He gives the local bias all its fway;

Refolves that where he play'd his fons fhall play,
And destines their bright genius to be shown
Juft in the fcene where he display'd his own.
The meek and bashful boy will foon be taught
To be as bold and forward as he ought;
The rude will fcuffle through with ease enough,
Great fchools fuit beft the sturdy and the rough.
Ah, happy defignation, prudent choice,
Th' event is fure; expect it, and rejoice!
Soon fee your wish fulfill'd in either child-
The pert made perter, and the tame made wild,

The great, indeed, by titles, riches, birth,
Excus'd th' incumbrance of more folid worth,
Are beft difpos'd of where with most success
They may acquire that confident address,
Those habits of profufe and lewd expense,
That scorn of all delights but those of sense,
Which, though in plain plebeians we condemn,
With so much reason all expect from them.
But families of lefs illuftrious fame,

Whose chief distinction is their spotless name,

Whofe heirs, their honours none, their income small, Muft fhine by true defert, or not at all

What dream they of, that with so little care
They risk their hopes, their dearest treasure, there?
They dream of little Charles or William grac'd
With wig prolix, down flowing to his waift;
They fee th' attentive crowds his talents draw,
They hear him speak-the oracle of law!
The father who defigns his babe a priest,
Dreams him epifcopally fuch at leaft;

And, while the playful jockey fcours the room
Brifkly, aftride upon the parlour broom,

In fancy fees him more fuperbly ride

In coach with purple lin'd, and mitres on its fide.
Events improbable and strange as these,

Which only a parental eye forefees,

A public school shall bring to pass with ease.
But how? refides fuch virtue in that air
As must create an appetite for pray'r?
And will it breathe into him all the zeal
That candidates for fuch a prize should feel,
To take the lead and be the foremost till

In all true worth and literary skill ?
"Ah, blind to bright futurity, untaught

"The knowledge of the world, and dull of thought!

"Church-ladders are not always mounted best

"By learned clerks and Latinifts profefs'd.

"Th' exalted prize demands an upward look,
"Not to be found by poring on a book.
"Small skill in Latin, and ftill lefs in Greek,
"Is more than adequate to all I feek.
"Let erudition grace him or not grace,
"I give the bauble but the fecond place;
"His wealth, fame, honours, all that I intend,
"Subfift and centre in one point-a friend!
"A friend, whate'er he ftudies or neglects,
"Shall give him confequence, heal all defects.
"His intercourfe with peers, and fons of peers-
"There dawns the fplendour of his future years;
"In that bright quarter his propitious skies
"Shall blush betimes, and there his glory rife.

“ Your Lordship, and Your Grace! what school can teach
"A rhet'ric equal to thofe parts of speech?

"What need of Homer's verfe or Tully's profe,
"Sweet interjections! if he learn but those ?
"Let rev'rend churls his ignorance rebuke,
"Who starve upon a dog's-ear'd Pentateuch,
"The parfon knows enough who knows a duke."
Egregious purpose! worthily begun

In barb'rous prostitution of your fon;

Prefs'd on his part by means that would disgrace
A fcriv'ner's clerk or footman out of place,

"

And ending, if at laft its end be gain'd,
In facrilege, in God's own house profan'd!
It may fucceed; and, if his fins fhould call
For more than common punishment, it shall;
The wretch fhall rife, and be the thing on earth
Least qualified in honour, learning, worth,
To occupy a facred, awful poft,

In which the best and worthieft tremble most.
The royal letters are a thing of course-

A king, that would, might recommend his horse;
And deans, no doubt, and chapters, with one voice,
As bound in duty, would confirm the choice.
Behold your bishop! well he plays his part-
Chriftian in name, and infidel in heart,
Ghoftly in office, earthly in his plan,
A flave at court, elsewhere a lady's man!
Dumb as a fenator, and, as a priest,

A piece of mere church-furniture at beft;

To live eftrang'd from God his total scope,
And his end fure, without one glimpse of hope!
But, fair although and feafible it seem,

Depend not much upon your golden dream;
For providence, that feems concern'd t' exempt
The hallow'd bench from abfolute contempt,
In fpite of all the wrigglers into place,
Still keeps a feat or two for worth and grace;

And therefore 'tis, that, though the fight be rare,
We sometimes fee a Lowth or Bagot there.
Befides, school-friendships are not always found,
Though fair in promife, permanent and found ;
The most difint'refted and virtuous minds,
In early years connected, time unbinds;
New fituations give a diff'rent caft

Of habit, inclination, temper, taste;
And he, that feem'd our counterpart at first,
Soon fhows the ftrong fimilitude revers'd.

Young heads are giddy, and young hearts are warm, And make mistakes for manhood to reform.

Boys are at beft but pretty buds unblown,

Whose scent and hues are rather guefs'd than known;
Each dreams that each is just what he appears,
But learns his error in maturer years,
When difpofition, like a fail unfurl'd,
Shows all its rents and patches to the world.
If, therefore, ev'n when honeft in defign,
A boyish friendship may fo foon decline,
'Twere wiser fure t' infpire a little heart
With just abhorrence of so mean a part,
Than fet your fon to work at a vile trade
For wages fo unlikely to be paid.

Our public hives of puerile resort,

That are of chief and most approv'd report,