from that source, and therefore of necessity will have a similar effect. Having thus far presumed to claim for the ensuing pages the rank and title of poetry, I attempt no more, nor venture to class or compare them with any other kinds of poetical composition; their place will doubtless be found for them. A principal view and wish of the poet must be to engage the mind of his readers, as, failing in that point, he will scarcely succeed in any other: I therefore willingly confess that much of my time and assiduity has been devoted to this purpose; but, to the ambition of pleasing, no other sacrifices have, I trust, been made, than of my own labour and care. Nothing will be found that militates against the rules of propriety and good manners, nothing that offends against the more important precepts of morality and religion; and with this negative kind of merit, I commit my book to the judgment and taste of the reader--not being willing to provoke his vigilance by professions of accuracy, nor to solicit his indulgence by apologies for mistakes. TALE I. _THE DUMB ORATORS_; OR, THE BENEFIT OF SOCIETY. [In] fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe . . . Full of wise saws and modern instances. _As you Like it_, Act II. Scene 7. Deep shame hath struck me dumb. _King John_, Act IV. Scene 2. He gives the bastinado with his tongue, Our ears are cudgell’d. _King John_, Act IV. Scene 1. Let’s kill all the lawyers; Now show yourselves men: ’tis for liberty: We will not leave one lord or gentleman. _2 Henry VI._ Act IV. Scene 2. And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges. _Twelfth Night_, Act V. Scene last. TALE I. _THE DUMB ORATORS._