A Late EPISTLE to Mr. Clevan D.

The better Part of Valour is Discretion, in the which
better Part I have fav'd my Life.

FALSTAFF.

UT timely Running's no small Part
Of Conduct in the Martial Art;
By that, some glorious Feats atchieve,
As Citizens by breaking, thrive.

It faves tb' Expence of Time and Pains,
And dang'rous beating out of Brains,

For they that fly may fight again,
Which he can never do that's plain:
And they who run from tb' Enemy,
Engage them equally to fly;
And when the Flight's become a Chace,
They win the Day that win the Race.

HUDIBRAS.

EAR Sir, 'tis with Pleasure the following I write,
And hope you'll impute my Miftake to my Fright.
On the eighth Day of May we fet fail for Mahon,
Where we fear'd we muft get (as the wind blew)
too soon ;

I was not in Hafe ; for 'tis always my Way,
To be firft at a feaſt, and the laſt at a Fray.
On the nineteenth, at Noon, we discern'd the French Fleet,
And judg'd we muſt now either beat or be beat:

I was then to the Windward, and fuch was my Play,
That by shifting and shifting I ſpun out the Day;
On the twentieth again the French Fleet was in Sight,
And I found that in Spight of my Fear I muſt fight ;
On comparing our Force, we had one Ship to ſpare,
And to take the Advantage I thought was unfair,
So I order'd the DEPTFORD to get to a Diftance,
But not too far off ſhould we want her Aſſtance.

Mr. W-st, who loves fighting, behav'd like a Man,
Tho' he fail'd in the Rear, yet he fought in the Van;
If I fought, you'll believe the Engament was hot,
But I wifely kept out of the reach of their Shot.
Th' INTREPID, by Accident, loſing her Maſt,
Was a handſome Excufe for retreating at laſt.
A Council was call'd, and we all thought it beſt,
As they ſteer'd for the Eaſt, we ſhould ſteer for the Weſt.
This agreed; left their Minds, when recovered, ſhould alter,
I am failing as aſt as I can to Gibraltar :
So have wrote this in Hafe, as I thought it expeſted,
That News of ſuch Moment ſhould not be neglected.

Do your beſt to enhance my Deſerts to the K—,
And in all Things (but fighting) believe me,

Your's,

B—G.

To be had at the Aeorn facing Hungerford Market, in the STRAND.