Of fome great king and conqueror's death,
When the fad melancholy Muse

Stays but to catch his utmost breath.

I grieve, this nobler work moft happily begun,
So quickly and fo wonderfully carry'd on,
May fall at last to intereft, folly, and abuse.
There is a noon-tide in our lives,

Which still the fooner it arrives,
Although we boaft our winter-fun looks bright,
And foolishly are glad to fee it at its height,
Yet fo much fooner comes the long and gloomy night.
No conqueft ever yet begun,

And by one mighty hero carried to its height,
E'er flourish'd under a fucceffor or a fon;

It loft fome mighty pieces through all hands it paft,
And vanish'd to an empty title in the laft.
For, when the animating mind is fled
(Which nature never can retain,

Nor e'er call back again),

The body, though gigantic, lies all cold and dead.

XII.

And thus undoubtedly 'twill fare,
With what unhappy men fhall dare
To be fucceffors to thefe great unknown,
On Learning's high-cftablifh'd throne.
Cenfure, and Pedantry, and Pride,
Numberlefs nations, ftretching far and wide,

Shall (I forefee it) foon with Gothic fwarms come forth
From Ignorance's univerfal North,

And with blind rage break all this peaceful government: Yet fhall these traces of your wit remain,

Like a just map, to tell the vast extent

Of conqueft in your short and happy reign;
And to all future mankind fhew

How ftrange a paradox is true,

That men who liv'd and dy'd without a name Are the chief heroes in the facred lift of Fame.

Written in a Lady's Ivory Table-book, 1699.

ERUSE my leaves through every part,

PERUS

And think thou seest my owner's heart,
Scrawl'd o'er with trifles thus, and quite
As hard, as fenfelefs, and as light;
Expos'd to every coxcomb's eyes,
But hid with caution from the wife.
Here you may read, "Dear charming faint!"
Beneath, "A new receipt for paint :"
Here, in beau-fpelling, "Tru tel deth ;"
There, in her own, "For an el breth :"
Here, "Lovely nymph, pronounce my doom!"
There," A fafe way to use perfume:"
Here, a page fill'd with billets-doux :
On t'other fide, "Laid out for fhoes"-
“Madam, I die without your grace”—
“Item, for half a yard of lace.”
Who that had wit would place it here,
For every peeping fop to jeer ?

Ia

In power of fpittle and a clout,
Whene'er he please, to blot it out;
And then, to heighten the disgrace,
Clap his own nonfenfe in the place.
Whoe'er expects to hold his part
In fuch a book, and fuch a heart,
If he be wealthy, and a fool,
Is in all points the fittest tool
Of whom it may be justly said,

;

He's a gold pencil tipp'd with lead.

MRS. HARRIS'S PETITION.

то

1699.

O their Excellencies the Lords Juftices of Ireland*,. the humble petition of Frances Harris,

Who must starve, and die a maid, if it mifcarries;

Humbly fheweth,

That I went to warm myself in lady Betty's + chamber, because I was cold;

And I had in a purse feven pounds, four fhillings, and fix pence, befides farthings, in money and gold: So, because I had been buying things for my Lady laft night,

I was refolved to tell my money, to fee if it was right.

*The earls of Berkeley and of Galway.
Lady Betty Berkeley, afterward Germaine,
C 3

Νόιν,

Now, you must know, because my trunk has a very bad lock,

Therefore all the money I have, which, God knows, is a very small stock,

I keep in my pocket, ty'd about my middle, next to my fmock.

So when I went to put up my purse, as God would have it, my fmock was unript,

And, inftead of putting it into my pocket, down it flipt; Then the bell rung, and I went down to put my Lady to bed;

And, God knows, I thought my money was as fafe as my maidenhead.

So, when I came up again, I found my pocket feel very

light:

But when I fearch'd, and mifs'd my purfe, Lord! I thought I fhould have funk outright.

Lord! Madam, fays Mary, how d'ye do? Indeed, fays I, never worfe :

But pray, Mary, can you tell what I have done with my purfe?

Lord help me! faid Mary, I never flirr'd out of this place:

Nay, faid I, I had it in Lady Betty's chamber, that 's a plain cafe.

So Mary got me to bed, and cover'd me up warm :

However, fhe ftole away my garters, that I might do myfelf no harm.

So I tumbled and tofs'd all night, as you may very well

think,

But hardly ever fet my eyes together, or slept a wink.

So

So I was a-dream'd, methought, that we went and fearch'd the folks round,

And in a corner of Mrs. Dukes's * box, ty'd in a rag, the money was found.

So next morning we told Whittle t, and he fell afwearing:

Then my dame Wadgar ‡ came; and fhe, you know, is thick of hearing.

Dame, said I, as loud as I could bawl, do you know what a lofs I have had ?

Nay, faid fhe, my lord Colway's § folks are all very fad; For my Lord Dromedary || comes a Tuesday without

fail.

Pugh! said I, but that's not the business that I ail. Says Cary**, fays he, I have been a fervant this five and twenty years, come spring,

And in all the places I liv'd I never heard of fuch a thing.

Yes, fays the fteward ++, I remember, when I was at my Lady Shrewsbury's,

Such a thing as this happen'd just about the time of goofeberries.

*Wife to one of the footmen.

+ Earl of Berkeley's valet.

The old deaf housekeeper.

Galway.

The earl of Drogheda, who with the primate was

to fucceed the two earls.

**Clerk of the kitchen.

++ Ferris.