 | Creusa, Queen of Athens |  |
A SECOND EPILOGUE. Spoken by Mrs. Pritchard.
Stay
, Ladies—Tho' I'am almost tir'd to Death
With this long Part—and am so out of Breath—
Yet such a lucky Thought kind Heaven has sent,
That if I die for't, I must give it Vent.
With this long Part—and am so out of Breath—
Yet such a lucky Thought kind Heaven has sent,
That if I die for't, I must give it Vent.
The Men you know are gone. And now, suppose,
Before our Lords and Masters are rechose,
We take th'Advantage of an empty Town,
And chuse a House of Commons of our own.
What think ye, cannot we make Laws?—and then
Cannot we too unmake them, like the Men?
O place us once in good St. Stephen's Pews,
We'll shew them Women have their public Use.
Imprimis they shall marry; not a Man
Past twenty-five, but what shall wear the Chain.
Next, we'll in earnest set about Reclaiming,
For, by my Life and Soul, we'll put down Gaming.
We'll spoil their deep destructive Midnight Play;
The Laws we make, we'll force them to obey;
Unless we let them, when their Spirits flag,
Piddle with us, ye know, at Quinze and Brag.
“I hope, my Dearest,” says some well-bred Spouse,
“When such a Bill shall come before your House,
“That you'll consider Men are Men—at least
“That you'll not Speak, my Dear.”—Not speak?—The Beast!
What, would you wound my Honour?—Wrongs like these—
For this, Sir, I shall bring you on your Knees.
—Or, if we're quite good-natur'd, tell the Man
We'll do him all the Service that we can.
Before our Lords and Masters are rechose,
We take th'Advantage of an empty Town,
And chuse a House of Commons of our own.
What think ye, cannot we make Laws?—and then
Cannot we too unmake them, like the Men?
O place us once in good St. Stephen's Pews,
We'll shew them Women have their public Use.
Imprimis they shall marry; not a Man
Past twenty-five, but what shall wear the Chain.
Next, we'll in earnest set about Reclaiming,
For, by my Life and Soul, we'll put down Gaming.
We'll spoil their deep destructive Midnight Play;
The Laws we make, we'll force them to obey;
Unless we let them, when their Spirits flag,
Piddle with us, ye know, at Quinze and Brag.
“I hope, my Dearest,” says some well-bred Spouse,
“When such a Bill shall come before your House,
“That you'll consider Men are Men—at least
“That you'll not Speak, my Dear.”—Not speak?—The Beast!
What, would you wound my Honour?—Wrongs like these—
For this, Sir, I shall bring you on your Knees.
—Or, if we're quite good-natur'd, tell the Man
We'll do him all the Service that we can.
Then for ourselves, what Projects, what Designs?
We'll tax, and double tax their nasty Wines;
But Duty-free import our Blonds and Laces,
French Hoops, French Silks, French Cambricks, and—French Faces.
We'll tax, and double tax their nasty Wines;
But Duty-free import our Blonds and Laces,
French Hoops, French Silks, French Cambricks, and—French Faces.
In short, my Scheme is not compleated quite,
But I may tell ye more another Night.
So come again, come all, and let us raise
Such glorious Trophies to our Country's Praise,
That all true Britons shall with one Consent
Cry out, “Long live the Female Parliament!
But I may tell ye more another Night.
So come again, come all, and let us raise
Such glorious Trophies to our Country's Praise,
That all true Britons shall with one Consent
Cry out, “Long live the Female Parliament!
THE END.
| Creusa, Queen of Athens | |