Drop its long locks, or, from the mingling card,
Spread in foft flakes, and fwell the whiten'd floor.
Come, village-nymphs, ye matrons, and ye maids,
Receive the foft material; with light step

Whether ye turn around the fpacious wheel,
Or, patient fitting, that revolve, which forms.
A narrower circle. On the brittle work
Point your quick eye; and let the hand affift
To guide and stretch the gently-leffening thread :
Even, unknotted twine will praife your fkill.qu
COUNTRY WORKHOUSES propofed-a Defcrip
tion of one--good Effects of INDUSTRY."

[DYER.]

When, thro' ev'ry province, fhall be rais'd
Houfes of labour, feats of kind conftraint,
For thofe, who now delight in fruitless sports,
More than in chearful works of virtuous trade,
Which honeft wealth would yield, and portion due,
Of public welfare? Ho, ye poor, who feek,
Among the dwellings of the diligent,

For fuftenance unearn'd; who roll abroad
From houfe to houfe, with mifchievous intent,
Feigning misfortune: Ho, ye lame, ye blind;
Ye languid limbs, with real want opprefs'd,
Who tread the rough highways, and mountains wild,
Thro' ftorms, and rains, and bitterness of heart;
Ye children of affliction, be compell'd

To happiness: the long-wifh'd day-light dawns,
When charitable rigour fhall detain

Your step-bruis'd feet. Ev'n now the fons of trade,
Where-e'er their cultivated hamlets fmile,
Erect the manffon *: here foft fleeces fhine;
The card awaits you, and the comb, and wheel:
Here fhroud you from the thunder of the ftorm;
No rain fhair wet your pillow; here abounds.
Pure bev'rage; here your viands are prepar'd:
To heal each ficknefs the phyfician waits,
And priest entreats to give your MAKER praife.
Behold, in Calder's + vale, where wide around
Unnumber'd villa's creep the fhrubby hills,

*Erect the manfion-This alludes to the workhoufes at Bristol, Birmingham &c.

+ Calder, a river in Yorkshire, which runs, below Halifax, and pages by Wakefield.

L..5

A fpa

A fpacious dome for this fair purpose rife.
High o'er the open gates, with gracious air,
ELIZA'S image ftands. By gentle steps

Up rais'd, from room to room we flowly walk,
And view with wonder, and with filent joy,
The fprightly fcene; where many a bufy hand,
Where fpoles, cards, wheels, and looms, with motion
quick,

And ever-murm'ring found, th' unwonted fenfe

Wrap in surprise. To fee them all employ'd,
All blithe, it gives the spreading heart delight,
As neither meats, nor drinks, nor aught of joy
Corporeal can beftow. Nor less they gain
Virtue than wealth, while on their useful works
From day to day intent, in their full minds
Evil no place can find. With equal scale
Some deal abroad the well-afforted fleece;
Thefe card the fhort, thofe comb the longer flake;
Others the harsh and clotted lock receive,
Yet fever and refine with patient toil,
And bring to proper ufe. Flax too, and hemp,
Excite their diligence. The younger hands.
Ply at the eafy work of winding yarn
On fwiftly-circling engines, and their notes
Warble together, as a choir of larks:
Such joy arifes in the mind employ'd.
Another scene difplays the more robuft,
Rafping or grinding tough Brafilian woods,
And what Campeachy's difputable shore
Copious affords to tinge the thirsty web;
And the Caribbee ifles, whofe dulcet canes
Equal the honey-comb. We next are shown
A circular machine,* of new defign,
In conic fhape: It draws and fpins a thread
Without the tedious toil of needlefs hands.
A wheel invifible, beneath the floor,
To ev'ry member of th' harmonious frame
Gives neceffary motion. One, intent,
O'erlooks the work: the carded wool, he fays,
Is fmoothly lapp'd around thofe cylinders,
Which, gently turning, yield it to yon cirque

A most curious machine, invented by Mr. Paul. It is at prefent contrived to fpin cotton; but it may be made to fpin fine carded wool.

Of

Of upright fpindles, which, with rapid whirl,
Spin out, in long extent, an even twine.

From this delightful manfion (if we feek
Still more to view the gifts which honeft toil
Diftributes) take we now our eastward courfe,
To the rich fields of Burftal. While around
Hillock and valley, farm and village, fmile:
And ruddy roofs, and chimney-tops appear,
Of bufy Leeds, up-wafting to the clouds
The incenfe of thankfgiving all is joy;
And trade and bufinefs guide the living feene,
Roll the full cars, adown the winding Aire
Load the flow-failing barges, pile the pack
On the long tinkling train of flow-pac'd fteeds.
As when a funny day invites abroad

The fedulous ants, they iffue from their cells
In bands unnumber'd, cager for their work;
O'er high, o'er low, they lift, they draw, they hafte
With warm affection to each other's aid;
Repeat their virtuous efforts, and fucceed.
Thus all is here in motion, all is life:

The creaking wain brings copious ftore of corn:
The grazier's fleeky kine obftruct the roads;
The neat-drefs'd housewives, for the feftal board
Crown'd with full bafkets, in the field-way paths
Come tripping on; th' echoing hills repeat
The ftroke of ax and hammer; fcaffolds rife,
And growing edifices; heaps of ftone,
Beneath the chiffel, beauteous fhapes affume
Of frize and column. Some, with even line,
New ftreets are marking in the neighb'ring fields,
And facred domes of worfhip. Induftry,
Which dignifies the artift, lifts the fwain,
And the ftraw cottage to a palace turns,
Over the work prefides. Such was the fcene
Of hurrying Carthage, when the Trojan chief
First view'd her growing turrets. So appear
Th' increafing walls of bufy Manchester,
Sheffield, and Birmingham, whofe redd'ning fields
Rife and enlarge their fuburbs. Lo, in throngs,
For ev'ry realm, the careful factors meet,
Whisp'ring each other. In long ranks the bales,
Like war's bright files, beyond the fight extend.
Straight, ere the founding bell the fignal ftrikes,

L 6

Which

Which ends the hour of traffick, they conclude
With speedy compact; and, well-pleas'd, transfer,
With mutual benefit, fuperior wealth.

To many a kingdom's rent, or tyrant's, hoard.

A wife KING, and a bold and impartial JUDGE. instanced in the conduct of HENRY V. and Lord Chief Juftice GASCOIGNE.

[SHAKESPEARE.]

CH. JUST.Your Majefty hath no juft caufe to hate me.

Am affur'd, if I be meafur'd rightly,

P. HENRY. No! might a prince of my great hopes forget.. So great indignities you laid upon me?

What! rate, rebuke, and roughly fend to prison.

Th' immediate heir of England! was this eafy?

May this be wafh'd in Lethe, and forgotten?

CH. JUST. I then did ufe the perfon of your father;
The image of his power lay then in me:
And in th' adminiftration of his law,
While I was bufy for the commonwealth,
Your Highness pleafed to forget my place,
The majefty and pow'r of law and juftice,
The image of the King whom I prefented;
And ftruck me in my very feat of judgment:
Whereon, as an offender to your father,
I gave bold way to my authority,

And did commit you. If the deed were ill,
Be you contented, wearing now the garland,
To have a fon- fet your decrees at naught:
To pluck down juftice from your awful bench,
To trip the courfe of law, and blunt the fword

That guards the peace and fafety of your perfon: anu ba

Nay more, to fpurn at your moft Royal image, il bo dla
And mock your working in a fecond body.

Queftion your Royal thoughts, make the cafe yours;;
Be now the father, and propose a fon;

Hear your own dignity fo much profan'd;

See your moft dreadful laws fo loosely flighted;
Behold yourself fo by a fon difdain'd:
And then imagine me taking your part,
And in your pow'r fo filencing your fon.
After this cold confid'rance, fentence me;
And, as you are a King, fpeak in your ftate,,

What

What I have done that mitbecame my place,
My perfon, or my Liege's fovereignty.

P. HENRY. You are right, Juftice, and you weigh. this well-valons suuringuid:

Therefore ftill bear the balance and the fword:
And I do wifh your honours may increase,,
Till you do live to fee a fon of mine
Offend you, and obey you, as I did ::
So fhall I live to speak my father's words:
Happy am I, that have a man fo bold.
That dares do juftice on my proper fon;
And no lefs happy, having fuch a fon,
That would deliver up his greatnefs fo
Into the hand of justice.You committed me;
For which I do commit into your hand

Th' unftained fword that you have us'd to bear;
With this remembrance, that you use the fame
With a like bold, juft, and impartial fpirit,
As you have done 'gainst me. There is my hand,
You fhall be as a father to my youth:

My voice fhall found as you do prompt mine ear;
And I will stoop and humble my intents,.
To your well practis'd wife directions..
And, Princes all, believe me, I béfeech you ;.
My father is gone wild into his grave;
For in his tomb lie my affections;
And with his fpirit fadly I furvive,

To mock the expectations of the world;
To fruftrate prophecies, and to raze out
Rotten opinion, which hath writ me down
After my feeming Though my tide of blood
Hath proudly flow'd in vanity till now;
Now doth it turn and ebb back to the fea,
Where it fhall mingle with the state of floods,
And flow henceforth in formal, majesty.
Now call we our high court of parliament;.
And let us chufe fuch limbs of noble counfel,
That the great body of our ftate may go.
In equal rank with the beft govern'd nation;
That war or peace, or both at once, may be
As things acquainted and familiar to us,
In which you, father, fhall have foremoft hand..
Our coronation done, we will accite
(As I before remember'd) all our state,

And