A diffolution of all bonds enfu'd,
The curbs invented for the muleifh mouth Of headstrong youth were broken; bars and bolts Grew rufty by disuse, and massy gates
Forgot their office, op'ning with a touch; 'Till gowns at length are found mere masquerade; The taffell'd cap, and the fpruce band a jest, A mock'ry of the world. What need of thefe For gamefters, jockies, brothellers impure, Spendthrifts and booted fportfmen, oft'ner feen With belted waist and pointers at their heels, Than in the bounds of duty? what was learn'd, If aught was learn'd in childhood, is forgot, And fuch expence as pinches parents blue, And mortifies the lib'ral hand of love, Is fquander'd in pursuit of idle sports And vicious pleasures. Buys the boy a name, That fits a ftigma on his father's house, And cleaves through life inseparably close To him that wears it. What can after-games, Of riper joys, and commerce with the world, The lewd vain world that must receive him foon, Add to fuch erudition thus acquir'd, Where science and where virtue are profefs'd? They may confirm his habits, rivet fast
His folly, but to fpoil him is a task That bids defiance to th' united pow'rs
Of fashion, diffipation, taverns, ftews.
Now, blame we moft the nurfelings or the nurfe? The children crook'd, and twisted and deform'd Through want of care, or her whose winking eye
And flumb'ring ofcitancy marrs the brood? The nurse, no doubt. Regardless of her charge, She needs herself correction. Needs to learn That it is dang❜rous sporting with the world, With things fo facred as a nation's trust, The nurture of her youth, her dearest pledge.
All are not fuch. I had a brother onee- Peace to the mem'ry of a man of worth, A man of letters, and of manners too- Of manners sweet as virtue always wears, When gay good-nature dreffes her in fmiles. He grac'd a college * in which order yet Was facred, and was honor'd, lov'd and wept By more than one, themselves confpicuous there. Some minds are temper'd happily, and mixt With fach ingredients of good fense and taste Of what is excellent in man, they thirst With fuch a zeal to be what they approve, That no reftraints can circumfcribe them more, Than they themselves by choice, for wifdom's fake. Nor can example hurt them. What they see Of vice in others but enhancing more
The charms of virtue in their just esteem. If fuch escape contagion, and emerge Pure, from fo foul a pool, to shine abroad, And give the world their talents and themselves, Small thanks to those whofe negligence or floth Expos'd their inexperience to the fnare,
And left them to an undirected choice.
See then! the quiver broken and decay'd In which are kept our arrows. Rufting there In wild diforder, and unfit for use,
What wonder if discharg'd into the world,
They fhame their fhooters with a random flight, Their points obtuse, and feathers drunk with wine, Well may the church wage unsuccessful war With fuch artill'ry arm'd. Vice parries wide Th' undreaded volley with a sword of straw, And ftands an impudent and fearless mark.
Have we not track'd the felon home, and found His birth-place and his dam? the country mourns, Mourns, becaufe ev'ry plague that can infeft Society, and that faps and worms the base Of th' edifice that policy has rais'd, Swarms in all quarters; meets the eye, the And fuffocates the breath at ev'ry turn. -Profufion breeds them. And the cause itself Of that calamitous mifchief has been found. Found too where moft offenfive, in the skirts Of the rob'd pædagogue. Elfe, let the arraign'd Stand up unconfcious, and refute the charge. So when the Jewish Leader ftretch'd his arm And wav'd his rod divine, a race obscene Spawn'd in the muddy beds of Nile, came forth Polluting Ægypt. Gardens, fields, and plains Were cover'd with the peft. The ftreets were fill'd; The croaking nuisance lurk'd in ev'ry nook, Nor palaces, nor even chambers 'scap'd, And the land ftank, so num'rous was the fry.
ARGUMENT OF THE THIRD BOOK.
Self recollection and reproof.-Addrefs to domeftic happinefs. Some account of myself.-The vanity of many of their purfuits who are reputed wife.—Juflification of my cenfures.-Divine illumination neceffary to the most expert philofopher.-The question, What is truth? anfwered by other questions.-Domeftic happiness addreffed again.-Few lovers of the country.---My tame hare.---Occupations of a retired gentleman in his garden.---Pruning.---Framing.Greenhoufe.---Sowing of flower-feeds.The country preferable to the town even in the winter.---Reafons why it is deferted at that feafon.-Ruinous effects of gaming, and of expenfive improvement.---Book.concludes with an apoftrophé to the metropolis.
S one who long in thickets and in brakes Entangled, winds now this way, and now that, His devious courfe uncertain, seeking home; Or having long in miry ways been foil'd And fore difcomfited, from flough to flough Plunging, and half despairing of escape,
If chance at length he find a green-fwerd smooth And faithful to the foot, his fpirits rise, He chirrups brifk his ear-erecting fteed, And winds his way with pleasure and with ease ;. So I, defigning other themes, and call'd T' adorn the Sofa with elogium due,
To tell its flumbers, and to paint its dreams,›
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