XCV. Then Michael blew his trump, and still'd the noise Lift up their lungs when fairly overcrow'd; XCVI. He said I only give the heads)—he said, Of which he butter'd both sides; 'twould delay He had written praises of a regicide; He had written praises of all kings whatever; He had written for republics, far and wide, And then against them, bitter than ever, For pantisocracy he once had cried Aloud, a scheme less moral than 'twas clever; Then grew a hearty anti-jacobin Had turn'd his coat-and would have turn'd his skin. XCVIII. He had sung against all battles, and again In their high praise and glory; he had call'd Fed, paid, and pamper'd by the very men By whom his muse and morals had been maul'd : He had written much blank verse, and blanker prose; And more of both than any body knows. XCIX. He had written Wesley's life :-here, turning round To Sathan, « Sir, I'm ready to write yours, << In two octavo volumes, nicely bound, « With notes and preface, all that most allures « The pious purchaser, and there's no ground « For fear, for I ean choose my own reviewers : << So let me have the proper documents, other saints. >> << That I may add you to my C. Sathan bow'd, and was silent. « Well, if you, « With amiable modesty, decline My offer, what says Michael? There are few « Whose memoirs could be render'd more divine. Mine is a pen of all work; not so new « As it was once, but I would make you shine Like your own trumpet; by the way, my own <Has more of brass in it, and is as well blown. CI. « But talking about trumpets, here's my Vision! « Now you shall judge, all people; yes, you shall Judge with my judgment ! and by my decision « Be guided who shall enter heaven or fall! << I settle all these things by intuition, « Times present, past, to come, heaven, hell, and all, Like King Alfonso!* When I thus see double, I save the Deity some worlds of trouble. »> King Alfonso, speaking of the Ptolomean system, said, that << had he been consulted at the creation of the world, he would have spared the Maker some absurdities. » « CII. He ceased, and drew forth an MS.; and no CIII. Those grand heroics acted as a spell: * The angels stopp'd their ears and plied their pinions; The devils ran howling, deafen'd, down to hell; The ghosts fled gibbering, for their own dominions (For 'tis not yet decided where they dwell, And I leave every man to his opinions); Michael took refuge in his trump-but lo! His teeth were set on edge, he could not blow! CIV. Saint Peter, who has hitherto been known * See Aubrey's account of the apparition which disappeared << with a curious perfume and a melodious twang; » or see the Antiquary, vol. I. CV. He first sunk to the bottom-like his works, It may be, still, like dull books on a shelf, In his own den, to scrawl some «Life » or «< Vision, » As Wellborn says-« the devil turn'd precisian. » CVI. As for the rest, to come to the conclusion Was, that King George slipp'd into heaven for one; And when the tumult dwindled to a calm, I left him practising the hundredth psalm. * A drowned body lies at the bottom till rotten; it then floats, as most people know. |