The Works of John Hall-Stevenson ... Corrected and Enlarged. With Several Original Poems, Now First Printed, and Explanatory Notes. In Three Volumes |
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 | The Works of John Hall-Stevenson |  |
103
FABLE XVI. THE WHEELS OF GOVERNMENT.
A team of Oxen fat and fair,Resign'd to every Bumkin's goad,
With little feeling and less care,
Were marching with a heavy load.
During the march, the Wheels alone
Cry'd out, and made a grievous moan.
Pleas'd with the hint, Cæsar turn'd round:
My Lord, said he, this is good ground;
Faction makes all that noise and rumbling:
The People, that bear all the weight,
That drag the waggon of the state,
March, like the Oxen, without grumbling.
Faction applies not to the wheels,
That go so heavily and lag on,
Replied the Keeper of the Seals,
Faction does not retard the waggon:
The reason then they go so ill,
Is want of grease, not want of will.
104
The wheels of Government want greasing;
Business of course must be delay'd,
And cause the noise that's so displeasing.
| The Works of John Hall-Stevenson | |