POETRY. 659 



With wine before thee, and with wits beside, 

 Do not in streni^th of reas'ning powers confide ; 

 What seems to thee convincing, certain, plain. 

 They will deny, and dare thee to maintain ; 

 And thus will triumph o'er thy eager youth. 

 While thou wilt grieve for so disgracing Truth. 



' With pain I've seen these wrangling wits among. 

 Faith's weak defenders, passionate and young : 

 Weak thou art not, yet not enough on guard, 

 Where Wit and Humour keep their watch and ward: 

 Men gay and noisy will o'erwhelm thy sense. 

 Then loudly laugh at Truth's and thy expense ; 

 While the kind Ladies will do all they can 

 To check their mirth, and cry, * The good young man !' 



' Prudence, my Boy, forbids thee to commend 

 The cause or party of thy Noble Friend ; 

 What are his praises worth, who must be known 

 To take a Patron's maxims for his own ? 

 When ladies sing, or in thy presence play, 

 Do not, dear John, in rapture melt away ; 

 'Tis not thy part ; there will be list'ners round. 

 To cry Divine ! and doat upon the sound ; 

 Remember too, that though the poor have ears. 

 They take not in the music of the spheres ; 

 They must not feel the warble and the thrill. 

 Or be dissolv'd in ecstacy at will : 

 Beside, 'tis freedom in a youth like thee. 

 To drop his awe, and deal in ecstacy. 



• In silent ease, at least in silence, dine. 

 Nor one opinion start of food or wine : 



Thou know'st that all the science thou canst boast. 

 Is of thy father's simple boil'd and roast ; 

 Nor always these ; he sometimes sav'd his cash. 

 By interlinear days of frugal hash : 

 Wine hadst thou seldom ; wilt thou be so vain 

 As to decide on claret or champagne ? 

 Dost thou from me derive this taste sublime, 

 Who order port the dozen at a time ? 

 When (every glass held precious in our eyes) 

 We judg'd the value by the bottle's size : 

 Then never merit for thy praise assume, u'f 



Its worth well knows each servant in the room. T 



11 



• Hard, Boy, thy task, to steer thy way among'' 

 That servile, supple, shrewd, insidious throng ! 



Who 



