He thought, poor prodigal! a father yet His woes would pity and his crimes forget; Nor had he brother who with speech severe Would check the pity or refrain the tear: 360 A lighter spirit in his bosom rose, As near the road he sought an hour's repose. And there he found it: he had left the town, But buildings yet were scatter'd up and down; To one of these, half-ruin'd and half-built, Was traced this child of wretchedness and guilt; There on the remnant of a beggar's vest, Thrown by in scorn, the sufferer sought for rest; There was this scene of vice and wo to close, And there the wretched body found repose. 370 FOOTNOTES: [63] Strolling players are thus held in a legal sense. LETTER XIII. _THE ALMS-HOUSE AND TRUSTEES._ Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame. [_Pope, Epilogue to the Satires_, Dialogue I., v. 136.] There are a sort of men whose visages Do cream and mantle like a standing [pond,] And do a wilful stillness entertain, With purpose to be dress'd in an opinion[...] As who should say, "I am Sir Oracle, And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!" _Merchant of Venice_ [Act I. Sc. 1. vv. 88-94]. Sum felix; quis enim neget? felixque manebo; Hoc quoque quis dubitet? Tutum me copia fecit. The frugal Merchant--Rivalship in Modes of Frugality--Private Exceptions to the general Manners--Alms-House built--Its Description--Founder dies--Six Trustees--Sir Denys Brand, a Principal--His Eulogium in the Chronicles of the Day--Truth reckoned invidious on these Occasions--An Explanation of the Magnanimity and Wisdom of Sir Denys--His Kinds of Moderation and Humility--Laughton, his Successor, a planning, ambitious, wealthy Man--Advancement in Life his perpetual Object, and all Things made the Means of it--His Idea of Falsehood--His Resentment dangerous: how removed--Success produces Love of Flattery: his daily Gratification--His Merits and Acts of Kindness--His proper Choice of Alms-Men--In this Respect meritorious--His Predecessor not so cautious. LETTER XIII. _THE ALMS-HOUSE AND TRUSTEES._