Once on a time—no matter where
Or when—A Tortoise and a Hare,
A wager laid—it was, that each
A certain, fix’d-on goal could reach
Before the other;—the sum agreed—
Off ran the hare with mighty speed—
But leaving th’ Tortoise far astern,
His weak endeavours did but spurn—
And knowing he could only creep
Reclin’d upon a bank to sleep.—
But sure, tho’ slow—the Tortoise mov’d,
And in the end the victor prov’d—
For while the Hare slept on the mole,
Tho’ creeping reach’d the destin’d goal.
The Federalists have, like the Hare,
With mighty speed the race begun;
But—FRIENDS AND COUNTRYMEN, take care,
You sleep not ere the work is DONE.