O'er the green, fummit of the rocks, whose base Beats back the roaring furge, fcarce heard fo high. The charity that warm'd his heart was mov'd At fight of the man-monster. With a smile Gentle, and affable, and full of grace, As fearful of offending whom he wish'd Much to perfuade, he plied his ear with truths Not harshly thunder'd forth or rudely prefs'd, But, like his purpose, gracious, kind, and sweet. "And doft thou dream," th' impenetrable man Exclaim'd," that me the lullabies of age, "And fantafies of dotards, fuch as thou, "Can cheat, or move a moment's fear in me? "Mark now the proof I give thee, that the brave "Need no fuch aids as fuperftition lends

"To steel their hearts against the dread of death." He spoke, and to the precipice at hand

Pash'd with a madman's fury. Fancy fhrinks,
And the blood thrills and curdles, at the thought
Of fuch a gulf as he defign'd his grave.

But, though the felon on his back could dare
The dreadful leap, more rational, his steed
Declin'd the death, and wheeling fwiftly round,
Or e'er his hoof had prefs'd the crumbling verge,
Baffled his rider, fav'd against his will!
The frenzy of the brain may be redrefs'd

By med'cine well applied, but without grace
The heart's infanity admits no cure.
Enrag'd the more, by what might have reform'd
His horrible intent, again he fought
Destruction, with a zeal to be destroy'd,
With founding whip, and rowels dyed in blood.
But still in vain. The Providence, that meant
A longer date to the far nobler beast,
Spar'd yet again th' ignobler, for his fake.
And now, his prowess prov'd, and his fincere
Incurable obduracy evinc'd,

His rage grew cool; and, pleas'd perhaps t' have earn'
So cheaply the renown of that attempt,
With looks of fome complacence he refum'd
His road, deriding much the blank amaze
Of good Evander, still where he was left
Fix'd motionlefs, and petrified with dread.
So on they far'd. Difcourfe on other themes
Enfuing, feem'd t' obliterate the past;
And, tamer far for so much fury shown,
(As is the course of rafh and fiery men)
The rude companion fmil'd, as if transform'd.
But 'twas a tranfient calm. A ftorm was near,
An unfufpected ftorm. His hour was come.
The impious challenger of Pow'r Divine

Was now to learn, that Heav'n, though flow to wrat

Is never with impunity defied.

His horfe, as he had caught his master's mood,
Snorting, and starting into fudden rage,
Unbidden, and not now to be controul'd,
Rush'd to the cliff, and, having reach'd it, stood.
At once the fhock unfeated him: he flew
Sheer o'er the craggy barrier; and, immers❜d
Deep in the flood, found, when he fought it not,
The death he had deferv'd-and died alone!
So God wrought double juftice; made the fool
The victim of his own tremendous choice,
And taught a brute the way to safe revenge.

I would not enter on my lift of friends (Though grac'd with polifh'd manners and fine fenfe, Yet wanting fenfibility) the man

Who needlessly fets foot upon a worm.
An inadvertent ftep may crush the foaik
That crawls at ev'ning in the public path;
But he that has humanity, forewarn'd,
Will tread afide, and let the reptile live.
The creeping vermin, loathfome to the fight,
And charg'd perhaps with venom, that intrudes,
A vifitor unwelcome, into scenes

Sacred to neatnefs and repofe-th' alcove,
The chamber, or refectory-may die:

A neceffary act incurs no blame.

Not fo, when held within their proper bounds,
And guiltless of offence, they range the air,
Or take their pastime in the spacious field:
There they are privileg'd; and he that hunts
Or harms them there is guilty of a wrong,
Disturbs th' economy of nature's realm,
Who, when the form'd, defign'd them an abode.
The fum is this.-If man's convenience, health,
Or fafety, interfere, his rights and claims
Are paramount, and muft extinguish theirs.
Elfe they are all-the meaneft things that are→→
As free to live, and to enjoy that life,
As God was free to form them at the first,
Who, in his fov'reign wifdom, made them all.
Ye, therefore, who love mercy, teach your fons
To love it too. The fpring-time of our years

Is foon difhonour'd and defil'd in most

By budding ills, that ask a prudent hand

To check them. But, alas! none fooner shoots,
If unrestrain'd, into luxuriant growth,

Than cruelty, moft dev'lifh of them all.
Mercy to him that shows it, is the rule
And righteous limitation of its act,

By which Heav'n moves in pard'ning guilty man;
And he that fhews none, being ripe in years,

And confcious of the outrage he commits,
Shall feek it, and not find it in his turn.

Diftinguish'd much by reafon, and still more
By our capacity of grace divine,

From creatures that exist but for our fake,
Which, having ferv'd us, perifh, we are held
Accountable; and God, fome future day,
Will reckon with us roundly for th' abuse
Of what he deems no mean or trivial trust.
Superior as we are, they yet depend

Not more on human help than we on theirs.
Their ftrength, or speed, or vigilance, were giv'n
In aid of our defects. In fome are found
Such teachable and apprehenfive parts,

That man's attainments in his own concerns,
Match'd with th' expertnefs of the brutes in theirs,
Are oft-times vanquifh'd and thrown far behind.
Some fhow that nice fagacity of fmell,

Ard read with fuch discernment, in the port
An figure of the man, his fecret aim,
That oft we owe our safety to a skill

We could not teach, and muft defpair to learn.
But learn we might, if not too proud to stoop
To quadruped inftructors, many a good
And ufeful-quality, and virtue too,