For though by one perverse event Pallas had cross'd her first intent; Though her design was not obtain'd: Yet had she much experience gain'd, And, by the project vainly tried, Could better now the cause decide. She gave due notice, that both parties, _Coram Regina, prox' die Martis,_ Should at their peril, without fail, Come and appear, and save their bail. All met; and, silence thrice proclaimed, One lawyer to each side was named. The judge discover'd in her face Resentments for her late disgrace; And full of anger, shame, and grief, Directed them to mind their brief; Nor spend their time to show their reading: She'd have a summary proceeding. She gather'd under every head The sum of what each lawyer said, Gave her own reasons last, and then Decreed the cause against the men. But in a weighty case like this, To show she did not judge amiss, Which evil tongues might else report, She made a speech in open court; Wherein she grievously complains, "How she was cheated by the swains; On whose petition (humbly showing, That women were not worth the wooing, And that, unless the sex would mend, The race of lovers soon must end)-- She was at Lord knows what expense To form a nymph of wit and sense, A model for her sex design'd, Who never could one lover find. She saw her favour was misplaced; The fellows had a wretched taste; She needs must tell them to their face, They were a stupid, senseless race; And, were she to begin again, She'd study to reform the men; Or add some grains of folly more To women, than they had before, To put them on an equal foot; And this, or nothing else, would do't. This might their mutual fancy strike; Since every being loves its like. "But now, repenting what was done, She left all business to her son; She put the world in his possession, And let him use it at discretion." The crier was order'd to dismiss The court, who made his last "O yes!" The goddess would no longer wait; But, rising from her chair of state, Left all below at six and seven, Harness'd her doves, and flew to Heaven. [Footnote 1: Hester, elder daughter of Bartholomew Vanhomrigh, a Dutch merchant in Dublin, where he acquired a fortune of some £16,000. Upon his death, his widow and two daughters settled in London, about 1710-11, where Swift became intimate with the family. See "Prose Works," especially Journal to Stella. After Swift became Dean of St. Patrick's, Vanessa and her sister, on their mother's death, returned to Ireland. The younger sister died about 1720, and Vanessa died at Marlay Abbey in May, 1723.] [Footnote 2: A lace so called after the celebrated French Minister, Colbert. Planché's "British Costume," 395._W. E. B._] [Footnote 3: See the verses "On Censure," vol. i, p.160.--_W. E. B._] TO LOVE[1]