And wherefore of my works no notice take, Which some atonement for my folly make? My Prison Thoughts are lessons for mankind; There's food in my Reflections for the mind. These, my productions will be read, I wot, When your Vagaries will be all forgot; Why trouble ghosts by talking of their sins? Was this a subject worthy of Broad Grins? Why dwell upon the vices of us both? Forsooth because they're vices of the cloth. Remember, Sir, a Parson's but a man; The Royal Preacher into error ran; And every honest Minister must own, Like all mankind he is to error prone. Are dramatists from wickedness exempt? Have none of them been brought into contempt? Th' immortal bard, his biographers say, Was brought before a Magistrate one day. And B-ck--rst-ff was forc'd to flee with shame, Accept of this address, then, from the dead, Nor dare, when the Reviewers trouble thee, Adieu Remember me. ADDRESS VIII. Lord Th- -w to Miss B-lt-n. I WOULD I'd the pen of Lord B—r—n, For then all her charms shou'd be caroll'd, But tho' its mere stuff I produce, My being a Lord is excuse. How gladly wou'd I undertake, And make a delightful grand chorus, Of making you cry out again. A Lady, my charmer, I'll make you, I cannot find rhyme to say more; ADDRESS IX. The Secret Committee to Mrs. S-dd-ns. DEAR Madam, you see with what zeal we engage, In courting your speedy return to the stage. For votes we are canvassing daily the town, To whom, for your sake, all our names are unknown; For were it suppos'd we were intimate friends, They'd say we were canvassing for private ends; So we, as a Secret Committee, came forth, The friends of the drama, of genius and worth; Pretending while you were engag'd in your readings, That you had no cognizance of our proceedings. "Recal Mrs. S-dd-ns," we said in large letters, And made this demand as the Company's betters; Pretending our taste was superior to all, We urg'd the necessity of your recall. |