XIV.

Let not his mode of raising cash seem strange, Although he fleeced the flags of every nation, For into a prime minister but change

His title, and 'tis nothing but taxation;

But he, more modest, took an humbler range:

Of life, and in an honester vocation

Pursued o'er the high seas his watery journey,

And merely practised as a sea-attorney..

XV.

The good old gentleman had been detain'd
By winds and waves,and some important captures;
And in the hope of more, at sea remain❜d,
Although a squall or two had damp'd his raptures,
By swamping one of the prizes; he had chain'd
His prisoners, dividing them like chapters
In number'd lots; they all had cuffs and collars,
And averaged each from ten to a hundred dollars.

.XVI.

Some he disposed of off Cape Matapan,

Among his friends the Mainots; some he sold To his Tunis correspondents, save one man Toss'd overboard unsaleable (being old);

The rest-save here and there some richer one, Reserved for future ransom in the hold,

Were link'd alike, as for the common people he Had a large order from the Dey of Tripoli.

XVII.

The merchandise was served in the same way, Pieced out for different marts in the Levant, Except some certain portions of the prey, Light classic articles of female want,

French stuffs, lace, tweezers, toothpicks, teapot

tray,

Guitars and castanets from Alicant,

All which selected from the spoil he gathers,

Robb'd for his daughter by the best of fathers.

XVIII.

A monkey, a Dutch mastiff, a mackaw,
Two parrots, with a Persian cat and kittens,
He chose from several animal he saw-

A terrier, too, which once had been a Briton's, Who dying on the coast of Ithaca,

The peasants gave the poor dumb thing a pittance; These to secure in this strong blowing weather, He caged in one huge hamper altogether.

XIX,

Then having settled his marine affairs,
Despatching single cruisers here and there,
His vessel having need of some repairs,

He shaped his course to where his daughter fair Continued still her hospitable cares;

But that part of the coast being shoal and bare, And rough with reefs which ran out many a mile, His port lay on the other side o' the isle.

XX.

And there he went ashore without delay,
Having no custom-house nor quarantine
To ask him awkward questions on the way
About the time and place where he had been:
He left his ship to be hove down next day,
With orders to the people to careen;
So that all hands were busy beyond measure,
In getting out goods, ballast, guns, and treasure.

XXI.

Arriving at the summit of a hill

Which overlook'd the white walls of his home, He stopp'd. What singular emotions fill

Their bosoms who have been induced to roam! With fluttering doubts if all be well or ill

With love for many, and with fears for some; All feelings which o'erleap the years long lost, And bring our hearts back to their starting-post, B

XXII.

The approach of home to husbands and to sires,
After long travelling by land or water,
Most naturally some small doubt inspires
A female family's a serious matter;

(None trusts the sex more, or so much admires
But they hate flattery, so I never flatter;)
Wives in their husbands' absences grow subtler,
And daughters sometimes run off with the butler.

XXIII.

An honest gentleman at his return

May not have the good fortune of Ulysses; Not all lone matrons for their husbands mourn, Or show the same dislike to suitors' kisses; The odds are that he finds a handsome urn

To his memory, and two or three young misses Born to some friend, who holds his wife and riches,

And that his Argus bites him by the breeches.