The wretch shall rise, and be the thing on earth Least qualified in honour, learning, worth, In which the best and worthiest tremble most. A king, that would, might recommend his horse; A slave at court, elsewhere a lady's man! A piece of mere church-furniture at best; Depend not much upon your golden dream; In spite of all the wrigglers into place, Still keeps a seat or two for worth and grace; New situations give a diff'rent cast Of habit, inclination, temper, taste; And he, that seem'd our counterpart at first, Soon shows the strong similitude revers'd. Young heads are giddy, and young hearts are warm, Boys are at best but pretty buds unblown, When disposition, like a sail unfurl'd, Shows all its rents and patches to the world. If, therefore, ev'n when honest in design, Our public hives of puerile resort, That are of chief and most approv'd report, To such base hopes, in many a sordid soul, Owe their repute in part, but not the whole. A principle, whose proud pretensions pass Unquestion'd, though the jewel be but glassThat with a world, not often over-nice, Ranks as a virtue, and is yet a vice; Or rather a gross compound, justly tried, Of envy, hatred, jealousy, and prideContributes most perhaps t' enhance their fame; An emulation is its specious name. Boys, once on fire with that contentious zeal, Feel all the rage that female rivals feel; The prize of beauty in a woman's eyes Not brighter than in their's the scholar's prize. The spirit of that competition burns With all varieties of ill by turns; Each vainly magnifies his own success, Resents his fellow's, wishes it were less, Deems his reward too great if he prevail, But judge, where so much evil intervenes, The end, though plausible, not worth the means. Weigh, for a moment, classical desert Against an heart deprav'd and temper hurt; Hurt, too, perhaps for life; for early wrong, And you are staunch indeed in learning's cause, Connexion form'd for int'rest, and endear'd The props of such proud seminaries fall, Great schools rejected, then, as those that swell Shall royal institutions miss the bays, And small academies win all the praise? Force not my drift beyond its just intent, So take my judgment in his language dress'd"Whate'er is best administer'd is best." |