WRITTEN BY MR. GARRICK, SPOKEN BY MISS YOUNG
PROLOGUES and Epilogues-to speak the phrase
Which suits the warlike spirit of these days-
Are cannon charged, or should be charged, with wit,
Which, pointed well, each rising folly hit;
By a late General who commanded here,
And fought our bloodless battles many a year!
'Mongst other favours were conferred on me,
He made me Captain of Artillery!
At various follies many guns I fired,
Hit 'em point-blank, and thought the foe retired,-
But vainly thought-for to my great surprise,
They now are rank and file before my eyes!
Nay, to retreat may even me oblige;-
The works of Folly stand the longest siege!
With what brisk firing, and what thunder-claps,
Did I attack those high-built castle-caps!
But towering still, they swell in lofty state,
Nor strike one riband to capitulate ;-
Whilst beaus behind, thus peeping, and thus bent,
Are the besieged, behind the battlement:
But you are conquerors, ladies have no dread,
Henceforth in peace enjoy the cloud-capped head!
We scorn to ape the French, their tricks give o'er,
Nor at your rigging fire one cannon more!
And now ye Bucks and Bucklings of the age,
Though caps are clear, your hats shall feel my rage;
The high-cocked, half-cocked quaker, and the slouch,
Have at ye all!-I'll hit you, though ye crouch.
We read in history-one William Tell,
An honest Swiss, with arrow shot so well,