The rich man and Lazarus,

Death of the Christian and the Prayer of Faith,

To the Materialist or Atheist,

Summer evening,

30

On the massacre of the American prisoners, at Dartmoor prison,

49

Description of Tripoli,

Elegy on the death of John Hilliard,

Elegy on the death of Lieut. James Decatur,

Li s addressed to Gen. Eaton,

War, or a prospect of it,

To the memory of Commodore Preble,

Cash,

To those democratic-members of Congress who voted for the salary bili 99

From a man in the earth to man in the moon,

Village Greatness,

The thunder storm,

The Hive,

False friendship,

Remorse on-killing a squirrel,

To the bard of Philadelphia,

Law,

Tom Eagle,

Perpetual motion,

New-Years address, 1819,

Return of spring and approach of May,

The carrier of the Plough Boy to his patrons,

Carrier's address to the patrons of the New-York Statesman,

Carrier of the Gazette and Onondaga Advertiser to his patrons,

Petition to the Convention in behalf of the ladies,

Elegy on the death of James Chauncey Mann,

Exordium,

Sketch of the Author's Life,

:

POEMS.

From the Albany Register, Feb. 28, 1817.

NATIVE GENIUS.

We are indebted to WILLIAM RAY, Esq. of Onondaga, for the following pious and beautiful effusion. Mr. RAY is a self-taught genius. Many of his poems are very excellent, and want nothing but the prunings and graftings of his own judgment, in a deliberate moment, to render them worthy of universal patronage.

In Religious Poetry, a new era is commencing. The plain and almost literal versions of the Psalms of David, in metrical composition, which have hitherto stood unrivalled, are giving way to versions of a more figurative and poetical cast, from the pens of BYRON and MOORE. The latter, we think, excels in his flights in this exalted and sublime region of the MUSES. But our own RAY, if he would but devote himself to the task, might prove that Europe is not the exclusive seat of the Muses, nor the only source of SACRED MELODIES, calculated to inspire a relish for Scriptural reading, and to instruct and delight the Philosopher and the Christian.

In the following effusion, we perceive the son of adversity, calmly smiling at the storms of life,

R

which serve but to point him to a higher sphere of existence, to animate his hopes and brighten his prospects of " another and a better world."

They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy."
PSALMS.

CONTRITE mourner! though thy tears,
Like the melting show'rs of spring,
Fall from clouds of grief and fears,
Fruitful harvests shall they bring ;
Harvests where no toils annoy,
Sown in tears, but reap'd in joy.

Hast thou lost a bosom friend,
Buried lifeless in the clay?
Of thy sorrows see an end,

At the last great harvest day :
Though his body worms destroy,
Sown in tears, 'tis rais'd in joy.

Disappointments hast thou found,
Disconcerting ev'ry scheme?
Sow thy hopes in heav'nly ground,
Earthly bliss is all a dream:
Pleasures fatally decoy,
Reap'd in tears, if sown in joy.

Keen afflictions dust thou feel,

Poverty, disease, and pain?

Know, the hand that wounds can heal,

Temp'ral loss-eternal gain :

Rich the harvest, sweet th' employ,
Sown in tears, to reap in joy.

Sent to call the wand'rer home,
Lov'd, if chasten'd by the LORD.
Lo! he bids the contrite come-
By his spirit-in his word-

To exchange a puerile toy,
For a world of endless joy.

Wounded mourner! cease to weep,

Though foul crimes may stain thy soul,
Boundless MERCY, free and deep,

Bids thee wash, be clean, and whole;
Then go reap, with no alloy,
HARVESTS OF ETERNAL JOY.

From the Plough Boy.

In a former number, we mentioned Mr Ray as a poetical writer of more than ordinary merit. The following effusion will justify our opinion. The Sacred Melodies of Byron and Moore have been much admired, and many of them very justly.But we do not recollect one of them, and we have read them all, which we think superior to the following, which is avowedly from the pen of William Ray