CHARLES AUGUSTUS FORTESCUE

WHO ALWAYS DID WHAT WAS RIGHT, AND SO ACCUMULATED AN IMMENSE FORTUNE

by: Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953)

      he nicest child I ever knew
      Was Charles Augustus Fortescue.
      He never lost his cap, or tore
      His stockings or his pinafore:

      In eating Bread he made no Crumbs,
      He was extremely fond of sums,
      To which, however, he preferred
      The Parsing of a Latin Word—

      He sought, when it was in his power,
      For information twice an hour,
      And as for finding Mutton-Fat
      Unappetising, far from that!

      He often, at his Father’s Board,
      Would beg them, of his own accord,
      To give him, if they did not mind,
      The Greasiest Morsels they could find—

      His Later Years did not belie
      The Promise of his Infancy.
      In Public Life he always tried
      To take a judgment Broad and Wide;

      In Private, none was more than he
      Renowned for quiet courtesy.
      He rose at once in his Career,
      And long before his Fortieth Year

      Had wedded Fifi, Only Child
      Of Bunyan, First Lord Aberfylde.
      He thus became immensely Rich,
      And built the Splendid Mansion which

      Is called The Cedars, Muswell Hill,
      Where he resides in affluence still,
      To show what everybody might
      Become by SIMPLY DOING RIGHT.

"Charles Augustus Fortescue" is reprinted from Cautionary Tales for Children. Hilaire Belloc. 1907.

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