TO THE PEN *

WITH WHICH I WROTE A LARGE FOLIO VOLUME,

CONTAINING THE LIVES OF MY

ANCESTORS

AND MY OWN.

A WORK laborious done by you,

That would a score of Pens undo:
At this great task you scorn'd to droop,
Which would have well employ'd a troop;
For they beneath the work would groan,
But you perform'd that work alone.

From your dark-pointed nib appears
The history of two hundred years:
Of you, dear Pen, it may be said,
That "Back to life you rais'd the dead;

"Brought forth those acts which dormant lay,

"And spread them in the eye of day;
"The private follies have betray'd
"Which seven generations made."

On Memory let it be engrav'd,
"A soft goose-quill my life has sav'd!"
And-what the Reader will most prize-
Though you told tales, you told no lies.
Thyself I consecrate to fame,

Till one shall rise and do the same.

May 26, 1800.

These lines were promised by the GLEANER in the Historic Sketch of their Author.

VOL. III.

2 B

THE

THE WEDDING-NIGHT.

BEGUN JUNE 23, 1755; FINISHED MAY 6, 1801.

AND now, my dear Sally, you're chang'd to a Wife,

As I am enlisted a Husband for life:

The darts, and the flames, and the killings are o'er,
With all the false ware Cupid keeps in his store.

Ne'er let us look back to the days of our courting, And say, with a sigh, "They were those we'd most sport

in:"

The fault is our own, if with these we should class them; For we may, if we will, make the future surpass them.

Pure Love is the root from which bliss rises free,-
Then who'd ever shake down the fruit from the tree?
It will ripen with time, and the taste is divine;—
I know I've your heart, and I know you have mine.

Let me tell thee, Miss Prudence must not make a stand, But she must attend us-We'll each take a hand; For if this chaste damsel should never be driven, Our faults will be fewer, and sooner forgiven.

Should one find an error, and scold for a while on't, Let the other take Cranmer's advice, and be silent; 'T will lead us directly to sweet Peace before us: Let us not, like the Fife and the Drum, bear a chorus.

If, in turning the shilling, two halfpence we have,
We'll live upon one, and the other we'll save;
And if it should hap our returns shall be more,
We'll rise in our living, and rise in our store.

And then, my dear Girl, it is twenty to one,
This will be our support when old age shall come on:
If imprudent, a workhouse may fall to our share;
The reverse may produce us-a char'ot and pair.

Besides, 'twill enable us both, in the end,
To live independent, and succour a Friend;
For happiness, surely, from that man is flown
Who acts as if he for himself liv'd alone.

Domestic concerns are with thee to denote,
While I keep the vessel of commerce afloat:
Of mutual assistance we'll ever be heedful,
With help, or with counsel, which ever is needful.

Time kept marching forward, while thirty years close; Nor car'd he a farthing who fell or who rose: Then sprung up-these maxims attended with careA house in the country; a char'ot and pair.

Forty-one years pass'd over,-the tide ran one way,We still liv'd two lovers-It seem'd but one day! But when they were gone, she was torn from my side, And left me a wound that will ever abide.

If with time love increases, as authors engage, In spite of disease, or decrepid old

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age,

Then

Then my daily feelings no mortal can tell,
Except he has lov'd one as long and as well.

May 6, 1801.

THIRTEEN WISHES *.

I WISH'D, when young, "I had but clear
"That lowly sum-Ten pounds a year!"
For work, or play, I must confess,
Produc'd a sum a leetle less;

For peeling straws is better game
Than working worsted in a frame:
"I'd be contented with this store,
"And never send a wish for more;
"Could eat, and dress a little gay;
"Besides, could either work or play."

Before three years were fully come,
Good Fortune gave me thrice that sum;
And, when successful flows the tide,
A river soon swells up with pride:
If one wish is not spent in vain,
Who could another wish refrain ?

"Dear Fortune, if I've favour found,
"Then let my second wish be crown'd!
"Enable me, who humbly seek,
"To lay by half-a-crown a week;

This is a sort of history of the Author in verse.

The reader will be pleased to understand all the Wishes have been

gratified.

GLEANER.

"Sufficiently

"Sufficiently 'twill swell my store,
"And then I'll trouble thee no more.'

She gave a nod; she smil'd assent: I found within complete content.

But what mind in the human range Wo'n't change as oft as seasons change? For though to win gives present joy, A leetle more, is all the cry.

The wheels of trade were taught to go, Which gather'd cash as wheels do snow, And, steady rolling o'er the ground, Rais'd up a wish at every round.

"To walk on foot will hurt my pride; ""Tis needful I a horse should ride: "And who would not, his joy to crown, "Wish for a man to rub him down?"

Dame Fortune listen'd all the while; Said not a word, but gave a smile.

"Two maids in waiting would be best;

"My servant in a liv'ry dress'd:

"For these I have a strong desire;

Higher my wishes can't aspire.

"If both are plac'd to my account,
"Not one step more I wish to mount."

But who his bold resolves can trust? Man's born to wish, and wish he must: