truth, the Muse
Prolific in invention.

Hast thou no conscience left? alack!
Hast thou forgot thy Pipe of Sack!
And annual pounds two hundred?{1}
That Hume hath not attack'd thy post,
And caused it to give up the ghost,
Is greatly to be wonder'd!

But if the place must still be kept,
Though long the princely themes have slept
That erst the Muses lauded;--
Give it to me, ye gods! and then
Shall Kings, above all other men,
Be rapturously applauded!

Content with half that Southey shares,
I then would drown all worldly cares,
Yet Sack I'd not require;--
Give me, in place of Falstaff's wine,
A butt,--to wake the song divine,

Of Hanbury's Entire!
Now God preserve the comely face
Of George the Fourth, and grant him grace
For kindred soids to brag on!--
May future times his deeds proclaim,
And may he even eclipse the fame
Of--Saint George and the Dragon.'

1 Formerly the allowance was a pipe of sack and one hundred
pounds; but his present Majesty, taking into his gracious
consideration the very difficult task which the Laureat had
to perform, increased his salary to 200L. per annum!!

CHAPTER XXI

"Of ups and downs we daily see
Examples most surprising,
The high and low of each degree,
Now falling are, now rising.

Some up, some down, some in, some out,
Home neither one nor t'other;
Knaves--fools--Jews--Gentiles--join the rout,
And jostle one another.

By ups and downs some folks they say
Among grandees have got, Sir,
Who were themselves but yesterday
The Lord knows who, or what, Sir.

_Sans_ sense or pence, in merits chair,
They dose and dream supine 0;
But how the devil they came there,
That neither you nor I know."

~~282~~~
The departure of Merrywell left our three friends at perfect liberty,
and they were determined to enjoy it as much as possible during
Sparkle's visit. The remainder of the evening was therefore devoted to
the retracing of past events, in which they had formerly been engaged
together, in drinking success to Merrywell's journey, and in laying down
s