Thou who sooth'st the throbbing breast
Heaving wild with passion's throe,
Thou who lay'st the heart at rest

And cool'st distraction's fever'd glow ;
When thou leanest o'er the rill

And minglest with its wave thy tear,
O! what sounds the woodland fill
And softly whisper in my ear.

Come then enchanting Melancholy-
Thou sweetest mistress of my heart,
Come let us leave the haunts of folly
And taste the joys that ne'er depart.

Melancholy! maid of Heaven;
Thine are pleasures known by few-
Joys to favourites only giv'n-

Joys that soothe like summer dew;
Thine the harp, whose golden wire
Bids Heaven's sweetest music roll,
Kindling with a Seraph's fire
And softly stealing to the soul.
When thou pour'st the dying strain
Naiads smile along the wave,

Shepherds listen on the plain

And hermits in the mountain care.

Come then &c.

Melancholy! Pity's child;

Turn on me thine eye of blue,
Soft as when affection smil'd

Or wept compassion's purest dew;
Wake thy voice that charms the grove,
Breathe thy calmest-sweetest lay,
Strike thy silver chord of love,
And drive the cruel fiend away;

For thou sooth'st the tortur'd heart

To a holy heavenly calm,

And gently heals't affliction's smart,
With thy music's soft'ning balm.

Come then &c.

Angel of the green-wood shade,
Let me lie on moss reclin'd

When the hues of evening fade

And calmly blows the fragrant wind-
Let me lie beside the rill

And view the stream that ripples by,
Till my soul shall drink its fill

Of thy delightful melody.

Oh how soft-how sweet-how mild
All the sounds that kiss thy string-
How they echo from the wild

And in the flow'ring vallies ring.

Come then &c.

Melancholy dearest maid,

Bending low thine eye of blue,
Roam the gently opening glade
And thickets gemm'd with morning dew;
Seek the cool sequester'd cave
When the noon is glowing bright;
Rest where forests slowly wave
And floats a faintly trembling light.
Where'er thou rov'st at early dawn,
Or sit'st, when glows the noontide sky,
Dearer at night than quiet lawn
And winding rill that ripples by.

Come then enchanting Melancholy,
Thou sweetest mistress of my heart;
Come let us leave the haunts of folly
And taste the joys that ne'er depart.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We should like to see the other essays to which John Locke Gent. & Co. allude, before we pledge ourselves to insert the one now on hand.

The Epistle of one of the Sisterhood is received, and is under consideration. Laura has this moment come to hand. She shall soon have a place, and with a hearty welcome.

It would give us pleasure to hear from Concinnus again.

Honoria also was so well received, that it would gratify us not a little to be able to present our readers with more of the fruits of her pen.

THE MICROSCOPE.

EDITED BY A FRATERNITY OF GENTLEMEN.

I am an honest, well meaning sort of a man, and a constant reader of the Microscope. I have moreover the honour to be a peaceable inhabitant of this your city. I have however an unconquerable aversion to certain practices even of those who are, in some respects, much better than myself. As a specimen of what I have frequently observed I am determined to send you the following paper. It is in relation to the subject of slander. I happened to be in a small circle a few evenings since where a number of my old acquaintances were assembled, of whose characters I will first give you a general outline.

Polonius is a good, consistent Christian. He loves to dwell on the bright traits of character which his friends possess, and to draw a veil over those of a darker hue. If the conversation of the company turns on some indecorum or even sin of which another has been guilty, he will most assuredly descant on the excellencies which that man has generally appeared to possess, on the faults of our common nature, and conclude the whole of his harangue with a scripture quotation, such as, "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." He always takes good care however not to stand on the side of vice or irreligion by seeming to defend the

faults, which may be mentioned in his 'presence. He gives no quarter to any body who makes an attack on religion or its professors. In short, he seems to be generally influenced by that happy maxim of our Saviour, "Do to others as ye would that others should do to you."

Antonio is entirely of an opposite character. He never can listen with any patience to an unqualified approbation of any man. When he hears the general conduct of a person well spoken of, he will rake up some old scandal which had slept for many years, and endeavour to use that as a weapon against him. If an action is commended, he will begin to talk of his knowledge of human nature; and on this principle, will scrutinize the motives which led to it, and by a dexterous comparison of circumstances, will succeed in shewing to. the satisfaction of some, that the action is not praiseworthy, although it has so good an external appearance. He counts much upon the maxim, "All is not gold that glitters ;" and from this text I have heard him deliver many a discourse, which, if the reasoning of it were correct, would prove that there is no such thing as virtue in the world.

Francisco is still different from these. He will allow the excellence of any action which appears to possess that quality, and never questions the rectitude of the motives. The difficulty with him however is that he is perpetually interposing his buts and ifs so that you cannot help seeing he does not fully assent to what he appears at first so heartily to do.

Lysander is a professor of Christianity; and for aught that I know is sincere in his profession. He has one habit however which I dislike, and that is, measuring every one else, no matter how different the natural disposition, by himself. This I have often told him was wrong; and he acknowledges it is so; but he is perpetually forgetting himself, and acting as though it were right.

"What a noble instance of Christian charity was exhibited the other day by Mr. B.," said Polonius, as he was reclining in a neat elbow chair, perfectly at his ease, in this our circle. "I always loved that man. His solemn devotion at Church,

his kindness to the poor, and the universal amiableness of his life, have often excited very warm feelings in my breast."

Yes," replied Francisco, "this is all very true. All good' people of his acquaintance seem to be of a similar opinion; but," knitting his brow and looking down with a contemplative air to the ground, "he is said to be irascible in his family." "That he is," quoth Antonio somewhat amimated, " and I have no idea of giving him such a heap of praises neither as Polonius has done. As to the charity mentioned, how easy it is to see that he wishes to gain popularity by it! And pray what does his devotion at Church amount to? That is very easily put on. The ancient Pharisees worshipped God with a very sacred external appearance while they only wished to gain credit among their fellow men. Who can believe that a man who is so deficient in the family circle, the place where of all others religion ought to be found, is influenced by good motives elsewhere?"—" But then," rejoined Polonius, "here are facts which you know about this man, and they are good. Now is it fair to reason from what you do not know, as his irascibility and his motives, and condemn him?" "But I do know" resumed Antonio, Tom Jericho who was employed to do a piece of work for him, told me what a violent temper your saint fell into because something was done by one of his domestics not according to his mind."—" Did Tom tell you the whole story?"-Here Antonio rather hesitated, but at length replied, Tom told me enough "—and he was going on to give out an abundance of malicious hints as appeared by his eyes, when he was suddenly interrupted by the coming in of Varo, of whom I shall give no general character for the obvious reason that he has none. He has such an infinite number of oddities that I am unable to fix upon any particular things by which to describe him. One thing however may be called his hobby-horse, upon which, when he is fairly mounted, he rides off at such an intolerable gait that it is dif ficult to keep up with him. As soon as he ascertained the subject of the conversation he set out :-"I know nothing of the irascibility of Mr. B.-Indeed I do not, from the accounts