Placed him in office—"Do, my Frederick, try;
"Confine thyself a few short months, and then——"
He tried a fortnight, and threw down the pen.
Again demands were hush'd: "My son, you're free,
But you're unsettled; take your chance at sea:"
So in few days the midshipman equipp'd,
Received the mother's blessing and was shipp'd.
Hard was her fortune! soon compell'd to meet
230
The wretched stripling staggering through the street;