LETTER III.

_THE VICAR--THE CURATE, &c._

And telling me the sov'reign'st thing on earth Was parmacity for an inward bruise.

_Shakspeare._-Henry IV. Part I. Act 1 [Sc. 3, v. 58].

So gentle, yet so brisk, so wond'rous sweet, So fit to prattle at a lady's feet.

_Churchill_[, _The Author_].

Much are the precious hours of youth mispent In climbing learning's rugged, steep ascent: When to the top the bold adventurer's got, He reigns, vain monarch[, o'er] a barren spot; [Whilst] in the vale of ignorance below Folly and vice to rank luxuriance grow; Honours and wealth pour in on every side, And proud preferment rolls her golden tide.

_Churchill_[, _The Author_].

_VICAR._

The lately departed Minister of the Borough--His soothing and supplicatory Manners--His cool and timid Affections--No Praise due to such negative Virtue--Address to Characters of this Kind--The Vicar's Employments--His Talents and moderate Ambition--His Dislike of Innovation--His mild but ineffectual Benevolence--A Summary of his Character.

_CURATE._

Mode of paying the Borough-Minister--The Curate has no such Resources--His Learning and Poverty--Erroneous Idea of his Parent--His Feelings as a Husband and Father--The dutiful Regard of his numerous Family--His Pleasure as a Writer, how interrupted--No Resource in the Press--Vulgar Insult--His Account of a Literary Society, and a Fund for the Relief of indigent Authors, &c.