Whereat his horse did snort, as he Had heard a lion roar, And gallop'd off with all his might, As he had done before. Away went Gilpin, and away Now mistress Gilpin, when she saw Into the country far away, She pull'd out half a crown; And thus unto the youth she said, This shall be yours when you bring back The youth did ride, and soon did meet John coming back amain! Whom in a trice he tried to stop, By catching at his rein; But not performing what he meant, Away went Gilpin, and away The postboy's horse right glad to miss Six gentlemen upon the road With postboy scamp'ring in the rear, Stop thief! stop thief!-a highwayman! Not one of them was mute; And all and each that pass'd that way Did join in the pursuit. And now the turnpike gates again Flew open in short space; The toll men thinking as before, That Gilpin rode a race. Nor stopp'd till where he had got up He did again get down. Now let us sing, long live the king, And Gilpin, long live he; And, when he next doth ride abroad, May I be there to see! AN EPISTLE ΤΟ AN AFFLICTED PROTESTANT LADY IN FRANCE. MADAM, A STRANGER'S purpose in these lays The path of sorrow, and that path, alone, Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown; No trav❜ller ever reach'd that blest abode, Who found not thorns and briars in his road. EPISTLE TO A LADY IN FRANCE. 429 The world may dance along the flow'ry plain, But he, who knew what human hearts would prove, A life of ease would make them harder still, To rescue from the ruins of mankind, Call'd for a cloud to darken all their years, And said, "Go, spend them in the vale of tears." O balmy gales of soul-reviving air, O salutary streams that murmur there, These flowing from the fount of grace above, |