To midnight revel*, clad in tawdry guise,

Thy cap and ladle thou art fond of bringing: Purblind thyself, thou think'st not other's eyes Thine antics view, as thou thy bells art ringing.

As when the wanton oaf, bereft of sense, And, void of dress, kept shamelessly advancing;

There is no amusement in this country which has been productive of such ill effects as masquerades, where all distinction of persons is at an end: and where the coarse ribaldry, not to say obscenity, of the illiterate, the vulgar, and the abandoned, is incessantly heard, calling forth the blush from delicacy and feeling. It is at this scene of disgusting folly, that the insidious seducer has so frequently put into practice his infamous purposes against unsuspecting innocence, or destroyed the peace of an affectionate husband, by effecting his guilty purposes with the mother of a family; and it is during the riot and confusion attendant on this species of amusement, as it is termed, that the fortune hunter has carried off in triumph the giddy school girl who little dreamt that her money was his sole object; and that she was soon to end the wished-for career of matrimony with a broken heart. In short, masquerades in England are of so despicable a cast, that no woman who is desirous of being

E

Nor thought that others mark'd his impudence, Since 'neath a net the naked fool was dancing.

Or, as the story goes, yclep'd We Three,

'Neath brace of loggerheads on sign appearing:

Thou gaping read'st, then cry'st, "But two I see;"

Thyself the third art—at thyself thus jeering.

Disdaining rest, soft balm of human life,

The jocund morn peeps in upon thy folly; Views thee oppress'd with drunkards' * dreams of strife;

And sees thee rise at eve quite melancholy,

regarded as modest, should frequent a scene that can only disgust the eye and offend the ear.

* Inebriety is not merely observable in the male part of creation, but even females too shamelessly indulge at masquerades in this abominable vice: for the writer has to notice with pain, that instances have frequently occurred within his knowledge of women, who, in that degrading state, have been guilty of the most bestial conduct; and has literally observed that two thirds of the females present, whether pure or impure, have, by their conduct, sufficiently indicated the deranged state of their intel

L'ENVOY OF THE POET.

If mask'd, thou need'st must be my counsel,

hear;

Thy brother's antics henceforth leave alone; 'Neath Wisdom's Visor hide thine ass's ear; Then cast at other fools the chiding stone.

THE POET'S CHORUS TO FOOLS.

Come, trim the boat, row on each Rara Avis, Crowds flock to man my Stultifera Navis.

lects; and on these accounts it has been very justly remarked by foreigners, that masquerades in England "Begin stupidly, proceed riotously, and terminate drunkenly". In France, Italy, &c. this amusement is managed otherwise no inebriety disgraces either sex; and instead of men placing dependence on dress alone for the support of a character, which is uniformly the case in this country, you never find a foreigner who is not in a great measure calculated to sustain, with wit and humour, the part which he has undertaken to personate.

SECTION XIII.

OF FOOLS WHO SEEK FORTUNE

OF CHANCE, &c.

AT GAMES

Tantum se fortunæ permittunt, etiam ut naturam dediscant.

BEHOLD the eager fools at play;

Each thinks his fortune to enhance : As if the road that led that way, Concentrated in games of chance.

Now roll the dice: my Lord has won
The lands and beeves of poor Sir John.
My Lord in turn, next night's undone ;
His winnings and estate both gone

* Gambling is one of the most diabolical fascinations that can take possession of the human mind; and it is on this account that Erasmus, in his Praise of Folly, makes his heroine disclaim all connexion with so destructive a pastime. The gamester has no respect for any of those ties which link the generality of mankind together; and

Eager to gain, the fool sits down;

Heedless of caution or advice,

He's ruin'd; not from fortune's frown,
But black-legs, arm'd with cogged dice *.

he will as calmly pocket the last guinea of an old friend, as that of the most perfect stranger. An instance of this kind occurred at a subscription house not far from St. James's, where a Right Honourable, after winning the fortune of his friend, literally played for his house and furniture, together with the carriage and horses, then standing at the door; which fortune also placed in his power, when he very liberally permitted the loser to continue one week in his mansion, and return home from the gambling house in the carriage he had lost; but, it must be remembered, for the last time.

*The instability of fortune is not the only circumstance to be dreaded at the gambling table, where every species of fraud is practised by many of its votaries, whose premeditated dishonesty bids defiance to good fortune as well as skill. It would however be the height of injustice to accuse only the great as being prone to shake the elbow; this fascination pervades alike every rank of society; and even boors at a country wake or fair, must have their E O table, where, instead of thousands, pennies are staked and played for with equal avidity; which brings to recollection the old French proverb: "Le jeu est le fils d'avarice et le pere du desespoir."