An unproductive slip of rugged ground,
His Parents, with their numerous offspring, dwelt;[20]
A virtuous household, though exceeding poor!
Pure livers were they all, austere and grave,
And fearing God;[AB] the very children taught
Stern self-respect, a reverence for God's word,
And an habitual piety, maintained
With strictness scarcely known on English ground.
From his sixth year, the Boy of whom I speak,
In summer, tended cattle on the hills;