主播大秀

[A] Written by Somebody in the window of an inn at Stirling on
seeing the Royal Palace in ruins.

Here Stewarts once in triumph reign'd,
And laws for Scotland's weal ordain'd;
But now unroof'd their Palace stands,
Their sceptre's fall'n to other hands;
Fallen indeed, and to the earth,
Whence grovelling reptiles take their birth.
The injur'd STEWART-line are gone,
A Race outlandish fill their throne;
An idiot race, to honor lost;
Who know them best despise them most.

[B] These imprudent lines were answered, very petulantly, by
somebody, I believe a Revd Mr Hamilton.-In a M.S.S. where I
met with the answer, I wrote below-

With Esop's lion, Burns says, sore I feel
Each other blow, but damn that ass's heel!

[C] The Reproof

Rash mortal, and slanderous Poet, thy name
Shall no longer appear in the records of fame;
Dost not know that old Mansfield, who writes like the Bible,
Says the more 'tis a truth, Sir, the more 'tis a libel?