126 LAW. 



Intrusive thought ! why wilt thou piercing steal 

 To paint the hapless day that snatch 'd him hence ? 



Reflections here a train of woes reveal, 

 And griefs increas'd by funeral eloquence. 



Not all the ills that sympathy had taught 



That solemn scene, when to the hallow'd shrine 



I follow 'd him : not then such grief had brought 

 As that inflicted by the good Divine. 



Each village rustic felt its solemn force, 



For each had known the virtues of his mind ; 



Affliction's tear fell from its native source, 



And all the neighbouring train in sorrow join'd. 



Pensive where rest his ashes will I stray, 

 When evening spreads its melancholy gloom 



And through the village churchyard bend my way, 

 To heave the sigh of sorrow o'er his tomb. 



Not long after this visitation of Provi- 

 dence it was thought necessary that I 

 should follow some profession ; and my 

 father, observing my studious disposition, 

 articled me to an attorney. The person se- 

 lected for my governor, or instructor, in 

 this, what ought to be, honourable profes- 

 sion, was a plain, plodding country lawyer, 

 of good family and connections, in ex- 

 cellent repute as a conveyancer, and, 



