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ARGUMENT OF THE FIRST BOOK.

Hiftorical deduction of feats, from the ftool to the Sofa. -A School-boy's ramble.-A walk in the country. -The fcene defcribed.-Rural founds as well as fights delightful.-Another walk.-Mistake concerning the charms of folitude corrected.-Colonnades commended.-Alcove, and the view from it. -The wilderness.-The grove.-The thresher.The neceffity and the benefits of exercife.-The works of nature fuperior to, and in fome inftances. inimitable by, art.-The wearifomeness of what is commonly called a life of pleasure.-Change of Scene fometimes expedient.-A common defcribed, and the character of crazy Kate introduced.—Gipfies.— The bleffings of civilized life.-That state moft favourable to virtue.-The South Sea islanders compaffionated, but chiefly Omai.—His present state of mind fuppofed.-Civilized life friendly to virtue, but not great cities.-Great cities, and London in particular, allowed their due praife, but cenfured. -Fete champetre.-The book concludes with a reflection on the fatal effects of diffipation and effeminacy upon our public meafures.

THE TASK.

BOOK I.

THE

SOFA.

I SING the SOFA. I, who lately fang
Truth, Hope, and Charity*, and touch'd with awe
The folemn chords, and with a trembling hand,
Escap'd with pain from that advent'rous flight,
Now feek repose upon an humbler theme;
The theme though humble, yet auguft and proud
Th' occafion-for the Fair commands the song.

Time was, when clothing sumptuous or for use, Save their own painted skins, our fires had none. As yet black breeches were not; satin smooth,

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Or velvet soft, or plush with fhaggy pile:
The hardy chief upon the rugged rock
Wash'd by the sea, or on the grav'ly bank
Thrown up by wintry torrents roaring loud,
Fearless of wrong, repos'd his weary ftrength.
Those barb'rous ages paft, fucceeded next
The birth day of invention; weak at firft,
Dull in defign, and clumsy to perform.
Joint-ftools were then created; on three legs
Upborn they food. Three legs upholding firm
A maffy flab, in fashion fquare or round.
On fuch a ftool immortal Alfred fat,

And fway'd the fceptre of his infant realms:
And fuch in ancient halls and manfions drear
May ftill be seen; but perforated fore,

And drill'd in holes, the folid oak is found,
By worms voracious eating through and through.

At length a generation more refin'd

Improv'd the fimple plan; made three legs four,
Gave them a twisted form vermicular,

And o'er the feat, with plenteous wadding ftuff'd,
Induc'd a fplendid cover, green and blue,
Yellow and red, of tap'stry richly wrought

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And woven clofe, or needle-work fublime.
There might ye fee the piony fpread wide,
The full-blown rose, the shepherd and his lass,
Lap dog and lambkin with black ftaring eyes,
And parrots with twin cherries in their beak.

Now came the cane from India, fmooth and bright With Nature's varnish; fever'd into ftripes That interlac'd each other, these supplied Of texture firm a lattice-work, that brac'd The new machine, and it became a chair. But restless was the chair; the back erect Diftrefs'd the weary loins, that felt no ease; The flipp'ry feat betray'd the fliding part

That prefs'd it, and the feet hung dangling down, Anxious in vain to find the diftant floor.

These for the rich; the reft, whom fate had plac'd
In modeft mediocrity, content

With base materials, fat on well-tann'd hides,
Obdurate and unyielding, glaffy smooth,
With here and there a tuft of crimson yarn,
Or scarlet crewel, in the cushion fixt;

If cushion might be call'd, what harder feem'd

Than the firm oak of which the frame was form'd.

No want of timber then was felt or fear'd
In Albion's happy isle. The umber food
Pond'rous and fixt by its own maffy weight.
But elbows ftill were wanting; thefe, fome fay,
An alderman of Cripplegate contriv'd :
And some ascribe th' invention to a priest
Burly and big, and ftudious of his ease.
But, rude at first, and not with easy flope
Receding wide, they press'd against the ribs,
And bruis'd the fide; and, elevated high,
Taught the rais'd shoulders to invade the ears.
Long time elaps'd or e'er our rugged fires
Complain'd, though incommodiously pent in,
And ill at ease behind. The ladies first

'Gan murmur, as became the fofter fex.
Ingenious fancy, never better pleas'd

Than when employ'd t' accommodate the fair,
Heard the sweet moan with pity, and devis'd
The foft fettee; one elbow at each end,
And in the midst an elbow it receiv'd,

United yet divided, twain at once.

So fit two kings of Brentford on one throne;
And fo two citizens who take the air,

Close pack'd, and smiling, in a chaise and one.

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