THE

COUNTRY-LIFE.

Part of a Summer fpent at GAULS TOWN-HOUSE.

HALIA, tell in fober lays,

THA

How George, Nim+, Dan 1, Dean §, pafs their days;

And, fhould our Gaulftown's art grow fallow,

Yet Neget quis carmina Gallo?

Here (by the way) by Gallus mean I

Not Sheridan, but friend Delany.
Begin, my Mufe. First from our bowers
We fally forth at different hours;
At feven the Dean, in night-gown dreft,
Gees round the houfe to wake the reft;
At nine, grave Nim and George facetious
Go to the Dean, to read Lucretius;
At ten, my Lady comes and hectors,

And kiffes George, and ends our lectures";
And when fhe has him by the neck fast,
Halls him, and 'fcolds us down to breakfast.
We fquander there an hour or more,
And then all hands, boys, to the oar,
All, heteroclite Dan except,

Who neither time nor order kept,

Mr. Rochfort.

+ His brother, Mr. John Rochfort;

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who was called

Nimrod, from his great attachment to the chace.

Rev. Daniel Jackson.

§ Dr. Swift.

But,

But, by peculiar whimfies drawn,

Peeps in the ponds to look for spawn;
O'erfees the work, or Dragon * rows,

Or mars a text, or mends his hofe ;
Or-but proceed we in our journal-
At two, or after, we return all:

From the four elements affembling,

Warn'd by the bell, all folks come trembling : s',
From airy garrets fome defcend,

Some from the lake's remoteft end:
My Lord + and Dean the fire forfake,

Dan leaves the earthly spade and rake:

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The loiterers quake, no corner hides them,

And lady Betty foundly chides them.

Now water's brought, and dinner's done:

With "Church and King" the lady 's gone :

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(Not reckoning half an hour we pafs

In talking o'er a moderate glafs).

Dan, growing drowsy, like a thief
Steals off to dofe away his beef;

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And this must pass for reading Hammond-
While George and Dean go to backgammon.
George, Nim, and Dean, fet out at four,
And then again, boys, to the oar.
But when the fun goes to the deep

(Not to disturb him in his sleep,

A fmall boat fo called.

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+ Mr. Rochfort's father was lord chief baron of the

✨exchequer in Ireland.

Or

Or make a rumbling o'er his head,

His candle out, and he a-bed)

We watch his motions to a minute,

And leave the flood when he goes in it.
Now ftinted in the fhortening day,
We go to prayers, and then to play,
Till fupper comes; and after that
We fit an hour to drink and chat.
'Tis late-the old and younger pairs,
By Adam lighted, walk up ftairs.
The weary Dean goes to his chamber;
And Nim and Dan to garret clamber..
So when the circle we have run;
The curtain falls, and all is done.

I might have mention'd feveral facts,

Like episodes between the acts;
And tell who lofes and who wins,

Who gets a cold, who breaks his shins ; "How Dan caught nothing in his net, And how the boat was overfet.

For brevity I have retrench'd

How in the lake the Dean was drench'd:

It would be an exploit to brag on,

How valiant George rode o'er the Dragon;

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How fteady in the storm he fat,

And fav'd his oar, but loft his hat :

Now Nim. (no hunter e'er could match him)
Still brings us hares, when he can catch them :

*The butler.

How

How skilfully Dan mends his nets;
How fortune fails him when he fets:
Or how the Dean delights tó vex

The ladies, and lampoon their fex:

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I might have told how oft' dean Percivale
Difplays his pedantry unmerciful,

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How haughtily he cocks his nofe,
To tell what every school-boy knows;
And with his finger and his thumb,
Explaining, ftrikes oppofers dumb :

But now there needs no more be faid on 't,
Nor how his wife, that female pedant,
Shews all her fecrets of houfe-keepings
For candles how fhe trucks her dripping;
Was forc'd to fend three miles for yeast,
To brew her ale, and raise her paste ;

Tells every thing that you can think of,
How the cur'd Charly of the chin-cough;
What gave her brats and pigs the measles,
And how her doves were kill'd by weafels;

How Jowler howl'd, and what a fright
She had with dreams the other night."

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But now, fince I have gone fo far on,
A word or two of lord chief baron;
And tell how little weight he fets
On all Whig papers and Gazettes ;
But for the politics of Pue,
Thinks every fyllable is true.

And fince he owns the king of Sweden.
Is dead at laft, without evading,

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Now

Now all his hopes are in the Czar :

"Why, Mufcovy is not fo far:

"Down the Black Sea, and up The Streights,
"And in a month he's at your gates;
"Perhaps, from what the packet brings,

By Christmas we shall fee ftrange things."
Why fhould I tell of ponds and drains,
What carps we met with for our pains;
Of fparrows tam'd, and nuts innumerable

To choak the girls, and to confume a rabble?
But you, who are a fcholar, know

How tranfient all things are below,

How prone to change is human life!

Last night arriv'd Clem and his wife-
This grand event hath broke our measures;
Their reign began with cruel feizures:
The Dean must with his quilt fupply
The bed in which thofe tyrants lie:
Nim loft his wig-block, Dan his jordan.
(My lady fays, she can't afford one);
George is half fear'd out of his wits,,
For Clem gets all the dainty bits.
Henceforth expect a different furvey,,
This houfe will foon turn topfy-turvey:
They talk of further alterations,

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Which caufes many fpeculations.

* Mr. Clement Barry.

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THOMAS