AN EPISTLE TO JOSEPH HILL, Esq. DEAR JOSEPH-five and twenty years agoAlas how time escapes!-'tis even soWith frequent intercourse, and always sweet, And always friendly, we were wont to cheat A tedious hour-and now we never meet! As some grave gentleman in Terence says, ('Twas therefore much the same in ancient days) Good lack, we know not what to-morrow bringsStrange fluctuation of all human things! True. Changes will befall, and friends may part, But distance only cannot change the heart: And, were I call'd to prove the assertion true, One proof should serve a reference to you. Whence comes it then, that in the wane of life, Lest he should trespass, begg'd to go abroad. 398 AN EPISTLE TO JOSEPH HILL, Esq. A friend! Horatio cried, and seem'd to start- I knew the man, and knew his nature mild, Perhaps his confidence just then betray'd, |