Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/427

401 Both understood, and practised,—so that none,

However destitute, be left to droop

By timely culture unsustained, or run

Into a wild disorder; or be forced

To drudge through weary life without the aid

Of intellectual implements and tools;

A savage Horde among the civilized,

A servile Band among the lordly free!

This right, as sacred almost as the right

To exist and be supplied with sustenance

And means of life, the lisping Babe proclaims

To be inherent in him, by Heaven's will,

For the protection of his innocence;

And the rude Boy—who, having overpast

The sinless age, by conscience is enrolled,

Yet mutinously knits his angry brow,

And lifts his wilful hand on mischief bent,

Or turns the sacred faculty of speech

To impious use—by process indirect

Declares his due, while he makes known his need.

—This sacred right is fruitlessly announced,

This universal plea in vain addressed,

To eyes and ears of Parents who themselves