His children too, long ris'n from their rest,
Rosy and fresh, the images of health,
Croud to embrace the sire, who just before
Had set their fortunes on a single cast,
And in a fev'rish fit of rash despair!
Barter'd away their happiness to come,
And his own peace for endless pain of mind:
If chance (unconscious they of fortune's frown,

Or how her smile the future may affect)
The cherub's prattle somewhat out of tune,
Unmindful of the mother's solemn charge,
(Unequal check for infancy's loose tongue.)
And question wherefore he returns so late,
Or wherefore comes so much unlike himself,
Why he return'd not for their last good night!'
Why he depriv'd them of the morning hug,
But most of all (soul agitating string!
On which affection's finger artless plays)
Why he staid out until their mother wept,
And came not then to bid her weep no more!—
Kissing away the censure as it wounds!-
'Tis in such sort, as guilt and fondness join'd,
His frantic madness by their sweetness chain'd,
Must feel with anguish and applaud with tears.—
Such are the pangs the thoughtless GAMESTER Owns,
When his last guinea's from his pocket's drain'd,
And his dear honour's pledg'd for thousands more,
Beyond his bankrupt fortunes e'er to raise-

Damn'd, damn'd infatuation!-cureless ill!— Thy pleasures ne'er were equal to thy pains; 'Curst is the course, and fatal is the end!

With racks and tortures multiplied and mixt, Scarcely in number fewer or in force

Than those this lost, desponding madman feels,
The gay, marauding LIBERTINE retires,

From the preceding gloom's forbidden rites;
And whether wine or lust's unhallow'd shrine
Receiv'd the sacrifice of murder'd time,
With all the evils of the foul debauch,
His constitution injur'd as his poke,
Perturbed slumbers on his body sit,
While keen compunction settling on his soul,
Keeps the rack'd Mind continually awake;
For ne'er that faculty was so unsens'd,
As not to hear reflection's piercing voice,
Nor yet so callous to resist its sting ;-
Ah no! the weight that on his bosom lies
Cramps and confines the workings of his breast;
His breast that erst was easy, light and free,
As the exulting tenant's of the air,
His plumage flutt'ring in the solar ray,
And poising there his unencumber'd wings;
Till lur'd by tempting treasures he descend
To glut in wanton mood his sudden spleen,
On helpless insect, or poor writhing worm,→
Which in securing, may himself be caught I

Then vainly strive his station to regain;
Fetter'd his feet, his wings belim'd and foul.-
So' tis with him, whom vicious passions prompt—
He pounces rashly on his easy prey;

Or shou'd resisting virtue check his will,

His will that check'd returns with added strength,
That in unwearied guilt persisting long,
By artful stratagem or force, succeeds-
Nor dreams the lovely treasure so atchiev'd, -
Shall hug the present peace with future pain-
Ah self-deceiver, arrogant and vain!

For shou'd thy other actions rack thee not,
The virgin's cry, suppress'd, is not extinct-
It still survives, unsilenc'd e'en in death-

It sleeps, reproaching not-man dreams from thence
Long hush'd and quiet it will ne'er awake:
But not with her, or bury'd in the grave
Lie the upbraiding and the cry of wrong;
In his own conscience rests the slumb'ring voice
Of injur'd virtue, and anon will roar,—
Virtue, which lost, is the young virgin's all,
Shou'd with the body fall the yielding mind;
Which may perchance its purity retain,
Tho' from discretion's strait but slipp'ry path,
Narrow'd so fine and difficult to keep,
In some unguarded moment, frailty slide :-
Virtue-licentious man's delicious game;

Whom wav'ring found, he surely shou'd protect,
Kindly conduct her to the path forsook,

་

Not lead the trusting wand'rer more astray.
Common the crime-the dire effects as sure!-
The practice of the world may cloak the deed,
And for the present screen its frightful face
And all its terrors hide-but oh! be sure,
Tho' thy diverted mind no anguish feels,
Before or after the successful wrong,
Or Heaven-averted, meditated deed,
The shaft is sped that must hereafter pain:
The flimsy veil that hides the face of vice,
Must pass away at some momentous hour,
And to thyself, thyself completely shew-
And happy for thee, if that hour precede
Of nature's lengthen'd chain the closing link,-
The last, tremendous hour! when every act
Malignant or oppressive, unaton'd;

Nay sensual pleasures, ruinous pursu’d,
(Perhaps too late to make the wish'd amends,
In aggravated horrors shall arise:)

All hope confound-the callous bosom rend,
And shoot keen horrors thro' the splitting brain.

Th' abandon'd victim of thy artful tongue, Thy passion's subject, and thy treachery's slave; Thy admiration once, but now thy scorn; See where the PROSTITUTE-that luckless she! Fall'n from her envied rank 'midst virtuous maids, And sunk in infamy's degraded list,

By the pale lamp retreads her sorry rounds,

Or at the catching corner of some court,
Passage or street, in wanton posture stands,
Tempting th' unwary passenger astray ;—
A life that once she redden'd e'en to name,
Much less in vicious thought propose to lead;
And tho' perforce apprentice'd to the trade,
Her proud unconquer'd spirit yet may spurn.
Ah! chang'd indeed is thy degraded state,
Since when the lily and the rose-bud, strove
In sweet contention for thy downy cheek;
When on thy artless face, parental eyes,
In fullness of their feelings stream'd with joy;
When thy reluctant hand the flatt'rer prest,
And woo'd thee to his arms-Then all was peace
And innocent delight-The swift white hours,
Brought pleasure, not compunction to thy mind;
With roseate joys were all thy moments crown'd,
Nor thro' thy downy pillow rose a thorn;
Tho' now contem'd, avoided, and despis'd,
Where thou perhaps wert fairest of the fair;
Where stranger, friend, and relative have strove,
In emulous attention but for thee!

Unhappy wretch! but yet I pass thee not,
Shut from all social intercourse with worth,
In vice confirm'd, and to its paths confin'd;
thee not without a secret sigh,-

pass

A secret curse on him who forc'd thee forth I→→→→

I contemplate with pain thy faded cheek,

Or varnish'd face that ill conceals disease ;