ABSTRACT OF THE SURGEON-GENERAL’S
REPORT.41
he Surgeon-General by brevet,
With zeal for public service burning,
Thinks this a happy time to get
Another chance to show his learning;
He has in consequence collected
His wits, and stewed them in retorts;
By distillation thus perfected,
He hopes to shine, and so reports
That he has searched authorities
From Johnson down to Ashe and Shelley,
And finds that a militia is
What he is now about to tell ye:
Militia means—such citizens
As e’en in peace are kept campaigning—
The gallant souls that shoulder guns,
And, twice a year, go out a-training!
This point being fixed, we must, I think, sir,
Proceed unto the second part,
Entitled Grog—a kind of drink, sir,
Which, by its action on the heart,
Makes men so brave, they dare attack
A bastion at its angle salient;
