weeps his downcaft eye? That eye where mirth; where fancy us'd to fhine! Thy chearful meads reprove that fwelling figh; Spring ne'er enamell'd fairer meads than thine.

Art thou not lodg'd in Fortune's warm embrace?
Wert thou not form'd by Nature's partial care?
Blefs'd in thy fong, and blefs'd in every grace

That wins the friend, or that enchants the fair?

• Damon,' faid he, thy partial praise reftrain;
• Not Damon's friendfhip can my peace restore ;
Alas! his very praise awakes my pain,

And my poor wounded bofom bleeds the more.

For, oh! that Nature on my birth had frown'd!
• Or Fortune fix'd me to fome lowly cell!
Then had my bofom 'fcap'd this fatal wound,
• Nor had I bid these vernal fweets farewel.

But led by Fortune's hand, her darling child,

My youth her vain licentious blifs admir'd

• In Fortune's train the Syren Flattery fmil'd, And rafhly hallow'd all her queen infpird.

• Of folly ftudious, e'en of vices vain,

Ah, vices! gilded by the rich and gay!
I chas'd the guileless daughters of the plain;
Nor dropp'd the chafe, till Jeffy was my prey.

• Poor,

• Poor, artless maid! to ftain thy spotless name,
Expence, and art, and toil, united strove;
To lure a breaft that felt the pureft flame,
• Sustain'd by virtue, but betray'd by love.

School'd in the fcience of love's mazy wiles,
• I cloath'd each feature with affected scorn;
I fpoke of jealous doubts, and fickle fmiles,

And, feigning, left her anxious and forlorn.

Then, while the fancy'd rage alarm'd her care,
• Warm to deny, and zealous to disprove;
I bade my words the wonted softness wear,
And feiz'd the minute of returning love.

To thee, my Damon, dare I paint the reft?
Will, yet, thy love a candid ear incline?
Affur'd, that virtue, by misfortune prefs'd,
• Feels not the sharpness of a pang like mine.

• Nine envious moons matur'd her growing fhame;
Ere while to flaunt it in the face of day:
When, fcorn'd by virtue, ftigmatiz'd by fame,
Low at my feet defponding Jeffy lay.

ce Henry," she said, "by thy dear form fubdu'd,
"See the fad relicks of a nymph undone!

"I find, I find each rifing fob renew'd;
"I figh in fhades, and ficken at the fun.

"Amid the dreary gloom of night, I cry,

"When will the morn's once pleafing scenes return? "Yet what can morn's returning ray fupply,

"But foes that triumph-or, but friends that mourn!

"Alas!

"Alas! no more the joyous morn appears,

"That led the tranquil hours of fpotlefs fame; "For I have steep'd a father's couch in tears, "And ting'd a mother's glowing cheek with fhame.

"The vocal birds that raise their matin ftrain,
"The sportive lambs increase my pensive moan;
"All seem to chase me from the chearful plain,
"And talk of truth and innocence alone.

"If thro' the garden's flow'ry tribes I ftray,
"Where bloom the jasmines that could once allure-
Hope not to find delight in us," they fay,

For we are spotlefs, Jeffy; we are pure.”

"Ye flowers! that well reproach a nymph fo frail,
"Say, could ye with my virgin fame compare?
The brighteft bud that scents the vernal gale,
"Was not fo fragrant, and was not so fair.

"Now the grave old alarm the gentler young;

"And all my fame's abhorr'd contagion flee; " Trembles each lip, and faulters every tongue, "That bids the morn propitious fmile on me.

«Thus, for your fake, I fhun each human eye; "I bid the fweets of blooming youth adieu : "To die I languish, but I dread to die,

"Left my fad fate should nourish pangs for

you.

"Raife me from earth, the pangs of want remove, "And let me filent feek fome friendly fhore; "There only, banish'd from the form I love,

Be but my friend! I ask no dearer name;

"Be fuch the meed of fome more artful fair: "Nor could it heal my peace, or chafe my fhame, "That pity gave what love réfus'd to share.

"Force not my tongue to ask it's scanty bread;
"Nor hurl thy Jeffy to the vulgar crew:
"Not fuch the parent's board at which I fed;
"Not fuch the precept from his lips I drew!

"Haply, when age has filver'd o'er my hair,
"Malice may learn to fcorn fo mean a spoil;
"Envy may flight a face no longer fair,
"And pity welcome to my native foil!"

She spoke-nor was I born of favage race;
• Nor could thefe hands a niggard boon affign:

• Grateful she clasp'd me in a last embrace,

• And vow'd to wafte her life in pray'rs for mine.

I faw her foot the lofty bark afcend;

• I saw her breast with every paffion heave:

I left her-torn from every earthly friend;

• Oh! my hard bofom, which could bear to leave!

Brief let me be--the fatal ftorm arofe;

• The billows rag'd; the pilot's art was vain:

• O'er the tall maft the circling furges clofe;

• My Jeffy-floats upon the wat'ry plain!

• And-see my youth's impetuous fires decay!
• Seek not to stop reflection's bitter tear ;
• But warn the frolick, and inftruct the gay,

From Jeffy, floating on her wat❜ry bier!

AN EPISTLE TO THE REV. MR. MADAN;

OCCASIONED BY

HIS LATE PUBLICATION IN FAVOUR OF POLYGAMY,

INTITLED,

THELYPHTHORA; OR, A TREATISE ON FEMALE RUIN.

BY THE REV. MR. WYNNE.

A Bard, O MADAN, thu' to the unknown

Pleas'd real worth in any breast to own;

A Bard who oft, attendant on thy lore,
Has heard thee truths of Sacred Writ explore..
Now to thine ear prefers his humble strain,
Nor deems the gen'rous labour fhall be vain.
Born in an age when diffipation's fway

Proves that our virtue and our fame decay,
Prompt to fupport Religion's drooping cause,

Bold you ftand forth, and point to Heav'n's own laws.
And well, indeed, in a degen'rate age,

A theme like yours might pious minds engage.

Love the firit foother of all human woe,
Love! the chief blifs that mortals tafte below,
By Luft adult'rous driv'n, alas! retires,
And Hymen's torch, inverted thus, expires!
Man still delights from fair to fair to rove,
Woman prefers Variety to Love;

The nuptial ties they break with eager hands,
As Samfon did the Philiftéan bands.

To check this torrent, in your Work we find,

A bold design connubial bliss to bind.

To Science bred, with Scripture Learning fraught,
You lay down rules from diftant ages brought,

From Holy Writ as well as Reason trac'd,

:. With all the force of flow'ry periods grac'd.

You