Lines addressed to Dr. Darwin.. On Mrs. Montague's Feather Hangings. Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Sel- kirk, during his Abode in the island of Juan On observing some Names of little Note recorded in the Biographia Britannica . Report of an adjudged Case, not to be found in ibid On a Goldfinch starved to Death in his Cage.. 253 The Pine Apple and the Bee .... Horace, Book the 2d, Ode the 10th. POEMS. TABLE TALK. Si te fortè meæ gravis uret sarcina chartæ, 4. You told me, I remember, glory, built B. I grant that, men continuing what they are, B Plants it upon the line that justice draws, Feats of renown, though wrought in ancient days, The wretch to nought but his ambition true, The glass that bids man mark the fleeting hour, And death's own scythe would better speak his power; Then grace the bony phantom in their stead With the king's shoulder knot and gay cockade; Clothe the twin brethren in each other's dress, The same their occupation and success. A. 'Tis your belief the world was made for man; Kings do but reason on the self-same plan; Maintaining your's, you cannot their's condemn, Who think, or seem to think, man made for them. B. Seldom, alas! the power of logic reigns With much sufficiency in royal brains; Such reasoning falls like an inverted cone, Wanting its proper base to stand upon. Man made for kings! those optics are but dim, That tell you so—say, rather, they for him. That were indeed a king-ennobling thought, Could they, or would they, reason as they ought. The diadem, with mighty projects lined To catch renown by ruining mankind, Is worth, with all its gold and glittering store, To nurse with tender care the thriving arts, i To give religion her unbridled scope, |