Fowle's New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser

The Beginning and End of MAN.

LORD! what is man? originally dust: engendered in sin, brought forth in sorrow; helpless in his infancy, extravagantly wild in his youth; mad in his manhood, decrepit in his old age: his first voice moves pity, his commands grief. Nature clothes the beasts with hair, the birds with feathers, and the fish with scales: but man is born naked, his hands cannot handle, his feet cannot walk: his tongue cannot speak, nor his eyes see aright; simple are his thoughts: vain are his desires, toys are his delight: he no sooner puts on his distinguishing character reason, but he burns it with wildfire passion, paints it with abominable pride, rears it with insatiable revenge, dirts it with avarice, and stains it with debauchery. His next stage is full of misery, fears torment him, hopes intoxicate him; cares perplex him, enemies rob him; wrongs oppress him, and dangers way-lay him; his last scene is deplorable; his eyes dim, his hands feeble, feet lame, sinews shrunk, bones dry, his days are full of sorrow, his nights full of pains; his life miserable, death terrible: his infancy, full of folly; youth, of disorder and toil; age of infirmity. Lord! what is man? a dunghill blanched with snow; a may-game of fortune, a mark for malice, a butt for envy; if poor he is despised, if rich he is flattered; if prudent he is mistrusted, if simple he is derided: his beauty is like a flower, his strength is grass; his wit a flash, his wisdom is folly; his judgment weak, his art imperfection; his glory a blaze, his time a span, himself a bubble; he is born crying, lives laughing, and dies groaning.