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TO ONE WHO PUBLISHED[964:1] IN PRINT

WHAT HAD BEEN ENTRUSTED TO HIM BY MY FIRESIDE

Two things hast thou made known to half the nation,
My secrets and my want of penetration:
For O! far more than all which thou hast penn'd
It shames me to have call'd a wretch, like thee, my friend!

First published in Morning Post, Sept. 23, 1802. Adapted from Wernicke's Epigrams (Bk. I, No. 12), An einen falschen Freund. 'Weil ich mich dir vertraut, eh' ich dich recht gekennet.'