TO NOVELTY.

For thee in infancy we sigh,

And hourly cast an anxious eye
Beyond the prison-house of home:
Till from domestic tyrants free,
O'er the wide world, in search of thee,
Fair Novelty, we roam.

Full on thy track, by dawn of day,
The stripling starts, and scours away,
While hope her active wing supplies,

And softly whispers in the gale,
At every turning of the vale,
"Enjoyment onward lies."

Not far remote, beyond the trees
The landscape opens by degrees,

And yields sweet prospects of delight;
Beyond the mountain views expand,
And all the scenes of Fairy land
Come swelling on the sight.

"Tis here where wild profusion flows,
On every shrub there grows a rose,
And mellow fruit on every spray;
Here pleasure holds her bounteous reign,
And here the wanderer might remain,
Could pleasure bribe his stay.

But still the love of thee prevails,
He quits the port, and spreads the sails,
Careless if Ocean frown or smile,

So fate may give him to explore

The vast expanse, th' untrodden shore, And undiscovered isle.

Tir'd with the calmness of the deep,
While yet he chides the winds that sleep,

The clouds collect, the lightnings play;
Lo! the proud vessel drives at last,
A wreck, abandoned to the blast,
And foundering on her way.

Again the dark horizon clears,
The hills emerge, the coast appears,

He and his mates their mirth renew,

They man their boats, their oars they hand,
And soon the hospitable strand
Receives the happy crew.

What in the interior parts befell,
In after times we hear them tell,

When they at last their limbs recline,
The tongue, well pleased, its office plies,
And all the while their brimful eyes
With dews of transport shine.

While thus with pleasing warmth they boast gay excursions on the coast,

Of

Where all seems brilliant and divine;

The fond adventurers little know

It was thy pencil gave the glow,

O Novelty the charm was thine!

Alas! beyond thy short-lived reign,
Say, does there nought of good remain ?
Can nought the ardent heart engage?

Shall every joy with thee decay?
And heaven afford no parting ray

To cheer the hours of age?

Yes, Heaven is kind. When thou art fled, Comes gentle habit in thy stead

With silent pace, nor comes in vain;
For growing with declining years,
The good man's comforts she endears,
And softens every pain.

Where she, sweet gentle maid, presides,
Contentment at the board abides,

No vagrant wish her votary stings:
In his own grounds he loves to tread,
Nor envies, on his household bed,
The couch of Eastern kings.

Dr. Barrow wrote a brief account of Constantinople and of St. Chrysostom, who was Bishop of that city in 405. He was more powerful than the Bishop of Rome. Mr. Barrow had heard much of the piety and charity of St. Chrysostom, and of the Christians who yet remained in Constantinople. He had also fully understood that many Christians who were converted by St. Paul and the other Apostles, went from Greece to settle at Jerusalem, after St. Paul and many others had been put to death at Rome. But from the time of Constantine the Great, who built Constantinople and many Christian Churches there in A. D. 336, when the libraries were carried from Athens to Constantinople, that city was full of Christians who had known St. Paul and St. James, and the rest of the Apostles, by their writings, which had been carefully preserved in Greece and Jerusalem. In the time of Constantine, the name of Christian was highly honoured. The divine character of the Christian religion appeared by its pure and perfect

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morals. It did not consist in idle speculations, and the pretended wisdom of philosophy, which had prevailed in Greece. The duties which Christianity required did not seek reward or recompence from mankind. On the contrary, persecution, poverty, and death, were the prospects presented to the Christians; they were fully convinced of the truth of the mission of Jesus Christ, his divine wisdom had penetrated the hearts of his disciples, while it also taught them solid wisdom and virtue, by which they were enabled to subdue their passions and evil propensities, by the full assurance of reward after death. His consummate wisdom, (above all the wisdom of Greece) with infinite goodness and power, made his Gospel a treasure to the first Christians and martyrs. They looked up to their divine Master, and said "This is the promise he has given us, even eternal life."

We read in Eusebius of the great happiness of the Christians, when Constantine had made Constantinople the greatest and most magnificent city in the world, where the religion of Christ was generally professed. But the weakness and wickedness, and the sinful corruptions of mankind were as powerful as ever, except where the genuine effect of vital Christianity appeared in the virtue and piety of a few. The progress of Christian excellence was to be slow and sure, "here a little and there a little." Yet these few were strong in

1 John ii. 25.

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faith, they found themselves like sheep, but were assured Jesus Christ was the great and divine Shepherd. They said, We, according to his promise, look for new Heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness 1.”

We find that Dr. Barrow more and more firmly devoted his very superior mind to the study of divinity, after he had returned to England, and had fixed himself at Cambridge. He had found Sir Isaac Newton fully occupied by his various works. That illustrious philosopher had written his "Essay on Gravitation," as connected with astronomy, and the improved telescopes, &c. We find the sublime thoughts of that great philosopher very interesting: his mind had been elevated by the contemplation of the wonderful works of God in the firmament of Heaven. He concludes his essay "On Gravitation," with these words: "What an astonishing thing is this! When considered in its full extent, it seems to be the voice of God reaching from the uttermost Heavens, and inviting mankind to enlarge and exalt their views towards eternal life."

Both Sir Isaac Newton and Dr. Barrow had devoted themselves from early life, to the most important studies; they had said, "Let us seek wisdom, and find that the fear and knowledge of God is the beginning of understanding, and that the way of righteousness is life."

12 Peter iii. 13.