Page:The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, Volume 4.djvu/381

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YOUNG.
377
Truth shall lead thee to the gate,
Mercy's self shall let thee in,
Where its never-changing state
Full perfection shall begin."

The Poem was accompanied by a Letter.

"La Trappe, the 27th of Oct. 1761.

"Dear Sir,
"You seemed to like the ode I sent you for your amusement; I now send it you as a present. If you please to accept of it, and are willing that our friendship should be known when we are gone, you will be pleased to leave this among those of your own papers that may possibly see the light by a posthumous publication. God send us health while we stay, and an easy journey!

"My dear Dr. Young,
"Yours, most cordially,
"Melcombe."

In 1762, a short time before his death, Young published "Resignation." Notwithstanding the manner in which it was really forced from him by the world, criticism has treated it with no common severity. If it shall be thought not to deserve the highest praise, on the other side of fourscore, by

whom,