And forc'd, with terrible Refistance,
To keep hereafter at a Distance.
To pick out Ground t'encamp upɔn,
Where ftore of largest Rivers run,
That ferve, instead of Peaceful Barriers,
To part th' Engagements of their Warriers.
Where both from fide to fide may skip,
And only encounter at Bo-peep:
For Men are found the ftouter-hearted,
The certainer they're to be parted;
And therefore poft themselves in Bogs,
As th' antient Mice attack'd the Frogs;
And made their Mortal Enemy,
The Water-Rat, their strict Ally.
For 'tis not now who's ftout and bold;
But who bears Hunger beft and Cold.
And he's approv'd the most deserving,
Who longeft can hold out at Starving:
And he that routs moft Pigs and Cows is
The formidableft Man at Prowess.

ร

So th' Emperor Caligula,

That triumph'd o'er the British Sea;

Took

Took Crabs and Oysters Prifoners,
And Lobsters, 'ftead of Cuirafiers;
Engag'd his Legions in fierce Bustles,
With Periwinkles, Prawns and Muscles;
And led his Troops with furious Gallops,
To charge whole Regiments of Scallops;
Not like their ancient way of War,
To wait on his Triumphal Carr :
But when he went to Dine or Sup,
More bravely eat his Captives up;
And left all War by his Example,
Reduc'd to vict❜ling of a Camp well.

Quoth Ralph, By all that you have faid,
And twice as much that I could add,
'Tis plain, you cannot now do worse,
Than take this Out of fashion'd course;
To hope by Stratagem to wooe her,
Or waging Battel to fubdue her,

Though fome have done it in Romances,
And hang'd them int' amorous Fancies,
As thofe, who won the Amazons

By wanton drubbing of their Bones:

And

And ftout Rinaldo gain'd his Bride
By Courting of her Back and Side.
But fince thofe Times and Feats are over,
They are not for a Modern Lover:
When Mistresses are too cross-grain'd,
By fuch Addreffes to be gain'd,
And if they were, would have it out,
With many other kind of Bout.
Therefore I hold no Course s' infefible,
As is of force to win the Jezebel,

To ftorm her Heart, by th' Antique Charm
Of Ladies Errant, force of Arms;

But rather ftrive by Law to win her,
And try the Title you have in her.

Your Cafe is clear, you have her Word,
And me to witness the Accord;

Befides two more of her Retinue,·
To teftifie what pafs'd between you;
More probable, and like to hold,

Than Hand, or Seal, or breaking Gold:

For which so many that renounc'd

Their plighted Contracts, have been trounc'd;

And

And Bills upon Record been found,
That forc'd the Ladies to compound,
And that, unless I miss the Matter,
Is all the Business you look after :
Besides, Encounters at the Bar,
Are braver now, than those in War,
In which the Law does Execution,'
With less Disorder and Confusion:
Has more of Honour in't, fome hold,
Not like the New way, but the Old;
When those the Pen had drawn together,
Decided Quarrels with the Feather,
And winged Arrows kill'd as dead,
Nay more than Bullets now of Lead:
So all the Combats now, as then,

Are manag'd chiefly by the Pen;

That does the Feat, with braver Vigours,
In Words at length, as well as Figures.
Is Judge of all the World performs
In voluntary Feats of Arms.
And whatfoe'er's achiev'd in Fight,
Determines which is Wrong or Right;

For

For whether you prevail or Lofe,
All must be try'd there in the close.
And therefore 'tis not wife to fhun,

What you must trust to, e'er y' have done.
The Law, that fettles all you do,
And marries where you did but wooe;
That makes the most perfidious Lover,
A Lady, that's as falfe, recover:
And if it judge upon your fide,
Will foon extend her for your Bride;
And put her Perfon, Goods or Lands,
Or which you like beft, int' your Hands.
For Law's the Wifdom of all Ages,
And manag'd by the ableft Sages,
Who though their Bus'nefs at the Bar
Be but a kind of Civil War,

In which th' engage with fiercer Dudgeons,
Than e'er the Grecians did and Trojans,
They never manage the Contest,
T'impair their publick Intereft;
Or by their Controverfies leffen
The Dignity of their Profeffion:

Not