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AN EXTEMPORE INVITATION

TO THE EARL OF OXFORD, LORD HIGH TREASUrer,

MDCCXII.

MY LORD,

UR weekly friends to-morrow meet
At Matthew's palace, in Duke-street,
To try for once, if they can dine
On bacon-ham, and mutton-chine.

If wearied with the great affairs,
Which Britain trusts to Harley's cares,
Thou, humble statesman, mayst descend,
Thy mind one moment to unbend,
To see thy servant from his soul
Crown with thy health the sprightly bowl:
Among the guests, which e'er my house
Receiv'd, it never can produce
Of honour a more glorious proof-
Though Dorset us'd to bless the roof.

IC

TWO BEGGARS

DISPUTING THEIR RIGHT TO AN OYSTER THEY HAD FOUND; A LAWYER THUS DECIDES

B

THE CAUSE.

LIND plaintiff, lame defendant sharc
The friendly laws, impartial care.
A shell for him, a shell for thee,
The middle is the lawyer's fee.

So judge's word decrees the people's right,
And Magna Charta is a paper kite.

HUMAN LIFE.

HAT trifling coil do we poor mortals keep;

Wake, eat, and drink, evacuate, and sleep.

PROLOGUE FOR DELIA'S PLAY.*

ADIES, to you with pleasure we

submit,

This early offspring of a virgin wit.

From your good nature nought our auth'ress fears,

* I.e., The Royal Mischief, by Mrs. Manley.-Drift.

Sure you'll indulge, if not the muse, her years,
Freely the praise she may deserve bestow,
Pardon, not censure, what you can't allow!
Smile on the work, be to her merits kind,
And to her faults, whate'er they are, be blind.*

Let critics follow rules, she boldly writes
What nature dictates, and what love indites. 10
By no dull form her queens and ladies move,
But court their heroes, and agnize their love.
Poor maid! she'd have (what e'en no wife
would crave)

grave:

A husband love his spouse beyond the
And from a second marriage to deter,
Shews you what horrid things stepmothers are
Howe'er, to constancy the prize she gives,
And tho' the sister dies the brother lives. ♦
Blest with success, at last, he mounts a throne.
Enjoys at once his mistress and a crown.
Learn, ladies, then, from Lindaraxa's fate,
What great rewards on virtuous lovers wait.
Learn too, if heav'n and fate should adverse

prove,

2C

(For fate and heav'n don't always smile on

love)

Learn with Zelinda to be still the same,
Nor quit your first for any second flame,
Whatever fate, or death, or life, be given,
Dare to be true, submit the rest to Heaven.

+ Cf., An English Padlock, 1. 78.-Ed.

AMARYLLIS. A PASTORAL.

T was the fate of an unhappy swain To love a nymph, the glory of the plain;

In vain he daily did his courtship

move,

The nymph was haughty, and disdain'd to love. Each morn as soon as the sun's golden ray

Dispers'd the clouds, and chased dark night

away,

The sad despairing shepherd rear'd his head
From off his pillow, and forsook his bed.
Strait he search'd out some melancholy shade,
Where he did blame the proud disdainful
⚫ maid,

And thus with cruelty did her upbraid :
Ah, shepherdess, will you then let me die ;
Will nothing thaw this frozen cruelty :
But you, lest you should pity, will not hear,
You will not to my suff'rings give ear;

But adder-like to listen you refuse

ΙΟ

To words, the greatest charm that man can

use.

'Tis now noon-day, the sun is mounted high,
Beneath refreshing shades the beasts do lie,
And seek out cooling rivers to assuage,
The lion's sultry heat, and dog-star's rage:
The oxen now can't plough the fruitful soil,

20

The furious heat forbids the reaper's toil.
Both beast and men for work are now unfit,
The wearied hinds down to their dinner sit;
Each creature now is with refreshment blest,
And none but wretched I, debarr'd of rest,
I wander up and down thro' desert lands,
On sun-burnt mountain-tops and parched
sands.

And as alone, restless I go along,
Nothing but echo answers to my song.
Had I not better undergo the scorn
Of Jenny ? is it not more easy borne?
The cruelty of angry Kate? altho'

30

That she is black, and you are white as snow.
O! nymph, don't, too much, to your beauty

trust,

The brightest steel is eaten up with rust:
The whitest blossoms fall, sweet roses fade,
And you, tho' handsome, yet may die a maid.
With thee I could admire a country life,
Free from disturbance, city noise, or strife:
Amongst the shady groves and woods we'd

walk,

40

Of nothing else but love's great charm we'd

talk,

We would pursue, in season, rural sports,

And then let knaves and fools resort to courts; I could, besides, some country presents find, Could they persuade you but to be more kind: But since with scorn you do these gifts despise,

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