And how she snubb’d her funny friend the tailor;
How William boldly fought and bravely died;
How Nancy Sniggles felt her senses fail her—”
Then comes a sad dénouement—now-a-days
It is not virtue dominant that pays.
Such tales, in this, the post-octavo age,
Our novelists incontinently tells us—
Tales, wherein lovely heroines engage
With highwaymen, good-looking rogues but callous,
Who go on swimmingly till the last page,