Two years later he returned to the attack in "An Epistle to Mr. Gay ":—
How could you, Gay, disgrace the Muse's train,
To serve a tasteless Court twelve years in vain!
Fain would I think our female friend sincere,
Till Bob,[[20]] the poet's foe, possess'd her ear.
Did female virtue e'er so high ascend,
To lose an inch of favour for a friend?
Say, had the Court no better place to choose
For thee, than make a dry-nurse of thy Muse?
How cheaply had thy liberty been sold,