Well bred, I think, of equal port,
One for the gown, one for the court:
They parted (did they fo, an't please you ?)
Yes, that they did (dear Sir) to ease
you.
One went to Holland, where they huff folk,
T'other to vend his wares in Suffolk.
That Mice have travel'd in old times,
Horace and Prior tell in rhymes,
Those two great wonders of their ages,
Superior far to all the fages!
Many days past, and many a night,
Ere they could gain each other's fight;
At last, in weather cold, not fultry,
They met at the Three Cranes in Poultry.
After much bufs and great grimace
(Ufual you know in fuch a cafe),
Much chat arose, what had been done,
What might before next fummer's fun ;
Much faid of France, of Suffolk's goodness,
The gentry's loyalty, mob's rudeness.
That ended, o'er a charming bottle,
They enter'd on this tittle-tattle.
Quoth Suffolk, by pre-eminence
In years, though (God knows) not in fenfe;
All's gone, dear brother, only we
Remain to raise pofterity;
Marry you, brother; I'll go down,
Sell nouns and verbs, and lie alone;
May you ne'er meet with feuds or babble,
May olive-branches crown your table!
Somewhat I'll fave, and for this end,
To prove a brother and a friend.
What I propofe is juft, I fwear it;
Or may I perish, by this claret!
The dice are thrown, chufe this or that
('Tis all alike to honeft Mat);
I'll take then the contrary part,
And propagate with all my heart.
After fome thought, fome Portuguese,
Some wine, the younger thus replies;
Fair are your words, as fair your carriage,
Let me be free, drudge you in marriage;
Get me a boy call'd Adrian,
Trust me, I'll do for 't what I can.
Home went well pleas'd the Suffolk tony,
Heart free from care, as purfe from money;
He got a lufty fqualling boy,
(Doubtless the dad's and mamma's joy).
In fhort, to make things fquare and even,
Adrian he nam'd was by Dick Stephen.
Mat's debt thus paid, he now enlarges,
And fends you in a bill of charges,
A cradle, brother, and a basket,
(Granted as foon as e'er I ask it);
A coat not of the fmalleft fcantling,
Frocks, ftockings, fhoes, to grace the bantling;
These two were fent (or I 'm no drubber)
Nay, add to these the fine gum-rubber;
Yet these won't do, fend t' other coat,
For, faith, the firft 's not worth a groat,
Difmally fhrunk, as herrings fhotten,
Suppos'd originally rotten.
Pray let the next be each way longer,
Of stuff more durable, and ftronger;
Send it next week, if you are able.
By this time, Sir, you know the Fable.
From this, and letters of the fame make,
You'll find what 'tis to have a name-fake.
Cold and hard times, Sir, here, (believe it).
I've loft my curate too, and grieve it.
At Eafter for what I can fee,
(A time of ease and vacancy)
If things but alter, and not undone,
I'll kiss your hands, and vifit London.
Molly fends greeting; fo do I, Sir;
Send a good coat, that's all; good-by, Sir.
FIRST PRINTED IN THE EXAMINER, MDCCX,
SPHINX was a monfter that would eat
Whatever ftranger she could get;
Unless his ready wit difclos'd
The fubtle Riddle fhe propos'd.
Oedipus was refolv'd to go,
And try what ftrength of parts would do.
Says Sphinx, on this depends your fate;
Tell me what animal is that,
Which has four feet at morning bright,
Has two at noon, and three at night?
'Tis man, faid he, who weak by nature,
At first creeps, like his fellow creature,
Upon all four
as years accrue,
With sturdy steps he walks on two;
In age, at length, grows weak and sick,
For his third leg adopts a stick.
Now, in your turn, 'tis juft, methinks,
You should refolve me, Madam Sphinx.
What greater ftranger yet is he,
Who has four legs, then two, then three;
Then lofes one, then gets two more,
And runs away at last on four?
I STOOD, Sir, patient at your feet,
Before your elbow-chair;
But make a bishop's throne your feat,
I'll KNEEL before you there.
This epigram is printed from a pamphlet published in 1751, intitled, "The friendly and honest Advice of an "old Tory to the Vice Chancellor of Cambridge." 8vo. from whence alfo is extracted the following account of the occafion which gave birth to it. "In the year 1712, my "old friend Matthew Prior, who was then Fellow of St. "John's, and who not long before had been employed by "the Queen as her plenipotentiary at the court of France, 46 came to Cambridge; and the next morning paid a visit "to the mafter of his own college. The mafter loved "Mr. Prior's principles, had a great opinion of his abili
ties, and a refpect for his character in the world; but "then he had a much greater refpe&t for himself. He there"fore kept his feat himself, and let the queen's ambassador "stand, who immediately on his return wrote the above "epigram."
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