Home then he walk'd, and found his anger rise,
When fire and rush-light met his troubled eyes;
But these extinguish'd, and his prayer address'd
To Heaven in hope, he calmly sank to rest.

His seventieth year was pass'd, and then was seen
A building rising on the northern green;
There was no blinding all his neighbours' eyes,
Or surely no one would have seen it rise:
Twelve rooms contiguous stood, and six were near,
There men were placed, and sober matrons nere;
There were behind small useful gardens made,
Benches before, and trees to give them shade;
In the first room were seen, above, below,
Some marks of taste, a few attempts at show;
The founder's picture and his arms were there,
(Not till he left us,) and an elbow'd chair;
There, 'mid these signs of his superior place,
Sat the mild ruler of this humble race.

Within the row are men who strove in vain, Through years of trouble, wealth and ease to gain; Less must they have than an appointed sum, And freemen been, or hither must not come; They should be decent and command respect (Though needing fortune,) whom these doors protect, And should for thirty dismal years have tried For peace unfelt and competence denied.

VOL. II.

Strange! that o'er men thus train'd in sorrow's school,

Power must be held, and they must live by rule;
Infirm, corrected by misfortunes, old,

Their habits settled and their passions cold;

Of health, wealth, power, and worldly cares, bereft,
Still must they not at liberty be left;

There must be one to rule them, to restrain
And guide the movements of his erring train.
If then control imperious, check severe,
Be needed where such reverend men appear;
To what would youth, without such checks, aspire,
Free the wild wish, uncurb'd the strong desire?
And where (in college or in camp) they found
The heart ungovern'd and the hand unbound?

His house endow'd, the generous man resign'd
All power to rule, nay power of choice declined;
He and the female saint survived to view

Their work complete, and bade the world adieu !
Six are the guardians of this happy seat,
And one presides when they on business meet;
As each expires, the five a brother choose;
Nor would Sir Denys Brand the charge refuse;
True, 'twas beneath him, "but to do men good
"Was motive never by his heart withstood:"
He too is gone, and they again must strive
To find a man in whom his gifts survive.

Now, in the various records of the dead,

Thy worth, Sir Denys, shall be weigh'd and read;
There we the glory of thy house shali trace,
With each alliance of thy noble race.

Yes! here we have him!—" Came in William's reign, "The Norman-Brand; the blood without a stain; "From the fierce Dane and ruder Saxon clear, "Pict, Irish, Scot, or Cambrian mountaineer; "But the pure Norman was the sacred spring, "And he, Sir Denys, was in heart a king: "Erect in person and so firm in soul, "Fortune he seem'd to govern and control; “Generous as he who gives his all away, "Prudent as one who toils for weekly pay; "In him all merits were decreed to meet, "Sincere though cautious, frank and yet discreet, "Just all his dealings, faithful every word,

"His passions' master, and his temper's lord." Yet more, kind dealers in decaying fame?

His magnanimity you next proclaim ;

You give him learning, join'd with sound good sense,

And match his wealth with his benevolence;

What hides the multitude of sins, you add,

Yet seem to doubt if sins he ever had.

Poor honest Truth! thou writ'st of living men,

And art a railer and detractor then;

They die, again to be described, and now
A foe to merit and mankind art thou!

Why banish truth? it injures not the dead,
It aids not them with flattery to be fed;
And when mankind such perfect pictures view,
They copy less, the more they think them true.
Let us a mortal as he was behold,

And see the dross adhering to the gold;
When we the errors of the virtuous state,
Then erring men their worth may emulate.
View then this picture of a noble mind,
Let him be wise, magnanimous, and kind;
What was the wisdom? Was it not the frown
That keeps all question, all inquiry down?
His words were powerful and decisive all,

But his slow reasons came for no man's call.
""Tis thus," he cried, no doubt with kind intent,
To give results and spare all argument:-

"Let it be spared-all men at least agree

"Sir Denys Brand had magnanimity: "His were no vulgar charities; none saw "Him like the merchant to the hut withdraw;

"He left to meaner minds the simple deed,

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By which the houseless rest, the hungry feed; "His was a public bounty vast and grand,

" "Twas not in him to work with viewless hand;

"He raised the room that towers above the street,

"A public room where grateful parties meet; "He first the life-boat plann'd; to him the place "Is deep in debt-'twas he revived the race; "To every public act this hearty friend

"Would give with freedom or with frankness lend ; "His money built the jail, nor prisoner yet

"Sits at his ease, but he must feel the debt; "To these let candour add his vast display, "Around his mansion all is grand and gay,

"And this is bounty with the name of

pay." I grant the whole, nor from one deed retract, But wish recorded too the private act; All these were great, but still our hearts approve Those simpler tokens of the christian love; "Twould give me joy some gracious deed to meet, That has not call'd for glory through the street: Who felt for many, could not always shun, In some soft moment, to be kind to one; And yet they tell us, when Sir Denys died, That not a widow in the Borough sigh'd; Great were his gifts, his mighty heart I own, But why describe what all the world has known? The rest is petty pride, the useless art

Of a vain mind to hide a swelling heart:

Small was his private room; men found him there By a plain table, on a paltry chair;