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18 Oh! rev'rend father, if you know The charms of him, alas! untrue; O had you heard the false one swear I was the fairest of the fair; You could not, holy Sir, refuse So slight a weakness to excușe; He swore my eyes were loveliness, Ah! let me then my fault confess.

To grief, eternal grief a prey, His name is all my heart can say; When bath'd in sad repentant tears, Still to my mind his name appears; Yes, 'tis that name, that name alone, Which bends me now before thy throne; Alcander-- but I can't express, Oh! Father, must I then confess?

Ah! tell him, should he come to you, Should he, like me, for mercy sue; Of all tho crimes by heav'n accurst, Tell him inconstancy's the worst; Tell him that lie who's false in love, Can ne'er hope pity from above; Tell him that I alone can bless, And send him to me to confess.