Too busy to intend a meaner care
Than how t' enrich thyfelf, and next thine heir;
Or art thou (as though rich, perhaps thou art)
But poor in knowledge, having none t' impart ;-
Behold that figure, neat, though plainly clad,
His fprightly mingled with a fhade of fad ;
Not of a nimble tongue, though now and then
Heard to articulate like other men ;
No jefter, and yet lively in difcourfe,
His phrafe well chofen, clear, and full of force;
And his addrefs, if not quite French in ease,
Not English ftiff, but frank and form'd to please ;
Low in the world, because he fcorns its arts,
A man of letters, manners, morals, parts;
Unpatroniz'd, and therefore little known,
Wife for himfelf and his few friends alone-
In him thy well-appointed proxy fee,
Arm'd for a work too difficult for thee;
Prepar'd by tafte, by learning, and true worth,
To form thy fon, to ftrike his genius forth
Beneath thy roof, beneath thine eye to prove
The force of difcipline when back'd by love;
To double all thy pleasure in thy child,
His mind inform'd, his morals undefil'd.
Safe under fuch a wing, the boy shall show
No fpots contracted among grooms below,
Nor taint his fpeech with meanneffes, defign'd
By footman Tom for witty and refin’d.
There, in his commerce with the liveried herd,
Lurks the contagion chiefly to be fear'd;
For fince (fo fashion dictates) all who claim
An higher than a mere plebeian fame,
Find it expedient, come what mischief may,
To entertain a thief or two in pay,
(And they that can afford th' expence of more,
Some half a dozen and fome half a score)
Great cause occurs to fave him from a band
So fure to spoil him, and so near at hand;
A point fecur'd, if once he be supplied
With fome fuch Mentor always at his fide.
Are fuch men rare? perhaps they would abound
Were occupation easier to be found,
Were education, elfe fo fure to fail,
Conducted on a manageable scale,
And schools, that have outliv'd all just esteem,
Exchang'd for the fecure domeftic scheme.-
But, having found him, be thou duke or earl,
Show thou haft fense enough to prize the pearl,
And, as thou would'st th' advancement of thine heir
In all good faculties beneath his care,
Refpect, as is but rational and just,
A man deem'd worthy of fo dear a trust.
Defpis'd by thee, what more can he expect
From youthful folly, than the fame neglect?
A flat and fatal negative obtains,
That inftant, upon all his future pains;
His leffons tire, his mild rebukes offend,
And all the instructions of thy son's best friend
Are a stream choak'd, or trickling to no end.
Doom him not then to folitary meals,
But recollect that he has fenfe, and feels;
And that, poffeffor of a foul refin'd,
An upright heart and cultivated mind,
His poft not mean, his talents not unknown,
He deems it hard to vegetate alone.
And if admitted at thy board he fit,
Account him no just mark for idle wit ;
Offend not him, whom modefty restrains
From rapartee, with jokes that he difdains,
Much less transfix his feelings with an oath,
Nor frown, unless he vanish with the cloth.-
And, trust me, his utility may reach
To more than he is hir'd or bound to teach,
Much trash unutter'd, and fome ills undone,
Through rev'rence of the cenfor of thy fon.
But if thy table be indeed unclean,
Foul with excefs, and with discourse obscene,
And thou a wretch, whom, following her old plan,
The world accounts an honourable man,
Because forfooth thy courage has been tried
And ftood the teft, perhaps on the wrong fide,
Though thou hadft never grace enough to prove
That any thing but vice could win thy love ;-
Or haft thou a polite, card-playing wife,
Chain'd to the routs that the frequents, for life,
Who, just when industry begins to fnore,
Flies, wing'd with joy, to fome coach-crowded door,
And thrice in ev'ry winter throngs thine own
With half the chariots and fedans in town,
Thyfelf meanwhile e'en fhifting as thou may'st,
Not very fober though, nor very chafte ;-
Or is thine houfe, though lefs fuperb thy rank,
If not a fcene of pleasure, a mere blank,
And thou at beft, and in thy fob'reft mood,
A trifler vain, and empty of all good
Though mercy for thyfelf thou can'st have none,
Hear nature plead, fhow mercy to thy fon.
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