Had he a witness (not inactive) been;

Had leagued with petty pilferers, and had crept,
Where of each sex degraded numbers slept.
With such associates he was long allied,
Where his capacity for ill was tried,

And, that once lost, the wretch was cast aside;
For now, though willing with the worst to act,
He wanted powers for an important fact;
And, while he felt as lawless spirits feel,
His hand was palsied, and he couldn't steal.
By these rejected, is there lot so strange,
So low, that he could suffer by the change?
Yes! the new station as a fall we judge-
He now became the harlot's humble drudge,
Their drudge in common: they combined to save
Awhile from starving their submissive slave;
For now his spirit left him, and his pride,
His scorn, his rancour, and resentment died;
Few were his feelings-but the keenest these,
The rage of hunger, and the sigh for ease;
He who abused indulgence, now became
By want subservient and by misery tame;
A slave, he begg'd forbearance; bent with pain,
He shunn'd the blow-"Ah! strike me not again."
Thus was he found: the master of a hoy
Saw the sad wretch, whom he had known a boy
At first in doubt; but Frederick laid aside
All shame, and humbly for his aid applied.
He, tamed and smitten with the storms gone by,
Look'd for compassion through one living eye,
And stretch'd th' unpalsied hand; the seaman felt
His honest heart with gentle pity melt,
And his small boon with cheerful frankness dealt;
Then made inquiries of th' unhappy youth,
Who told, nor shame forbade him, all the truth.

"Young Frederick Thompson to a chandler's shop

"By harlots order'd and afraid to stop!-
"What! our good merchant's favourite to be seen
"In state so loathsome and in dress so mean?".
So thought the seaman as he bade adieu,

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And, when in port, related all he knew.

But time was lost, inquiry came too late,
Those whom he served knew nothing of his fate;
No! they had seized on what the sailor gave,
Nor bore resistance from their abject slave;
The spoil obtain'd, they cast him from the door,
Robb'd, beaten, hungry, pain'd, diseased and poor.
Then nature (pointing to the only spot
Which still had comfort for so dire a lot,)
Although so feeble, led him on the way,
And hope look'd forward to a happier day.
He thought, poor prodigal! a father yet
His woes would pity and his crimes forget;
Nor had he brother who with speech severe
Would check the pity or refrain the tear:
A lighter spirit in his bosom rose,

As near the road he sought an hour's repose.

And there he found it: he had left the town,
But buildings yet were scatter'd up and down;
To one of these, half-ruin'd and half-built,
Was traced this child of wretchedness and guilt;
There on the remnant of a beggar's vest,
Thrown by in scorn, the sufferer sought for rest;
There was this scene of vice and wo to close,
And there the wretched body found repose.

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THE BOROUGH.

LETTER XIII.

THE ALMS-HOUSE AND TRUSTEES.

Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
[Pope, Epilogue to the Satires, Dialogue I., v. 136.]

There are a sort of men whose visages
Do cream and mantle like a standing [pond,]
And do a wilful stillness entertain,

With purpose to be dress'd in an opinion[. . .]
As who should say, "I am Sir Oracle,
"And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!"

Merchant of Venice [A& I. Sc. 1. vv. 88-94].

Sum felix; quis enim neget? felixque manebo;
Hoc quoque quis dubitet? Tutum me copia fecit.

The frugal Merchant-Rivalship in Modes of Frugality-Private Exceptions to the general Manners—Alms-House built-Its Description -Founder dies-Six Trustees-Sir Denys Brand, a Principal-His Eulogium in the Chronicles of the Day-Truth reckoned invidious on these Occasions-An Explanation of the Magnanimity and Wisdom of Sir Denys His Kinds of Moderation and Humility-Laughton, his Successor, a planning, ambitious, wealthy Man-Advancement in Life his perpetual Object, and all Things made the Means of itHis Idea of Falsehood-His Resentment dangerous: how removed— Success produces Love of Flattery: his daily Gratification-His Merits and Acts of Kindness-His proper Choice of Alms-Men-In this Respect meritorious-His Predecessor not so cautious.

THE BOROUGH.

LETTER XIII.

THE ALMS-HOUSE AND TRUSTEES.

EAVE now our streets, and in yon plain behold
Those pleasant seats for the reduced and old;
A merchant's gift, whose wife and children died,
When he to saving all his powers applied;
He wore his coat till bare was every thread,
And with the meanest fare his body fed.
He had a female cousin, who with care
Walk'd in his steps and learn'd of him to spare ;
With emulation and success they strove,
Improving still, still seeking to improve,
As if that useful knowledge they would gain-
How little food would human life sustain:
No pauper came their table's crums to crave;
Scraping they lived, but not a scrap they gave:
When beggars saw the frugal merchant pass,
It moved their pity, and they said, "Alas!
"Hard is thy fate, my brother," and they felt
A beggar's pride as they that pity dealt:
The dogs, who learn of man to scorn the poor,
Bark'd him away from ev'ry decent door;

While they who saw him bare, but thought him rich,
To show respect or scorn, they knew not which.

But while our merchant seem'd so base and mean,
He had his wanderings, sometimes, "not unseen;
To give in secret was a favourite act,

Yet more than once they took him in the fact.
To scenes of various wo he nightly went,

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And serious sums in healing misery spent ;

Oft has he cheer'd the wretched, at a rates on XD TO
For which he daily might have dined on plate;

He has been seen his hair all silver-white,
Shaking and shining-as he stole by night,
To feed unenvied on his still delight.

A two-fold taste he had to give and spare,
Both were his duties, and had equal care;
It was his joy, to sit alone and fast,
Then send a widow and her boys repast.
Tears in his eyes would, spite of him, appear,
But he from other eyes has kept the tear:
All in a wint'ry night from far he came,
To soothe the sorrows of a suff'ring dame;
Whose husband robb'd him, and to whom he meant
A ling'ring, but reforming punishment.
Home then he walk'd, and found his anger rise,
When fire and rush-light met his troubled eyes;
But, these extinguish'd, and his prayer address'd
To Heaven in hope, he calmly sank to rest.

His seventieth year was pass'd, and then was seen
A building rising on the northern green;
There was no blinding all his neighbours' eyes,
Or surely no one would have seen it rise.
Twelve rooms contiguous stood, and six were near;
There men were placed, and sober matrons here;
There were behind small useful gardens made,
Benches before, and trees to give them shade;
In the first room were seen, above, below,
Some marks of taste, a few attempts at show;
The founder's picture and his arms were there
(Not till he left us), and an elbow'd chair;
There, 'mid these signs of his superior place,
Sat the mild ruler of this humble race.

Within the row are men who strove in vain,
Through years of trouble, wealth and ease to gain ;
Less must they have than an appointed sum,
And freemen been, or hither must not come ;
They should be decent and command respect

(Though needing fortune,) whom these doors protect,

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