Nor less the smuggler who th’ exciseman tied,
And left him hanging at the birch-wood side,
There to expire; - but one who saw him hang
Cut the good cord - a traitor of the gang.
His own exploits with boastful glee he told,
What ponds he emptied and what pikes he sold;
And how, when blest with sight alert and gay,
The night’s amusements kept him through the day.
He sang the praises of those times, when all
“For cards and dice, as for their drink, might call;