And how to hang in a more graceful fashion

Than e'er was known before to the dull English nation.

III.

In France, the ftaple of new modes,

Where garbs and miens are current goods;
That ferves the ruder northern nations
With methods of address and treat;
Prescribes new garnitures and fashions,
And how to drink and how to eat
No out-of-fashion wine or meat;
To understand cravats and plumes,

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કશું

And the most modifh from the old perfumes;

To know the age and pedigrees

Of points of Flanders or Venife;

Caft their nativities, and, to a day,

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Foretel how long they 'll hold, and when decay;

T'affect the pureft negligences

In gestures, gaits, and miens,

And fpeak by repartee-rotines

Out of the most authentic of romances,

And to demonftrate, with substantial reason,

What ribbands, all the year, are in or out of feafon

IV.

In this great academy of mankind

He had his birth and education,

Where all men are fo' ingeniously inclin'd,

They understand by imitation,

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65

Improve

Improve untaught, before they are aware,

As if they fuck'd their breeding from the air,

That naturally does difpenfe

To all a deep and folid confidence;

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A virtue of that precious ufe,

That he whom bounteous Heaven endues

But with a moderate fhare of it,

Can want no worth, abilities, or wit,

In all the deep Hermetic arts

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(For fo of late the learned call
All tricks, if strange and myftical).
He had improv'd his natural parts,
And with his magic rod could found
Where hidden treasure might be found:
He, like a lord o' th' manor, feiz'd upon
Whatever happen'd in his way,

As lawful weft and stray,

And after, by the custom, kept it as his own.

V.

From thefe first rudiments he grew
To nobler feats, and try'd his force
Upon whole troops of foot and horfe,
Whom he as bravely did subdue;
Declar'd all caravans, that go
Upon the king's highway, the foe ;
Made many defperate attacks

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85

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Upon itinerant brigades

Of all profeffions, ranks, and trades,

On carriers' loads, and pedlars' packs i

Made

Made them lay down their arms, and yield,
And, to the smallest piece, restore

All that by cheating they had gain'd before,
And after plunder'd all the baggage of the field.
In every bold affair of war

He had the chief command, and led them on;
For no man is judg'd fit to have the care
Of others' lives, until he has made it known
How much he does defpife and scorn his own.

VI.

Whole provinces, 'twixt fun and fun,
Have by his conquering sword been won;
And mighty fums of money laid,

For ranfom, upon every man,

And hostages deliver'd till 'twas paid.
Th' excise and chimney-publican,
The Jew-foreftaller and enhancer,
To him for all their crimes did answer.
He vanquish'd the most fierce and fell
Of all his foes, the Conftable;

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And oft had beat his quarters up,
And routed him and all his troop.

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He took the dreadful lawyer's fees,

That in his own allow'd highway

Does feats of arms as great as his,

And, when they' encounter in it, wins the day:
Safe in his garrison, the Court,

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Where meaner criminals are fentenc'd for 't,

VOL. II.

X

Το

To this ftern foe he oft gave quarter,

But as the Scotchman did to' a Tartar,

That he, in time to come,

Might in return from him receive his fatal doom.

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And those that bring up cheese, or malt,

Or bacon, from remoter parts;

No convoy e'er fo ftrong with food

Durft venture on the defperate road :
He made th' undaunted wagonner obey,

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And the fierce higgler contribution pay;

The favage butcher and stout drover

Durft not to him their feeble troops discover;
And, if he had but kept the field,

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In time had made the City yield;

For great towns, like to crocodiles, are found
I' th' belly apteft to receive a mortal wound.

VIII.

But when the fatal hour arriv'd

In which his ftars began to frown,

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And had in close cabals contriv'd

To pull him from his height of glory down,

And

And he, by numerous foes oppreft,

Was in th' enchanted dungeon cast,

Secur'd with mighty guards,

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Left he by force or ftratagem

Might prove too cunning for their chains and them,
And break through all their locks, and bolts, and wards;

Had both his legs by charms committed

To one another's charge,

That neither might be fet at large,

And all their fury and revenge

1 As jewels of high value are

outwitted.

Kept under locks with greater care

Than thofe of meaner rates,

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So he was in ftone walls, and chains, and iron grates.

IX.

Thither came ladies from all parts,

To offer up clofe prifoners their hearts;

Which he receiv'd as tribute due,

And made them yield up love and honour too,

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But in more brave heroic ways

Than e'er were practis'd yet in plays:

For those two fpiteful foes, who never meet
But full of hot contefts and piques

About punctilios and mere tricks,

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Did all their quarrels to his doom fubmit,
And, far more generous and free,

In contemplation only of him did agree,
Both fully fatisfy'd; the one

With thofe fresh laurels he had won,

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And