th,
And by the shining fire sit down
Of his own hearth,
Free from the griping scrivener's bands,
And the more biting mercer's books;
Free from the bait of oiled hands,
And painted looks?
The country too even chops for rain;
You that exhale it by your power,
Let the fat drops fall down again
In a full shower.
And you bright beauties of the time,
That waste yourselves here in a blaze,
Fix to your orb and proper clime
Your wandering rays.
Let no dark corner of the land
Be unembellish'd with one gem,
And those which here too thick do stand
Sprinkle on them.
Believe me, ladies, you will find
In that sweet light more solid joys,
More true contentment to the mind
Than all town-toys.
Nor Cupid there less blood doth spill,
But heads his shafts with chaster love,
Not feather'd with a sparrow's quill,
But of a dove.
There you shall hear the nightingale,
The harmless syren of the wood,
How prettily she tells a tale
Of rape and blood.
The lyric lark, with all beside
Of Nature's feather'd quire, and all
The commonwealth of flowers in 'ts pride
Behold you shall.
The lily queen, the royal rose,
The gilly-flower, prince of the blood!
The courtier tulip, gay in clothes,
The regal bud;
The violet purple senator,
How they do mock the pomp of state,
And all that at the surly door
Of great ones wait.
Plant trees you may, and see them shoot
Up with your children, to be served
To your clean boards, and the fairest fruit
To be preserved;
And learn to use their several gums;
'Tis innocence in the sweet blood
Of cherry, apricocks, and plums,
To be imbrued.

FOOTNOTES:

[238] _Morning Chronicle_, January 23, 1820.

[239] A proclamation was issued in the first year of King James,
"commanding gentlemen to depart the court and city," because it
hinders hospitality and endangers the people near their own
residences, "who had from such houses much comfort and ease toward
their living." The King graciously says:--"He tooke no small
contentment in the resort of gentlemen, and other our subjects
coming to visit