Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: TO THE Rev. Mr. STEPHENSON, THE FAMILY OF HIS PREDECESSOR REMOVING FROM BARTON. Nos dulcia linquimus arva! YOU, happier Friend, in Barton's rural seat Wuh sweet Contentment fix your calm retreat; In the late Pastor's honour'd steps you tread, And lead the Flock which once my Father led : While we, forsakers of our native plain, One aged Parent's feeble steps sustain; Content, tho' sad, if yet our pious care Might mitigate the loss we can't repair! The Living of Barton-Segrave, near Kettering in Northamptonshire, had been long in the possession of the Rev. Jeffery Ekins, Father to the Dean of Carlisle: On his death, it was given by the patron, the late Duke of Montagu, to the Rev. Joshua Stephenson, to whom these lines are address'd. Farewell! Farewell! lov'd Plains, where first our childhood stray'd, Dear scenes, more dear by fond reflection made, Farewell!—in vain your verdant landscapes rise, Fair lawns in vain salute our parting eyes; Set is that Sun, whose all-enlivening ray Cheer'd every scene, and gilt each smiling day ! Taste thou, my Friend, what joy those scenes afford, Peace guide thy steps, and Plenty crown thy board! What tho3 with pain I fly my natal home,, My soul repines not at thy happier doom, And tho' the tear of genuine grief will flow, Regret, not Envy, points the sting of woe. Wouldst thou the paths of virtuous fame pursue, Still keep my Sire's example in thy view; , Still open wide thine hospitable door To a meek, honest, and a grateful Poor; Spread true Religion's pure, unsullied beam, Thyself the bright example of thy theme ; Cherish the seeds a pious hand had sown, And make my Parent's blessings all thine own ! H 4 When When thou at length his portion must resign, When what was his, shall be no longer thine, May's...