That, like attendant angels, they have stood

Close by their side in hours of solitude,

There, by the charms of mem’ry, to arrest

Each thought of vice, whene’er it would intrude

Into the heart. O, those are truly blest,

Who drink the purest virtue at their mother’s breast.

VIII.

Few lose the mem’ry of a mother’s love;

Few go so far from virtue, that they ne’er

Think of the hand that pointed them above;