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I am defam'd by him I thought my friend,
Who by infinuations bafe has rais'd
A blafting fcandal of my spotless fame,
O! let your wife unerring precepts guide
A youth dejected with the frowns of fate;
Direct him how to chufe a faithful youth,
Whofe balmy friendship may alleviate

His anguish, and difpel what caus'd his drooping state. 4. Tho' foul detractions fully your white name, And by a friend, malevolent, traduc'd;

Yet innocence affords divine relief

By giving fweet reflections to the mind,
Healing with richest balm th' imaginary wound.
Not to be confcious of an act malign,

Is joy above defcription, pleafing dreams

Shall footh your nights repofe, and gild your wak ing hours,

What tho' miftaken in the fatal choice,
You took a friend infidious to your arms!
The flander, will return upon his head,
And loads of fhame his guilty foul deprefs.
Whilft you, tho' for a time by clouds obfcur'd,
Shall rife like virgin influence, and fhine
With rays of virtue, then let reason guide,
And long experience fix your choice divine.
Let the juft youth, whom you would make a friend,
With piety and honour be replete,

Whofe fteddy principles with friendship joyn'd,
May heal the wounds of your disorder'd mind,

Q. Was the world created with God's omnipotence? was writ by me in Latin thus, Utrum Deus mundum creaverit cum omnipotentia, nec ne? the true fenfe of the question being, Utrum Deus mundum creaverit cum tota ejus omnipotentia, nec ne? the particle tota being omitted, it might render it less intelligible to those who did not confider, that tota and omois were fynonymous terms. A friend of mine tranflated the queftion for me in my abfence, but he not being either a divine or an Englishman, I hope I shall not be answerable for his bad fenfe.

Ff5

A. The

4. The omiffion you was guilty of, makes a fignal difference in the nature of the queftion; for as God does every thing (how fmall foever) with his omnipotence, fo in no action (how great foever) does he exert his whole omnipotence. To fay that omnipotence is put upon its utmoft ftretch, is a palpable contradiction; for if ever it be put upon its utmost ftretch, it follows that it can proceed no further. And fure a bounded omnipotence is no omnipotence.

Q. I John iv. 12. Exod. xxxiii. 20. 1 Tim. vi. 16. No man bath, or can fee God; and yet in Gen. viii. 1. God appeared unto Abraham; and in Deut. v. 24. He Shewed himself to the Ifraelites. I defire to know how thefe texts can be reconciled?

4. When the Scriptures fay that God appear'd to Abraham, we are not to fuppofe, that he discover'd to him his very effence, which is an immaterial fubftance, and therefore invifible to a mortal eye. No, we are to understand no more, than that God dif play'd fome vifible tokens of an invitible prefence, which the fews call the divine Shekinah; and therefore, tho' he exhibited his glory to the trembling Ifraelites in a magnificent, a ftupendious manner, yet it was. but a material glory, but a faint refemblance of his real glory, and therefore fhort, infinitely fhort of that Glory which hall hereafter be revealed: for tho', while in this veil of flesh, we can difcover no more of God, than what the Scriptures reprefent as his hinder parts, yet when mortality shall be swallow'd up of life, we fhall then fee him face to face, fee him as he is. Q. Can a clergyman demand tythes in any number un

der ten?

4. Of corn, hay, &c. he can make no demand under the number fpecified: but of living creatures, though there be but seven, yet one becomes his due. Q. The charmingeft creature

With lovelieft features, That e'er any mortal did fee, Lives juft cross the way,

So that every day

I am taken up in viewing her beauty.

She's

She's as bright as the day,

As charming as May,

And amifs nought in her I find;

By night and by day

In my closet, at play,

She is never out of my mind.
I have a great mind,
And long have defign'd

With an humble fuit to accoft her;
But being unskill'd

Love's nice fhield to wield,
I'm afraid I should be deny'd, Sir:
But now, if Apollo,

Whofe parts are not shallow,
Me quickly fome advice will lend,
What propereft means are
For the gaining the fair,
I'll praife him for e'er without end.
A. If you love, as you say,
The fine lafs cross the way,
And hope by your paffion to move her,
You must flatter, carefs,

Sigh, ogle, and dress,

And play all the tricks of a lover.
Tho' fools ridicule,

Still keep to this rule,

You'll find your account in't hereafter;

Since fhow has oft hit,

When good fenfe and wit

Have fallen more wide of the matter.

Then with courage advance

Like beau in romance,

And dazzle her eyes with that glory:
The when and the where

Will quickly appear,

And then there's an end of the story.
Q. Ye tranfcendent fons of radiant light,
Whofe nobler fouls an humble fwain invite,
To ask a question, if your godships please,
A nod will do, and fet his mind at ease.
Ff 6

Ti

'Tis where content and friendship may be found?
I long to find them, and have look’d around
The world, and plough'd rough Neptune's watry brow,
But have not found them, nor I can't tell how.
Does earth poffefs the ever blessed pair,

Or if not fo, ye fages, tell me where

They dwell; I'd leave the world and foon be there.
A. In vain, alas! about the world you roam,
To find content, which must be found at home;
To wealth and pleasures never have recourse,
The first brings only cares, the laft remorse ;-
Your wishes and your loose defires restrain,
And foon the valuable prize you'll gain.

But friendship by ftrict fearch will ne'er be found,
"Tis chance muft throw you on that happy ground;
When fympathizing fouls together meet,

They'll both exert their faculties and greet;
No fymptoms, figus nor marks they'll want to know,
But naturally to each other flow;

Leap to imbrace and fuddenly unite
In clear identity, like beams of light.

Q. To you, O learn'd Phoebeans, I dare own
1 love; but dare not let that love be known
To the fair maid who has the conquest won.
When first I saw her, I no charms could find,
But what might well belong to womankind.
Her talk was witty, eafy was her file,

Sweet was her voice, and charming was her fmile.
Her face, neck, breaft, her shape, her gate, her air,
I faw with joy, but thought no danger there;
For they compleat in one or other ev'ry day appear.
Such common charms she had a thousand more,
But I had feen 'em all elsewhere before.

Yet when I enter'd on a stricter view,
Ev'n then all rapture in the fearch I grew.
In ev'ry charm fo vast a luftre fhone,
It dazzled brighter than the noon-day's fun.
'Twas then, alas! 'twas then in vain I ftrove
T' avoid the arrows of the god of love.

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1

All ways I tried the conflicts to maintain,
But love refolv'd the victory to gain.
In vain I fummon'd reafon to my aid,
Love was victorious, and that phantom fled.
Something he has, which renders her fo far
More beautiful than other women are,
'Twould be almost a fin to make compare.
She is, but oh! I cannot tell ye what,
Think all that's charming, and she merits that.
Now fay Phoebeans, grant your generous aid,
Advife me how to gain the lovely maid.
Already feveral ways I've tried in vain,
Whilft I've been teaching her to guide the pen.
Her jealous mother (for her father's dead)
Sets Spies, who tell her ev'ry word that's faid.
Therefore in copies I exprefs my mind,
But she inapprehenfive is, or cruelly unkind.
To guide her hand I fhew officious care,
But 'tis to figh my paffion in her ear.
Thefe too do vain and ineffectual prove,
Nothing, I fear, can foften her to love.
That you alone, fagacious Delians, know,
For nothing furely can be hid from you,
Therefore advife me quickly what to do.

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To follow you I with impatience wait,
Command me any thing, except to hate.
4. In vain, fond lover, you implore our aid,
To foften into love the cruel maid,
For all Apollo's arts have fail'd to move,
And he himself has been a flave to love.
Yet we can pity, tho' not give you eafe,
Since you're afraid to cure the fond disease.
Try all thofe arts which Cupid does infpire
Thofe vot'rys with, for all that feel his fire
Have brightest views of love, rais'd by their trong
defire.

Cold as Lucretia fhould the charmer prove,
Gold and addrefs will warm her into love,

And flatt'ry well apply'd the hardest heart will

move:

Ufe

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