The head of modest and ingenuous worth, That blush'd at its own praise; and press Close to his side that pleased him. Learning grew Beneath his care a thriving vigorous plant; The mind was well inform'd, the passions held Subordinate, and diligence was choice.
If e'er it chanced, as sometimes chance it must, That one among so many overleap'd The limits of control, his gentle eye Grew stern, and darted a severe rebuke; His frown was full of terror, and his voice Shook the delinquent with such fits of awe, As left him not, till penitence had won Lost favour back again, and closed the breach. But Discipline, a faithful servant long, Declined at length into the vale of years: A palsy struck his arm; his sparkling eye
Was quench'd in rheums of age; his voice, unstrung, Grew tremulous, and drew derision more
Than reverence in perverse, rebellious youth. So colleges and halls neglected much
Their good old friend; and Discipline at length, O'erlook'd and unemploy'd, fell sick and died. Then study languish'd, emulation slept, And virtue fled. The schools became a scene Of solemn farce, where Ignorance in stilts, His cap well lined with logic not his own, With parrot tongue perform'd the scholar's part, Proceeding soon a graduated dunce.
Then compromise had place, and scrutiny Became stone blind: precedence went in truck, And he was competent whose purse was so. A dissolution of all bonds ensued;
The curbs invented for the mulish mouth Of headstrong youth were broken; bars and bolts Grew rusty by disuse; and massy gates Forgot their office, opening with a touch; Till gowns at length are found mere masquerade, The tassel'd cap, and the spruce band a jest, A mockery of the world! What need of these For gamesters, jockeys, brothellers impure,
Spendthrifts, and booted sportsmen, oftener seen 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 such expense, as pinches parents blue, And mortifies the liberal hand of love, Is squander'd in pursuit of idle sports And vicious pleasures; buys the boy a name That sits a stigma 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 soon, Add to such erudition, thus acquired,
Where science and where virtue are profess'd? They may confirm his habits, rivet fast His folly, but to spoil him is a task That bids defiance to the united powers Of fashion, dissipation, taverns, stews.
Now blame we most the nurslings or the nurse? The children crook'd, and twisted, and deform'd, Through want of care; or her, whose winking eye And slumbering oscitancy mars the brood? The nurse, no doubt. Regardless of her charge, She needs herself correction; needs to learn, That it is dangerous sporting with the world, With things so sacred as a nation's trust, The nurture of her youth, her dearest pledge.
All are not such. I had a brother once Peace to the memory of a man of worth, A man of letters, and of manners too! Of manners sweet, as virtue always wears When gay good-nature dresses her in smiles. He graced a college,* in which order yet Was sacred; and was honour'd, loved, and wept, By more than one, themselves conspicuous there. Some minds are temper'd happily, and mix'd With such ingredients of good sense, and taste Of what is excellent in man, they thirst With such a zeal to be what they approve, * Ben'et Coll. Cambridge.
That no restraints can circumscribe them more Than they themselves by choice, for wisdom's sake. Nor can example hurt them: what they see
of vice in others but enhancing more The charms of virtue in their just esteem. If such escape contagion, and emerge Pure from so foul a pool to shine abroad, And give the world their talents and themselves, Small thanks to those whose negligence or sloth Exposed their inexperience to the snare, And left them to an undirected choice.
See then the quiver broken and decay'd, In which are kept our arrows. Rusting there In wild disorder, and unfit for use,
What wonder if, discharged into the world, They shame their shooters with a random flight, Their points obtuse, and feathers drunk with wine! Well may the church wage unsuccessful war With such artillery arm'd. Vice parries wide The undreaded volley with a sword of straw, And stands an impudent and fearless mark.3
Have we not track'd the felon home, and found His birth-place and his dam? The country mourns, Mourns because every plague that can infest Society, and that saps and worms the base Of the edifice that policy has raised,
Swarms in all quarters: meets the eye, the ear, And suffocates the breath at every turn. Profusion breeds them; and the cause itself Of that calamitous mischief has been found: Found, too, where most offensive, in the skirts
Of the robed pedagogue! Else let the arraign'd Stand up unconscious, and refute the charge. So when the Jewish leader stretch'd his arm,
And waved his rod divine, a race obscene, Spawn'd in the muddy beds of Nile, came forth, Polluting Egypt: gardens, fields, and plains, Were cover'd with the pest; the streets were fill'd; The croaking nuisance lurk'd in every nook; Nor palaces, nor even chambers, 'scaped; And the land stank—so numerous was the fry.*
ARGUMENT OF THE THIRD BOOK.
Self-recollection and reproof. - Address to domestic happiness. Some account of myself. The vanity of many of their pursuits who are reputed wise. - Justification of my censures. - Divine illumination necessary to the most expert philosopher. The question, What is truth? answered by other questions. -Domestic happiness addressed again. Few lovers of the country. My tame hare.-Occupations of a retired gentleman in his garden. Pruning. - Framing. - Green-house. - Sowing of flower-seeds. -The country preferable to the town even in winter. - Reasons why it is deserted at that season. Ruinous effects of gaming, and of expensive improvement. -Book concludes with an apostrophe to the metropolis.
As one, who long in thickets and in brakes Entangled, winds now this way and now that His devious course uncertain, seeking home; Or, having long in miry ways been foil'd And sore discomfited, from slough to slough Plunging, and half despairing of escape,
If chance at length he find a greensward smooth And faithful to the foot, his spirits rise, He cherups brisk his ear-erecting steed,
And winds his way with pleasure and with ease: So I, designing other themes, and call'd To adorn the Sofa with eulogium due,
To tell its slumbers, and to paint its dreams, Have rambled wide: in country, city, seat Of academic fame (howe'er deserved) Long held, and scarcely disengaged at last. But now with pleasant pace a cleanlier road I mean to tread: I feel myself at large,
Courageous, and refresh'd for future toil, If toil await me, or if dangers new.
Since pulpits fail, and sounding boards reflect Most part an empty, ineffectual sound,
What chance that I, to fame so little known, Nor conversant with men or manners much, Should speak to purpose, or with better hope Crack the satiric thong? 'Twere wiser far For me, enamour'd of sequester'd scenes, And charm'd with rural beauty, to repose, Where chance may throw me, beneath elm or vine, My languid limbs, when summer sears the plains, Or, when rough winter rages, on the soft
And shelter'd sofa, while the nitrous air
Feeds a blue flame, and makes a cheerful hearth ;' There, undisturb'd by folly, and apprised How great the danger of disturbing her, To muse in silence, or at least confine Remarks that gall so many to the few, My partners in retreat. Disgust conceal'd Is ofttimes proof of wisdom, when the fault Is obstinate, and cure beyond our reach. Domestic happiness, thou only bliss Of Paradise that hast survived the fall! Though few now taste thee unimpair'd and pure, Or tasting, long enjoy thee, too infirm, Or too incautious, to preserve thy sweets Unmixt with drops of bitter, which neglect Or temper sheds into thy crystal cup; Thou art the nurse of virtue, in thine arms She smiles, appearing, as in truth she is, Heaven-born, and destined to the skies again. Thou art not known where pleasure is adored, That reeling goddess with the zoneless waist And wandering eyes, still leaning on the arm Of novelty, her fickle, frail support; For thou art meek and constant, hating change, And finding in the calm of truth-tried love Joys that her stormy raptures never yield. Forsaking thee, what shipwreck have we made Of honour, dignity, and fair renown!
« PreviousContinue » |