Sometimes a fell voracious Kite
Hath rul'd them with ferocious might;
Sometimes a Parrot, prone to talk,
A Buzzard now, and now a Hawk.

XXX. Sometimes a meek and harmless Wren, Whose neck was twisted soon; and then A courtier Wolf has seiz'd the helm . And threaten’d to devour the realm!

XXXI. · A Wolf?' some, with surprize, will say; • A Beast o'er Birds maintain the sway?? But let such know, whoe'er they be, Those discords happen frequently.

XXXII.
· The laws of nature to confound,

With study and research profound,
The statesman wastes the midnight oil .
And triumphs in the senate's broil...'

XXXIII. Once, by an all-wise ordination, All creatures kept their proper station ; But politics have chang'd the case, And reason must to pow'r give place..

XXXIV.
Reason! a pretty term, indeed,
To war 'gainst intrest's potent creed !
Nor truth nor reason e'er can mix
With schemes of courtly politics. - .

XXXV.
But say, a Beast is not a Bird ; -
Say, to maintain it is absurd;
Twill be of small avail, you know,
If Lawyers choose to prove it so.

XXXVI.
The juncture, whence my story springs,
Was such a motley state of things ;-
Beasts, Reptiles, Birds of ev'ry feather,
In strange confusion mix'd together.

XXXVII. i .
It chanc'd, a foul and ugly Toad, s,
Born in some Scottish dank abode,
To wedlock being much inclin’d,
Link'd with a Viper, to his mind ;-

XXXVIII.
In search of fortune off they set,
Preferment doubting not to get:
Unto the Chick, they made their way,
And bask'd beneath his fost'ring ray.

The Viper crawl’d his knees argand,
A kind reception quickly found;-
In deadly coil, around his heart,
She plied her foul, envenom'd, art.

, XL.. His

r ear at length she gain'd; That wish’d-for object once obtain'd, Her horn, of deadly venom full, She'd suck'd from slander's noxious pool,

. XLI. .
Into his ear, she soon instill’d,
His mind with hideous monsters fill’d:-
Forms shapeless, out of nature quite,
Unfit to meet the public sight.

XLII.
She said, it chanc'd upon a time,
She fix'd her vile abode of slime,
Upon a Heath and near the spot.
Where C- bewail'd her lot. .
.

XLIII.
But then a picture false she drew!
And plac'd his spotless spouse to view,
The very wanton of the grove,
With ev'ry bird who shar'd her love!

B

Nay, even Sea-gulls, she express'd,
Had stain'à his faithless Partner's nest;
And so her artfu. tale she grac'd, ,
He thought e’en Turites were unchaste.

. . xlv.
These dismal tidings, it appears,
So pain’d his modest r-- ears,
That, scarcely breathing with the shock,
He hasten'd to the PARENT Cock.'

XLVI.
Thus to the M h he complain’d:.
• Papa! papa! my honor's stain'd!
The wicked wanton jade, my wife,
Has lost that jewel of my life.

. XLVII.
• O think, dear pappy! what it is.
To meet disasters such as this!
A frail wife's loose inconstancy!-
To horn a liusband, too, like me!'

XLVIII. • Hey? what, what, what? wife gone astray The sire replied; what, what? hey, hey?' ? Yes,' said the Chick, • 'tis brought to light; i I have it here in black and white.'

XLIX. He said, and shew'd th’enyenom'd scroll, That prov'd the black Inventor's soul;... The old Cock read, and star'd like mad, Then cried, "What, what? too bad! too bad!

en wa

L . • What could she wish for cried the Soni “What can excuse the thing she's done? Had I not all her wants supplied ? A dozen waiting birds beside?"

LI.
* A nest as neat, snug, and retir’ıl,
As any Dove could have desir’d?
A wicked, vile, unnat'ral, jade!
Of her example must be made!'

LII. • Stop, stop, stop! don't go too far; You are too hot,' said you are; To prove so grievous an offence, We've not sufficient evidence. . ..

LIII. · Sufficient, evidence!' replied The Chick, ..that want shall be supplied; I'll ferret corners, holes, and nooks, But evidence I'll get, gadzooks!". .