“A Dialogue”—“The Race of Fortune”—“The Wish”—Enigmatical handbill.
“A DIALOGUE
Pat. The top of the morning to you, Judy. Where are you trotting
to, my darlin’? Faith! you skip over the bogs as nately as a butterfly
on a frosty morning.
Judy. Och! none of your blarney, Mister Pat! Don’t I know you
for a deceiver? and would you be coming over me when I’m going to be
made a lady of?
Pat. A lady, sure! And the raison, Judy?
Judy. Because another lady, though she’s blind, poor
soul! has looked kindly on me.
Pat. Good luck to her bright eyes! And what’s that scrap
o’ paper you’re scrumpling about so in your hand?
Judy. It’s a charm, Pat, that the lady gave me, after I
paid for it.
Pat. A charm, sure! and what’s that?
Judy. A small matter of a Lottery Ticket.
Pat. And who gave you the money, Judy!
Judy. A rake, Pat.
Pat. A rake, Judy! Oh! fie upon you!
Judy. A hay-making rake. Didn’t I save the money in the
hay saison? And, och! wont I look down now upon Mrs. Maloney, the
cratur, who turns her nose up at me, because she’s got a silk
petticoat that I belave is nothing but worsted? And won’t this
bit o’ paper bring me a good Thousand Pounds to make these bog-trotters
trimble?
Pat. Don’t be plucking your parataes before they are sown! May
be you’ll gain a loss, Judy.
Judy. And how can that be, Paddy, seeing it’s drawn a Capital?
Pat. You’ll be forgetting your poor Paddy, now you’re a lady.
Judy. Mayhap I shall, and mayhap I shan’t; but I must be
trotting off for the money; and, d’ye hear, Pat? if you’d marry the
lady, you must be after making yourself a jintleman;—and
here’s a bit o’ paper will shew you the way.
Pat. A Lottery Scheme! and all on the 14th of June! I’ll be off
for a Chance: for if Judy should get a husband, we’d be an awkward
pair, the three of us; and I’d be after making it a
couple, by telling him a piece of my mind with a shellalagh.”
THE RACE OF FORTUNE.
On the 14th of June Fortune’s race will begin,
Independence the prize to reward those who win;
If of old Father Care you would get the whip-hand,
You must clap spur to boot, and do Fortune’s command.
So equal her justice, no favour she shews;
On the first at the goal the reward she bestows;
And, as Somebody must win—Nobody knows who,
And Anyone may, it may chance to be you.
For Lottery Chances then hasten away;
The 14th of June is the Fortunate Day,
At the Wealth of the Scheme, you have only to look,
To wish your name enter’d in Fortune’s Prize-Book.
Then mount and away, ere the race has begun,
You are yet in good time to partake of the fun;
The sands of Time’s hour-glass fly very fast,
Don’t be such a flat as to come in lag last.
“THE WISH.
A Dialogue
between
Peter Penury and Paul Positive.
Peter. 'I’ve often wish’d that I had clear
For life Three Hundred Pounds a year.’
So sang a better bard than me,
Or all the modern progeny
Of sonnet-writing, rhyming elves,
Whose hot-press’d works should grace the shelves
Not of the learned and the wise,
But those who deal in puffs and pies.
Paul. Stop! Stop!—You’re running on like mad;
Stick to your point, my honest lad,
And don’t abuse the modern school,
'T has lin’d the purse of many a fool;
And you would think your poem fine,
If you could get a Crown a line.
These are the poets’ golden days,
They write for money, not for bays.
But come; your text:—let’s know your mind,
If this good fortune you should find;
What would you do, if you had clear
For life, 'Three Hundred Pounds a year?’
Peter. What I would do’s another case;
Stop till this bright event takes place:
But when and how,—I must confess,
I’m really at a loss to guess.
Paul. Then I’m the wisest of the two,
For if you my advice pursue,
I’ll lay a plan before your eyes,
And you may gain the wish you prize.
'The 14th of June,’ you here may read____
Peter. I’m all attention, pray proceed.
Paul. 'The Lott’ry draws'—behold the Scheme,
Of universal praise the theme,
The Prizes great—the Chances cheap,
If you’d the golden harvest reap,
And thrice Three Hundred pounds per ann....
Peter. Enough; I see——Paul, I’m your man;
I’ll realize this vision bright,
That comes across my dazzled sight;
Let poets toil with pen and brains—
I envy not their splendid gains.
Although they get a Crown a line,
A brighter prospect now is mine;
To make it sure, this very day
I’ll place myself in Fortune’s way.”
EXPLANATION.—Time is on the Wing,
and Flies to share in Fortune’s Favours,
14th of
June.—Behold her Treasures unlocked.
