"Tis seated in the' immortal mind;
Virtue distinguishes mankind,
And that (as yet ne'er harbour'd here)
Mounts with the soul we know not where.
So Good-man Sexton, since the case
Appears with such a dubious face,
To neither I the cause determine,
For different tastes please different vermin.'
IN Fable all things hold discourse;
Then Words, no doubt, must talk of course.
Once on a time, near Cannon-row,
Two hostile adverbs, Ay and No,
Were hastening to the field of tight,
And front to front stood opposite;
Before each general join'd the van,
Ay, the more courteous knight, began:
'Stop, peevish Particle! beware!
I'm told you are not such a bear,
But sometimes yield when offer'd fair.
Suffer yon folks a while to tattle;
'Tis we who must decide the battle.
Whene'er we war on yonder stage,
With various fate and equal rage,
The nation trembles at each blow
That No gives Ay, and Ay gives No;
1 Taken from the Miscellanies, published by Swift and Pope.
Yet in expensive long contention,
We gain nor office, grant, or pension.
Why then should kinsfolk quarrel thus?
(For two of you make one of us.)
To some wise statesman let us go,
Where each his proper use may know :
He may admit two such commanders,
And make those wait who serv'd in Flanders.
Let's quarter on a great man's tongue,
A treasury lord, not Maister Y-
Obsequious at his high command,
Ay shall march forth to tax the land;
Impeachments No can best resist,
And Ay support the Civil list:
Ay, quick as Cæsar, wins the day,
And No, like Fabius, by delay.
Sometimes in mutual sly disguise,
Let Ay's seem No's, and No's seem Ay's;
Ay's be in courts denials meant,
And No's in bishops' give consent.'
Thus Ay propos'd-and, for reply,
No, for the first time, answer'd' Ay!'
They parted with a thousand kisses,
And fight e'er since for pay, like Swisses.
C. WHITTINGHAM, Printer, Union Buildings, Leather Lane.
COLLATED WITH THE BEST EDITIONS:
THOMAS PARK, ES2. F.S. A.
Printed at the Stanhope Press,
BY CHARLES WHITTINGHAM,
Union Buildings, Leather Lane;
FOR JOHN SHARPE, OPPOSITE YORK-HOUSE,
|