VERSES address'd to Mr. SHERIDAN, on his late Affair in the Theatre

Envy will Merit still pursue, As Shade succeeds to Light; And tho' a Shade obscures the view, It proves the Substance right.

If worth appears and gets its due, (But Oh how rare that Gain!) The Satyrs and the mimic Crew Shall grin behind the Scene.

Tho' you be prais'd by half the Globe, And charm its Factions dumb; Yet spite shall soil your newest Robe, And Cato dread Tom Thumb.

Some Artifice shall find a way, Some secret Whisper dwell; But to defeat such Arts, you say The Maxim is—Do Well.

Now hear a Tale, a Moral too, Allow it poor or pretty; The Owls one Day (if Fame says true) Compos'd a sage Committee:

'Twas there resolv'd in cool Debate, Each offering his true Sense, That Phaebus, Source of Light and Heat! Was nothing but a Nuisance.

To whom the glorious Lamp of Day In mildest Radiance spoke, " Shall I withdraw my genial Ray " Because your Vigil's broke?

" Shall Nature's Frame and Nature's Laws " By me be unattended, " Because (forsooth!) a noble Cause! " An Owl or two's offended?

" O Sons of Gloom! yet brighter Sense, " More conscionably speak, " Why shou'd my Beams be less intense " Because your Eyes are weak?

" The Fault is yours, (if Faults you see) " The punishing be mine, " And my compleat Revenge shall be, " I still will Rise and Shine.