76 TALES AND TRAITS OF SPORTING LIFE. 



THE FATE OF A C T JE IS . 



■ On Monday uestjtlie property of a gentleman without reserve/' kc, &c. 



Those ancients^ take tliem one and all; 



Were certainly as queer a set 

 As ever made romance sing* small, 



Or put a critic on tlie fret. 

 The way tliey laug-lied at every rule 



Of common good, or common sense ; 

 The style in which they played the fool, 



'^Regardless quite of all expense ;" 

 And here 'tis worthy of remark, 



The very first to run in debt, or 

 Make a row, or lush, or lark, 



Were such as should have known better : 

 Just as in later days we see. 



In cases as to breaking lamps 

 The greatest — that's in pedig-ree — 



Are g-enerally the greatest scamps. 



Their laws too, of old, for marauder and felon, 

 Is another strange point just a moment to dwell on. 

 If a chap did anything anj^ways odd. 

 The fashion they had of applying- the rod 

 Was, instead of clapping him into quod. 

 As sure as a gun to make him a God. 



