Quæ Genus' plain, consistent tale
Seem'd with old Vellum to prevail;
And rather tallied with the view
Of what, in former times, he knew:
But, that same Hump his shoulders bore,
And oft had been his foe before,
Forbad the Laundress to bestow
A favouring opinion now;
The want of which kept things aloof
From certain and substantial proof. |
For though the Doctors in the North,
Men of acknowledg'd skill and worth,
Were ready to confirm on oath, | } |
That, 'twas disease which gave the blow
And bent the strait back to a bow;
Yet this same Hump of direful note
Still stuck in Betty's doubtful throat,
For all that she would say or swear
Was, when the Child was in her care,
To the most, keen, observing eye,
His back bore no deformity;
And thus continued the suspense
From want of better evidence.
—Vellum was not without a fear,
That, from the Gout's attack severe,
The anxious Father's self might die
Before truth clear'd the Mystery,
And had, from doubt reliev'd, made known
The Child as his begotten Son—
Besides on his discovery bent,
To Oxford when kind Vellum went,
To seek his venerable Friend,
The well-known Rev'rend Doctor Bend,
Who would have set all matters right,
He died on the preceding night.
But still, as we pass on our way,
What changes mark life's transient day;
The sun-beams gild the o'erhanging cloud,
The mists the glitt'ring rays enshroud; |
And, while from storms of beating rain
We strive some shelter to obtain,
The scene is chang'd—'tis bright again. | } |
Hence 'tis we share th' uncertain hour
Of joys that smile, of cares that lour. |
| |
Thus, while Enquiry seem'd to wear
The very aspect of Despair,
A sudden instantaneous thought
Was to Old Betty's mem'ry brought,
That a Ripe Strawberry, blushing red,
As it grew on its verdant bed,
By Nature's whimsey, was impress'd
Not on the cheek or on the breast |
But Betty said, "'Tis I know where,
And could I once but see it there,
On Bible Book, ay, I would swear, | } |
The young man is the child who left,
And, of a mother's care bereft,
Was by the Doctor given to me
To nurse his tender Infancy."
—Quæ Genus now was call'd to tell
What he knew of this secret spell.
When he without delay declar'd
What of the mark he oft had heard
By gamesome play-fellows at school
When he was bathing in the pool;
And though he sometimes strove to feel it,
Its strange position did conceal it
From his own eyes, though, as a joke,
It often did a laugh provoke.
Then did he to her wish display,
What the verse hides from open day; |
But Betty Broom was not so shy
To turn away her curious eye
From this same blushing Strawberry. | } |
Nay, when she saw the mark, she swore
She oft had kiss'd it o'er and o'er;
And, were he not to manhood grown,
She'd do what she so oft had done.
O she exclaim'd with tears of joy,
Quæ Genus is the very boy
Whom their so anxious wishes sought
And was to full discovery brought.
—Nor was this all, at the strange show
Old Vellum wip'd his moisten'd brow,
And said, with an uplifted eye,
"Here ends this curious Mystery."
When he again, the Symbol saw
In its right place without a flaw,
At once he did remember well,
Syntax would smiling oft foretell,
This mark might to the Foundling show
To whom he did existence owe.
"'Tis all fulfill'd, the proof is shewn,—
The Father may embrace his Son!" |