his mind of some of the acutest
sensations of wounded pride that have ever been traced by any pen." It
is not necessary to hold Crabbe himself entirely irresponsible for this
result. His son, with a frankness that marks the Biography throughout,
does not conceal that his father's temper, even in later life, was
intolerant of contradiction, and he probably expressed his opinions
before the guests at Belvoir with more vehemence than prudence. But if
the rebuffs he met with were long remembered, they taught him something
of value, and enlarged that stock of worldly wisdom so prominent in his
later writings. In the story of _The Patron_, the young student living
as the rich man's guest is advised by his father as to his behaviour
with a fulness of detail obviously derived from Crabbe's own
recollections of his early deficiencies:--

"Thou art Religion's advocate--take heed.
Hurt not the cause thy pleasure 'tis to plead;
With wine before thee, and with wits beside,
Do not in strength of reasoning powers confide;
What seems to thee convincing, certain, plain,
They will deny and dare thee to maintain;
And thus will triumph o'er thy eager youth,
While thou wilt grieve for so disgracing truth.
With pain I've seen, these wrangling wits among,
Faith's weak defenders, passionate and young;
Weak thou art not, yet not enough on guard
Where wit and humour keep their watch and ward.
Men gay and noisy will o'erwhelm thy sense,
Then loudly laugh at Truth's and thy expense:
While the kind ladies will do all they can
To check their mirth, and cry '_The good young man!_'"

Meantime there were alleviations of the poet's lot. If the guests of the
house were not always convinced by his arguments and the servants did
not disguise their contempt, the Duke and Duchess were kind, and made
him their friend. Nor was the Duke without an intelligent interest in
Crabbe's own subjects. Moreover, among the visitors at Belvoir were many
who shared that interest to the full, such as the Duke of Queensberry,
Lord Lothian, Bishop Watson, and the eccentric Dr. Robert Glynn. Again,
it was during Crabbe's residence at Belvoir that the Duke's brother,
Lord Robert Manners, died of wounds received while leading his ship,
_Resolution_, against the French in the West Indies, in the April of
1782. Crabbe's sympathy with the family, shown in his tribute to the
sailor-brother appended to the poem he was then bringing to completion,