HEXRY KTIIKE WHITE. 



the age of fourteen he was placed in a stocking-loom, with 

 the view, at some future period, of getting a situation in 

 a hosier's warehouse. During the time that he was thus 

 employed, he might be said to be truly unhappy; he went 

 to his work with evident reluctance, and could not re- 

 frain from sometimes hinting his extreme aversion to it; 

 but the circumstances of his family obliged them to turn 

 a deaf ear. His temper and tone of mind at this pe- 

 riod, when he was in his fourteenth year, are displayed 

 in this extract from an Address to Contemplation. 



Thee do I own, the prompter of my joys, 



The soother of my cares, inspiring peace ; 



And I will ne'er forsake thee. Men may rave, 



And blame and censure me, that I don't tie 



My ev'ry thought down to the desk, and spend 



The morning of my life in adding figures 



■\Vith accurate monotony ; that so 



The good things of the world may be my lot, 



And I might taste the blessedness of wealth : 



But, oh ! I was not made for money getting ; 



For me no much-respected plum awaits, 



Nor civic honour, envied — For as still 



I tried to cast with school dexterity 



The interesting sums my vagrant thoughts 



AVould quick revert to many a woodland haunt, 



"NYhich fond remembrance cherish 'd, and the pen 



Dropt from my senseless fingers as I pictur'd, 



In my mind's eye, how on the shores of Trent 



I erewhile wander'd with my early friends 



In social intercourse. And then I'd think 



How contrary pursuits had thrown us wide. 



One from the other, scatter 'd o'er the ghibe ; 



They were set down with sober steadiness, 



Each to his occupation. I alone, 



A wayward youth, misled by Fancy's vagaries, 



Eemain'd unsettled, insecure, and veering 



With ev'ry wind to ev'ry point o' th' compass. 



Yes, in the Counting House I could indulge 



In fits of close abstraction ; yea, amid 



The busy bustling crowds could meditate, 



And send my thoughts ten thousand leagues away 



Beyond the Atlantic, re; ting on my friend. 



