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The Works of the Right Honourable Sir Chas. Hanbury Williams

... From the Originals in the Possession of His Grandson The Right Hon. The Earl of Essex and Others: With Notes by Horace Walpole ... In Three Volumes, with Portraits

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collapse sectionI. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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LINES OCCASIONED BY A LATE MOTION.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 III. 


98

LINES OCCASIONED BY A LATE MOTION.

“TAXES run high,”—the Britons loud complain'd.
'Twas moved that luxury should be restrain'd;
To lace our breeches was a mortal sin,
And wear all gold without, and none within.
This meant the ministry, would they confess,
“The more we have ourselves, the king has less;”
For who could fear that luxury would last?
Excises, taxes, sinking funds, are spent,
And sure seven millions are a high rack-rent.
“The lace you may allow us,” quoth Sir John,
“We soon shall have no coats to put it on.”

99

The knight's remark most questionless was shrewd,
He who can pay no whore, must not be lewd.
A Briton once said to a Gaul alert,
“You found the ruffles, and we found the shirt.”
Without the last, few would the first promote,
And who will buy a lace that has no coat?