Ere sent untimely to the Convicts' Bay.
Here by a curtain, by a blanket there,
Are various beds conceal'd, but none with care;
Where some by day and some by night, as best
Suit their employments, seek uncertain rest;
The drowsy children at their pleasure creep
To the known crib, and there securely sleep.
Each end contains a grate, and these beside
Are hung utensils for their boil'd and fried-
All used at any hour, by night, by day,
As suit the purse, the person, or the prey.

Above the fire, the mantel-shelf contains
Of china-ware some poor unmatch'd remains ;
There many a tea-cup's gaudy fragment stands,
All placed by vanity's unwearied hands;
For here she lives, e'en here she looks about,
To find some small consoling objects out:
Nor heed these Spartan dames their house, not sit
'Mid cares domestic,-they nor sew nor knit;
But of their fate discourse, their ways, their wars,
With arm'd authorities, their 'scapes and scars:
These lead to present evils, and a cup,

If fortune grant it, winds description up.

High hung at either end, and next the wall, Two ancient mirrors show the forms of all, In all their force;-these aid them in their dress But with the good, the evils too express,

Doubling each look of care, each token of distress.

LETTER XIX.

THE POOR OF THE BOROUGH.

Nam dives qui fieri vult,

Et cito vult fleri; sed quæ reverentia legum,
Quis metus, aut pudor est unquam properantis avari?
Juv. Sat, xiv.

Nocte brevem si fortè indulsit cura soporem,
Et toto versata thoro jam membra quiescunt,
Continuò templum et violati Numinis aras,
Et quod præcipuis mentem suboribus urget,
Te videt in somnis; tua sacra et major imago
Humanâ turbat pavidum, cogitque fateri.

Juv. Sat. xiii.

THE PARISH-CLERK.

The Parish-Clerk began his Duties with the late Vicar, a grave and austere Man; one fully orthodox; a Detecter and Opposer of the Wiles of Satan-His Opinion of his own Fortitude-The more frail offended by these ProfessionsHis good Advice gives further Provocation-They invent stratagems to over. come his Virtue-His Triumph-He is yet not invulnerable: is assaulted by fear of Want, and Avarice-He gradually yields to the Seduction-He reasons with himself, and is persuaded-He offends, but with Terror; repeats his Offence; grows familiar with Crime: is detected-His Sufferings and Death.

WITH Our late Vicar, and his age the same,
His clerk, hight Jachin, to his office came;

The like slow speech was his, the like tall slender frame:
But Jachin was the gravest man on ground,

And heard his master's jokes with look profound;
For worldly wealth this man of letters sigh'd,
And had a sprinkling of the spirit's pride:
But he was sober, chaste, devout and just,

One whom his neighbours could believe and trust:
Of none suspected, neither man nor maid
By him were wrong'd, or were of him afraid.
There was indeed a frown, a trick of state
In Jachin;-formal was his air and gait:
But if he seem'd more solemn and less kind,
Than some light men to light affairs confined,
Still 'twas allow'd that he should so behave
As in high seat, and be severely grave.

This book-taught man, to man's first foe profess'd
Defiance stern, and hate that knew not rest
He held that Satan, since the world began,
In every act, had strife with every man ;
That never evil deed on earth was done,
But of the acting parties he was one;
The flattering guide to make ill prospects clear;
To smooth rough ways the constant pioneer;

I

The ever-tempting, soothing, softening power,
Ready to cheat, seduce, deceive, devour.
"Me has the sly Seducer oft withstood,"
Said pious Jachin," but he gets no good;
pass the house where swings the tempting sign,
And pointing, tell him, 'Satan, that is thine :"
pass the damsels pacing down the street,
And look more grave and solemn when we meet;
Nor doth it irk me to rebuke their smiles,
Their wanton ambling and their watchful wiles:
Nay, like the good John Bunyan, when I view
Those forms, I'm angry at the ills they do;
That I could pinch and spoil, in sin's despite,
Beauties, which frail and evil thoughts excite.*
"At feasts and banquets seldom am I found,
And (save at church) abhor a tuneful sound;
To plays and shows I run not to and fro,
And where my master goes, forbear to go."
No wonder Satan took the thing amiss,
To be opposed by such a man as this-
A man so grave, important, cautious, wise,
Who dared not trust his feeling or his eyes;
No wonder he should lurk and lie in wait,
Should fit his hooks and ponder on his bait;
Should on his movements keep a watchful eye;
For he pursued a fish who led the fry.

With his own peace our Clerk was not content;
He tried, good man! to make his friends repent.
"Nay, nay, my friends, from inns and taverns fly;
You may suppress your thirst, but not supply:
A foolish proverb says, 'the devil's at home;'
But he is there, and tempts in every room:
Men feel, they know not why, such places please;
His are the spells-they're idleness and ease;
Magic of fatal kind he throws around,
Where care is banish'd, but the heart is bound.
"Think not of beauty;-when a maid you meet,
Turn from her view and step across the street;
Dread all the sex: their looks create a charm,
A smile should fright you and a word alarm:
E'en I myself, with all my watchful care,
Have for an instant felt the insidious snare;
And caught my sinful eyes at the endang'ring stare;
Till I was forced to smite my bounding breast
With forceful blow, and bid the bold-one rest.

"Go not with crowds when they to pleasure run,

But public joy in private safety shun:
When bells, diverted from their true intent,
Ring loud for some deluded mortal sent
To hear or make long speech in parliament;
What time the many, that unruly beast,

* John Bunyan, in one of the many productions of his zeal, has ventured to make public this extraordinary sentiment, which the frigid piety of our Clerk so readily adopted.

Roars its rough joy and shares the final feast; Then heed my counsel, shut thine ears and eyes; A few will hear me-for the few are wise."

Not Satan's friends, nor Satan's self could bear, The cautious man who took of souls such care; An interloper,-one who, out of place, Had volunteer'd upon the side of grace: There was his master ready once a week To give advice; what further need he seek? "Amen, so be it :"-what had he to do With more than this?-'twas insolent and new; And some determined on a way to see How frail he was, that so it might not be. First they essay'd to tempt our saint to sin, By points of doctrine argued at an inn; Where he might warmly reason, deeply drink, Then lose all power to argue and to think.

In vain they tried; he took the question up, Clear'd every doubt, and barely touch'd the cup: By many a text he proved his doctrine sound, And look'd in triumph on the tempters round.

Next 'twas their care an artful lass to find, Who might consult him, as perplex'd in mind; She they conceived might put her case with fears, With tender tremblings and seducing tears; She might such charms of various kind display, That he would feel their force and melt away: For why of nymphs such caution and such dread, Unless he felt, and fear'd to be misled?

She came, she spake: he calmly heard her case, And plainly told her 'twas a want of grace; Bade her "such fancies and affections check, And wear a thicker muslin on her neck." Abased, his human foes the combat fled. And the stern clerk yet higher held his head. They were indeed a weak, impatient set, But their shrewd prompter had his engines yet; Had various means to make a mortal trip, Who shunn'd a flowing bowl and rosy lip; And knew a thousand ways his heart to move, Who flies from banquets and who laughs at love. Thus far the playful Muse has lent her aid, But now departs, of graver tneme afraid; Her may we seek in more appropriate time,There is no jesting with distress and crime.

Our worthy Clerk had now arrived at fame, Such as but few in his degree might claim; But he was poor, and wanted not the sense That lowly rates the praise without the pence: He saw the common herd with reverence trent The weakest burgess whom they chanced to moot; While few respected his exalted views, And all beheld his doublet and his shoes: None, when they meet, would to his parts allow

(Save his poor boys) a hearing or a bow:
To this false judgment of the vulgar mind,
He was not fully, as a saint, resign'd;
He found it much his jealous soul affect,
To fear derision and to find neglect.

The year was bad, the christening-fees were small,
The weddings few, the parties paupers all:
Desire of gain with fear of want combined,
Raised sad commotion in his wounded mind;

Wealth was in all his thoughts, his views, his dreams,
And prompted base desires and baseless schemes.
Alas! how often erring mortals keep

The strongest watch against the foes who sleep;
While the more wakeful, bold, and artful foe
Is suffer'd guardless and unmark'd to go.

Once in a month the sacramental bread
Our Clerk with wine upon the table spread:
The custom this, that as the vicar reads,
He for our off'rings round the church proceeds:
Tall spacious seats the wealthier people hid,
And none had view of what his neighbour did:
Laid on the box and mingled when they fell,
Who should the worth of each oblation tell?
Now as poor Jachin took the usual round,
And saw the alms and heard the metal sound,
He had a thought—at first it was no more
Than-" these have cash and give it to the poor."
A second thought from this to work began-
"And can they give it to a poorer man?"
Proceeding thus,-" My merit could they know ;
And knew my need, how freely they'd bestow;
But though they know not, these remain the same,
And are a strong, although a secret claim:

To me, alas! the want and worth are known;

Why then, in fact, 'tis but to take my own."

Thought after thought pour'd in, a tempting train :-
Suppose it done,-who is it could complain?

How could the poor? for they such trifles share,
As add no comfort, as suppress no care;
But many a pittance makes a worthy heap,-
What says the law? that silence puts to sleep :-
Nought then forbids, the danger could we shun,
And sure the business may be safely done.
"But am I earnest ?-earnest? No.-I say,
If such my mind, that I could plan a way;
Let me reflect ;-I've not allow'd me time
To purse the pieces, and if dropp'd they'd chime :'
Fertile is evil in the soul of man.

He paused, said Jachin, "They may drop on bran.
Why then 'tis safe and (all consider'd) just,
The poor receive it, 'tis no breach of trust:
The old and widows may their trifles miss,
There must be evil in a good like this:
But I'll be kind-the sick I'll visit twice,