How many Criminals, by thee assisted, Old Smith, have been most orthodoxly twisted! And when they laboured with a dying qualm, Were decently suspended to a psalm. How oft hast thou set harden'd Rogues a squeaking, By urging the great sin of Sabbath-breaking; And sav'd Delinquents from Old Nick's embraces, By flashing fire and brimstone in their faces! Thou wast a Gospel Smith, and after sentence, Brought'st Sinners to the anvil of Repentance; And tho' they prov'd obdurate at the Sessions, Could'st hammer out of them most strange Confessions: When I late was stray'd, and Silver Spoons were missing, 7 And Chamber maid betray'd by Judas kissing. Tho' Culprit in enormous acts was taken, But who'd refuse, that has a taste of writing, Thou always hadst a conscientious itching, And shoals of Robbers, purg'd of sinful leaven, And frail mince-pyes, and transitory custard. lows; While Holborn Cits at executions gape, And Cut-purse follow'd is by Man of Crape; While Grub-street Muse, in garrets most sublime, Trafficks in doggrel, and aspires to rhime; Thy deathless name and memory shall reign, From fam'd St. Giles to Smithfield and Duck lane. ⚫ But since thy death does general sorrow give, Much will be said in the Anecdotes of the 8th Century concerning Private Lotteries. At present present it will be sufficient to give, "A Dialogue betwixt the New Lotteries and the Royal Oak," as it appeared in the Post Boy, of January 3, 1698. "A Dialogue betwixt the New Lotteries and the Royal Oak. "New Lot. To You, the Mother of our Schools, Where Knaves by licence manage Fools, Finding fit juncture and occasion, To pick the pockets of the nation; We come to know how we must treat 'em, And to their heart's content may cheat 'em. "Oak. It chears my aged heart to see So numerous a progeny; I find by you, that 'tis Heaven's will To wou'd ensnare, sweep what Sl and Tn leave. If greedy Gulls Make 'em proposals wondrous fair; you Tell him strange golden show'rs shall fall, "New "New Lot!. That craft we've been already taught, And by that trick have millions caught; Books, Bawbles, Toys, all sorts of stuff, Which down our throats rich Coxcombs pour, "Oak. This Project surely must be good, Because not eas❜ly understood: Besides, it gives a mighty scope To the Fool's argument-vain Hope. No eagle's eye the cheat can see, Thro' Hope thus back'd by Mystery. "New Lott. We have, besides, a thousand more, For Great and Small, for Rich and Poor, From him that can his thousands spare, Down to the Penny Customer. " Oak, "Oak. The silly Mob in crowds will run, To be at easy rates undone. A Gimcrack-show draws in the rout, "New Lott. We, by experience, 'find it true, And out of what does thence arise, Besides "Oak. Pray, hold a little, here's enough, To beggar Europe of this stuff. Go on, and prosper, and be great, I am to you a puny Cheat." "The English, especially the gentry," says Chamberlayne, "are so much given to prodigality, sports, and pastimes, that estates are oftener spent and sold, than in any other country. They think it a piece of frugality (beneath a gentleman) to bargain beforehand, or to count afterward, for what they eat in any place, though the rate be most unreasonable: whereby it comes to pass, that cooks, vintners, innkeepers, and such |