MORAL.
Foot-pages, and Servants of ev'ry degree,
In livery or out of it, listen to me!
See what comes of lying! don't join in a league
To humbug your master, or aid an intrigue!
Ladies!—married and single, from this understand
How foolish it is to send letters by hand!
Don't stand for the sake of a penny,—but when you've a billet to send To a lover or friend,
Put it into the post, and don't cheat the revenue!
Reverend gentlemen!—you who are given to roam,
Don't keep up a soft correspondence at home!
But while you're abroad lead respectable lives;
Love your neighbours, and welcome,—but don't love their wives!
And, as bricklayers cry from the tiles and the leads
When they're shovelling the snow off, “Take care of your heads!”
Knights!—whose hearts are so stout, and whose arms are so strong,
Learn,—to twist a wife's neck is decidedly wrong!
If your servants offend you, or give themselves airs,
Rebuke them—but mildly—don't kick them down stairs!
To “Poor Richard's” homely old proverb attend,
“If you want matters well managed, Go!—if not, Send!”
A servant's too often a negligent elf;
If it's business of consequence, Do it yourself!
The state of society seldom requires
People now to bring home with them unburied Friars,
But they sometimes do bring home an inmate for life;
Now—don't do that by proxy!—but choose your own wife!
For think how annoying 'twould be, when you're wed,
To find in your bed, On the pillow, instead
Of the sweet face you look for—A Saracen's Head!
