although he could not find it in his heart to refuse this lost being his request, yet he knew that he would only go begging round among his old friends and acquaintances, the consequence of which would, in all probability, be several days of intoxication before his return, when he would again come into the workhouse, in the same sickly state, from which, by good care and attention, he had been greatly relieved.

Let this communication, every syllable of which is true, sink deeply into the hearts of all my young male readers, who are just entering into life, and who may happen to have tolerable voices. Singing is an elegant, but, as I have shown, a dangerous accomplishment. Far be it from me to assert, that there are not many good singers, both public and private, who are prudent men. I have only sketched, feebly indeed, and slightly, what has been the result of musical talent of this sort, and what, therefore, may be the result again; and I have good reason to know, that a fate, similar to the one I have related, has befallen many a man besides him of whom I have been writing, whose youthful pride has been to be called a good singer.

LESSON XLI.

The Country Clergyman.-GOLDSMITH.

NEAR yonder copse, where once the garden smiled,
And still where many a garden flower grows wild,
There, where a few torn shrubs the place disclose,
The village preacher's modest mansion rose.
A man he was to all the country dear,

And passing rich, with forty pounds a year;
Remote from towns he ran his godly race,

Nor e'er had changed, nor wished to change, his pl.ce;
Unpractised he to fawn, or seek for power,
By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour:
Far other aims his heart had learned to prize,-
More bent to raise the wretched than to rise.

His house was known to all the vagrant train;
He chid their wanderings, but relieved their pain.
The long-remembered beggar was his guest,
Whose beard, descending, swept his aged breast:

The ruined spendthrift, now no longer proud,
Claimed kindred there, and had his claims allowed:
The broken soldier, kindly bade* to stay,

Satet by his fire and talked the night away;

Wept o'er his wounds, or, tales of sorrow done,

Shouldered his crutch, and showed how fields were won. Pleased with his guests, the good man learned to glow, And quite forgot their vices in their wo;

Careless their merits or their faults to scan,

His pity gave ere charity began.

Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride,
And even his failings leaned to virtue's side:
But, in his duty prompt at every call,

He watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all :
And, as a bird each fond endearment tries,
To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies,
He tried each art, reproved each dull delay,
Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way.

Beside the bed where parting life was laid,
And sorrow, guilt, and pain, by turns dismayed,
The reverend champion stood. At his control
Despair and anguish fled the struggling soul;
Comfort came down, the trembling wretch to raise,
And his last, faltering accents whispered praise.
At church, with meek and unaffected grace,
His looks adorned the venerable place;
Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway,
And fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray.
The service past, around the pious man,
With ready zeal, each honest rustic ran :
Even children followed with endearing wile,

And plucked his gown, to share the good man's smile;
His ready smile a parent's warmth expressed,
Their welfare pleased him, and their cares distressed :
To them his heart, his love, his griefs, were given,
But all his serious thoughts had rest in heaven.
As some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form,

Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.

LESSON XLII.

Parody on the preceding.-BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE.

NEAR where yon brook flows babbling through the dell, From whose green bank those upland meadows swell, See where the rector's splendid mansion stands, Embosomed deep in new-enclosed lands,— Lands wrested from the indigent and poor, Because, forsooth, he holds the village cure.† A man is he whom all his neighbours fear, Litigious, haughty, greedy, and severe; And starving, with a thousand pounds a year.

Midst crowds and sports he passed his youthful prime;
Retirement had, with him, been deemed a crime:
When the young blood danced joc'und through his veins,
"Tis said his sacred stolet received some stains.
By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour,
By friends, or fawning, he lays claim to power:
For, three fat livings own his goodly sway;
Two wretched curates starve upon his pay.
Celestial Charity, that heavenly guest,

Could ne'er find entrance to his close-locked breast:
The common vagrants pass his well-known gate
With terror's hasty step, and looks of hate;
For well they know the suffering poor he mocks;
Their wants are promised Bridewell|| or the stocks.
The soldier, seamed with honourable scars,
The sailor, hasting from his country's wars,
In vain to him may tell their wo-fraught tale;
Their wounds, their eloquence, may not prevail :
Though, by their valour, he in peace remains,
He never gives a mite, to soothe the wanderers' pains.
Thus to depress the wretched is his pride;

His seeming virtues are to vice allied;

Backward to duty, hateful to his ears

Sound the church bells to summon him to prayers;

*Parody-A kind of writing, in which the words of an author, or his thoughts,

are taken, and, by a slight change, adapted to some other subject.

+ Cure-The office or employment of a curate or clergyman. Stole-A long robe worn by the clergy in England.

Bridewell-A house of correction.

And, like the wolf that stole into the fold,
And slew the sheep, in woolly vestments rolled,
Still bent on gain, he watcheth night and day,
To rend and make God's heritage his prey.
Called to the bed where parting life is laid,
With what reluctance is the call obeyed!
A few brief prayers in haste he mutters o'er,
For time is precious, and the sick man poor;
Fancy, even now, depictures to his eye

Some neighbour's pigs forth-issuing from the sty,
Whose wicked snouts his new-formed banks uproot,
Close in the ditch, and lop the hawthorn shoot.
Full many a luckless hog, in morning round,
He drives, deep grunting, to the starving pound.
When in the church, that venerable place,
A sullen frown o'erspreads his haughty face:
A preacher's frown conviction should impart,
But oft his smile should cheer the drooping heart.
He blunders through the prayers with hasty will,-
A school-boy would be whipped who read so ill,—
Then mounts the pulpit with a haughty mien,
Where more of pride than godliness is seen;
Some fifteen minutes his discourse will last,
And thus the business of the week is past.
The service o'er, no friendly rustics run
To shake his hand; his steps the children shun;
None for advice or comfort round him press,
Their joys would charm not, nor their cares distress;
To notice them they know he's all too proud;
His liveried lackeys spurn the village crowd.
When for the mourner heaved his breast the sigh!
When did compassion trickle from his eye!
Careless is he if weal or wo betide,

If dues and tithes be punctually supplied.

Such is the man blind chance, not God, hath given To be the guide of humble souls to heaven.

To preach of heaven he'll sometimes condescend,
But all his views and wishes earthward tend.
Like a tall guide-post, towering o'er the way,
Whose lettered arms the traveller's route display,
Fixed to one spot, it stands upon the down,
Its hand still pointing to the distant town.

LESSON XLIII.

Elegy on Mrs. Mary Blaize.-GOLDSMITH.

GOOD people all, with one accord,
Lament for Madam Blaize;
Who never wanted a good word-
From those who spoke her praise.

The needy seldom passed her door,
And always found her kind;
She freely lent to all the poor-
Who left a pledge behind.

She strove the neighbourhood to please
With manner wonderous winning;
And never followed wicked ways—
Unless when she was sinning.

At church, in silks and satins new,
With hoop of monstrous size,
She never slumbered in her pew--
But when she shut her eyes

Her love was sought, I do aver,
By twenty beaux, and more;
The king himself has followed her—
When she has walked before.

But now, her wealth and finery fled,
Her hangers-on cut short all,

Her doctors found, when she was dead-
Her last disorder mortal.

Let us lament, in sorrow sore;

For Kent-Street well may say,

That, had she lived a twelvemonth moreShe had not died to-day.