“Hard, hard the task, from the low muttered prayer
To free the fanes; or find one suppliant there,
Who dares to ask but what his state requires,
And live to heaven and earth with known desires!
Sound sense, integrity, a conscience clear,
Are begged aloud, that all at hand may hear;
But prayers like these (half whispered, half suppressed)
The tongue scarce hazards from the conscious breast:—
‘O that I could my rich old uncle see
In funeral pomp!’—’ O that some deity