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Against whofe torrent while he swims,
The golden fcurf peels off his limbs :
Fame spreads the news, and people travel
From far to gather golden gravel ;
Midas, expos'd to all their jeers,
Had loft his art, and kept his ears.

THIS tale inclines the gentle reader
To think upon a certain leader;
To whom from Midas down, descends
That virtue in the fingers' ends.
What else by perquifites are meant,
By penfions, bribes, and three per cent.
By places and commiffions fold,
And turning dung itself to gold?
By ftarving in the midst of store,
As t'other Midas did before?

None e'er did modern Midas chufe,
Subject or patron of his Muse,
But found him thus their merit fcan,
That Phoebus must give place to Pan:
He values not the poet's praise,
Nor will exchange his plumbs. for bays.
To Pan alone rich mifers call;
And there's the jeft, for Pan is ALL.
Here English wits will be to feek,
Howe'er, 'tis all one in the Greek.

Befides, it plainly now appears
Our Midas too hath affes' ears;
Where every fool his mouth applies,
And whifpers in a thousand lies;

Such

Such grofs delufions could not pafs
Through any ears but of an ass.

But gold defiles with frequent touch;
There's nothing fouls the hand so much ::
And scholars give it for the cause
Of British Midas' dirty paws;

Which while the Senate ftrove to scour,

They wash'd the chemic power.

away

While he his utmost strength apply'd,
To fwim againft this popular tide,
The golden fpoils flew off apace;
Here fell a penfion, there a place;
The torrent merciless imbibes
Commiffions, perquifites, and bribes ;

By their own weight funk to the bottom ;
Much good may do them that have caught 'em!
And Midas now neglected stands,

With affes' ears, and dirty hands.

AN EXCELLENT NEW SONG: 1711.

BEING THE INTENDED SPEECH OF

A FAMOUS ORATOR AGAINST PEACE *.

AN Orator difmal of Nottinghamshire,

Who has forty years let out his confcience to hire, Out of zeal for his country, and want of a place, Is come up, vi & armis, to break the queen's peace.

*The lord treasurer having hinted a wish one evening that a ballad might be made on the earl of Nortingham; this fong was written and printed the next morning.

He

He has vamp'd an old fpeech, and the court, to their

forrow,

Shall hear him harangue against Prior to-morrow.
When once he begins, he never will flinch,

But repeats the fame note a whole day, like a Finch.
I have heard all the fpeech repeated by Hoppy,
And, "Mistakes to prevent, I've obtained a copy."

THE

SPEECH.

WHEREAS, notwithstanding, I am in great pain,
To hear we are making a peace without Spain;
But, moft noble Senators, 'tis a great shame,

There should be a peace, while I'm Not-in-game.
The duke fhew'd me all his fine houfe; and the dutchefs
From her closet brought out a full purfe in her clutches,,
I talk'd of a peace, and they both gave a start,
His grace fwore by G-d, and her grace let a f―t:.
My long old-fashion'd pocket was presently cramm'd;
And fooner than vote for a peace I'll be damn'd.
But fome will cry Turn-coat, and rip up old stories
How I always pretended to be for the Tories:
I answer; the Tories were in my good graces,
Till all my relations were put into places.

But ftill I'm in principle ever the fame,

And will quit my best friends, while I'm Not-in-game. When I and fome others fubfcribed our names

To a plot for expelling my mafter king James;

I. withdrew

I withdrew my fubfcription by help of a blot,
And fo might discover or gain by the plot :
I had my advantage and stood at defiance,
For Daniel was got from the den of the lions :
I came in without danger, and was I to blame?
For, rather than hang, I would be Not-in-game.

I fwore to the Queen, that the prince of Hanover
During her facred life would never come over :
I made ufe of a trope; that "an heir to invite,
"Was like keeping her monument always in fight."
But, when I thought proper, I alter'd my note;
And in her own hearing I boldly did vote,
That her Majesty stood in great need of a Tutor,
And must have an old or a young Coadjutor :
For why; I would fain have put all in a flame,
Because, for fome reasons, I was Not-in-game.

Now my new benefactors have brought me about, And I'll vote against Peace, with Spain, or without = Though the Court gives my nephews, and brothers, and cousins,

And all my whole family, places by dozens;

Yet, fince I know where a full-purse may be found,
And hardly pay eighteen-pence tax in the pound
Since the Tories have thus difappointed my hopes,
And will neither regard my figures nor tropes ;
I'll speech against peace while Dismal 's my name,
And be a true Whig, while I am Not-in-game.

THE

THE WINDSOR PROPHECY*. 1711,
WHEN a holy black Swede, the fon of Bob ↑,
With a faint at his chin, and a seal ‡ at his fob,
Shall not fee one § New-year's-day in that year,
Then let old Englond make good chear :
Windfor and Bristow | then shall be
Joined together in the Low-countree -
Then shall the tall black Daventry Bird**
Speak against peace right many a word;

*It is faid, that Queen Anne had nominated Dr. Swift to an English bishoprick; which was oppofed by Dr. Sharp, archbishop of York, and the dutchefs of Somerset, who had prevailed on his grace to go with her to the queen to lay afide the nomination, which her majefty refused; but, the dutchefs falling on her knees, and fhewing the above prophecy to her majefty, the bishoprick was given to another. See p. 93.

+ Dr. John Robinson, bishop of Bristol, one of the plenipotentiaries at Utrecht.

He was dean of Windsor, and lord privy feal.

§ The New Style (which was not used in GreatBritain and Ireland till 1752) was then observed in moft parts of Europe. The bishop set out from England the latter end of December, O. S.; and, on his arrival at Utrecht, by the variation of the style, he found January fomewhat advanced.

|| Alluding to the deanry and bishoprick being pos feffed by the fame person, then at Utrecht.

**Earl of Nottingham.

And

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