| Citation |
NYG(W.760.008
3 Mar 1760:33 (56)
To the Printer of the New-York Gazette. Sir, I was in
company the other day, where part of our discourse was that
of the Scarlet fever raging in New-York: --There were some
physicians present. --As I observe none have since attempted
to supply the publick with any receipts for so dangerous a
disorder, I have presumed to send you the inclosed, and
doubt not it will have the desired effect, if you make it
publick. I am not one of the physical tribe, nor would I be
understood as designing to encroach on their profession; but
I wish well to the community, and will not be deter'd from
communicating all I know, or can learn, for their good.
Here it is, viz.
THE FALL.
Ye maids of honour, mind your ways,
Nor wholesome counsel slight;
For oh! 'tis hard, in these our days,
To hold one's dish upright.
By fate the strongest of us all,
And eke the steadiest too,
Are doom'd, or soon or late, to fall,
Nor are examples few.
The first of all the falling sex
Was Eve, our parent frail!
Ah, Satan! Satan! thy sly tricks
Her daughters still bewail.
The next in fame, that made a trip
(O hear each maid and wife!)
Was Delia--and the only slip
She ever made in life.
But fate foresaw the whole affair,
And plac'd before her eyes
A ball, three footmen, and a chair,
And eke a beau likewise.
In such a case, what mortal maid
In circumspection deals?
Or when a ball affects the head,
What nymph can mind her heels?
For, eager to be gone, 'tis said,
That morn she miss'd her pray'rs;
But vengeance swift o'er took the maid,
Alas! she fell down stairs.
Hence, ladies fair, with caution tread,
Be warn'd by Delia's slip;
And keep this maxim in your head--
To look, before you leap.
For she a mourner is become,
Does penance for her sin;
And 'stead of dancing, stays at home,
To weep a broken shin.
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