Draws a few hundreds from the stocks, And purchases his Country Box.

Some three or four miles out of town, (An hour's ride will bring you down) He fixes on his choice abode, Not half a furlong from the road; And so convenient does it lay, The stages pass it every day: And then so snug, so mighty pretty, To have a house so near the city! Take but your places at the Boar, You're set down at the very door.

Well then, suppose them fix'd at last, White-washing, painting, scrubbing past, Hugging themselves in ease and clover, With all the fuss of moying over; Lo, a new heap of whims are bred, And wanton in my lady's head.

“Well, to be sure, it must be own'd, It is a charming spot of ground; So sweet a distance for a ride, And all about so countryfied ! 'Twould come to but a trifling price To make it quite a paradise. I cannot bear those nasty rails, Those ugly, broken, mouldy pails : Suppose, my dear, instead of these, We build a sailing all Chinese :

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Although one hates to be expos'd,
'Tis dismal to be thus inclos’d;
One hardly any object sces
I wish you'd fell those odious trees.
Objects continual passing by
Were something to amuse the eye;
But to be pent within the walls
One might as well be at St. Paul's.
Our house beholders would adore,
Was there a level lawn before;
Nothing its views to incomniode,
But quite laid open to the road!
While every traveller, in amaze,
Should on our little mansion gaze,
And, pointing to the choice retreat,
Cry, “That's Sir Thrifty's country-seat."

No doubt her arguments prevail,
For Madam's taste can never fail.

Blest age! when all men may procure The title of a Connoisseur; When noble and ignoble herd Are govern'd by a single word; · Though, like the royal German dames, It bears a hundred christian names; As Genius, Fancy, Judgment, Goût, Whim, Caprice, Je ne sçai quoi, Virtù; Which appellations all describe Taste and the modern tasteful tribe.

Now bricklay'rs, carpenters, and joiners, With Chinese artists and designers, Produce their schemes of alteration To work this wondrous reformation. The useful dome, which secret stood, Embosom'd in the yew-tree's wood, The trav'ller with amazement sees A temple Gothic, or Chinese, With many a bell and tawdry rag on, And crested with a sprawling dragon. A wooden arch is bent astride A ditch of water four feet wide, With angles, curves, and zigzag lines, From Halfpenny's exact designs. In front, a level.lawn is seen, Without a shrub upon the green, Where Taste would want its great first law, But for the sculking, sly ha-la, By whose miraculous assistance You gain a prospect two fields distance. And now from Hyde-Park Corner come The gods of Athens and of Rome. Here squabby Cupids take their places, With Venus, and the clumsy graces : Apollo there, with aim so clever, Stretches his leaden bow for ever; And there, without the pow'r to fly, Stands, fix'd a tip-toe, Mercury.

a

Although one hates to be expos'd,
'Tis dismal to be thus inclos'd;
One hardly any object sees
I wish you'd fell those odious trees.
Objects continual passing by
Were something to amuse the eye;
But to be pent within the walls
One might as well be at St. Paul's.
Our house beholders would adore,
Was there a level lawn before;
Nothing its views to incommode,
But quite laid open to the road!
While every traveller, in amaze,
Should on our little mansion gaze,
And, pointing to the choice retreat,
Cry, “That's Sir Thrifty's country-seat."

No doubt her arguments prevail,
For Madam's taste can never fail.

Blest age! when all men may procure The title of a Connoisseur ; When noble and ignoble herd Are govern'd by a single word; Though, like the royal German dames, It bears a hundred christian names; As Genius, Fancy, Judgment, Gollit, Whim, Caprice, Je ne sçai quoi, Virtù ; Which appellations all describe Taste and the modern tasteful tribe.

a

a

Now bricklay'rs, carpenters, and joiners, With Chinese artists and designers, Produce their schemes of alteration To work this wondrous reformation. The useful dome, which secret stood, Embosom'd in the yew-tree's wood, The trav'ller with amazement sees A temple Gothic, or Chinese, With many a bell and tawdry rag on, And crested with a sprawling dragon. A wooden arch is bent astride A ditch of water four feet wide, With angles, curves, and zigzag lines, From Halfpenny's exact designs. In front, a level.lawn is seen,, Without a shrub upon the green, Where Taste would want its great first law, But for the sculking, sly ha-la, By whose miraculous assistance You gain a prospect two fields distance. And now from Hyde-Park Corner come The gods of Athens and of Rome. Here squabby Cupids take their places, With Venus, and the clumsy graces : Apollo there, with aim so clever, Stretches his leaden bow for ever; And there, without the pow'r to fly, Stands, fix'd a tip-toe, Mercury,