Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm. 565 The creeping vermin, loathsome to the sight, 570 A visitor unwelcome into scenes Sacred to neatness and repose, the alcove, Not so when held within their proper bounds As God was free to form them at the first, 575 580 585 17 Other creature here Beast, bird, insect, or worm, durst enter none. Par. Lost, iv. 703. Chase from all my bounds Each thing impure or noxious. Enter in, O stranger, undismay'd. Nor bat, nor toad Akenside. Inscrip. for a Grotto. Who in his sovereign wisdom made them all. By budding ills, that ask a prudent hand To check them. But alas! none sooner shoots, If unrestrain'd, into luxuriant growth, Than cruelty, most devilish of them all. 590 Mercy to him that shows it, is the rule And righteous limitation of its act 595 By which Heaven moves in pardoning guilty man; Shall seek it, and not find it in his turn. Distinguish'd much by reason, and still more From creatures that exist but for our sake, Superior as we are, they yet depend Not more on human help, than we on theirs. 600 605 Their strength, or speed, or vigilance, were given 610 In aid of our defects. In some are found Such teachable and apprehensive parts, That man's attainments in his own concerns, Match'd with the expertness of the brutes in theirs, Are oft-times vanquish'd and thrown far behind. Some show that nice sagacity of smell, And read with such discernment in the port 615 And figure of the man, his secret aim, That oft we owe our safety to a skill 625 We could not teach, and must despair to learn 18. 620 Man praises man. Desert in arts or arms But less, methinks, than sacrilege might serve— And hang it up in honour of a man?) Much less might serve, when all that we design 18 In their looks Much reason, and in their actions, oft appears. Par. Lost, ix. 558. Book ii. 394. On sculls that cannot teach and will not learn. 630 635 640 And give the day to a musician's praise. Or can, the more than Homer of his age? 645 Yes we remember him. And while we praise 650 That His most holy book from whom it came And measure of the offence, rebukes a deed 655 When wandering Charles, who meant to be the third, Had fled from William, and the news was fresh, 660 The simple clerk but loyal, did announce, And eke did rear right merrily, two staves, Sung to the praise and glory of King George. -Man praises man, and Garrick's memory next, When time hath somewhat mellow'd it, and made 665 The idol of our worship while he lived, The God of our idolatry once more, Shall have its altar; and the world shall go In pilgrimage to bow before his shrine. The theatre too small, shall suffocate Its squeezed contents, and more than it admits 670 Shall stuff his shoulders with King Richard's bunch, Or wrap himself in Hamlet's inky cloak, And strut and storm and straddle, stamp and stare, To show the world how Garrick did not act 19. He drew the Liturgy, and framed the rites 675 And call'd the world to worship on the banks Of Avon famed in song. Ah! pleasant proof Some place, a spark or two not yet extinct. 680 686 The mulberry tree was hung with blooming wreaths, Still sacred, and preserves with pious care. And mirth without offence. 690 Decorum reign'd, No few return'd The rabble all alive, Doubtless much edified, and all refreshed. -Man praises man. Swarm in the streets. From tippling-benches, cellars, stalls, and styes, The statesman of the day, A pompous and slow-moving pageant comes. eyes his car Το gaze in his and bless him. Maidens wave 19 How his eyes languish! how his thoughts adore That painted coat which Joseph never wore. Young. Satire iv. That the world may know How far he went for what was nothing worth. Book vi. 238. 695 700 |