JARVIS AND MRS. COPE.
A DECIDEDLY SERIOUS BALLAD.
N Bunhill Row, some years ago,
There lived one Mrs. Cope;
A pious woman she was call’d,
As Pius as a Pope.
Not pious in its proper sense,
But chatt’ring like a bird
Of sin and grace—in such a case
Mag-piety’s the word.
Cries she, “The Reverend Mr. Trigg
This day a text will broach,
And much I long to hear him preach,
So, Betty, call a coach.”
A bargain though she wish’d to make,
Ere they began to jog—
“Now, Coachman, what d’ye take me for?”
Says Coachman, “for a hog.”
But Jarvis, when he set her down,
A second hog did lack—
Whereas she only offered him
One shilling and “a track.”
Said he, “There ain’t no tracks in Quaife,
You and your tracks be both—”