Excerpt from The Poetical Works of Hector Macneill, Esq., Vol. 2 of 2 Might at least tend to retard the contagion of so dangerous an evil; it was conceived, in the ardour of philanthropy, that a natural, pathetic story, in verse, calculated to enforce moral truths, in the language of simplicity and passion, might probably 'interest the uncorrupted and that a striking pic ture of the calamities incident to idle debauchery, contrasted with the blessings of industrious pro sperity, might (although insufficient to' reclaim abandoned vice) do something to strengthen and encourage endangered virtue. Visionary as these fond expectations may have been, it is pleasing to cherish the idea; and if we may be allowed to. Draw favourable inferences, from the sale of ten thousand copies in the short Space of five months. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.