Yes-thou may'st eat thy bread, and lick the

hand
That feeds thee ; thou may'ft frolic on the floor
At evening, and at night retire secure
To thy straw couch, and slumber unalarm'd ;
For I have gain’d thy confidence, have pledg'd
All that is human in me, to protect
Thine unsuspecting gratitude and love.
If I survive thee I will dig thy grave,
And when I place thee in it, fighing say,
I knew at least one hare that had a friend.

How various his employments, whom the world
Calls idle, and who justly in return,
Esteems that busy world an idler too !
Friends, books, a garden, and perhaps his pen,
Delightful industry enjoy'd at home,
And nature in her cultivated trim
Dress’d to his taste, inviting him abroad-
Can he want occupation who has these?
Will he be idle who has much t' enjoy ?
Me, therefore, studious of laborious ease,
Not slothful; happy to deceive the time,
Not waste it ; and aware that human life
Is but a loan to be repaid with use,
When He shall call his debtors to account,
From whom are all our blessings, bus'ness finds
Ev'n here: while fedulous I seek t' improve,
At least neglect not, or leave unemploy'd,

The

The mind he gave me; driving it, though slack
Too oft, and much impeded in its work
By caufes not to be divulg'd in vain,
To its just point, the service of mankind.
He that attends to his interior felf,
That has a heart and keeps it ; has a mind
That hungers and supplies it; and, who seeks
A social, not a diffipated life,
Has business ; feels himself engag'd t' achieve
No unimportant, though a filent task.
A life all turbulence and noise, may seem
To him that leads it, wife and to be prais'd ;
But wisdom is a pearl with most success
Sought in still water, and beneath clear skies.
He that is ever occupied in storms,
Or dives not for it, or brings up instead,
Vainly industrious, a disgraceful prize.

The morning finds the self-fequest'd man
Fresh for his talk, intend what talk he may.
Whether inclement seasons recommend
His warm but simple home, where he enjoys,
With her who shares his pleasures and his heart,
Sweet converse, fipping calm the fragrant lymph
Which neatly she prepares; then to his book
Well chofen, and not fullenly perus’d
In selfish filence, but imparted oft
As aught occurs that she

may

smile to hear, Or turn to nourishment, digested well.

Or

Or if the garden with its many cares,
All well repay'd, demand him, he attends
The welcome call, conscious how much the hand
Of lubbard labour needs his watchful eye,
Oft loit'ring lazily, if not o'erseen,
Or misapplying his unskilful strength.
Nor does he govern only to direct,
But much performs himself. No works indeed
That ask robust tough finews bred to toil,
Servile employ—but such as may amuse,
Not tire, demanding rather skill than force.
Proud of his well spread walls, he views his trees
That meet (no barren interval between)
With pleasure more than ev’n their fruits afford,
Which, save himself who trains them, none can

feel;
Those therefore are his own peculiar charge,
No meaner hand may discipline the shoots,
None but his steel approach them. What is

weak,
Diftemper’d, or has loft prolific pow'rs,
Impair'd by age, his unrelenting hand
Dooms to the knife : nor does he spare the soft
And succulent that feeds its giant growtki,
But barren, at th' expence of neighb'ring twigs
Less oftentatious, and yet ftudded thick
With hopeful gems. The rest, nó portion left
That may disgrace his art, or disappoint

Large

Large expectation, he disposes neat
At measur'd distances, that air and fun,
Admitted freely, may afford their aid,
And ventilate and warm the swelling buds.
Hence summer has her riches, autumn hence,
And hence ev'n winter fills his wither'd hand
With blushing fruits, and plenty not his own.
Fair recompence of labour well bestow'd,
And wife precaution, which a clime so rude
Makes needful ftill, whose spring is but the child
Of churlish winter, in her froward moods
Discov'ring much the temper of her fire.
for oft, as if in her the stream of mild
Maternal nature had revers'd its courfe,
She brings her infants forth with many smiles,
But once deliver'd, kills them with a frown.
He therefore, timely warn’d, himself supplies
Her want of care, screening and keeping warm
The plenteous bloom, that nơ rough blast may

sweep
His garlands from the boughs. Again, as oft
As the sun peeps and vernal airs breathe mild,
The fence withdrawn, he gives them ev'ry beam,
And spreads his hopes before the blaze of day.

* Miráturque novos fructus et non fua poma.

VIRG.

TO

To raise the prickly and greer-coated gourd, So grateful to the palate, and when rare So coveted, elfe base and disesteemid Food for the vulgar merely—is an art That toiling ages have but just matur'd, And at this moment unassay'd in fong. Yet gnats have had, and frogs and mice, long

since, Their eulogy ; those sang the Mantuan bard, And these the Grecian, in ennobling strains ; And in thy numbers, Phillips, shines for aye The folitary shilling. Pardon then, Ye fage dispensers of poetic fame! Th' ambition of one meaner far, whose pow'rs, Presuming an attempt not less sublime, Pant for the praise of dressing to the taste Of critic appetite, no sordid fare, A cucumber, while costly yet and scarce.

The stable yields a stercoraccous heap, Impregnated vith quick fermenting falts, And potent to resist the freezing blast ; For ere the beech and elm have cast their leaf Deciduous, when now November dark Checks vegetation in the torpid plant Expos’d to his cold breath, the task begins. Warily therefore, and with prudent heed, He seeks a favour'd spot; that where he builds Th'agglomerated pile, his frame may front

The