4
‘I was once the last coin of the law, a sad limb
Who in cheating was ne’er known to faulter;
Till at length brought to justice, the law cheated him,
And he paid me to buy him a halter:
A Jack tar, all his rhino but me at an end,
⟨With⟩ a pleasure so hearty and willing,
Tho’ hungry himself, to a poor distress’d friend,
Wish’d it hundreds, and gave his fast shilling.
’Twas the wife of his messmate, whose glistening eye
With pleasure ran o’er, as she view’d me;
She ’chang’d me for bread, as her child she heard cry.
And, at parting, with tears she bedew’d me:
But I’ve other scenes known, riot leading the way
Pale want their poor families chilling;
Where rakes in their revels, the piper to pay,
Have spurn’d me, their best friend and last shilling.
’Thou thyself hast been thoughtless for profligates bail,
But to-morrow all care shalt thou bury;
When my little history thou offerest for sale:
In the interim, spend me and be merry.’
‘Never, never,’ cried I; thou’rt my mentor, my muse
And grateful, thy dictates fulfilling,
I’ll hoard thee in my heart.’ Thus men counsel refuse,
ill the lecture comes from the last shilling.
