sordid orc,

$ 221.
On Freedom. Writien at an Inn. In vain the Syrens tune the song

With treach'rous music's luring tongue;
To thee, fair Freedom ! I retire

He still maintains his road :
From fatt'ry, cards and dice, and din; In vain they giance their beck'ning guiles,
Nor art thou found in mansions nigher

Destructive charms, and wanton wiles;
Than the low cot, or humble inn.

His foul is fix'd-on God. 'Tis here with boundless pow'r I reign ;

At length he kens the promis'd land, And ev'ry health which I begin,

And hails aloud the with'd for strand, Converts dull port to bright champaign;

With heavenly joy poffeft; Such Freedom crowns it at an inn.

And 'midst the plenty of his store,

His labour past, his toil no more,
I fly from pomp, I Ay from plate !

Enjoys the port of rest.
Í Ay from falichood's specious grin;
Freedom I love, and form I hate ;
And choose my lodgings at an inn.

$ 223. The Enquiry. Written in the last Century Here, waiter! take my

AMONGST the myrtles as I walk’d; Which lacqueys else might hope to win;

Love and my sighs thus intertalk'd :
It buys what courts have not in fiore,

• Tell me, said I, in deep distress,
• Where

may It buys me frecdom at an inn.

I find my thepherdess ?'

“ Thou fool, said Love, know'st thou not thiş? Whoe'er has travellid life's dull round, “ In ev'ry thing that's good, the is; Where'er his stages may have been ;

“ In yonder tulip go and feck, May figh to think he ftill has found

“ There thou may'st find her lip, her cheek; The warmelt welcome at an inn.

“ In yond enameli'd panfy by,
“ There thou shalt have her curious eye ;
“ In bloom of peach, in rosy bud,

“ There weave the streamers of her blood;
$ 222. Tbe Pious Sailor. An Ode. “ In brightest lilies that there stand,

“ The emblems of her whiter hand; The man whose heart from vice is clear, Whole deeds are honest, true, fincere,

“ In yonder riling hill there smell

“ Such fweets as in her botom dwell: Whom God and virtue guide;

“'Tis true,” said he. And thereupon With cautious circumspection wise,

I went to pluck them one by one,
The dang 'rous wrecks of life defies,

To make of parts an union ;
And stems the mighty tide.

But on a sudden all was gone.
He hears the storms of fortune risc,

With that I stopt. Said Love, “ These be, In adverse combat midit the skies,

“ Fond man, refemblances of thee; But hears without dismay;

" And as these flow'rs thy joys shall die, His pilot, God, the vellel guides,

“ E'en in the twinkling of an eye ; And o’er the seady helm presides,

“ And all thy hopes of her thall wither, And points the defilu'd way.

“ Like these short livects that knit together,"

LUDICROUS Poems, Epigrams, Epitaphs, Odes, Classical Songs, Ballads,

Prologues and Epilogues, and various other little Pieces calculated for Re-
creation,

.

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gs. The diverting History of John Gilpin; Beruing The morning caine, the chaise was brought,

baru be went further than ke intended, and came But yet was not allow'd Jufe bone again.

Cow PER. To drive up to the door, left all
OHN GILPIN was a citizen

Should say that she was proud.
Of credit and renown,

So three doors off the chaise was stay'd,
A train-band captain eke was he

Where they did all get in, Of famous London town.

Six precious fouls, and all agog, John Gilpin's spouse said to her dear,

To dath through thick and thin. Though weddcd we have been

Smack went the whip, round went thc whecks, These twice ten tedious years, yet we

Were never folk so glad; No holiday have seen.

The stones did rattle underneath To-morrow is our wedding-day,

As if Cheapfide were mad. And we will then repair

John Gilpin at his horse's side Unto the Bell at Edmonton,

Sciz'd fast the flowing mane; All in a chaise and pair.

And up he got in haste to ride,

But foon came down again :
My fifter and my sister's child,

For laddle-tree scarce reach'd had he,
Myfelf and children three,
Will fill the chaise, so

His journey to begin,
must ride

you On horfcback after we,

When, turnin; round his head, he saw

Three customers come in,
He foon replied, I do admiro

So down he camc; for loss of time,
Of womankind but one;
And you are the, my dearest dear,

Although it griev'd him fore,

Yet loss of pence, full well he knew, Therefore it shall be done.

Would trouble him much more. I ain a linen-draper bold,

'Twas long before the customers As all the world doth know,

Were suited to their mind;
And my good friend the callender
Will lend his horse to go.

When Betty screaming came down stairs,

“ The wine is left bchind!” Quotin Mistress Gilpin, That's well said; Good lack! quoth he-yet bring it me, And, for that wine is dear,

My leathern belt likewise, We will be furnith'd with our own,

In which I bear my trusty sword Which is both bright and clear.

When I do exercise. John Gilpia kifs d his loving wife;

Now Mistress Gilpin, careful foul ! C'crioy'd was he to find

Had two stone bottles found, That, though on plcasure she was bort,

To hold the liquor that the lovida Sie hain frugil mind.

And keep it safe and found.

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Each bottle had a curling car,

For all might see the bottle-neck:
Through which the belt he drew,

Still dangling at his waist.
And hung a bottle on cach side,

Thus all through merry Islington
To make his balance true;

These gambols he did play,
Then over all, that hc might be

And till he came unto the Wash

Of Edinonton fo gay.
Equipp'd from top to toe,
His long red cloak, well bruth'd and ncat, And there he threw the walh about
He manfully did throw.

On both sides of the way,
Now see him mounted once again

Just like unto a crundling mop,
Upon his nimble steed,

Or a wild goose at piay.
Full Nowly pacing o'er the stones

At Edmonton his loving wife
With caution and good heed.

Froin balcony espied
But finding soon a smoother road

Her tender husband, wond'ring much
Beneath his well-thod feet,

To see how he did ride.
The snorting beast began to trot,

Stop, stop, John Gilpin! here's the house
Which gall'd him in his feat.

They all at once did cry ;
So, fair and softly, John he cried,

The dinner waits, and we are tir'd:
But John he cried in vain ;

Said Gilpin--So am I.
That crot became a gallop 1oon,

But yet his horse was not a whit
In spite of curb and rein.

Inclin'd to rarry there;
So stooping down, as needs he must

For why? his owner had a house
Who cannot fit upright,

Full ten miles oil, at Ware.
He grasp'd the mane with both his hands, So like an arrow swift he flew,
And eke with all his might.

Shot by an archer strong;
His horfe, who never in that fort

So did he fly-which brings me to
Had handled been before,

The middle of my tong.
What thing upon his back had got

Away went Gilpin, out of breath,
Did wonder more and more.

And fore against his will,
Away went Gilpin, neck or nought,

Till at his friend's the callender's
Away went hat and wig;

His horse at last stood itill.
He little dreamt, when he lat out,

The callender, amaz'd to see
Of running such a rig.

His neighbour in such trim,
The wind did blow, the cloak did ny,

Laid down his pipe, flew to the gate,
Like streamer long and gay,

And thus accolted him:
Till, loop and button failing both,

What news! what news! your tidings tell,
At last it flew away.

Tell me you must and thall
Then might all people well discern

Say why bare-headed you are come,
The bottles he had nung;

Or why you come at all :
A bottle swinging at each lide,

Now Gilpin had a pleasant wit,
As hath been laid or sung.

And lov'd a timely joke;
The dogs did bark, the children screan'd, And thus unto the callender
Up flew the windows all;

In merry guife he spoke :
And ev'ry soul cried out, Well done!

I came because your horse would comc:
As loud as he could bawl.

And, if I well forbode,
Away went Gilpin—who but he;

My hat and wig will soon be here,
His faine foon fpread around-

They are upon the road.
He carries weight! he rides a race !

The callender, right glad to find
*Tis for a thousand pound.

His fricnd in merry pin,
And still as fast as he drew near,

Return’d him not a single word,
'Twas wonderful to view

But to the house went in;
How in a trice the turnpike men

Whence straight he came with hat and wig,
Their gates wide open threw.

A wig that flow'd behind,
And now as he went bowing down

A hat not much the worse for wear,
His reeking head full low,

Each comely in its kind.
The bottles twain behind his back

He held them up, and in his turn
Were shatter'd at a blow.

Thus shew'd his ready wit:
Down ran the wine into the road,

My head is cwice as big as yours,
Most piteous to be seen,

They therefore needs must fit.
Which made his horse's Aanks to smoke But let me scrape the dirt away
As they had basted been.

That hangs upon your face ;
But still he secm'd to carry weight,

And stop and eat, for well you may
With leatheru girdle brac'd ;

Be in a hungry cafe.

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Said John, It is my wedding-day;
And all the world would itare,

§ 2. An Evening Contemplation in a Calze; If wife hould dine at Edmonton,

in Imitation of Gray's Elegy in a County
Church-yard.

DUNCOMIE
And I should dine at Ware.
So turning to his horse he said

THE curfew tolls the hour of closing gates;

With jarring found the porter turns the kev;
I am in haste to dine :

Then in his dreary mansion Numbering wairs,
Twas for your pleasure you came here,

And flowly, sternly quits it, though for me. You shall back for mine.

Now shine the spires bencath the paly moon, Ah lucklcfs speech, and bootless boast !

And thro' the cloisters peace and filence reigns For which he paid full dear;

Save where some fidler fcrapes a drowly tune, For while he spake a braying ass

Or copious boils inspire a jovial strain; Did fing moft loud and cliar;

Save that in yonder cobweb-mantled raom, Whereat his horse did snort, as he

Where Neeps a student in profound repole

, Had heard a lion roar ;

Oppress’d with ale, wide echoes thro' the glycom And gallop'd off with all his might,

The droning music of his vocal nose. As he had done before.

Within those walls, where thro' the glimmering Away went Gilpin, and away

shade Went Gilpin's hat and wig;

Appear the pamphlets in a mouldering heap, He loft them fooner than at first,

Each in his narrow bed till morning laid, For why? they were too big.

The peaceful fellows of the college flcep. Now Mistress Gilpin, when she saw

The tinkling bell proclaiming early pray'rs, Her husband posting down

The noily fervants rattling o'er their head, Into the country far away,

The calls of business, and domestic cares, She pullid out half a crown ni

Ne'er rouse these sleepers from their doway And thus unto the youth she said

bed. That drove them to the Bell,

No chattering females crowd their social fire, This shall be yours when you bring back No dread have they of discord and of trife

, My husband safe and well.

Unknown the names of husband and of fire, The youth did ride, and soon did moet

Unfelt the plagues of matrimonial life. John coming back amain,

Oft have they bask'd beneath the sunny walls

, Whom in a trice he tried to stop

Oft have the benches bow'd beneath their By catching at his rein;

weight, But not performing what he meant,

How jocund are their looks when dinner calls ! And gladly would have done,

How smoke the cutlets on their crowded plate! The frighted steed he frighted more,

O! let not temperance, too disdainful, hear
And made him fafter run.

How long their feasts, how long their dinners
Away went Gilpin, and away
Went post-boy at his heels,

Nor let the fair, with a contemptuous sneer

, The post-boy's horse right glad to miss

On thele unmarried men reflections cast! The lumb'ring of the wheels.

The splendid fortune and the beauteous face Six gentlemen upon the road

(Themselves confefs it, and their fires bemoan) Thus fceing Gilpin Ay,

Too foon are caught by scarlet and by lace ; With post-boy scamp'ring in the rear,

These fons of science thine in black alone. They rais’d the hue and cry:

Forgive, ye fair, th’involuntary fault

, Stop thief! ftop thief!-a highwayman!

If these no feats of gaiety display, Not one of them was muto;

Where through proud Ranelagh's wide-echoing

vault And all and each that pass’d that way Did join in the pursuit.

Melodious Frasi trills her quavering lay. And now the turnpike gates again

Say, is the sword well suited to the band? Flew open in short space ;

Does broider'd coat agree with fable gown The toll-men thinking, as before,

Can Mechlin laces thade a churchman's hand”. That Gilpin rode a race.

Or learning's votaries ape the beaux of town! And so he did, and won it too,

Perhaps in these time-tortering walls reside

Some who were once the darling of the fair,
For he got

Some who of old could tastes and fashions guide,
Nor stopp'd till where he first got up
He did again get down.

Control the manager, and awe the player

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But Science now has fill'd their vacant mind, Now let us fing, Long live the king,

With Rome's rich spoils, and truth's exalted And Gilpin, long live he ;

views, And when he next doth ride abroad,

Fir'd them with transports of a nobler kind, May I be there to fee!

laft:

first to town,

And bade them Dight all females--but the muse.

Full

Full many a lark, high towering to the sky, “ Then in the garden chose a funny walk,

Unheard, unheeded, greets th' approach of light; “ Or launch'd the polith'd bowl with steady
Full many a star, unseen by mortal eye,

“ hand.
With twinkling luftre glimmers through the
night.

“ One morn we miss’d him at the hour of pray'r,

“ Nor in the hall, nor on his favourite green: Some future Herring, who, with dauntless brcast,

“ Another came ; nor yet within the chair, Rebellion's torrent shall like him oppose,

“ Nor yet at bowis or chapel was he seen. Some mute, unconscious Hardwicke here muy rest,

“ The next we hcard that, in a neighbouring Some Pelham, dreadful to his country's foes.

" thire, From prince and people to command applause,

" That day to church he led a blushing bride, 'Milf ermin’d peers to guide the high debate,

" A nymph whose snowy veft and maiden fear To thield Britannia's and Religion's laws,

“ Improv'd her beauty while the knot was tied. And steer with steady course the helm of state

“ Now, by his patron's bountcous care remov'de Fate yet forbids ; nor circumscribes alone

“ He roves enraptur'd thro' the fields of Kent; Their growing virtues, but their crimes con- " Yet, ever mindful of the place he lov'd, fines;

“ Rcad here the letter which he latcly lent."
Forbids in Freedom's veil t'insult the throne,
Bencath her masque to hide the worst designs;

The Letter.
To fill the madding crowd's perverted mind, IN rural innocence fecure I dwell,

With “pensions, taxes, marriages, and Jews;" Alike to fortune and to fame unknown;
Or shut the gates of heaven on lott mankind, Approving conscience cheers my humble cell,
And wrest their darling hopes, their future And focial quiet marks me for her own:
views.

Next to the blessings of religious truth,
Far from the giddy town's tumultuous strife,

Two gifts my endless gratitude engage-
Their wishes yet have never leain'd to ftray;

A Wife, the joy and trantport of my youth;

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Content and happy in a single life,

Now with a Son, the comfort of my age.
They keep the noiseless tenor of their way.
Ev’n now, their books from cobwebs to protect,

Seck pot to draw me from this kind retreat,
Inclos'd by doors of glass in Doric style

In loftier spheres unfit, untaught to move; On polith'd pillars rais'd with bronzes deck'd,

Content with calm domestic life, where meet They claim the passing tribute of a smile:

The sweets of friend thip, and the similes of love,
Oft are the authors' names, though richly bound,

Mil-Spelt by blundering binders' want of care;
And many a catalogue is itrew'd around,

§ 3. The Three Wai nings. A Tal. To tell th'admiring guest what books are there.

By Mrs. THRALE.
For who, to thoughtless ignorance a prey,

Neglects to hold thort dalliance with a book ? THE tree of deepest root is found
Who there but withes to prolong his stay,

Least willing itill to quit the ground;
And on those cafes casts a lingering look?

'Twas therefore laid by ancient fages,

That love of life increas'd with years
Reports attract the lawyer's parting eyes, So much, that in our latter itages,

Novels Lord Fopling and Sir Plumc require, When pains grow tharp, and fickness rages,
For Songs and Plays the voice of Bcauty crics,

The greateit love of life

appears.
And Sense and Nature Grandifon desire.

This great affection to believe,
For thce, who, mindful of thy lov'd compcers,

Which all confels, but few perceive,
Doft in these lines their artless tale relate, old affertions can't prevail,
If chance, with prying search, in future vears, Be pleas'd to hcar a modern tale.

Sume antiquarian hould enquire thy fate ; When sports went round, and ail were gay,
Haply some friend may shake his hoary head,

On neighbour Dobson's wedding-dav,
And say, “ Each morn unchill'd by fiofts' he Death call'd aside the jocund groom

With him into another room;
ran,
“ With hose ungarter'd, o'er yon tursy bed,

And looking grave— You must,' savs he,
“ To reach the chapel ere the psalms began;

Quit your riveet bride, and come with me."

With you! and quit my Suran's fide ?
“ There, in the arms of that lethargic chair,

With you 'the hapless huband cried :
“ Which rears its old moth-eaten back to high, • Young as I am, 'tis monstrous hard !
“ At noon he quaff"d three glatles to the fair, • Besides, in truth, I'm not prepar'd :

“ And por’d upon the news with curious cye. My thoughts on other matters go;
“ Now by the fire engag'd in serious talk, • 'This is my wedding-night, you know.'
“ Or mirthful converse, would he loitering What more he uigd I have not heard,

His realons could r.ot well be stronger;

So

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