Nor of that little did he like the view. His mother chose, nor I the choice upbraid, 120 An Irish soldier of an house decay’d, And passing poor; but, precious in her eyes As she in his, they both obtain’d a prize. To do the captain justice, she might share What of her jointure his affairs could spare; Irish he was in his profusion--true, But he was Irish in affection too; And, though he spent her wealth and made her grieve, He always said “my dear” and “with your leave.” Him she survived; she saw his boy possess’d 130 Of manly spirit, and then sank to rest. Her sons thus left, some legal cause required That they should meet, but neither this desired. George, a recluse, with mind engaged, was one Who did no business, with whom none was done; Whose heart, engross’d by its peculiar care, Shared no one’s counsel--no one his might share. Richard, a boy, a lively boy, was told Of his half-brother, haughty, stern, and cold; And his boy folly, or his manly pride, 140 Made him on measures cool and harsh decide. So, when they met, a distant cold salute Was of a long-expected day the fruit; The rest by proxies managed, each withdrew, Vex’d by the business and the brother too; But now they met when time had calm’d the mind; Both wish’d for kindness, and it made them kind. George had no wife or child, and was disposed To love the man on whom his hope reposed: Richard had both; and those so well beloved, 150 Husband and father were to kindness moved; And thus th’ affections check’d, subdued, restrain’d, Rose in their force, and in their fulness reign’d. The bell now bids to dine; the friendly priest, Social and shrewd, the day’s delight increased. Brief and abrupt their speeches while they dined, Nor were their themes of intellectual kind; Nor, dinner past, did they to these advance, But left the subjects they discuss’d to chance. Richard, whose boyhood in the place was spent, 160 Profound attention to the speakers lent, Who spake of men; and, as he heard a name, Actors and actions to his memory came. Then, too, the scenes he could distinctly trace, Here he had fought, and there had gain’d a race; In that church-walk he had affrighted been; In that old tower he had a something seen-- What time, dismiss’d from school, he upward cast A fearful look, and trembled as he past. No private tutor Richard’s parents sought, 170 Made keen by hardship, and by trouble taught; They might have sent him--some the counsel gave-- Seven gloomy winters of the North to brave: Where a few pounds would pay for board and bed, While the poor frozen boy was taught and fed; When, say he lives, fair, freckled, lank and lean,