5

HERE Whitefoord reclines, and deny it who can,
Tho' he merrily liv'd, he is now a grave * man :
Rare compound of oddity, frolic and fun!

Who relish'd a joke, and rejoic'd in a pun;
with oreWhose temper was generous, open, sincere;
upore. A stranger to flatt'ry, a stranger to fear;
creatore Who scatter'd around wit and humor at will;
ture; Whose daily bon mots half a column might fill!
umperi A Scotchman, from pride and from prejudice free;
thumpa A scholar, yet surely no pedant was he.

What pity, alas! that so lib'ral a mind
Should so long be to news paper essays confin'd!
Who perhaps to the summit of science could soar,
Yet content " if the table he set in a roar;"
Whose talents to fill any station were fit,

Yet happy if Woodfallt confess'd him a wit. urd ye Ye news.poper

re news-paper witlings ! ye pert scribbling folks! ner. Who copied his squibs, and re-echo'd his jokes ;

Ye tame imitators, ye servile herd, come,
Still follow your master, and visit his tomb :
To deck it, bring with you festoons of the vine,
And copious libations bestow on his shrine;
Then strew all around it, (you can do no less)
Cross-readings.ship-news.and mistakes of the press.t

Merry Whitefoord farewel! for thy sake I admit
That a Scot may have humor, I had almost said wit:
This debt to thy mem'ry I cannot refuse,
Thou best-humor'd man, with the worst-humor'd

muse."

land;

hearing: and stuk

Mr. W. was so notorious a punster, that Doctor Goldith used to say, it was impossible to keep him company without being infected with the itch of punning. 7 Mr. H. S. Woodfall, printer of the Public Advertiser. ME. Whitefoord has frequently indulged the town with

urgus pieces under those titles, in the Public Advers tiser

L E T T E R .

addressed
To the Printer of the St. James's Chronicle,

Appeared in that Paper, in June, 1767.

And ho vivere

Sir,

st

AS there is nothing I dislike so much as newspaper with hos 4 controversy, particularly upon trifles, permit me to be as concise as possible in informing a correspondent of yours, that I recommended Blainville's Travels, because I thought the book was a good one: and I think so still. I said, I was told by the bookseller that it was then first published; but in that, it seems, I was misinformed, and my reading was not extensive enough to set me right.

Another correspondent of yours accuses me of hav. ing taken a ballad, I published some time ago, from one* by the ingenious Mr, Percy. I do not think there is any great resemblance between the two pieces in question. If there be any, his ballad is taken from mine. I read it to Mr. Percy some years ago; and he (as we both considered these things as trifles at best) told me with his usual good humor, the next time I saw him, that he had taken my plan to form the fragments of Shakespeare into a ballad of his own. He then read me his little Cento, if I may So call it, and I highly approved it. Sucli petty anecdotes as these are scarce worth printing: and, were it not for the busy disposition of some of your correspondents, the public should never have known that he owes me the hint of his ballad, or that I am obliged to his friendship and learning for communications of a much more important nature.

I am. Sin

"TURN, gentle Hermit of the dale,

“And guide my lonely way,
"To where yon taper cheers the vale

“With hospitable ray.
“For here forlorn and lost I tread,

“With fainting steps and slow; .
" Where wilds, immcasurable spread,

“ Seem length’ning as I go.”
“Forbear, my son," the Hermit cries,

“To tempt the dangerous gloom;
"For yonder faithless phantom flies

"To lure thee to thy doom.
"Here, to the houseless child of want,

“My door is open still;
"And tho' my portion is but scant,

"I give it with good will.
"Then turn to-night, and freely share

" Whate'er my cell bestows;
My rushy couch and frugal fare,

“My blessing and repose.
"No flocks that range the valley free,

“To slaughter I condemn :
"Taught by that Power that pities me,

"I learn to pity them.
“But from the mountain's grassy side,

“A guiltless feast I bring ;
"A scrip with herbs and fruits supply'dh
“And water from the spring.
Then, pilgrim, turn, thy cares forego;

“All earth-born cares are wrong: "Man wants but little here below,

"Nor wants that little long,"

that I or com

Soft as the dew from heaven descendse.

His gentle accents fell;
The modest stranger lowly bends

And follows to the cell.
Far in a wilderness obscure

The lonely mansion lay;
A refuge to the neighb'ring poor,

And strangers led astray !
No stores beneath its humble thateh

Requir'd a master's care;
The wicket op'ning with a latch,

Receiv'd the harmless pair.
And now, when busy crowds retire

To take their evening rest,
The Hermit trimm'd his little fire.

And cheer'd his pensive guest :
And spread his vegetable store,

And gaily prest, and smil'd; And, skill'd in legendary lore,

The lingering hours beguild.
Around in sympathetic mirth

Its tricks the kitten tries;
The cricket chirrups in the hearth ;

The crackling faggot flies.
But nothing could a charm impart

To soothe a stranger's woe;
For grief was heavy at his heart,

And tears began to flow.
His rising cares the Hermit spy'd,

With answering care opprest: “ And whence, unhappy youth," he cry'a, - “The sorrows of thy breast? « Froin better habitations spurn'd,

" Reluctant dost thou rove: “ Or grieve for friendship unreturn.d,

" Or varegarded love?

“ Alas! the joys that fortune brings,

"Are trifling and decay ; “And those who prize the paltry things,

“ More trifling still than they. # And what is friendship but a name, 1. “A charm that lulls to sleep; “A shade that follows wealth or fame,

“And leaves the wretch to weep !

“ And love is still an emptier sound,

“The modern fair-one's jest:
"On earth unseen, or only found

"To warm the turtle's nest.
"For shame, fond youth, thy sorrows bush,

“And spurn the sex," he said:
But while he spoke, a rising blush

His love lorn guest betray'd.
Surpriz'd he sees new beauties rise,

Swift mantling to the view ;
Like colours o'er the morning skies,

As bright, as transient too.
The bashful look, the rising breast,

Alternate spread alarms :
The lovely stranger stands confest

A maid in all her charms.

"And, ah, forgive a stranger rude,

“A wretch, forlorn," she cry'd ;
“Whose feet uphallow'd thus intrude

"Where heaven and you reside.
“But let a maid thy pity share,

" Whom love has taught to stray:
" Who seeks for rest, but finds despair

“Companion of her way.
“My father liv'd beside the Tyne,

"A wealthy lord was he;
“And all bis wealth was mark'd as mine,

" He had but only me.