"
This was, however, only a Gadshill robbery,--stealing stolen goods. The
following epigram is said to be by Mr. Hole, in a MS. collection made by
Spence (penes me), and it appeared first in print in _Terrae Filius_,
from whence Dr. Salter copied it in his _Confusion worse Confounded_, p.
88:--
"Thy verses are eternal, O my friend!
For he who reads them, reads them to no end."
In _The Crypt_, a periodical published by the late Rev. P. Hall, vol. i.
p. 30., I find the following attributed to Coleridge, but I know not on
what authority, as it does not appear among his collected poems:--
JOB'S LUCK, BY S. T. COLERIDGE, ESQ.
"Sly Beelzebub took all occasions
To try Job's constancy and patience;
He took his honours, took his health,
He took his children, took his wealth,
His camels, horses, asses, cows,--
Still the sly devil did not take his spouse.
"But heav'n, that brings out good from evil,
And likes to disappoint the devil,
Had predetermined to restore
Two-fold of all Job had before,
His children, camels, asses, cows,--
Short-sighted devil, not to take his spouse."
This is merely an amplified version of the 199th epigram of the 3d Book
of Owen:
"Divitias Jobo, sobolemque, ipsamque salutem
Abstulit (hoc Domino non prohibens) Satan.
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