With prickly gorse, that, shapeless and deform'd
And dangerous to the touch, has yet its bloom,
And decks itself with ornaments of gold;--
--------------- there the turf
Smells fresh, and, rich in odoriferous herbs
And fungous fruits of earth, regales the sense
With luxury of unexpected sweets.'

The description is exact. There, too, to the left is my
cricket-ground (Cowper's common wanted that finishing grace); and
there stands one solitary urchin, as if in contemplation of its past
and future glories; for, alas! cricket is over for the season. Ah!
it is Ben Kirby, next brother to Joe, king of the youngsters, and
probably his successor--for this Michaelmas has cost us Joe! He is
promoted from the farm to the mansion-house, two miles off; there he
cleans shoes, rubs knives, and runs on errands, and is, as his
mother expresses it, 'a sort of 'prentice to the footman.' I should
not wonder if Joe, some day or other, should overtop the footman,
and rise to be butler; and his splendid prospects must be our
consolation for the loss of this great favourite. In the meantime
we have Ben.

Ben Kirby is a year younger than Joe, and the school-fellow and
rival of Jem Eusden. To be sure his abilities lie in rather a
different line: Jem is a scholar, Ben is a wag: Jem is great in
figures and writing, Ben in faces and mischief. His master says of
him, that, if there were two such in the school, he must resign his
office; and as far as my observation goes, the worthy pedagogue is
right. Ben is, it must be confessed, a great corrupter of gravity.
He hath an exceeding aversion to authority and decorum, and a