188 A VISIT 



To these, and many other jokes and puns, were 

 added stories of hair-breath escapes from proctors, 

 accounts of examinations, and of being plucked at 

 die little goes, and various details of the habits of 

 college life. In short, my young companions 

 amused me exceedingly, and I quitted them with a 

 sincere hope that it would be long ere the frowns 

 of the world would deprive them of their happy 

 faces and exuberant spirits. 



I delight in the society of the youthful, while 

 their mirth and their conversation are kept within 

 due bounds. They bring back to my recollection 

 the bright days of my own youth, when care and 

 anxiety were unknown, and that freshness of mind 

 which persons are apt to lose as they advance in 

 years. It is, however, their own fault if they 

 lose it, and although youth may be the season 

 for enjoyment, it may equally be experienced in 

 another degree by those over whose heads time has 

 produced a sensible alteration. Those who imagine 

 that life has no pleasure after early youth, should 

 recollect the following pretty lines on the subject, 

 addressed to one who made the remark. 



Tell me no more, repining friend, 

 ' That youth's gay holiday once past, 



' Our false and fleeting pleasures end, 

 ' And life has lost all zest and taste. 



' To sordid selfishness a prey, 



' The palsied heart forgets to feel ; 



