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And wisely learn to curb thy sorrows wild ;
Think what a present thou to God hast sent,
And render him with patience what he lent;

This if thou do, he will an offspring give
That till the world's last end shall make thy name

to live. *

ANNO ÆTATIS 19.

a

At a VACATION Exercise in the COLLEGE, part

Latin, part English. The Latin speeches ended, the English thus began.

Hail, native Language, that by sinews weak
Didst move my first endeavouring tongue to speak,
And mad'st imperfect words with childish trips,
Half unpronounc'd, slide through my infant lips,
Driving dumb silence from the portal door,
Where he had mutely sat two years before :
Here I salute thee, and thy pardon ask,
That now I use thee in my latter task:

5

5 dumb silence] Nonni Dionys. xv. 10. åpwvýtw owTŤ. Chapman's Homer's Il. p.98, ‘Dumb silence seiz'd them all.' Daniel's Poems, ii. 236. Wishart's Immanuel, p. 66. Syl. vester's Du Bartas, p. 5. England's Helicon, p. 259. C. Cotton's Poems, p. 239. Buchanan. Sylv. p. 310, “tacitæ per muta silentia silvæ.'

15

20

Small loss it is that thence can come unto thee,
I know my tongue but little grace can do thee: 10
Thou need'st not be ambitious to be first,
Believe me I have thither pack'd the worst;
And, if it happen as I did forecast,
The daintiest dishes shall be serv'd

up

last. I pray

thee then deny me not thy aid For this same small neglect that I have made: But haste thee straight to do me once a pleasure, And from thy wardrobe bring thy chiefest treasure, Not those new fangled toys, and trimming slight Which takes our late fantastics with delight, But'cull those richest robes, and gay'st attire Which deepest spirits, and choicest wits desire : I have some naked thoughts that rove about, And loudly knock to have their passage out'; And weary of their place do only stay Till thou hast deck'd them in thy best array ; That so they may without suspect or fears Fly swiftly to this fair assembly's ears; Yet I had rather, if I were to choose, Thy service in some graver subject use, Such as may make thee search thy coffers round, Before thou clothe my fancy in fit sound: Such where the deep transported mind may soar Above the wheeling poles, and at Heav'n's door Look in, and see each blissful Deity

30 graver] An anticipation of the subject of Par. Lost, if we substitute Christian for Pagan ideas. Warton.

30

35

Then quick about thy purpos'd business come,
That to the next I may resign my room.

I

Then Ens is represented as father of the Pre

dicaments his ten sons, whereof the eldest stood for Substance with his canons, which Ens,

thus speaking, explains.
Good luck befriend thee, Son; for at thy birth

l
The fairy ladies danc'd upon the hearth ; 60
Thy drowsy nurse hath sworn she did them spy
Come tripping to the room where thou didst lie,
And sweetly singing round about thy bed
Strow all their blessings on thy sleeping head.
She heard them give thee this, that thou shouldst
From eyes of mortals walk invisible: [still
Yet there is something that doth force my fear,
For once it was my dismal hap to hear
A Sibyl old, bow-bent with crooked age,
That far events full wisely could presage,
And in time's long and dark prospective glass
Foresaw what future days should bring to pass ;
Your son, said she (nor can you it prevent),
Shall subject be to many an Accident.
O’er all his brethren he shall reign as king,
Yet every one shall make him underling,
And those that cannot live from him asunder
Ungratefully shall strive to keep him under,
In worth and excellence he shall out-go them,
Yet being above them, he shall be below them; se
From others he shall stand in need of nothing,

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