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Through fam'd Moorfields extends a spacious seat, Where mortals of exalted wit retreat;

Where, wrapt in contemplation and in straw,
The wiser few from the mad world withdraw.
There in full opulence a banker dwelt,
Who all the joys and pangs of riches felt:
His sideboard glitter'd with imagin'd plate,
And his proud fancy held a vast estate.

As on a time he pass'd the vacant hours
In raising piles of straw and twisted bow'rs,
A poet enter'd, of the neighbouring cell,

And with fix'd eye observ'd the structure well:
A sharpen'd skew'r 'cross his bare shoulders bound
A tatter'd rug, which dragg'd upon the ground.
The banker cried, "Behold my castle walls,
My statues, gardens, fountains, and canals,
With land of more than twenty acres round!
All these I sell thee for ten thousand pound.'
The bard with wonder the cheap purchase saw,
So sign'd the contract (as ordains the law.)
The banker's brain was cool'd: the mist grew clear;
The visionary scene was lost in air.

He now the vanish'd prospect understood,
And fear'd the fancied bargain was not good:
Yet loth the sum entire should be destroy'd,
“Give me a penny, and thy contract's void."
The startled bard with eye indignant frown'd:
Shall I, ye gods," he cries, "my debts compound!"
So saying, from his rug the skew'r he takes,
And on the stick ten equal notches makes;
With just resentment flings it on the ground;
There, take my tally of ten thousand pound.":

46

* Charles II. having borrowed a considerable sum, gavę tallies as a security for the repayment; but, soon after shutting up the exchequer, these tallies were as much reduced from their ori ginal value as the South Sea had exceeded it.-H.

A BALLAD ON QUADRILLE.*

WRITTEN BY MR CONGREVE.

I.

WHEN, as Corruption hence did go,
And left the nation free;

When Ay said Ay, and No said No,
Without a place or fee:

Then Satan, thinking things went ill,
Sent forth his spirit, call'd Quadrille,

Quadrille, Quadrille, &c.

II.

Kings, queens, and knaves, made up his pack,
And four fair suits he wore;
His troops they are with red and black
All blotch'd and spotted o'er:
And ev'ry house, go where you will,
Is haunted by the imp Quadrille, &c.

III.

Sure cards he has for ev'ry thing,
Which well court-cards they name:
And, statesmen like, calls in the king,
To help out a bad game:

But, if the parties manage ill,

The king is forc'd to loose Codille, &c.

* On the subject of this ballad, see a letter from Dr Arbuth

not to Dean Swift, dated Nov. 8, 1726.-N.

IV.

When two and two were met of old,
Though they ne'er meant to marry,
They were in Cupid's books enroll'd,
And call'd a party quarree:

But now, meet when and where you will,
A party quarree is Quadrille, &c.

ས.

The commoner, and knight, the peer,

Men of all ranks and fame,

Leave to their wives the only care,

To propagate their name;

And well that duty they fulfill

When the good husband's at Quadrille, &c.

VI.

When patients lie in piteous case,

In comes th' apothecary;

And to the doctor cries, alas!

Non debes quadrillare.

The patient dies without a pill,

For why? the doctor's at Quadrille, &c.

VII.

Should France and Spain again grow loud,
The Muscovite grow louder, *

Britain, to curb her neighbours proud,
Would want both ball and powder;

* Russia was at this time, 1725, using very high language concerning the restoration of Sleswick.

Must want both sword and gun to kill;
For why? the gen'ral's at Quadrille, &c.

VIII.

The king of late drew forth his sword
(Thank God 'twas not in wrath)
And made of many a 'squire and lord
An unwash'd knight of Bath:
What are their feats of arms and skill?
They're but nine parties at Quadrille, &c.

IX.

A party late at Cambray met,
Which drew all Europe's eyes;
'Twas call'd in Post-Boy and Gazette
The Quadruple Allies;

But somebody took something ill,
So broke this party at Quadrille, &c.*

X.

And now, God save this noble realm,
And God save eke Hanover;

* The convention at Cambray was adopted for the purpose of adjusting the disputes between the emperor and King of Spain, under the mediation of Great Britain and France. But in the course of the treaty, the Duke of Orleans, regent of France, died, and the Infanta of Spain, Maria Theresa, who had been betrothed to the King of France, was sent back to her own country to make way for Lewis XVth's being affianced to the daughter of the Duke of Lorraine. The Spanish court received this affront with a na tural sensation of deep resentment, and finding it in vain to at tempt engaging Great Britain in their quarrel, they suddenly patched up a peace with the emperor, and thus saved the qua druple allies the trouble of interference.

And God save those who hold the helm
When as the king goes over:
But let the king go where he will
His subjects must play at Quadrille,

Quadrille, Quadrille, &c.

MOLLY MOG:

OR, THE FAIR MAID OF THE INN.

[This little ballad became very popular, and had several imitations. One was sent to the lovely Miss Lepelle, afterwards Lady Hervey, in the name of a begging poet. She was deceived, and begged that two double entendres might be changed. Mr Pultney and Lord Chesterfield, the authors of the jest, pushed it still further, by substituting what Dr Arbuth not calls single entendres, and Lady Hervey became seriously displeased. Even the Ultima Thule was interested, for I have found in an old Scotish newspaper, a continuation of the ballad of Molly Mog. But the very essence of a politi cal exercise on a given termination, consists in the accuracy of the rhymes, and in that my countryman has been wofully deficient.

The fair Molly Mog was a chambermaid at the Rose Inn, Oakingham, in Berkshire.]

SAYS my uncle, I pray you discover

What hath been the cause of your woes,
Why you pine and you whine like a lover:-
I've seen Molly Mog of the Rose.

O nephew! your grief is but folly;
In town you may find better prog:

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