From thence was carried off to bed :
John held his heels, and Nan his head.
My Lady was disturb'd: new forrow!
Which Hans must answer for to-morrow.
In bed then view this happy pair;
And think how Hymen triumph'd there.
Hans fast asleep as foon as laid;
The duty of the night unpaid:
The waking Dame, with thoughts oppreft,
That made her hate both him and reft:
By fuch a husband, fuch a wife !
'Twas Acme's and Septimius' life :
The Lady figh'd: the Lover snor'd:
The punctual Devil kept his word:
Appear'd to honeft Hans again;
But not at all by Madam seen :
And giving him a magic ring,
Fit for the finger of a king;
Dear Hans, faid he, this jewel take,
And wear it long for Satan's fake:
'Twill do your business to a hair
For, long as you this ring shall wear,
As fure as I look over Lincoln,
That ne'er shall happen which you think on.
Hans took the ring with joy extreme
(All this was only in a dream);
And, thrusting it beyond his joint,
'Tis done, he cry'd): I've gain'd my point.
What point, said she, you ugly beast?
You neither give me joy nor reft:
'Tis done. - What's done, you drunken bear? You've thrust your finger God knows where.
A DUTCH PROVERB.
FIRE, water, woman, are man's ruin;
Says wife Professor Vander Brüin.
By flames a house I hir'd was loft
Last year: and I must pay the cost.
This spring the rains o'erflow'd my ground:
And my best Flanders mare was drown'd.
A flave I am to Clara's eyes :
The gipsy knows her power, and flies.
Fire, water, woman, are my ruin :
And great thy wisdom, Vander Brüin.
PAULO PURGANTI and his WIFE;
an Honest, but a SIMPLE PAIR.
Eft enim quiddam, idque intelligitur in omni virtute, "quod deceat: quod cogitatione magis à virtute po" test quàm re separari." Cic. de Off. 1. i.
EYOND the fix'd and settled rules
Of vice and virtue in the schools,
Beyond the letter of the law,
Which keeps our men and maids in awe,
The better fort should fet before 'em
A grace, a manner, a decorum;
Something, that gives their acts a light;
Makes them not only just, but bright;
And fets them in that open fame,
Which witty malice cannot blame.
For 'tis in life, as 'tis in painting:
Much may be right, yet much be wanting;
From lines drawn true, our eye may trace
A foot, a knee, a hand, a face;
May justly own the picture wrought
Exact to rule, exempt from fault:
Yet, if the colouring be not there,
The Titian stroke, the Guido air;
To nicest judgement show the piece,
At beft 'twill only not difplease:
It would not gain on Jersey's eye;
Bradford would frown, and set it by.
Thus in the picture of our mind
The action may be well design'd;
Guided by law, and bound by duty;
Yet want this je ne fcai quoi of beauty :
And though its error may be such,
As Knags and Burgess cannot hit;
It yet may feel the nicer touch
Of Wicherley's or Congreve's wit.
What is this talk? replies a friend,
And where will this dry moral end?
The truth of what you here lay down
By some example should be shown.-
With all my heart - for once; read on,
An honest but a fimple pair
(And twenty other I forbear)
May ferve to make this thesis clear.
A doctor of great skill and fame,
Paulo Purganti was his name,
Had a good, comely, virtuous wife;
No woman led a better life :
She to intrigues was ev'n hard-hearted:
She chuckled when a bawd was carted;
And thought the nation ne'er would thrive,
Till all the whores were burnt alive.
On married men, that dar'd be bad,
She thought no mercy should be had;
They should be hang'd, or starv'd, or flead,
Or ferv'd like Romish priests in Swede.
In short, all lewdness she defied:
And ftiff was her parochial pride.
Yet, in an honest way, the dame
Was a great lover of that same;
And could from Scripture take her cue,
That husbands should give wives their duc.
Her prudence did fo justly steer
Between the gay and the severe,
That if in some regards the chose
To curb poor Paulo in too clofe;
In others she relax'd again,
And govern'd with a loofer rein.
Thus though the strictly did confine
The Doctor from excess of wine :
With oysters, eggs, and vermicelli,
She let him almost burst his belly:
Thus drying coffee was denied;
But chocolate that loss supplied:
And for tobacco (who could bear it?),
Filthy concomitant of claret :
(Blest revolution!) one might fee
Eringo roots, and Bohea tea.
She often fet the Doctor's band,
And stroak'd his beard, and squeez'd his hand :
Kindly complain'd, that after noon
He went to pore on books too foon:
She held it wholesomer by much,
To reft a little on the couch: -
About his waist in bed a-nights
She clung fo clofe - for fear of sprites.
The Doctor understood the call;
But had not always wherewithal.
The lion's skin too short, you know,
(As Plutarch's Morals finely show)
Was lengthen'd by the fox's tail :
And art fupplies, where strength may fail.
Unwilling then in arms to meet
The enemy he could not beat;
He strove to lengthen the campaign,
And fave his forces by chicane.
Fabius, the Roman chief, who thus
By fair retreat grew Maximus,
Shews us, that all that warrior can do,
With force inferior, is cunctando.
One day then, as the foe drew near,
With love, and joy, and life, and dear;
VOL. I.
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