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Concentric

both the one and the other have frequently feveral concentric arcs beyond it. Their tops are all placed in the direction of the meridian, tho with a little declination to the weft, declination which I did not find to be conftant, and which is fometimes fenfible.

6. It would be endless to mention all the meteors? different figures these meteors affume, and the various motions with which they are agitated. Their motion is moft commonly affume? like that of a pair of colours, waved in the air, and the different tints of their light give

them the appearance of fo many vaft ftream- agitated? ers of changeable taffeta. Sometimes they line a part of the sky with fcarlet.

7. On the eighteenth of December, I faw phænomenon? a phænomenon of this kind, that in the midst

of all the wonders to which I was now every

day accustomed, raised my admiration. To conftellation? the fouth a great fpace of the fky appeared tinged with fo lively a red, that the whole conftellation of Orion looked as if it had dipped. been dipped in blood.

8. This light, which was at first fixed,

foon moved, and changing into other colours, dome? violet and blue, fettled into a dome, whose

top stood a little to the fouth-weft of the ze

nith. The moon fhone bright, but did not efface? in the leaft efface it.

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9. In this country, where there are lights

of fo many different colours, 1 never faw but prefages? two that were red; and fuch are taken for

prefages of fome great misfortune.

10. After all, when people gaze at these fiery. phænomena with an unphilofophic eye, it is

not surprising if they difcover in them ar

mies engaged, fiery chariots, and a thoufand prodigies? other prodigies.

F

Of

Of the Periods and Ufes of Human Life.

Vulture.

I.

dazzleth.

obfcure?

cloyeth?

pinnacle?

contemn?

diamonds.

purchase.

want.

queflion.

Lait.

toils?

teareth.

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S the eye of the morning to the lark, as the fhade of the evening to the owl, as honey to the bee, or as the carcafe to the vulture; even fuch is life unto the heart of man. Tho bright, it dazzleth not; tho obfcure, it difpleafeth not; tho fweet, it cloyeth not; tho corrupt, it forbiddeth not; yet who is he that knoweth its true value.

2. Learn to esteem life as it ought; then art thou near the pinnacle of wisdom. Think not with the fool, that nothing is more valuable; nor believe with the pretended wife, that thou oughteft to contemn it. Love it not for itself, but for the good it may be of to others. Gold cannot buy it for thee, neither can mines of diamonds purchase back the moment thou haft now loft of it. Employ the fucceeding ones in virtue.

3. Say not, that it were beft not to have been born; or, if born, that it had been beft to die early. Neither dare thou to afk of thy Creator, where had been the evil, had I not exifted? Good is in thy power; the want of good is evil; and, if thy queftion be juft, lo! it condemneth thee.

4. Would the fifh fwallow the bait, if he knew the hook was hidden therein? would the lion enter the toils, if he knew they were prepared for him? So neither, were the foul to perifh with this clay,would man wish to live; neither would a merciful God have created him: Know hence thou fhalt live afterward. 5. As the bird inclofed in the cage before he feeth it, yet teareth not his flesh against its fides; fo neither labour thou vainly to run

from

from the state thou art in; but know it is al- Allotted. lotted thee, and be content with it. Though

its waysare uneven, yet are they not all pain

ful? Accomodate thyself to all; and where accommodate ? there is leaft appearance of evil, fufpect the greatest danger.

6. When thy bed is ftraw, thou sleepest in Araw. fecurity; but when thou haft ftretched thyfelf

on roses, beware of the thorns. A good death

is better than an evil life. Strive to live, there- ftretched. fore, as long as thou oughteft, not as long as

thou canst. While thy life is to others worth more than thy death, it is thy duty to pre- oughteft. . ferve it.

7. Complain not with the fool, of the short

nefs of thy time. Remember, that with thy complain. days thy cares are fhortened. Take from

the period of thy life the useless parts of it,

and what remaineth? Take off the time of fickness
thine infancy, the fecond infancy of age, thy
fleep, thy thoughtless hours, thy days of fick-
nefs; and, even at the fulness of years, how truly.
few seasons haft thou truly numbered?

8. He who gave thee life as a bleffing,
fhortened it to make it more fo. To what limited.
end would longer life have ferved thee? wifh-
eft thou to have had an opportunity of more
vices? As to the good, will not he who limit- Span?
ed thy fpan, be fatisfied with the fruits of it?
9. .To what end,O child of forrow? wouldeft
thou live longer? To breathe, to eat, to fee
the world? All this thou haft done often al-
ready. Too frequent repetition, is it not tire-
fome? or is it not fuperfluous?

10. Wouldest thou improve thy wisdom and thy virtue? Alas! what art thou to know? or who is it that fhall teach thee? Badly thou employeft the little thou haft? dare not therefore to complain that more is not given thee. Repine not at the want of knowledge; it muft

breathe.

repetition?

fuperfluous?

employeft?

repine?

Hereafter.

fawn?

riotous?

fimplicity?

Suffice?

tyranny.

prodigal ?

repentest?

economy?

firft.

arrow.

warrior.

délufion?

perifh with thee in the grave. Be honest here, thou fhalt be wife hereafter.

11. Say not unto the crow, why numbereft thou feven times the age of thy lord? or te the fawn, why are thine eyes to fee my offfpring to an hundred generations? Are thefe to be compared with thee in abuse of life? are they riotous? are they cruel ? are they ungrateful? Learn from them rather, that innocence of life and fimplicity of manners, are the paths to a good old age.

12. Knoweft thou to employ life better than these? then less of it may fuffice thee. Man who dares enflave the world, when he knows he can enjoy his tyranny but a moment, what would he not aim at if he were immortal?

13. Enough hast thou of life, but thou regardest not. Thou art not in want of it, O' man! but thou art prodigal. Thou throwest it lightly away, as if thou hadst more than enough; and yet thou repineft that it is not gathering again unto thee. Know that it is not abundance which makeft rich, but economy. The wife continueth to live from his first period; the fool is always beginning.

14. Labour not after riches first, and think thou afterwards wilt enjoy them. He who' neglecteth the prefent moment, throweth a-t way all that he hath. As the arrow paffeth thro the heart, while the warrior knew not that it was coming; fo fhall his life be taken away, before he knoweth that he hath it.

15. What then is life, that men fhould defire it? what breathing, that he fhould covet it? Is it not a fcene of delufion; a feries of mifadventure? mifadventure, a purfuit of evils linked on all fides together? In the beginning it is ignopurfuit. rance, pain is in its middle, and its end is for

row.

As

Involved?

improbabili

ties?

16. As one wave pufheth on another,till both are involved in that behind them, even fo fucceedeth evil to evil in the life of man; the greater and the present swallow up the leffer and the past. Our terrors are real evils; our expectations look forward into improbabilities. 17. Fools, to dread as mortals, and to de- licentioufnefs? fire as if immortals! What part of life is it that we would wish to remain with us? Is it temerity? youth? Can we be in love with outrage, licentiousness and temerity? Is it age? then are we fond ofinfirmities. It is faid,gray hairs are revered, and in length of days is honor.

18. Virtue can add reverence to the bloom of youth; and without it, age plants more wrinkles in the foul than on the forehead. Is

revered?

wrinkles.

age refpected because it hateth riot? What forehead.
juftice is in this, when it is not age defpileth
pleasure, but pleafure that defpifeth age? Be riot?
virtuous while thou art young, fo fhall thine
age be honoured,

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Of the Tea Plant.

F all the vegetable productions of Vegetable?
China, the tea plant is the most valua

ble. The fhrub, which feems to be a fpecies
of myrtle, feldom grows beyond the fize of a myrtle.
rofe-bufh,or at molt fix or feven feet in height,
though fome have extended it to an hundred.

2. It fucceeds beft in a gravelly foil, and is ufually planted in rows upon little hills, three or four feet diftant from each other. Its leaves are about an inch and an half long, narrow, tapering to the poins, and indented like our rofe or fweet-briar leaves,and its flow. ers are much like thofe of the latter.

3. The fhrub is an evergreen, and bears a fmall fruit which contains feveral round black. ifh feeds, about the bignefs of a large pea;

but

fize.

gravelly.

indented?

briar.

evergreen ?

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