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SECTION XX.

OF USURIOUS FOOLS.

He that by usury and unjust gain, increaseth his substance, He shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.

THE sordid wretch, on gold intent,

SOLOMON.

Will take, unblushing, cent. per cent.:*
Nor heed the anguish those sustain,
Who owe their ruin to his gain.

On lucre gluts the avaricious mind;

For which it sells the welfare of mankind.

Usury walks arm in arm with avarice; for, although it does not hoard its pelf from the public, it never dispenses it but with the certainty of restitution with swinging interest; for the cry is gold begets gold: and although the adage may be verified by all such as have it at command, and will lend it out at usury, they, nevertheless, will find in the sequel, that satisfaction doth not attend its increase; for happiness kicks the beam, leaving them the slaves of unceasing anxiety, apprehension, and fear. L'avaro quanto più hà, tanto più è bisognoso.

Not more doth screech-owl shock the ear

Of music, than, if us'rers hear

That legal interest you uphold,

When talking of the worth of gold.
Such is their love of the Peruvian store,
That Israel's golden calf they all adore.

Nay, since that hour, each Jewish elf
Hath prov'd that he's a calf himself.
For gold did Judas Christ betray:
And usury the tribes obey.*

Tis Croesus constitutes their sole delight.

No matter so they've gold, how they come by't.

*

Although in this stanza the poet hath, according to custom, levelled his shafts at the descendants of Abraham, the Christians are no less reluctant than themselves in amassing gold at any price: and I very much question, if there are not existing among us many Judas's, who would not scruple at any sacrifice, so that wealth was but the purchase: for as religion, honour, and probity, have long been discarded by all ranks of society, in order to its attainment, I conceive that there would be no difficulty in bringing Christians to the perpetration of any crime in the service of Crasus. Yet, let such fools remember,

Remember well this sterling rule,
The spendthrift is no more a fool,
Than he, by whose usurious theft,
The prodigal's of lands bereft.

One spends as dross, till bow'd by want's fell rod:

T'other no duty owns.-His gold his god.

L'ENVOY OF THE POET.

Temper instruction, so that youth may learn What constitutes of wealth the sterling bliss. Teach him, alike the two extremes to spurn: For he who treads the middle path can't miss.

THE POET'S CHORUS TO FOOLS.

Come, trim the boat, row on each Rara Avis,
Crowds flock to man my Stultifera Navis.

Multa petentibus

Desunt multa. Bene est cui Deus obtulit

Parca quod satis est manu.

SECTION XXI.

OF FOOLS WHO SUPERINTEND THE EDUCATION OF

CHILDREN.

For one man, out of his own skin,
To frisk, and whip another's sin,
As pedants out of school boys' breeches

Do claw and curry their own itches.

To ye, starch'd dames, whose birchen trade is
The art of breaking in young ladies.
Of ye, in sooth, I needs must chatter;
For ye know nothing of the matter.*

* There is scarcely any set of fools that call more loudly for the lash of satire, than these guardians of the rising generation. That schools are of utility, is beyond all doubt: but sorry am I to say, that they are too frequently converted into abuses. It hath very frequently come within mine own knowledge, to witness the conduct of boardingschool misses, when they have attained the ages of fourteen and fifteen: at such times I have beheld them enter the presence of the lady governess, hanging their heads, as K

Mrs. Cowley very characteristically observes, like dead partridges. Speak to them in French, and they are sure to reply in English. Request to hear some specimen of their performance on the piano forté, and you may then set it down for granted, that all the powers of affectation will be called forth, in order to plead a silly excuse. Follow them from the august presence of madam, to the interior of their own chambers, and there you will find all the little arts of petty intrigue and coquettish blandishments practised. In short, these misses are complete masquerades, blushing at things they should not comprehend, and facing those faults with the most daring effrontery, which they should feel shame in owning. Such are, however, the effects resulting from the present system of education: whereas we never scarcely see a school-girl enter a room with noble confidence, and reply with firm, yet modest diffidence, to a question proposed. Had I a daughter, she should not remain at one of these seminaries, after the attainment of her tenth year; for, until that period, the childish imagination wantons with playful frivolity; it resists the curb of restraint, as far as relates to the operations of the mind, solely engrossed by the trifiing gratifications, resulting from play and baubles. In short, till that period, all is well: nor would it be amiss if our legislature, like that of ancient Athens, was to establish public seminaries for the youth of both sexes, where every moral and religious duty was nourished and brought to perfection; and not nipped in the bud by starched, unnecessary forms.

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