Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

The wretch shall rise, and be the thing on earth

Least qualified in honour, learning, worth,
To occupy a sacred, awful post,

In which the best and worthiest 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-
Christian in name, and infidel in heart,
Ghostly in office, earthly in his plan,

A slave at court, elsewhere a lady's man!
Dumb as a senator, and, as a priest,

A piece of mere church-furniture at best;
To live estrang'd from God his total scope,
And his end sure, without one glimpse of hope!
But, fair although and feasible it seem,

Depend not much upon your golden dream;
For Providence, that seems concern'd t' exempt
The hallow'd bench from absolute contempt,

In spite of all the wrigglers into place,

Still keeps a seat or two for worth and grace;
And therefore 'tis, that, though the sight be rare,
We sometimes see a Lowth or Bagot there.
Besides, school-friendships are not always found,
Though fair in promise, permanent and sound;
The most disint'rested and virtuous minds,
In early years connected, time unbinds;

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,
And make mistakes for manhood to reform.

Boys are at best but pretty buds unblown,
Whose scent and hues are rather guess'd than known;
Each dreams that each is just what he appears,
But learns his error in maturer years,

When disposition, like a sail unfurl'd,

Shows all its rents and patches to the world.

If, therefore, ev'n when honest in design,
A boyish friendship may so soon decline,
"Twere wiser sure t' inspire a little heart
With just abhorrence of so mean a part,
Than set your son to work at a vile trade
For wages so unlikely to be paid.

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,
Exults in his miscarriage if he fail,

Deems his reward too great if he prevail,
And labours to surpass him day and night,
Less for improvement than to tickle spite.
The spur is powerful, and I grant its force;
It pricks the genius forward in its course,
Allows short time for play, and none for sloth;
And, felt alike by each, advances both:

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,
Done to the nobler part, affects it long;

And you are staunch indeed in learning's cause,
If you can crown a discipline, that draws
Such mischiefs after it, with much applause.

Connexion form'd for int'rest, and endear'd
By selfish views, thus censur'd and cashier'd;
And emulation, as engend'ring hate,
Doom'd to a no less ignominious fate;

The props of such proud seminaries fall,
The Jachin and the Boaz of them all.

Great schools rejected, then, as those that swell
Beyond a size that can be manag'd well,

Shall royal institutions miss the bays,

And small academies win all the praise?

Force not my drift beyond its just intent,
I praise a school as Pope a government;

So take my judgment in his language dress'd"Whate'er is best administer'd is best."

« AnteriorContinuar »