Behold your Bishop! well he plays his part,
Christian in name, and Infidel in heart,
Ghoftly in office, earthly in his plan,
A flave at court, elsewhere a lady's man,
Dumb as a fenator, and as a priest
A piece of mere church-furniture at best;
To live eftrang'd from God his total scope,
And his end fure, without one glimpse of hope.
But fair although and feasible it seem,
Depend not much upon your golden dream;
For Providence, that feems concern'd t' exempt
The hallow'd bench from abfolute contempt,
In spite of all the wrigglers into place,
Still keeps a feat or two for worth and grace;
And therefore 'tis, that, though the fight be
We fometimes fee a Lowth or Bagot there.
Befides, school-friendships are not always found;
Though fair in promife, permanent and found;
The most difint'refted and virtuous minds
In early years connected, time unbinds ;
New fituations give a diff'rent caft
Of habit, inclination, temper, tafte,
And he that seem'd our counterpart at first,
Soon fhows the ftrong fimilitude revers'd.
Young heads are giddy, and young hearts are
And make mistakes for manhood to reform.
Boys are at best but pretty buds unblown,
Whose scent and hues are rather guefs'd than
Each dreams that each is just what he appears,
But learns his error in maturer years,
When difpofition, like a fail unfurl'd,
Shows all its rents and patches to the world.
If therefore, ev❜n when honest in design,
A boyish friendship may fo foon decline,
"Twere wiser fure t' infpire a little heart
With just abhorrence of so mean a part,
Than fet your fon to work at a vile trade
For wages fo unlikely to be paid.
Our public hives of puerile resort,
That are of chief and moft approv❜d report,
To fuch base hopes, in many a fordid foul,
Owe their repute in part, but not the whole.
A principle, whose proud pretenfions pass
Unqueftion'd, though the jewel be but glass-
That with a world, not often over-nice,
Ranks as a virtue, and is yet a vice;
Or rather a grofs compound, justly tried,
Of envy, hatred, jealousy, and pride—
Contributes moft perhaps t' inhance their fame,
And Emulation is its fpecious 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 fpirit of that competition burns
With all varieties of ill by turns;
Each vainly magnifies his own fuccefs,
Refents his fellow's, wishes it were lefs,
Exults in his mifcarriage if he fail,
Deems his reward too great if he prevail,
And labours to furpafs him day and night,
Lefs for improvement, than to tickle spite.
The fpur is pow'rful, and I grant its force,
It pricks the genius forward in its course,
Allows fhort time for play, and none for floth,
And, felt alike by each, advances both i
But judge, where so much evil intervenes,
The end, though plaufible, not worth the
Weigh, for a moment, claffical defert
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 applaufe.
Connection form'd for intereft, and endear'd
By selfish views, thus cenfur'd and cashier'd;
And Emulation, as engend'ring hate,
Doom'd to a no lefs ignominious fate,
props of fuch proud feminaries fall,
The JACHIN and the Boaz of them all.
Great fchools rejected then, as those that fwell
Beyond a fize that can be manag'd well,
Shall royal inftitutions mifs the bays,
And fmall academies win all the praife?
Force not my drift beyond its juft intent,
I praise a school as Pope a government ;
So take my judgment in his language drefs'd,
"Whate'er is beft adminifter'd, is beft."
Few boys are born with talents that excel,
But all are capable of living well;
Then afk not, whether limited or large?
But, watch they ftrictly, or neglect their charge?
If anxious only that their boys may learn,
While Morals languish, a defpis'd concern,
The great and fmall deferve one common blame,
Diff'rent in fize, but in effect the fame.
Much zeal in virtue's cause all teachers boaft,
Though motives of mere lucre fway the most ;
Therefore in towns and cities they abound,
For there, the game they feek is eafieft found,
Though there, in fpite of all that care can do.
Traps to catch youth are most abundant too.
If fhrewd, and of a well-constructed brain,.
Keen in purfuit, and vig'rous to retain,
Your fon come forth a prodigy of skill,
As wherefoever taught, fo form'd, he will,
The pedagogue, with felf-complacent air,
Claims more than half the praise as his due
fhare;
But if, with all his genius, he betray,
Not more intelligent than loofe and gay,
Such vicious habits as difgrace his name,
Threaten his health, his fortune, and his fame,
Though want of due restraint alone have bred
The fymptoms that you fee with fo much dread,
Unenvy'd there he may fuftain alone
The whole reproach, the fault was all his own.
Oh 'tis a fight to be with joy perus'd,
By all whom fentiment has not abus'd,
New-fangled fentiment, the boafted grace
Of thofe who never feel in the right place;
A fight furpafs'd by none that we can show,
Though Veftris on one leg ftill fhine below;
A father bleft with an ingenuous fon,
Father, and friend, and tutor all in one.
How!-turn again to tales long fince forgot,
top, and Phædrus, and the reft ?Why
not?
He will not blush, that has a father's heart,
To take in childish plays a childish part,
But bends his sturdy back to any toy
That youth takes pleasure in, to please his boy;
Then why refign into a stranger's hand
A taik as much within your own command,
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