On his return, he found these shocks
Of eloquence all ended quite;
And Wig lay snoring in his box,
And Hat was--hung up for the night.
[1] "_Brim_--a naughty woman."--GROSE.
[2]"_Ghost_[beneath].--Swear!
"_Hamlet_.--Ha, ha! say'st thou so!
Art thou there, Truepenny? Come on."
[3] His Lordship's demand for fresh affidavits was incessant.
THE PERIWINKLES AND THE LOCUSTS.
A SALMAGUNDIAN HYMN.
"To Panurge was assigned the Laird-ship of Salmagundi, which was
yearly worth 6,789,106,789 ryals besides the revenue of the
_Locusts_ and _Periwinkles_, amounting one year with another
to the value of 2,485,768," etc.--RABELAIS.
"Hurra! hurra!" I heard them say,
And they cheered and shouted all the way,
As the Laird of Salmagundi went.
To open in state his Parliament.
The Salmagundians once were rich,
Or thought they were--no matter which--
For, every year, the Revenue
From their Periwinkles larger grew;
And their rulers, skilled in all the trick
And legerdemain of arithmetic,
Knew how to place 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 and 10,
Such various ways, behind, before,
That they made a unit seem a score,
And proved themselves most wealthy men!
So, on they went, a prosperous crew,
The people wise, the rulers clever--
And God help those, like me and you,
Who dared to doubt (as some now do)
That the Periwinkle Revenue
Would thus go flourishing on for ever.
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