I dined on Saturday, 26th, at L. H. In the morning Ld. Wycombe called upon me; we were standing in the porch just as Ld. Lansdown drove into the iron gate, upon which this dutiful son flew off in a tangent, and exhibited a _scene_ before my servants and his father’s. The following verses are written by Lewis, a pretty address from Friendship to Youth:-- Turn, Wanderer, turn, and rest with me, Let not yon glittering fane allure you: My temple shall your shelter be, My sacred fire from cold secure you. Nor scorn it, though your dazzled sight No burst of lustrous flame surprises As with mild warmth and lambent light It gently from the altar rises. More vivid fires gild yonder shrine, More heat and radiance round them casting, But trust me, Youth, though bright they shine, Their rage is fierce, their power is blasting. Ah! pilgrim, shun the fatal blaze, Thy forward steps forbear to number; The blaze which on _my_ altar plays Gives genial warmth and gentle slumber. Here Reason as the priestess stands, Here Tranquil Pleasure often lingers; At Friendship’s fire then warm thy hands, At Love’s thou’lt surely burn thy fingers! ‘Friendship,’ [Sidenote: A PARODY] I showed them to Tierney, who parodied them almost offhand as an address from a Warming-Pan to Old Age:-- Turn, dotard, turn, and rest with me, Let not yon glittering fane allure you: My presence shall your comfort be, My sacred fire from cold secure you. Nor scorn it, though your dazzled sight No burst of lustrous splendour meets, As with mild warmth each chilly night It gently glides between the sheets. More vivid fires gild yonder shrine, Their blaze, ’tis true, more fiercely rages, But, know, they give, unlike to mine, More smoke than heat at certain ages. Ah! shun then their delusive blaze, Thy forward steps forbear to number, The flame which on _my_ altar plays Gives genial warmth and gentle slumber. Turn, turn, from love and such repose, Nurse what of life within thee lingers, With me at least thou’lt warm thy toes, With Love thou’lt only burn thy fingers. ‘Warmingpan.’