_Elegy on Coleman_ (Vol. v., p. 137.).--The Elegy on Coleman I have seen
paraphrased or travestied, and thus attributed to Dryden, who, not being
able to pay his wine-merchant's bill, was told, on dining with this
creditor, in the exhilaration of his cups, that if he (Dryden) would
_improvise_ four lines expressive of pleasure to God, to the Devil, to
the World, and to the Merchant, the debt would be forgiven. Instantly,
therefore, the poet extemporised the following verses, sufficiently
redolent of their inspiring source:
"God is pleased when we abstain from sin;
The devil is pleas'd when we remain therein;
The world is pleas'd with good wine,
And you're pleased when I pay for mine."