The haughty tone of the applicant was little calculated to call forth a favorable response, and the proud father replied:
“Madness is neither sin nor crime, we know,
But who’d be linked to madness or a foe?
Thy son is mad—his senses first restore;
In constant prayer the aid of heaven implore.
But while portentous gloom pervades his brain
Disturb me not with this vain suit again.
The jewel sense no purchaser can buy,
Nor treachery the place of sense supply.
Thou hast my reasons, and this parley o’er,