“A tenant’s wife, half forward, half afraid, Features, it seem’d, of powerful cast displayed, That bore down faith and duty; common fame Speaks of a contract that augments the shame. “There goes he, not unseen, so strong the will, And blind the wish, that bear him to the mill; There he degraded sits, and strives to please 420 The miller’s children, laughing at his knees; And little Dorcas, now familiar grown, Talks of her rich papa, and of her own. He woos the mother’s now precarious smile By costly gifts, that tempers reconcile; While the rough husband, yielding to the pay That buys his absence, growling stalks away. ’Tis said th’ offending man will sometimes sigh, And say, ‘My God, in what a dream am I! I will awake;’ but, as the day proceeds, 430 The weaken’d mind the day’s indulgence needs; Hating himself at every step he takes, His mind approves the virtue he forsakes, And yet forsakes her. O! how sharp the pain, Our vice, ourselves, our habits to disdain; To go where never yet in peace we went; } To feel our hearts can bleed, yet not relent; } To sigh, yet not recede; to grieve, yet not repent!” } TALES OF THE HALL. BOOK IV. _ADVENTURES OF RICHARD._ Meeting of the Brothers in the Morning--Pictures, Music, Books--The Autumnal Walk--The Farm--The Flock--Effect of Retirement upon the Mind--Dinner--Richard’s Adventure at Sea--George inquires into the Education of his Brother--Richard’s Account of his Occupations in his early Life: his Pursuits, Associations, Partialities, Affections and Feelings--His Love of Freedom--The Society he chose--The Friendships he engaged in--and the Habits he contracted. TALES OF THE HALL. BOOK IV. _ADVENTURES OF RICHARD._