Ætatem ad quamvis, ad captum ita fingitur om nem, Ut nihil auxilii postulet inde liber. Millia librorum numerat perplura; nec ullum Non est, non istis author de millibus unus, A MANUAL MORE ANCIENT THAN THE ART OF PRINTING, AND NOT TO BE FOUND IN ANY CATALOGUE. THERE is a book, which we may (Its excellence is such) Alone a library, though small; The ladies thumb it much. call Words none, things num'rous it contains: And, things with words compar'd, Who needs be told, that has his brains, Which merit most regard? Ofttimes its leaves of scarlet hue A golden edging boast; And open'd, it displays to view Nor name, nor title, stamp'd behind, Adorns its outer part; But all within 'tis richly lin'd, The whitest hands that secret hoard Oft visit: and the fair Preserve it in their bosoms stor❜d, As with a miser's care. Thence implements of ev'ry size, And form'd for various use, (They need but to consult their eyes) They readily produce. The largest and the longest kind A sort most needed by the blind, The full-charg'd leaf, which next ensues, The smaller sort, which matrons use, The third, the fourth, the fifth supply What their occasions ask, Who with a more discerning eye Perform a nicer task. But still with regular decrease From size to size they fall, In ev'ry leaf grow less and less ; The last are least of all. O! what a fund of genius, pent This volume's method and intent How luminous and clear! It leaves no reader at a loss Or pos'd, whoever reads : No commentator's tedious gloss, Nor even index needs. Search Bodley's many thousands o'er! No book is treasur'd there, Nor yet in Granta's num'rous store, That may with this compare. No!-Rival none in either host Of this was ever seen, Or, that contents could justly boast, So brilliant and so keen. ENIGMA. PARVULA res, et acu minor est, et ineptior usu: Quotque dies annus, tot tibi drachma dabit. Sed licet exigui pretii minimique valoris, Ecce, quot artificum postulat illa manus. Tertius in partes resecat, quartusque resectum |