“Then half an hour was o'er the news beguiled, "When he retired as harmless as a child. "Set but aside the gravel and the gout, "At fifty-five we lost him-after that "Life grows insipid and its pleasures flat; "He had indulged in all that man can have, "He did not drop a dotard to his grave; "Still to the last, his feet upon the chair, “With rattling lungs now gone beyond repair; "When on each feature death had fix'd his stamp, "And not a doctor could the body vamp; "Still at the last, to his beloved bowl “He clung, and cheer'd the sadness of his soul; "For though a man may not have much to fear, "Yet death looks ugly, when the view is near: 66 "I go,' he said, but still my friends shall say, ""Twas as a man-I did not sneak away; “An honest life with worthy souls I've spent,"Come, fill my glass;'-he took it and he went. "Poor Dolly Murrey !—I might live to see "My hundredth year, but no such lass as she. 66 Easy by nature, in her humour gay, "She chose her comforts, ratafia and play : "We sat not then at Whist demure and still, "Once in her chair we'd placed the good old lass, “Where first she took her preparation-glass ; 66 By lucky thought she'd been that day at prayers, "And long before had fix'd her small affairs; "So all was easy-on her cards she cast "A smiling look; I saw the thought that pass'd : "A king,' she call'd-though conscious of her skill, "Do more,' I answer'd- More,' she said, I will;' 6 "And more she did-cards answer'd to her call, 66 6 My game is ended and my work is done;' "This said, she gently, with a single sigh, "To breathe in pain among the dead-alive.” 66 The bell then call'd these ancient men to pray, Again!" said Benbow," tolls it every day? "Where is the life I led ?"-He sigh'd and walk'd his way. THE BOROUGH. LETTER XVII. THE HOSPITAL AND GOVERNORS. Blessed be the man who provideth for the sick and needy: the Lord shall deliver him in time of trouble. Christian Charity anxious to provide for future as well as present Miseries-Hence the Hospital for the Diseased-Description of a recovered Patient-The Building: how erected-The Patrons and Governors-Eusebius-The more active Manager of Business a moral and correct Contributor-One of different Description-Good, the Result, however intermixed with Imperfection. |