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Royal Tunbridge Wells
the public in his interest in the following strains—
" All ye who visit Bath and Tunbridge fraught With too much money, and too little thought; Whether 'tis health or pleasure ye pursue, Forget old passions, or solicit new; Heroes, that cross the rude Hibernian sea In search of widows' hearts, or love of play; Widows, that come in decent show of grieving, To weep the dead—with eyes—unto the living ! All ye, to Nash, whom these gay realms obey, Who fifty years hath borne undoubted sway, And ne'er one tax imposed, subscriptions pay. Come ev'ry graceful Beau, and gentle Belle, Subscribe your names in praise of bagatelle ; And ev'ry fop, in honour of your train, That one fop lives who hath not lived in vain."
The Corporation of Bath headed the subscription list by putting its money down for twenty-five copies; the inhabitants and visitors at Bath ordered considerable quantities, and those at Tunbridge Wells were no whit backward. Hundreds of pounds were collected and handed to Nash, who, however, issued no book. The Beau was then eighty years of age, and it is doubtful if he seriously intended to undertake the work, though in earlier days 156 |
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