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THE FARMER'S BOY;

A RURAL POEM.

By ROBERT BLOOMFIELD.


"A SHEPHERD'S BOY ... HE SEEKS NO BETTER NAME."


The Third Edition

LONDON:
Printed for Vernor and Hood, Poultry
and sold by T.C. Rickman, 7, Upper Mary-Le-Bone-Street;
Ingram, and Dingle, Bury; Booth, Norwich; Hill, Edinburgh;
Archer, and Dugdale, Dublin.

MDCCC



A sonnet has come to my hands, the production,--and nearly the first
poetical Production,--of a very young Lady. I have not the Author's
consent to publish it: and there is no time to ask it. But I cannot omit
adding such a flower to the Wreath of Glory of my Friend. I have therefore
ventured to publish it without waiting permission; with one or two slight
alterations.

C. L.

25 Aug. 1800.



TO THE AUTHOR OF
THE FARMER'S BOY.

I.

_If wealth, if honour, at command were mine,
And every boast Ambition could desire,
The pompous Gifts, sweet Bard, I would resign
For the aft Music of thy tuneful Lyre,_

II.

_Which speaks the soul awake to every charm
That Nature open'd from thy humble cot:
Speaks powers chill Indigence could not disarm;
Proof to Humanity's severest lot._

III.

_Thou Friend to Nature, and of Man the Friend;
Of every generous and benignant cause;
The accents of thy glowing worth, unfeign'd,
Live in the cadence of each feeling pause.
Here thought, alternate, in the noble Plan
Admires the POET, and reveres the Man._

25 Aug. 1800.




PREFACE

Having the satisfaction of introducing to the Public this very pleasing
and characteristic POEM, the FARMER'S BOY, I think it will be agreeable to
preface it with a short Account of the manner in which it came into my
hands: and, which will be much more interesting to every Reader, a little
History of the Author, which has been communicated to me by his Brother,
and which I shall very nearly transcribe as it lies before me.

In _November_ last year [Footnote: This was written in 1799.] I receiv'd a
MS. which I was requested to read, and to give my opinion of it. It had
before been shewn to some persons in _London_: whose indifference toward
it may probably be explain'd when it is consider'd that it came to their
hands under no circumstances of adventitious recommendation. With some a
person must be rich, or titled, or fashionable as a literary name, or at
least fashionable in some respect, good or bad, before any thing which he
can offer will be thought worthy of notice.

I had been a little accustom'd to the effect of prejudices: and I was
determin'd to judge, in the only just and reasonable way, of the Work, by
the Work itself.

At first I confess, seeing it divided into the four Seasons, I had to
encounter a prepossession not very advantageous to any writer: that the
Author was treading in a path already so admirably trod by THOMSON; and
might be adding one more to an attempt already so often, but so
injudiciously and unhappily made, of transmuting that noble Poem from
Blank Verse into Rhime; ... from its own pure native Gold into an alloyed
Metal of incomparably less splendor, permanence, and worth.

I had soon, however, the pleasure of finding myself reliev'd from that
apprehension: and of discovering, that, although the delineation of RURAL
SCENERY naturally branches itself into these divisions, there was little
else except the General Qualities of a musical ear, flowing numbers,
Feeling, Piety, poetic Imagery and Animation, a taste for the picturesque,
a true sense of the natural and pathetic, force of thought, and liveliness
of imagination, which were in common between Thomson and this Author. And
these are qualities which whoever has the eye, the heart, the awakened and
surrounding intellect, and the diviner sense of the Poet, which alone can
deserve the name, must possess.

But, with these general Characters of true Poetry, "_The Farmer's Boy_"
has, as I have said, a character of its own. It is discriminated as much
as the circumstances and habits, and situation, and ideas consequently
associated, which are so widely diverse in the two Authors, could make it
different. Simplicity, sweetness, a natural tenderness, that _molle atque
facetum_ which HORACE celebrates in the Eclogues of VIRGIL, will be found
to belong to it.

I intend some farther and more particular CRITICAL REMARKS on this
charming Performance. But I now pass to the Account of the Author himself,
as given me by his Brother:... a Man to whom also I was entirely a
stranger:... but whose Candor, good Sense, and brotherly Affection, appear
in this Narrative; and of the justness of whose Understanding, and the
Goodness of his Heart, I have had many Proofs, in consequence of a
correspondence with him on different occasions which have since arisen,
when this had made me acquainted with him, and interested me in his
behalf.

In writing to me, Mr. GEORGE BLOOMFIELD, who is a Shoemaker also, as his
Brother, and lives at BURY, thus expresses himself.

"As I spent five years with the Author, from the time he was thirteen
years and a half old [Footnote: This by farther recollection has since
been discover'd and stated by Mr. G. and Mr. R. BLOOMFIELD not to be quite
exact. See p. viii. C. L.] till he was turned of eighteen, the most
interesting time of life (I mean the time that instruction is acquir'd, if
acquir'd at all), I think I am able to give a better account of him than
any one can, or than he can of himself: for his Modesty would not let him
speak of his Temper, Disposition, or Morals."

"ROBERT was the younger Child of GEORGE BLOOMFIELD, a _Taylor_, at
HONINGTON. [Footnote: This Village is between _Euston_ and _Troston_, and
about eight miles N E. of _Bury_. L.] His Father died when he was an
infant under a year old. [Footnote: Our Author was born, as his Mother has
obligingly informed me, 3 _Dec_. 1766. L.] His Mother [Footnote:
ELIZABETH, Daughter of ROBERT MANBY. Vide Note at the end of this
Preface.] was a Schoolmistress, and instructed her own Children with the
others. He thus learn'd to read as soon as he learn'd to speak."

"Though the Mother was left a Widow with six small Children, yet with the
help of Friends she manag'd to give each of them a little schooling."

"ROBERT was accordingly sent to Mr. RODWELL, [Footnote: This respectable
Man is senior Clerk to the Magistrates of the Hundred of BLACKBOURN, in
which Honington is situated, and has conducted himself with great
propriety in this and other public employments. L.] of Ixworth, to be
improved in _Writing_: but he did not go to that School more than two or
three months, nor was ever sent to any other; his Mother again marrying
when ROBERT was about seven years old."

"By her second Husband, JOHN GLOVER, she had another Family."

"When _Robert_ was not above _eleven_ years old, the late Mr. W. AUSTIN,
of SAPISTON, [Footnote: This little Village adjoins to HONINGTON. L.] took
him. And though it is customary for Farmers to pay such Boys only 1s. 6d.
per week, yet he generously took him into the house. This reliev'd his
Mother of any other expence than only of finding him a few things to wear:
and this was more than she well knew how to do."

"She wrote therefore," Mr. G. BLOOMFIELD continues, "to me and my Brother
NAT (then in London), to assist her; mentioning that he, ROBERT, was so
small of his age that Mr. AUSTIN said he was not likely to be able to get
his living by hard labour."

Mr. G. BLOOMFIELD on this inform'd his Mother that, if she would let him
take the Boy with him, he would take him, and teach him to make shoes: and
NAT promis'd to clothe him. The Mother, upon this offer, took coach and
came to LONDON, to Mr. G. BLOOMFIELD, with the Boy: for she said, she
never should have been happy if she had not put him herself into his
hands.

"She charg'd me," he adds, "_as I valued a Mothers Blessing, to watch over
him, to set good Examples for him, and never to forget that he had lost
his Father_." I religiously confine myself to Mr. G. BLOOMFIELD'S own
words; and think I should wrong all the parties concern'd if in mentioning
this pathetic and successful Admonition, I were to use any other. He came
from Mr. AUSTIN'S 29 _June_ 1781. [Footnote: This date of his coming to
Town is added by Mr. BLOOMFIELD himself since the first Edition.]

Mr. G. BLOOMFIELD then lived at Mr. _Simm's_, No. 7, _Pitcher's-court,
Bell-alley, Coleman-street_. "It is customary," he continues, "in such
houses as are let to poor people in _London_, to have light Garrets fit
for Mechanics to work in. In the Garret, where we had two turn-up Beds,
and five of us worked, I received little ROBERT."

"As we were all single Men, Lodgers at a Shilling per week each, oar beds
were coarse, and all things far from being clean and snug, like what
_Robert_ had left at SAPISTON. _Robert_ was our man, to fetch all things
to hand. At Noon he fetch'd our Dinners from the Cook's Shop: and any one
of our fellow workmen that wanted to have any thing fetched in, would send
him, and assist in his work and teach him, for a recompense for his
trouble."

"Every day when the Boy from the Public-house came for the pewter pots,
and to hear what Porter was wanted, he always brought the yesterday's
_Newspaper_. [Footnote: There was then, neither as a resource for the
exigencies of finance, nor as a Principle of supposed Policy, that unhappy
Check which prevails now on the circulation of _Newspapers_, and other
means of _popular_ Information. L.] The _reading_ of the Paper we had been
us'd to take by turns; but after _Robert_ came, he mostly read for us,...
because his time was of least value."

"He frequently met with words that he was unacquainted with: of this he
often complain'd. I one day happen'd at a Book-stall to see a small
Dictionary, which had been very ill us'd. I bought it for him for 4d. By
the help of this he in little time could read and comprehend the long and
beautiful speeches of BURKE, FOX, or NORTH.

"One Sunday, after an whole day's stroll in the country, we by accident
went into a dissenting _Meeting-house_ in the _Old Jewry_, where a
Gentleman was lecturing. This Man fill'd _Robert_ with astonishment. The
House was amazingly crowded with the most genteel people; and though we
were forc'd to stand still in the aisle, and were much press'd, yet
_Robert_ always quicken'd his steps to get into the Town on a Sunday
evening soon enough to attend this Lecture.

"The Preacher lived somewhere at the West End of the Town ... his name was
FAWCET. His language," says Mr. G. BLOOMFIELD, "was just such as the
_Rambler_ is written in; his Action like a person acting a Tragedy; his
Discourse rational, and free from the Cant of Methodism.

"Of him _Robert_ learn'd to accent what he call'd _hard_ words; and
otherwise improv'd himself; and gain'd the most enlarg'd notions of
PROVIDENCE.

"He went sometimes with me to a _Debating Society_
[Footnote: It is another of the Constitutional Refinements of these times
to have fetter'd, and as to every valuable purpose, silenc'd, these
Debating Societies. They were at least, to say the lowest of them, far
better amusements than drunkenness, gambling, or fighting. They were no
useless Schools to some of our very celebrated Speakers at the Bar and in
Parliament: and, what is of infinitely more importance, they contributed
to the diffusion of Political Knowledge and Public Sentiment. L.]
at _Coachmaker's-hall_, but not often; and a few times to _Covent-garden
Theatre_. These are all the opportunities he ever had to learn from Public
Speakers. As to _Books_, he had to wade through two or three Folios: an
_History of England, British Traveller_, and a _Geography_. But he always
read them as a task, or to oblige us who bought them. And as they came in
sixpenny numbers weekly, he had about as many hours to read as other boys
spend in play."

"I at that time," proceeds his Brother, "read the _London Magazine_; and
in that work about two sheets were set apart for a _Review ... Robert_
seem'd always eager to read this Review. Here he could see what the
Literary Men were doing, and learn how to judge of the merits of the Works
that came out. And I observ'd that he always looked at the _Poet's
Corner_. And one day he repeated a _Song_ which he compos'd to an old
tune. I was much surpris'd that a boy of sixteen [Footnote: He was
probably 17; as appears on the statement from the Author himself. See N.
to p. xvii.] should make so smooth verses: so I persuaded him to try
whether the Editor of our Paper would give them a place in _Poet's
Corner_. And he succeeded, and they were printed. And as I forget his
other early productions, I shall copy this."


THE MILK-MAID, ON THE FIRST OF MAY.

Hail, MAY! lovely MAY! how replenish'd my pails!
The young Dawn overspreads the East streak'd with gold!
My glad heart beats time to the laugh of the Vales,
And COLIN'S voice rings through the woods from the fold.

The Wood to the Mountain submissively bends,
Whose blue misty summits first glow with the sun!
See thence a gay train by the wild rill descends
To join the glad sports:... hark! the tumult's begun.

Be cloudless, ye skies!... Be my Colin but there,
Not the dew-spangled bents on the wide level Dale,
Nor Morning's first blush can more lovely appear
Than his looks, since my wishes I could not conceal.

Swift down the mad dance, while blest health prompts to move,
We'll count joys to come, and exchange Vows of truth;
And haply when Age cools the transports of Love,
Decry, like good folks, the vain pleasures of youth.

No, no; the remembrance shall ever be dear!
At no time LOVE with INNOCENCE ceases to charm:
It is transport in Youth ... and it smiles through the tear,
When they feel, in their children, its first soft alarm.

The Writer of this Preface doubts whether he has been successful in adding
the last Stanza to this beautiful and simply expressive song. But he
imagin'd that some thought of this kind was in the mind of the Author: and
he was willing to endeavour to express it. The Breast which has felt Love,
justly shrinks from the idea of its total extinction, as from annihilation
itself. And there is even an high social and moral use in that order of
Providence which exalts Sensations into tender and benign Passions; those
Passions into habitual Affections yet more tender; and raises from those
Affections _Virtues_ the most permanent, the most necessary and
beneficent, and the most endearing: thus expanding the sentiment into all
the Charities of domestic and social Life.

"I remember," says Mr. G. BLOOMFIELD, continuing his Narrative, "a little
piece which he called the Sailor's Return: [Footnote: It is much to be
wished that this may be discovered. L.] in which he tried to describe the
feelings of an honest _Tar_, who, after a long absence, saw his dear
native Village first rising into view. This too obtain'd a place in the
Poet's Corner."

"And as he was so young," his brother proceeds, "it shews some Genius in
him, and some Industry, to have acquir'd so much knowledge of the use of
words in so little time. Indeed at this time myself and my fellow workmen
in the Garret began to get instructions from him, though not more than
sixteen years old." [Footnote: What simple magnanimity and benevolence in
this Remark. L.]

"About this time there came a Man to lodge at our Lodgings that was
troubled with fits. ROBERT was so much hurt to see this poor creature
drawn into such frightful forms, and to hear his horrid screams, that I
was forced to leave the Lodging. We went to _Blue Hart-court, Bell-alley_.
In our new Garret we found a singular character, _James Kay_, a native of
_Dundee_. He was a middle-aged man, of a good understanding, and yet a
furious _Calvinist_. He had many Books, ... and some which he did not
value: such as the SEASONS, PARADISE LOST, and some _Novels_. These Books
he lent to ROBERT; who spent all his leisure hours in reading the
_Seasons_, which he was now capable of reading. I never heard him give so
much praise to any Book as to that."

"I think it was in the year 1784 that the Question came to be decided
between the _journeymen Shoemakers_; whether those who had learn'd without
serving an _Apprenticeship_ could follow the Trade."

[Footnote: That is _as journeymen_: for there was no question that they
could not as _Masters_ on their _own_ account. That a person may work as a
_journeyman_ without having served an apprenticeship, had already been
determined, T. 9. G. 3. _Beach v. Turner_. Burr. Mansf. 2449. A person
also who has not served an Apprenticeship may be a partner, contributing
money, or advice and attention to the accounts and general concerns of the
Trade, provided that he does not actually exercise the Trade, and that the
acting partner has served. Vide _Reynolds_ v. _Chase_, M. 30. G. 2. Burr.
Mansf. 2. 1 Burn. J.P. Apprent. § 12. L.]

"The Man by whom _Robert_ and I were employ'd, Mr. Chamberlayne, of
_Cheapside_, took an active part against the lawful journeymen; and even
went so far as to pay off every man that worked for him that had joined
their Clubs. This so exasperated the men, that their acting Committee soon
looked for _unlawful men_ (as they called them) among _Chamberlayne's_
workmen."

They found out little _Robert_, and threatened to prosecute _Chamlerlayne_
for employing him, and to prosecute his Brother, Mr. _G. Bloomfield_, for
teaching him. Chamberlayne requested of the Brother to go on and bring it
to a Trial; for that he would defend it; and that neither _George_ nor
_Robert_ should be hurt.

In the mean time _George_ was much insulted for having refus'd to join
upon this occasion those who call'd themselves, exclusively, the _Lawful
Crafts_. _George_, who says he was never famed for patience, (it is not
indeed so much as might be sometimes wish'd, very often the lot of strong
and acute minds to possess largely of this virtue,) took his pen, and
address'd a Letter to one of the most active of their Committee-men (a man
of very bad character). In this, after stating that he took _Robert_ at
his Mother's request, he made free as well with the private character of
this man as with the views of the Committee. "This," says _George_, "was
very foolish; for it made things worse: but I felt too much to refrain."

What connects this episodical circumstance with the character of our
Author follows in his brother's words.

"_Robert_ naturally fond of Peace, and fearful for my personal safety,
begg'd to be suffer'd to retire from the storm."

"He came home; and Mr. AUSTIN kindly bade him take his house for his home
till he could return to me. And here, with his mind glowing with the fine
Descriptions of rural scenery which he found in THOMSON'S SEASONS, he
again retrac'd the very fields where first he began to think. Here, free
from the smoke,[Footnote: But one word is altered in this Description;
which reminds one of the
_Omitte mirari beatae
Fumum et opes_ Strepitumque Romae. L.]
the noise, the contention of the city, he imbibed that Love of rural
Simplicity and rural Innocence, which fitted him, in a great degree, to be
the writer of such a thing as the _Farmer's Boy_."

"Here he liv'd two Months:... at length, as the dispute in the trade
still remain'd undecided, Mr. DUDBRIDGE offer'd to take _Robert_
Apprentice, to secure him, at all events, from any consequences of the
Litigation."

He was bound by Mr. _Ingram_, of _Bell-alley_, to Mr. _John Dudbridge_.
His Brother _George_ paid five shillings for _Robert_, by way of form, as
a premium. Dudbridge was their Landlord, and a _Freeman_ of the _City_ of
_London_. He acted most honourably, and took no advantage of the power
which the Indentures gave him. _George Bloomfield_ staid with _Robert_
till he found he could work as expertly as his self.

Mr. GEORGE BLOOMFIELD adds, "When I left London he was turned of eighteen;
[Footnote: This should seem to require correction by setting the Age
forward according to the Dates above stated. C.L.] and much of my
happiness since has arisen from a constant correspondence which I have
held with him."

"After I left him, he studied _Music_, and was a good player on the
_Violin_."

"But as my Brother _Nat_ had married a _Woolwich_ woman, it happen'd that
_Robert_ took a fancy to MARY-ANNE CHURCH, a comely young woman of that
town, whose Father is a boat-builder in the Government yard there. He
married 12th Dec. 1790."[Footnote: This Date from the Author. C.L.] "Soon
after he married, _Robert_ told me, in a Letter, that 'he had sold his
Fiddle and got a Wife.' Like most poor men, he got a wife first, and had
to get household-stuff afterward. It took him some years to get out of
ready furnished Lodgings. At length, by hard working, &c. he acquired a
Bed of his own, and hired the room up one pair of stairs at 14, _Bell-
alley, Coleman-street_. The Landlord kindly gave him leave to sit and work
in the light _Garret_, two pair of stairs higher."

"In _this_ Garret, amid six or seven other workmen, his active Mind
employ'd itself in composing _the Farmer's Boy_."

"In my correspondence I have seen several _poetical_ effusions of his; all
of them of a good moral tendency; but which he very likely would think do
him little credit: on that account I have not preserv'd them."

"ROBERT is a _Ladies Shoemaker_, and works for DAVIES, _Lombard-street_.
He is of a slender make; of about 5 F. 4 I. high; very _dark_
complexion.... His MOTHER, who is a very religions member of the _Church
of England_, took all the pains she could in his infancy to make him
pious: and as his Reason expanded, his love of God and Man increas'd with
it. I never knew his fellow for mildness of temper and Goodness of
Disposition. And since I left him, universally is he prais'd by those who
know him best, for the best of Husbands, an indulgent Father, and quiet
Neighbour. He is between thirty-three and four years old,[Footnote:
Corrected from the above Date, p. vi, to his present Age, May 1800. C. L.]
and has three Children;" two Daughters and a Son.[Footnote: Added from the
information of Mr. R. BLOOMFIELD. _Hannah_, born 25 _Oct_. 1791. _Mary
Anne_, 6 _Sept_. 1793. _Charles_, 15 _Sept_. 1798.]

Mr. GEORGE BLOOMFIELD concludes this clear, affectionate, and interesting
Narrative, by a very kind Address to the Writer of this Preface. But,
pleas'd as I am with the good opinion of a Man like him, I must not take
praise to myself for not having neglected or suppress'd such a Work when
it came into my hands. And I have no farther merit than that of seeing
what it was impossible for an unprejudiced Mind not to see, and of doing
what it was impossible not to do.

But I join with him cordially in his prayer, "that GOD, _the Giver of
thought_, may, as mental light spreads, raise up many who will turn a
listening ear, and will not despise

"_The short and simple annals of the Poor_."

Very few words will complete what remains to be added.

Struck with the Work, but not less struck with the remark, which is become
a proverb, of the Roman Satirist, that "_it is not easy_
[Footnote:
Haud facile emergunt quorum virtutibus obstat
Res angusta domi.]
for those to emerge to notice whose circumstances obscure the observation
of their Merits," I sent it to a Friend,[Footnote: This Friend, THOMAS
HILL, Esq. I hope will forgive my mentioning him without asking his
consent.] whom I knew to be above these prejudices: and who has deserv'd,
and is deserving, well of the public, in many other instances, by his
attention to Literature and the elegant Arts. He immediately express'd an
high satisfaction in it; and communicated it to the Publishers. They
adopted it upon terms honorable to themselves, and satisfactory to the
Author, and to me in his behalf. They have publish'd it in a manner which
speaks abundantly for itself; both as to the typographical accuracy and
beauty, and the good taste and execution of the Ornaments in Wood.

My part has been this, and it has been a very pleasing one: to revise the
MS. making occasionally corrections with respect to Orthography, and
sometimes in the grammatical construction. The corrections, in point of
Grammar, reduce themselves almost wholly to a circumstance of provincial
usage, which even well educated persons in _Suffolk_ and _Norfolk_ do not
wholly avoid; and which may be said, as to general custom, to have become
in these Counties almost an established Dialect:... that of adopting the
plural for the singular termination of verbs, so as to exclude the _s_.
But not a line is added or substantially alter'd through the whole poem. I
have requested the MS. to be preserv'd for the satisfaction of those who
may wish to be satisfied on this head.

The _Proofs_ have gone through my hands. It has been printed slowly:
because most carefully: as it deserv'd to be printed.

I have no doubt of its Reception with the Public: I have none of its going
down to Posterity with honor; which is not always the Fate of productions
which are popular in their day.

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