Be it a weakness, it deserves some praise; We love the play-place of our early daysThe scene is touching, and the heart is stone That feels not at that sight, and feels at none. The wall on which we tried our graving skill, The very name we carv'd, subsisting still;

The bench on which we sat while deep employ'd,
Tho' mangled, hack'd, and hew'd, not yet destroy'd:
The little ones, unbutton'd, glowing hot,

Playing our games, and on the very spot;
As happy as we once, to kneel and draw
The chalky ring, and knuckle down at taw;
To pitch the ball into the grounded hat,
Or drive it devious with a dext'rous pat-
The pleasing spectacle at once excites

Such recollection of our own delights,

That, viewing it, we seem almost t' obtain
Our innocent sweet simple years again.

This fond attachment to the well-known place,

Whence first we started into life's long race,

Maintains its hold with such unfailing sway,

We feel it ev'n in age, and at our latest day.
Hark! how the sire of chits, whose future share
Of classic food begins to be his care,

With his own likeness plac'd on either knee,
Indulges all a father's heart-felt glee;

And tells them, as he strokes their silver locks,
That they must soon learn Latin, and to box;
Then, turning, he regales his list'ning wife
With all th' adventures of his early life;
His skill in coachmanship, or driving chaise,
In bilking tavern bills, and spouting plays;
What shifts he us'd, detected in a scrape,
How he was flogg'd, or had the luck t' escape;
What sums he lost at play, and how he sold
Watch, seals, and all-till all his pranks are told.
Retracing thus his frolics, ('tis a name

That palliates deeds of folly and of shame)

He gives the local bias all its sway;

Resolves that where he play'd his sons shall play,

And destines their bright genius to be shown Just in the scene where he display'd his own. The meek and bashful boy will soon be taught To be as bold and forward as he ought;

The rude will scuffle through with ease enough, Great schools suit best the sturdy and the rough.

Ah, happy designation, prudent choice,
Th' event is sure; expect it, and rejoice!
Soon see your wish fulfill'd in either child-
The pert made perter, and the tame made wild.

The great, indeed, by titles, riches, birth, Excus'd th' incumbrance of more solid worth, Are best dispos'd of where with most success They may acquire that confident address, Those habits of profuse and lewd expense, That scorn of all delights but those of sense, Which, though in plain plebeians we condemn, With so much reason all expect from them.

But families of less illustrious fame,

Whose chief distinction is their spotless name,

Whose heirs, their honours none, their income

small,

Must shine by true desert, or none at all-
What dream they of, that with so little care
They risk their hopes, their dearest treasure, there?
They dream of little Charles or William grac'd
With wig prolix, down-flowing to his waist;
They see th' attentive crowds his talents draw,
They hear him speak-the oracle of law!
The father, who designs his babe a priest,
Dreams him episcopally such at least ;

And, while the playful jockey scours the room
Briskly, astride upon the parlour broom,

In fancy sees him more superbly ride

In coach with purple lin'd, and mitres on its side. Events improbable and strange as these,

Which only a parental eye foresees,

A public school shall bring to pass with ease.

But how! resides such virtue in that air

As must create an appetite for pray'r?

And will it breathe into him all the zeal

That candidates for such a prize should feel,
To take the lead and be the foremost still

In all true worth and literary skill?

66

Ah, blind to bright futurity, untaught

The knowledge of the world, and dull of thought! “Church-ladders are not always mounted best By learned clerks and Latinists profess' d. "Th' exalted prize demands an upward look, "Not to be found by poring on a book. "Small skill in Latin, and still less in Greek, "Is more than adequate to all I seek. "Let erudition grace him or not grace,

"I give the bauble but the second place; "His wealth, fame, honours, all that I intend, "Subsist and centre in one point-a friend! "A friend, whate'er he studies or neglects, "Shall give him consequence, heal all defects.