Robert and Richard; or, the ghost of poor Molly: who was drowned in Richard's mill pond. To the tune of Collins's Mulberry tree.

Table of contents

- The EPITAPH.

- [colophon]

ROBERT and RICHARD OR, THE GHOST of poor MOLLY, who was drowned in RICHARD'S MILL POND.

To the Tune of Co••••••'s Mul•erry Tree

QUOTH Richard to Bob, "let things go as they will,

"Of pleasure and fun I will still have my fill;

"In a little gay Joy I see nothing amiss,

"And tho' now and then tipsy, what harm is in this?

"For e'en Solomon says, and I vow he says truth,

"'Rejoice, O young man, in the days of thy youth'—

"I am glad" (answer'd Bob) "you're of Solomon's creed,

"But I beg if you quote him you'll please to proceed;

"For God" (as the wise man continues to sing)

"Thy soul into Judgment for all this will bring.

"Thus a man may get plung'd in a woeful abyss,

"By chusing to say, Pray what harm is in this?

"Come, Come" (says gay Richard) "don't grudge me a "Cup;

I'm resolv'd, while I'm able, I'll still keep it up;

"Let old Greybeards deny that in frolic's there's bliss;

"I'll game, love, and drink—and what harm is in this?

Says Robert, "I grant if you live for to-day,

"You may game, love, and drink, and may frolic away;

"But then, my dear Dick, I again must contend,

"That the wise man has bid us remember the end."

Says Richard, "when sickness or peevish old age,

"Shall advance to dismiss me from life's merry stage;

"Repentance just then, Boy, may not be amiss,

"But while young I'll be jolly—what harm is in this?"

They parted—and Richard his pastimes begun,

'Twas Richard the Jovial, the soul of all fun;

Each dancing bout, drinking bout, Dick would attend,

And he sung and he swore—nor once thought of the End.

Young Molly he courted, the pride of the plain,

He promis'd her marriage, but promis'd in vain;

She trusted his vows, but she soon was undone,

And when she fell weeping he thought it good fun.

Thus scorn'd by her Richard sad Molly run wild,

And roam'd thro' the woods with her destitute child;

'Till poor Molly and Molly's poor Baby were found

One evening in Richard's own mill pond both drown'd.

Then his conscience grew troubl'd by night and by day,

But it's clamour he drown'd in more drink and more play;

Still Robert exhorted, and like a true friend,

He warn'd him he pray'd him—to think on the End.

Now disturb'd in his dreams poor Molly each night

With her babe stood before him; how sad was the sight!

O how ghastly she look'd as she bade him attend,

And so awfully told him—"Remember the End."

She talk'd of the woes and unquenchable fire

Which await the gay Sinner, the Drunkard, and Liar;

How he ruin'd more maidens she bade him beware,

Then she wept, and she groan'd, and she vanish'd in air.

Now beggar'd by Gaming, distemper'd by Drink,

Death star'd in his face, yet he dar'd not to think;

Despairing of mercy, despising all truth,

He dy'd of old age in the prime of his youth.

On his Tombstone good Robert these Verses engraved,

Which he hop'd some gay fellow might read and be sav'd.

The EPITAPH.

HERE lies a poor Youth who call'd sinning his bliss,

And was ruin'd by saying what harm is in this?

Let each Passer-by to his error attend,

And learn of poor Dick to remember the End.

Entered at Stationers Hall.

Sold by J. MARSHALL, (PRINTER to the CHEAP REPOSITORY for Moral and Religious Tracts) No. 17, Queen-Street, Cheapside, and No. 4, Aldermary Church-Yard, and R. WHITE, Piccadilly, LONDON.

By S. HAZARD, (PRINTER to the CHEAP REPOSITORY) at BATH; and by all Booksellers, Newsmen, and Hawkers, in Town and Country.—Great Allowance will be made to Shopkeepers and Hawkers.

Price an Halfpenny, or 2s 3d. per 100, 1s. 3d. for 50, 9d. for 25.

Information about this book

Title statement

Robert and Richard; or, the ghost of poor Molly: who was drowned in Richard's mill pond. To the tune of Collins's Mulberry tree.

More, Hannah, 1745-1833.

Publication

Distributor

University of Oxford Text Archive
Oxford University Computing Services
13 Banbury Road
Oxford
OX2 6NN
ota@oucs.ox.ac.uk

ID [ota]

http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/5467

ID [isbn10]

1106024664

ID [isbn13]

9781106024664

ID [TCP]

K125842.000

ID [BIBNO]

CW3305975269

ID [ECSS]

1093800400

Availability

Distributed by the University of Oxford under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Source

— Robert and Richard; or, the ghost of poor Molly: who was drowned in Richard's mill pond. To the tune of Collins's Mulberry tree., More, Hannah, 1745-1833.. 1 sheet : ill. ; 1/2⁰. [London] :: Sold by J. Marshall, and R. White, London. By S. Hazard, at Bath; and by all booksellers, newsmen, and hawkers, in town and country,. [1796?]. [Anonymous. By Hannah More.] [Verse - "Quoth Richard to Bob, "let things go as they will,".] [Reproduction of original from the Bodleian Library (Oxford).] [English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT194204.] [Electronic data. Farmington Hills, Mich. : Thomson Gale, 2003. Page image (PNG). Digitized image of the microfilm version produced in Woodbridge, CT by Research Publications, 1982-2002 (later known as Primary Source Microfilm, an imprint of the Gale Group).]

Creation

Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2p5.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

Editorial practices

This electronic text file was keyed from page images and partially proofread for accuracy. Character capture and encoding have been done following the guidelines of the ECCO Text Creation Partnership, which correspond roughly to the recommendations found in Level 4 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines. Digital page images are linked to the text file.