EPISTLE TO A LADY IN FRANCE. 241 O balmy gales of soul-reviving air! O salutary streams, that murmur there! Ah, be not sad, although thy lot be cast M TO THE REV. W. CAWTHORNE UNWIN. I. UNWIN, I should but ill repay The kindness of a friend, Whose worth deserves as warm a lay, As ever friendship penu'd, Thy name omitted in a page, II. A union form'd, as mine with thee, Not rashly, or in sport, May be as fervent in degree, And faithful in its sort, And may as rich in comfort prove, III. The bud inserted in the rind, Adorns, though differing in its kind, - IV. Not rich, I render what I may, Lest this should prove the last. TO THE REV. CAWTHORNE UNWIN. 245 V. The poet's lyre, to fix his fame, ADVERTISEMENT. THE history of the following production is briefly this: A lady, fond of blank verse, demanded a poem of that kind from the author, and gave him the SOFA for a subject. He obeyed; and, having much leisure, connected another subject with it; and pursuing the train of thought to which his situation and turn of mind led him, brought forth at length, instead of the trifle which he at first intended, a serious affair-a Volume. In the poem on the subject of Education, he would be very sorry to stand suspected of having aimed his censure at any particular school. His objections are such, as naturally apply themselves to schools in general. If there were not, as for the most part there is, wilful neglect in those who manage them, and an omission even of such discipline as they are susceptible of, the objects are yet too numerous for minute attention; and the aching hearts of ten thousand parents, mourning under the bitterest of all disappointments, attest the truth of the allegation. His quarrel, therefore, is with the mischief at large, and not with any particular instance of it. |