We have their
coats; no matter who made 'em,--we have 'em, I say, and we will wear
'em; and not a button, tag, or tassel, shall any man tear away."
Sir Thomas then turned to Willy, and requested him to proceed with
the doctor's discourse, who thereupon continued:-
"'Within your own recollections, how many good, quiet, inoffensive
men, unendowed with any extraordinary abilities, have been enabled,
by means of divinity, to enjoy a long life in tranquillity and
affluence?'
"Whereupon did one of the young gentlemen smile, and, on small
encouragement from Doctor Glaston to enounce the cause thereof, he
repeated these verses, which he gave afterward unto me:-
"'In the names on our books
Was standing Tom Flooke's,
Who took in due time his degrees;
Which when he had taken,
Like Ascham or Bacon,
By night he could snore and by day he could sneeze.
"'Calm, pithy, pragmatical, {164a}
Tom Flooke he could at a call
Rise up like a hound from his sleep;
And if many a quarto
He gave not his heart to,
If pellucid in lore, in his cups he was deep.
"'He never did harm,
And his heart might be warm,
For his doublet most certainly was so;
And now has Torn Flooke
A quieter nook
Than ever had Spenser or Tasso.
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