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Thou would'st not, deaf to nature's tend’reft plea,
Turn him adrift upon a rolling fea,

Nor fay, Go thither, conscious that there lay
A brood of afps, or quickfands in his way;
Then, only govern'd by the self-fame rule
Of natʼral pity, fend him not to school.
No-guard him better. Is he not thine own,
Thyfelf in miniature, thy flesh, thy bone?
And hop'st thou not ('tis ev'ry father's hope)
That, fince thy ftrength must with thy years elope,
And thou wilt need fome comfort to affuage
Health's last farewell, a ftaff of thine old age,
That then, in recompenfe of all thy cares,
Thy child fhall fhow refpect to thy gray hairs,
Befriend thee, of all other friends bereft,
And give thy life its only cordial left?
Aware then how much danger intervenes,
To compafs that good end, forecast the means.
His heart, now paffive, yields to thy command;-
Secure it thine, its key is in thine hand.
If thou defert thy charge, and throw it wide,
Nor heed what guests there enter and abide,
Complain not if attachments lewd and base
Supplant thee in it, and ufurp thy place.
But, if thou guard its facred chambers fure
From vicious inmates and delights impure,

Either his gratitude fhall hold him faft,
And keep him warm and filial to the last;
Or, if he prove unkind (as who can say,
But, being man, and therefore frail, he may?)
One comfort yet fhall cheer thine aged heart-
Howe'er he flight thee, thou haft done thy part.

Oh barb'rous! would't thou with a Gothic hand
Pull down the schools-what!-all schools i' th' land;
Or throw them up to liv'ry-nags and grooms,
Or turn them into fhops and auction rooms?
A captious question, Sir, (and yours is one)
Deferves an anfwer fimilar, or none.
Would't thou, poffeffor of a flock, employ
(Appriz'd that he is fuch) a careless boy,
And feed him well, and give him handsome pay,
Merely to fleep, and let them run aftray?
Survey our schools and colleges, and fee
A fight not much unlike my fimile.
From education, as the leading cause,
The public character its colour draws;
Thence the prevailing manners take their cast,
Extravagant or fober, loofe or chafte.

And, though I would not advertise them yet,
Nor write on each-This building to be Lety

Unless the world were all prepar'd t' embrace
A plan well worthy to fupply their place;
Yet, backward as they are, and long have been,
To cultivate and keep the MORALS clean,
(Forgive the crime) I wish them, I confefs,
Or better manag'd, or encourag'd lefs.

ON

THE DEATH

OF

MRS THROCKMORTON's BULFINCH.

YE nymphs! if e'er your eyes were red
With tears o'er hapless fav'rites fhed,
O fhare Maria's grief!

Her fav'rite, even in his cage,

(What will not hunger's cruel rage?). Affaffin'd by a thief.

Where Rhenus ftrays his vines among,
The egg was laid from which he sprung;
And though by nature mute,

Or only with a whistle blest,
Well-taught, he all the founds exprefs'd
Of flagelet or flute.

The honours of his ebon poll

Were brighter than the fleekeft mole;

His bofom of the hue

With which Aurora decks the skies,
When piping winds fhall foon arife
To fweep up all the dew,

Above, below, in all the house,
Dire foe, alike to bird and mouse,
No cat had leave to dwell;
And Bully's cage supported stood,
On props of fmoothest-shaven wood,
Large built, and lattic'd well;

Well-lattic'd-but the grate, alas!
Not rough with wire of steel or brass,
For Bully's plumage fake,

But fmooth with wands from Oufe's fide,
With which, when neatly peel'd and dried,
The fwains their baskets make.

Night veil'd the pole. All feem'd secure,
When led by inftinet sharp and fure,
Subfiftence to provide,

A beast forth-fallied on the scout,
Long-back'd, long-tail'd, with whifker'd fnout,
And badger-colour'd hide.

He, ent'ring at the study-door,
Its ample area 'gan explore;

And fomething in the wind

Conjectur'd, fniffing round and round,
Better than all the books he found,

Food, chiefly, for the mind.

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