.N^ ^~ #'■" "^^0^ ^^d* 0^' .^. ^ -qv , <■ r-.<^--"c/:> A> % :t .*-J ■^ ^ -^ "^ < C^ ^V^^ ^.^ .^^M/.^-^./ / - ^-^^ rO^ ^ \ " .% ,^^ ^-^ ^.* .^f' ^^'^°- -0- »■<•», ^-^ '-"O ,G^^ THE FUDGE FAMILY IN i: 3$art$< T. DAVISON, LOMBARD-STREET, WHITEFRIARS, LONDON. THE FUDGE FAMILY IN Parts. EDITED BY THOMAS BROWN, THE YOUNGER, AUTHOR OF THE TWOPENNY POST-BAG. Le Leggi della Maschera richiedono che una persona masclie- rata aon sia salutata per nome da uno che la conosce malgrado il suo travestimento. — CASTIGLIONE. THIRD EDITION. LONDON PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, OUME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 1818. ^^i if PREFACE. In what manner the following Epistles-<;ame into my hands, it is not necessary for the public to know. It will be seen by Mr. Fudge''s Se- cond Letter, that he is one of those gentlemen whose Stcrtt Services in Ireland, under the mild ministry of my Lord C gh, have been so amply and gratefully remunerated. Like his friend and associate, Thomas Reynolds, Esq. he had retired upon the reward of his honest industry ; but has lately been induced to appear again in active life, and superintend the training of VI that Delatorian Cohort, which Lord S — dm— th, in his wisdom and benevolence, has organized. Whether Mr. Fudge, himself, has yet made any discoveries, does not appear from the follow- ing pages ; — ^but much may be expected from a person of his zeal and sagacity, and, indeed, to him, Lord S — dm — th, and the Greenland- bound ships, the eyes of all lovers of discoveries are now most anxiously directed. I regret that I have been obhged to omit Mr. Bob Fudge's Third Letter, concluding the ad- ventures of his Day with the Dinner, Opera, &c. &c. — but, in consequence of some remarks upon Marinette's thin drapery, which, it was thought, might give offence to certain well-meaning per- sons, the manuscript was sent back to Paris for vu his revision, and had not returned when the last sheet was put to press. It will not, I hope, be thought presumptuous, if I take this opportunity of complaining of a very serious injustice I have suffered from the public. Dr. King wrote a treatise to prove that Bentley " was not the author of his own book," and a similar absurdity has been asserted of me^ in almost all the best-informed literary circles. With the name of the real author staring them in the face, they have yet persisted in attributing my works to other people ; and the fame of the Twopenny Post-Bag — such as it is — ^having ho- vered doubtfully over various persons, has at last settled upon the head of a certain little gentleman, who wears it, I understand, as complacently as if it actually belonged to him ; without even the Vlll honesty of avowing, with his own favourite au- thor, (he will excuse the pun) Eyuj $' 'O MftPOS af a; I can only add that if any lady or gentleman, curious in such matters, will take the trouble of calling at my lodgings, 245, Piccadilly, I shall have the honour of assuring them, in projmd persona, that I am — his, or her, very obedient and very humble servant, THOMAS PROWN, THE YOUNGER. April 17, 1818. LETTER I. FROM MISS BIDDY FUDGE TO MISS DOROTHY , OF CLONSKILTY, IN IRELAND. Amiens. Dear Doll, Avhile the tails of our horses are plaiting. The trunks tying on, and Papa, at the door. Into very bad French is, as usual, translating His English resolve not to give a sou more, I sit down to write you a line — only think ! — A letter from France, with French pens and French ink^ B How delightful ! though, would you believe it, my dear } I have seen nothing yet very wonderful here i No adventure, no sentiment, far as we've conae. But the corn-fields and trees quite as dull as at home ; And but for the post-boy, his boots and his queue, 1 might Jm5^ as well be at Clonskilty with you ! In vain, at Dessein's, did I take from my tnmk That divine fellow, Sterne, and fall reading '' The Monki" In vain did I think of his charming Dead Ass, And remember the crust and the wallet — alas ! No monks can be had now for love or for money, (All owing. Pa says, to that infidel BoNBy 3) And, though one little Neddy we saw in our drive Out of classical Nampont, the beast was alive ! By the by, though, at Calais, Papa had a touch Of romance on the pier, which afiected me much. At the sight of that spot, where our darling Dix- HUIT Set the first of his own dear legitimate feet, * (Modell'd out so exactly, and — God bless the mark \ 'Tis a foot, Dolly, worthy so Orand a Monarque) He exclaimed '' Oh mon Roi !^ aiid, with tear-drop* ping eye. Stood to gaze on the spot — while some Jacobin, nigh, Mutter'd out with a shrug (what an insolent thing!) *' Ma foi, he be right— 'tis de Englishman's King 5 And dat gros pied de cockon — begar, me vil say Dat de foot look mosh better, if tum*d toder way.'* • To commemorate the laoding of Louis le Desire firom Eng- land, the impression of his foot is marked out on the pier at Calais, and a pillar S^ith an inscnptioii raised opposite to the spot. B 2 There's the pillar^ too— Lord I 1 had nearly forgot — What a charming idea ! — rais'd close to the spot ; The mode being now, (as you've heard, I suppose, ) To build tombs over legs, * and raise pillars to toes. This is all that's occurred sentimental as yet ; Except, indeed, some little flovv'r-nymphs we*ve met. Who disturb one's romance with pecuniary views, Flinging flow'rs in your path, and then — bawling for sous ! And some picturesque beggars, whose multitudes seem To recall the good days of the ancien regime. All as ragged and brisk, you'll be happy to learn. And as thin as they were in the time of dear St£RN£. Our party consists, in a neat Calais job. Of Papa and myself, Mr. Connor and Bob. * Ci-git la jambe de &c. &c. You remember how sheepish Bob look'd at Kilrandy, But, Lord ! he's quite alter'd — they've made him a Dandy ; A thing, you know, whisker'd, great-eoated, and lac'd, Like an hour-glass^ exceedingly small in the waist : Quite a new sort of creatures, unknown yet to scholars. With heads, so immoveably stuck in shirt-collars. That seats like our music-stools soon must be found them. To twirl, when the creatures may wish to look round them ! In short, dear, " a Dandy" describes what I mean. And Bob's far the best of the genus I've seen : An improving young man, fond of learning, am- bitious. And goes now to Paris to study French dishes, L^ 6 Whose names — think, how quick ! — healready knows pat, A la braise^ petits fdtSs, and — what d*ye call that They inflict on potatoes ? — oh ! maiire d* hotel — • I assure you, dear Dolly, he knows them as well As if nothing but these all his life he had eat. Though a bit of them Bobby has never touch*d yet j But just knows the names of French dishes and cooks. As dear Pa knows the titles of authors and books. As to Pa, what d'ye think ? — mind, it's all entre nous, But you know, love, I never keep secrets from you — Why, he's writing a book — what ! a tale ? a romance ? No, ye God5, would it were! — but his Travels in Frances At the special desire (he let out t'other day) Of his friend and his patron, my Lord C — stl-r-gh. Who said, '' My de^- Fudge ** 1 forget th* exact words. And, it's strange, no one ever remembers my Lord's ; But 'twas something to say that, as all must allow A good orthodox work is much wanting just now, To expound to the world the new — thiugummie — science, Found out by the*— what's-its-name— Holy Alliance, And prove to mankind that their rights are but folly. Their freedom a joke (which it is, you know, Dolly) *' There's none," said his Lordship, '' if /may be judge. Half so fit for this great undertaking as Fudge !" The matter's soon settled — ^Pa flies to the Row, {The^rst stage your tourists now usually go) Settles all for his quarto — advertisements, praises — Starts post from the door, with his tablets —French phrases — "* Scott's Visit," of course — in short, ev'ry thing he has An author can want, except words and ideas : — And, lo ! the first thing, in the spring of the year. Is Phil. Fudge at the front of a Quarto, my dear ! But, bless me, my paper's near out, so I'd better Draw fast to a close : — this exceeding long letter You owe to a dejeuner a la foiirchctte , Which Bobby wmLld have, and is hard at it yet. — What's next ? oh, the tutor, the last of the party. Young Connor : — they say he's so like Bonaparte, His nose and his chin, — which Papa rather dreads. As the Bourbons, you know, are suppressing all heads That resemble old Nap's, and who knows but their honours May think, in their fright, of suppressing poor Connor's ? 9 Au resit, (as we say) the young lad's well enough. Only talks much of Athens, Rome, virtue, and stuffy A third cousin of ours, by the way — poor as Job, (Though of royal descent by the side of Mamma) And for charity made private tutor to Bob — ^nirt nouSy too, a Papist — how lib'ral of Pa ! This is all, dear, — forgive me for breaking off thus ; But Bob's dejeuner s done, and Papa's in a fuss. B. F. P. S. How provoking of Pa ! he wiU not let me stop Just to run in and rummage some milliner's shop j And my debut in Paris, I blush to think on it. Must now, Doll, be made in a hideous low bonnet. But Paris, dear Paris! — oh, there will be joy. And romance, and high bonnets, and Madame le Roi!* • A celebrated mantua-maker in Paris. LETTER II. FROM PHIL. FUDCE, ESQ. TO THE LORD VISCOUNT C H. Pari*. At length, my Lord, I have the bliss To date to you a line from this " Demoraliz'd" metropolis 3 Where, by plebeians low and scurvy. The throne was tum'd quite topsy-turvy. And Kingship, tumbled from its seat, " Stood prostrate" at the people's feet. Where (still to use your Lordship's tropes) The Itvel of obedience slopes 11 Upward and downward, as the stream Of ki/dra faction kicks the beam ! * Where the poor palace changes masters Quicker than a snake its skin. And Louis is roli'd out on castors. While Boney's borne on shoulders in :- But where, in evo-y change, no doubt,^ One special good your Lordship traces,- That 'tis the Kings alone turn out. The Ministers still keep their places. How oft, dear Viscount C gh, I've thought of thee upon the way. * This excellent imitation of the noble Lord's style shews how deeply Mr. Fudge must have studied his great original. Irish oratory, indeed, abounds with such startling peculiarities. Thus the eloquent Counsellor B , in describiug some hypocritical pretender to charity, said — " He put his hand in his breeches- pocket, like a crocodile, and," &c. &c. 12 As in my Job (what place could be More apt to wake a thought of thee ?) Or, ofteuer far, when gravely sitting Upon my dickey, (as is fitting For him who writes a Tour, that he May more of men and manners see,) I've thought of thee and of thy glories, Thou guest of Kings, and King of Tories ! Reflecting how thy fame has grown And spread, beyond man's usual share. At home, abroad, till thou art known. Like Major Semple, every where ! And marv'lling with what pow'rs of breath Your Lordship, having speech' d to death Some hundreds of your fellow-men. Next speech'd to Sovereigns' ears,— and when All Sovereigns else were doz'd, at last Speech'd down the Sovereign * of Belfast. • The title of the chief magistrate of Belfast, before whom hi? 13 Oh ! mid the praises and the trophies Thou gain'st from Morosophs and Sophis 3 Mid all the tributes to thy fame. There's one thou shouldst be chiefly pleas'd at — That Ireland gives her snuflf thy name. And C GH*s the thing now sneez'd at ! But hold, my pen ! — a truce to praising — Though ev*n your Lordship will allow The theme's temptations are amazing ; But time and ink run short, and now, (As thou wouldst say, my guide and teacher In these gay metaphoric fringes, ) Lordship (with the " stadium imraane loquendi" attributed by Ovid to that chattering and rapacious class of birds, the pies) de- livered sundry long and self-gratulatory orations, on his return from the Continent. It was at one of these Irish dinners that his gallant brother, Lord S., proposed the health of " The best ca- valry officer in Europe — the Regent !" 14 . I must embark into the feature On which this letter chiefly hinges ; — * My Book^ the Book that is to prove— And will, so help ye Sprites above. That sit on clouds, as grave as judges. Watching the labours of the Fudges ! — Will prove that all the world, at present, Is in a state extremely pleasant : That Europe — thanks to royal swords And bay'nets, and the Duke commanding — Enjoys a peace which, like the Lord's, Passeth all human understanding : That France prefers her go-cart King To such a coward scamp as Boney — Though round, with each a leading-string. There standeth many a Royal crony, • Verbatim from one of the noble Viscount's Speeches — " And now, Sip, I must embark into the feature on which this question chiefly liinges.'* 15 For fear the chubbyj tottering thing Should fall, if left there loneT/'ponet/ : That England, too, the more her debts. The more she spends, the richer gets j And that the Irish, grateful nation ! Remember when by thee reign'd over, And bless thee for their flagellation. As Heloisa did her lover!* That Poland, left for Russia's lunch Upon the side-board, snug reposes j While Saxony 's as pleas'd as Punch, And Norway '^'^ on a bed of roses !" That, as for some few million souls, Transferr'd by contract, bless the clods ? If half were strangled — Spaniards, Poles, And Frenchmen— 't wouldn't make much odds, ♦ See her Letters. 16 So Europe's goodly Royal ones Sit easy on their sacred thrones 3 So Ferdinand embroiders gaily. And Louis eats his salmi * daily ; So time is left to Emperor Sandy To be halfCsessLr and half Dandy j And G GE the R — g — ^t (whoM forget That doughtiest chieftain of thff*f et ?) Hath wherewithal for trinkets new. For dragons, after Chinese models. And chambers where Duke Ho and Soo Might come and nine times knock their nod- dles !— All this my Quarto '11 prove — much more Than Quarto ever prov'd before — In reas'ning with the Post I'll vie. My facts the Courier shall supply. Homer Odyss. 3. ^7 My jokes V — ns — t, P — le my sense. And thou, sweet Lord, my eloquence ! My Journal, penn'd by fits and starts. On Biddy's back or Bobby's shoulder, (My son, my Lord, a youth of parts, Who longs to be a small place-holder) Is — though I say't, that shouldn't say — Extremely good ; and, by the way. One extract from it — only one — To show its spirit, and I've done. '^ Jul. thirty-Jirst. — Went, after snack, '' To the Cathedral of St. Denny j " Sigh'd o*er the Kings of ages back, " And — gave the old Concierge a penny! " {Mem. — Must see Rheims, much fam'd, 'tis said, ** For making Kings and gingerbread.) 18 '' Was shown the tomb where lay, so stately, '' A little Bourbon, buried lately, "" Thrice high and puissant, we were told, '' Though only twenty- four hours old ! * ^' Hear this, thought I, ye Jacobins 3 " Ye Burdetts, tremble in your skins ! " If Royalty, but ag'd a day, '' Can boast such high and puissant sway, '^ What impious hand its pow'r would fix, '' Full fledg'd and wigg'df at fifty-six!** The argument's quite new, you see. And proves exactly Q. E. D. — * So described on the coffin : " tres haute et puissante Prrn- cesse, agee d'lin jour." f There is a fulness and breadth in this portrait of Royalty, whicli reminds us of what Pliny says, in speaking of Trajan's great qualities:—" nonne longfe lateque Priucipera ostentant?'' 19 So now, with duty to the R — G — t, I am, dear Lord^ Your most obedient, P. F. Hotel Breteuil, Rue RivolL Neat lodgings — rather dear for mej But Biddy said she thought 'twould look Genteeler thus to date my Book, And Biddy's right — ^besides, it curries Some favour with our friends at Murray's, Who scorn what any man can say. That dates from Rue St. Honore ! * * See the Quarterly Review for May, 1816, where Mr. Hob- house is accused of having written his book " in a back street of the French capital," C2 LETTER III. FROM MR. BOB FUDGE TO RICHARD , ESQ. Oh Dick ! you may talk of your writing and reading. Your Logic and Greek, but there's nothing like feeding ; And this is the place for it, Dicky, you dog. Of all places on earth — the head quarters of Prog ! Talk of England — her fam'd Magna Charta, I swear, is A humbug, a flam, to the Carte* at old Ve'ry's j • The Bill of Fare.— Very, a well-known Restaurateur. 21 And as for your Juries — who would not set o'er 'em A Jury of Tasters,* with woodcocks before 'em ? Give Cartwrigbt his Parliaments, fresh every year — But those friends of short Commons would never do here ; And, let Romilly speak as he will on the question. No Digest of Law's like the laws of digestion I By the by, Dick, / fatten — but nHmporte for that, 'Tis the mode — your Legitimates always get fat. There's the R — g — t, there's Louis — and Boney tried too, But, tho' somewhat imperial in paunch, *i wouldn't do :— * Mr. Bob alludes particularly, I presume, to the famous Jury Degustateur, which used to assemble at the Hotel of M. Grimod de la Reyniere, and of which this modern Archestratus lias given an account in his Almanach des Gourmands, cinqui^me annee, p. 78. 22 He improv'd, indeed, much in this point, when he wed. But he ne'er grew right royally fat in the head, Dick, Dick, what a place is this Paris ! — but stay—^ As my raptures may bore you, I'll just sketch a Day, As we pass it, myself and some comrades Pve got. All thorough-bred Gnostics, who know what is what. After dreaming some hours of the land of Cocaigne,* That Elysium of all that is friand and nice, Where for hail they have bon-bons, and claret for rain. And the skaiters in winter show off on oream-ice } * The fairy-land of cookery and gourmandise ; " Pais, ou le ciel offre les viandes toutes cuites, et ou, comme on parle, les alouettes tombent toutes roties. Du Latin, coquere." — Duchat, 23 Where so ready all nature its cookery yields, Macaroni au parmesan grows in the fields j Little birds fly about with the true pheasant taint. And the geese are all born with a liver complaint ! * I rise— put on neck-cloth — stiflF, tight, as can be — For a lad who goes into the world, Dick, like me. Should have his neck tied up, you know— there's no doubt of it — Almost as tight as some lads who go out of it. With whiskers well oiPd, and with boots that '' hold up *' The mirror to nature" — so bright you could sup ♦ The process by which the liver of the unfortunate goose is enlarged, in order to produce that richest of all dainties, the foie gras, of which such renowned pates are made at Strasbourg and Toulouse, is thus described in the Cours Gastronomique : — " On deplume I'estomac des oies ; on attache ensuite ces aniraaux aux chenets d'une cheminee, et on les nourrit devant le feu. La captivite et la chaleur doiinent a ces volatiles une maladie hepa- tique, qui fait gonfler leur foie," ii^c. p. 20G. 24 Off the leather like china ; with coat, too, that draws On the tailor, who suffers, a martyr's applause ! — With head bridled up, like a four-in-hand leader. And stays — devil's in thenoi — too tight for a feeder, I strut to the old Cafe Hardy, which yet Beats the field at a dejeuner a lafourchette. There, Dick, what a breakfast ! — oh, not like your ghost Of a breakfast in England, your curst tea and toast; But a side-board, you dog, wliere one's eye roves about. Like a Turk's in the Haram, and thence singles out One's pai4 of larks, just to tune up the throat. One's small limbs of chickens, done en papillote. 25 One*s erudite cutlets, drest all ways but plain^ Or one's kidnies — imagine, Dick — done with cham- pagne ! Then, some glasses of Beaune, to dilute — or, may- hap, Chambertiuy* which you know's the pet tipple of Nap, And which Dad, by the by, that legitimate stickler. Much scruples to taste, but /'m not so partic'lar. — Your coflFee comes next, by prescription ; and then, Dick, 's The coffee's ne'er-failing and glorious appendix, (If books had but such, my old Grecian, depend on't, rd swallow ev'n W — tk — Ns', for sake of the end on't); A neat glass oi parfait-amour, which one sips Just as if bottled velvet f tipp'd over one's lips ! • The favourite wine of Napoleon. f Ftloun en bouteille. 26 This repast being ended, and "paid for — (how odd ! Till a man's us'd to paying, there's something so queer in't!) — The sun now well out, and the girls all abroad. And the world enough air'd for us, Nobs> to appear in*t. We lounge up the Boulevards, where — oh, Dick, the phyzzes. The turn-outs, we meet — What a nation of quizzes ! Here toddles along some old figure of fun, With a coat you might date Anno Domini 1 ; A lac'd hat, worsted stockings, and — noble old soul ! A fine ribbon and Cross in his best button-hole ; Just such as our Pr e, who nor reason nor fun dreads. Inflicts, without ev'n a court-martial, on hundreds.* * It was said by Wicquefort, more than a hundred years ago, " Le Hoi d'Angleterre fait seul plus de chevaliers que tous les autres Roisde la Chrelieiite ensemble." — What would he say now? 2? Here trips a griseltc, with a fond> roguish eye, (Rather eatable things these grisettes by the by) 3 And there an old demoisdle, almost as fond. In a silk that has stood since the time of the Fronde* There goes a French Dandy— ah, Dick! unlike some ones We've seen about White's — ^the Mounseers are but rum ones ; Such hats I — fit for monkies — I'd back Mrs. Draper To cut neater weather-boards out of brown paper : And coats — how I wish, if it wouldn't distress 'em. They'd club for old B — M — l, from Calais, to dress 'em! The collar sticks out from the neck such a space. That you'd swear 'twas the plan of this head- lopping nation. To leave there behind them a snug little place For the head to drop into, on decapitation ! 28 In short, what with mountebanks. Counts, and friseurs, Some mummers by trade, and the rest amateurs — What with captains in new jockey-boots and silk breeches. Old dustmen with swinging great opera-hats. And shoeblacks reclining by statues in niches, There never was seen such a race of Jack Sprats! From the Boulevards — but hearken! — yes — as I'm a sinner. The clock is just striking the half- hour to dinner : So no more at present — short time for adorning— My Day must be finish'd some other fine morning. Now, hey for old Beauvilliers* * larder, my boy ! And, once there, if the Goddess of Beauty and Joy Were to write ^' Come and kiss me, dear Bob !'* I'd not budge — Not a step, Dick, as sure as my name is R. Fudge. ♦ A celebrated Restaurateur. LETTER IV. FROM PHELIM CONNOR TO Keturn !" — no, never, while the withering hand Of bigot power is on that hapless land ; While, for the faith nay fathers held to God, Ev'n in the fields where free those fathers trod, I am proscrib'd, and — like the spot left bare In Israel's halls, to tell the proud and fair Amidst their mirth, that Slavery had been there — * * " They use to leave a yard square of the wall of the house unplastered, on which they write, in large letters, either the fore- mentioned verse of the Psalmist (' If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,' &c.) or the words — * The memory of the desolation.' " Leo (f Modenn. 30 On all I lovcj home, parents, friends, I trace The mournful mark of bondage and disgrace ! No ! — let them stay, who in their country's pangs See nought but food for factions and harangues , Who yearly kneel before their masters' doors. And hawk their wi'ongs, as beggars do their sores : * Still let your * * * * Still hope and suffer, all who can ! — but I, Who durst not hope, and cannot bear, must fly. But whither ? — every- where the scourge pursues — Turn where he will, the wretched wanderer ^^ews, In the bright, broken hopes of aU his race. Countless reflections of th' Oppressor's face ! ' I have thought it prudent to omit some parts of Mr. Fbeliia Comior's letter. He is evidently an intemperate young man, and has associated with his cousins, the Fudges, to very little purpose. 31 Every-where gallant hearts, and spirits true. Are serv'd up victims to the vile and few j While E ***** *^ every-where — ^the general foe Of Truth and Freedom, wheresoever they glow — Is first, when tyrants strike, to aid the blow ! Oh, E ****** ! could such poor revenge atone For wrongs, that well might claim the deadliest one 5 Were it a vengeance, sweet enough to sate The wretch who flies from thy intolerant hate. To hear his curses on such barbarous sway Echoed, where'er he bends his cheerless way ) — Could this content him, every lip he meets Teems for his vengeance with such poisonous sweets 5 Were this his luxury, never is thy name Pronounc'd, but he doth banquet on thy shame 3 32 Hears maledictions ring from every side Upon that grasping power, that selfish pride. Which vaunts its own, and scorns all rights be- side } That low and desperate envy, which to blast A neighbour's blessings, risks the few thou hast ; — That monster. Self, too gross to be conceal'd. Which ever lurks behind thy profFer'd shield 3 — That faithless craft, which, in thy hour of need. Can court the slave, can swear he shall be freed. Yet basely spurns him, when thy point is gain'd. Back to his masters, ready gagg'd and chain'd ! Worthy associate of that band of Kings, That royal, rav'ning flock, whose vampire wings O'er sleeping Europe treacherously brood, And fan her into dreams of promis'd good. Of hope, of freedom — but to drain her blood ! m If thus to hear thee branded be a bliss That Vengeance loves, there's yet more sweet than this, — That 'twas an Irish head, an Irish heart. Made thee the fall'n and tarnish'd thing thou art ; S That, as the Centaur* gave th' infected vest In which he died, to rack his conqueror's breast, We sent thee C gh : — as heaps of dead Have slain their slayers by the pest they spread, So hath our land breath'd out — thy fame to dim. Thy strength to waste, and rot thee, soul and limb — Her worst infections all condens'd in him ! When will the world shake oflf such yokes ? oh, \n hen Will that redeeming day shine out on men, * Membra et Herculeos toros Urit.lues Nessea. • - lUe, ille victor vincitur. Senec. Her cut. (Et. D 34 That shall behold them rise, erect and free As Heav'n and Nature meant mankind should be! When Reason shall no longer blindly bow To the vile pagod things, that o'er her brow. Like him of Jaghernaut, drive trampling now j Nor Conquest dare to desolate God's earth ; Nor drunken Victory, with a Nero's mirth. Strike her lewd harp amidst a people's groans ; — But, built on love, the world's exalted thrones Shall to the virtuous and the wise be given — Those bright, those sole Legitimates of Heaven ! IVhen will this be ? — or, oh ! is it, in truth. But one of those sweet, day-break dreams of youth. In which the Soul, as round her morning springs, 'Twixt sleep and waking, sees such dazzling things ! And must the hope, as vain as it is bright. Be all giv'n up ? — and are they only right. Who say this world of thinking souls was made To be by Kings partition'd, truck'd, and weigh' d 35 In scales that^ ever since the world begun, Have counted millions but as dust to one ? Are they the only wise, who laugh to scorn The rights, the freedom to which man was born ; Who ***** ****** Who, proud to kiss each separate rod of power. Bless, while he reigns, the minion of the hour ; Worship each would-be God, that o'er them moves, And take the thundering of his brass for Jove's ! If this be wisdom, then farewell, my books. Farewell, ye shrines of old, ye classic brooks. Which fed my soul with currents, pure and fair. Of living Truth, that now must stagnate there ! — Instead of themes that touch the lyre with light. Instead of Greece, and her immortal fight For Liberty, which once awak'd my strings. Welcome the Grand Conspiracy of Kings, D 2 36 The High Legitimates, the Holy Band, Who, bolder ev'n than He of Sparta's land. Against whole millions, panting to be free. Would guard the pass of right-line tyranny ! Instead of him, th' Athenian bard, whose blade Had stood the onset which his pen pourtray'd. Welcome * * » * * *»**♦# And, 'stead of Aristides — ^^voe the day Such names should mingle ! — welcome C gh ! Here break we oflF, at this unhallow'd name, Like priests of old, when words ill-omen'd came. My next shall tell thee, bitterly shall tell. Thoughts that * * * * ******* Thoughts that — could patience hold — 'twere wiser far To leave still hid and burning where they are I LETTER V. TROM MISS BIDDY FUDGE TO MISS DOROTHY . " HAT a time since I wrote ! — I'm a sad, naughty girl— Though^ like a tee-totum^ I'm all in a twirl. Yet ev'n (as you wittily say) a tee-totum Between all its twirls gives a letter to note 'em. But, Lord, such a place! and then, Dolly, my dresses, My gowns, so divine ! — there's no language ex- presses, rfiiii^sR 38 Exceptjustthe txuo words *'superbe," " magnifique/' The trimmings of that which I had home last week ! It is call'd — I forget — a la — something which sounded Like alicampane — but, in truth, I'm confounded And bother'd, my dear, 'twixt that troublesome boy*s (Bob's) cookery language, and Madame le Roi's: What with fillets of roses, and fillets of veal. Things garni with lace, and things garni with eel. One's hair and one's cutlets both cnpapillote, ^ And a thousand more things I shall ne'er have by rote, I can scarce tell the difference, at least as to phrase. Between beef a la Psyche and curls a h braise. — But, in short, dear, I'm trick'd out quite ^ la Frangaise, With my bonnet — so beautiful ! — high up and poking. Like things that are put to keep chimnies from smoking. 39 VVTiere shall 1 begin with the endless delights Of this Eden of milliners, monkies, and sights — This dear busy place, where there's nothing trans- acting But dressing and dinnering, dancing and acting ? Imprimis, the Opera — mercy, my ears ! Brother Bobby's remark, t'other night, was a true one i — '' This must be the music," said he, " of the spears. For I'm curst if each note of it doesn't run through one!" Pa says (and you know, love, his Book's to make out *Twa& the Jacobins brought every mischief about) That this passion for roaring has come in of late, Since the rabble all tried for a mice in the State.-— 40 What a frightful idea, one's mind to o'erwh'elm ! What a chorus, dear Dolly, would soon be let loose of it. If, when of age, every man in the realm Had a voice like old Lais, * and chose to make use of it ! No — never was known in this riotous sphere Such a breach of the peace as their singing, my dear. So bad too, you*d swear that the God of both arts. Of Music and Physic, had taken a frolic For setting a loud fit of asthma in parts. And composing a fine rumbling base to a cholic ! But, the dancing — ah parlez-moi, Dolly, de ^a — There, indeed, is a treat that charms all but Papa. • The oldest, raost celebrated, and most noisy of the singers at the French Opera. 41 Such beauty — such grace — oh ye sylphs of romance! Fly, fly to TiTANiA, and ask her if she has One light-footed nymph in her train, that can dance Like divine Bigottini and sweet Fanny Bias ! Fanny Bias in Flora — dear creature ! — you'd swear. When her delicate feet in the dance twinkle round. That her steps are of light, that her home is the air. And she only par complaisance tou(^QS the ground. And when Bigoitixi in Psyche dishevels Her black flowing hair, and by daemons is driven. Oh ! who does not envy those rude little devils. That hold her and hug her, and keep her from heaven ? Then, the music — so softly its cadences die. So divinely — oh, Dolly ! between you and I, It's as well for my peace that there's nobody nigh ^ To make love to me then — you*ve a soul, and can judge } What a crisis 'twould be for your friend Biddy Fudge! The next place (which Bobby has near lost his heart in) They call it the Play-house— I think — of St. Martin j * Quite charming — and veri/ religious — what folly To say that the French are not pious, dear DoiXY, When here one beholds, so correctly and rightly. The Testament turn'd into melo-drames nightly > And, doubtless, so fond they're of scriptural facts. They will soon get the Pentateuch up in five acts. ♦ The Theatre de la Porte St. Martin, which was built when the Opera House in the Palais Royal was burned down, in 1 781.— A few days after this dreadful fire, which lasted more than a week, and in which several persons perished, the Parisian il6ganLes dis- played flame-coloured dresses, "couleur de feu d'Opera!" — Du- laure, Curiosit£s de Paris, 43 Here Daniel, in pantomime, * bids bold defiance To Nebuchadnezzar and all his stuff *d lions. While pretty young Israelites dance round the Prophet, In very thin clothing, and but little of it j— • HereBE'GRAND,t who shines in this scriptural path. As the lovely Susanna, without ev'n a relic Of drapery round her, comes out of the bath In a manner that. Bob says, is quite Eve-angelic ! But in short, dear, 'twould take me a month to recite All the exquisite places we're at, day and night j • A piece very popular last year, called •* Daniel, ou La Fosse aux Lions.'' The following scene will give an idea of the daring sublimity of these scriptural pantomimes. " Scene 20. — La four- naise devientun berceau de nuages azures, au fond duquel est un grouppe de nuages plus luraineux, et au milieu * Jehovah' au centre d'un cercle de rayons brillans, qui annonce la presence de I'E'ter- nel." f Madame Begrand, a finely formed woman, who acts in " Su- sanna and the Elders,"—" L'Amour et la Folic,*' &c. &c. M And, besides, ere I finish, I think you'll be glad Just to hear one delightful adventure I've had. Last night, at the Beaujon, * a place where — I doubt If I well can describe — there are cars, that set out From a lighted pavilion, high up in the air. And rattle you down, Doll, — you hardly know where. These vehicles, mind me, in which you go through This delightfully dangerous journey, hold two. Some cavalier asks, with humility, whether You'll venture down with him — you smile — 'tis a match J * The Promenades Atrieones, or French Mountains. — See a description of this singular and fantastic place of amusement in a pamphlet, truly worthy of it, by " F. F. Cotterel, Medecin, Docteur de la Faculte de Paris," &c. &c. 45 In an instant you're seated, and down both together Go thund'ring, as if you went post to old Scratch !* Well, it was but last night, as I stood and remark'd On the looks and odd ways of the girls who embark 'd. The impatience of some for the perilous flight. The fore'd giggle of others, 'twixt pleasure and fright,— That there came up — imagine, dear Doll, if you can — A fine sallow, sublime, sort of Werter-fac'd man. With mustachios that gave (what we read of so oft) The dear Corsair expression, half savage, half soft. As Hyaenas in love may be fancied to look, or A something between A belard and old Blucheu! ♦According to Dr. Cottercl the cars go at the raie of forty- eight miles an hour. ' ii'iif^iilrF-'-Siiii/iidi 46 Up he came, Doll, to me, and, uncovering his head, (Rather bald, but so warlike ! ) in bad English said, " Ah ! my dear — if Ma'mselle vil be so very good — Just for von littel course" — though I scarce under- stood What he wish'd me to do, I said, thank him, I would. Off we set — and, though 'faith, dear, I hardly knew whether My head or my heels were the uppermost then. For 'twas like heav*n and earth, Dolly, coming together, — Yet, spite of the danger, we dar'd it again. And oh ! as I gaz'd on the features and air Of the man, who for me all this peril defied, I could fancy almost he and I were a pair Of unhappy young lovers, who thus, side by side. 47 Were taking, instead of rope^ pistol, or dagger, a Desperate dash down the Falls of Niagara ! This achiev'd, through the gardens* we saunter'd about. Saw the fire-works, exclaim'd "magnifique!" at each cracker, And, when 'twas all o'er, the dear man saw us out With the air, I xuill say, of a Prince, to owrjiacre. Now, hear me — this Stranger — it may be mere folly— But who do you think we all think it is, DoUy ? * lu the Cafe attached to these gardens there are to be (as Doctor Cotterel informs us) " douze n^gres, tres-alertes, qui con- trasteront par I'ebene de leur peau avec le teint de lis et de roses de nos belles. Les glaces et les sorbets, servis par une main bieit noire, fera davantage ressortir I'albAtre des bras aiTondis de celles*' cu'-P. 22, 48 Why, bless you, no less than the great King" of Prussia, Who's here now incog.* — he, who made such a fuss, you Remember, in London, withBLUCHER and Platoff, When Sal was near kissing old Blucher's cravat oflF! Pa says he's come here to look after his money, (Not taking things now as he us'd under Boney) Which suits with our friend, for Bob saw him, he swore. Looking sharp to the silver receiv'd at the door. Besides, too, they say that his grief for his Queen (Which was plain in this sweet fellow's face to be seen) Requires £uch a stimulant dose as this car is, Us'd three times a day with young ladies in Paris. * His Majesty, who was at Paris under the travelling name of Count Ruppin, is known to have gone down the Beaajon very trequently. 49 Some Doctor, indeed, has declar'd that such grief Should — unless 'twould to utter despairing its folly push — Fly to the Beaujon, and there seek relief By rattling, as Bob says, "^ like shot through a holly-bush." i must now bid adieu — only think, Dolly, think If this should be the King — I have scarce slept a wink With imagining how it will sound in the papers. And how all the Misses my good luck will grudge. When they read that Count RuppiN, to drive away vapours. Has gone down the Beaujon with Miss Biddy Fudge. 50 Nota Bene. — Papa's almost certain 'tis he— For he knows the Legitimate cut, and could see. In the way he went poising and manag'd to tower So erect in the car, the true Balance of Power, LETTER VI. FROM PHIL. FUDGE, ESa. TO HIS BROTHER TIM. FUDGE, ESQ. BARRISTER AT LAW. Yours of the I2th receiv'd just now — Thanks for the hint, my trusty brother ! *Tis truly pleasing to see how We, Fudges, stand by one another. But never fear — I know my chap. And he knows me too — verbum sap. My Lord and I are kindred spirits. Like in our ways as two young ferrets ; Both fashion'd, as that supple race is. To twist into all sorts of places ;— ^^ 52 Creatures lengthy, lean, and hungering. Fond of blood and iwrrow-mongering. As to my Book in 91, Call'd " Down with Kings, or. Who'd have thought it r" Bless you, the Book's long dead and gone, — Not ev*n th' Attorney-General bought it. And, though some few seditious tricks I play'd in 95 and 6, As you remind me in your letter. His Lordship likes me all the better 3 — We, proselytes, that come with news full. Are, as he says, so vastly useful ! Reynolds and I — (you know Tom Reynouos — Drinks his claret, keeps his chaise — Lucky the dog that first unkennels Traitors and Luddites now-a-days ; 53 Or who can help to bag a few. When S — D th wants a death or two j ) Reynolds and I, and some few more. All men, like us, of information^ Friends, whom his Lordship keeps in store. As w/7c?er-saviours of the nation — * Have form'd a Club this season, where His Lordship sometimes takes the chair, And gives us many a bright oration In praise of our sublime vocation ; Tracing it up to great King Midas, Who, though in fable typified as A royal Ass, by grace divine And right of ears, most asinine, Was yet no more, in fact historical. Than an exceeding well-bred tyrant ; * Lord C.'s tribute to the character of his friend, Mr. Reynolds, will long be remembered with equal credit to both. 54 And these, his ears, but allegorical. Meaning Informers, kept at high rent — * Gem'men, who touch'd the Treasury glisteners. Like us, for being trusty listeners -, And picking up each tale and fragment. For royal Midas's green bag meant. " *\nd wherefore,'' said this best of Peers, '' Should not the R — g — t too have ears,f " To reach as far, as long and wide as " Those of his model, good King Midas ?" * This interpretation of the fable of Midas's ears seems the most probable of any, and is thus stated in Hoffmann :— " IlSc allegoria sigaificatum, Midara, utpote tjrannura, subauscultatores diraittere solitura, per quos, quaecunque per omuera regionem vel ficreiit.veldicerentur, cognosceret, nirairumillis uteris aurium vice." f Brossette, in a note on this luie of Iioileau, " JNIidas, le Roi Midas a des oreilles d'Ane," tells us, that " M. Perrault le Medecin voulut faire ^ notre auteur un crime d'etat de ce vers, comme d'une maligne allusion au Roi." I trust, however, that no one will suspect the line in the text of any such indecorous allusion. 55 This speech was thought extremely good. And (rare for him) was understood — Instant we drank '^ The R — g — t's Ears," With three times three illustrious cheers. That made the room resound like thunder — ' '* The R — G — t's Ears, and may he ne'er *• From foolish shame, like Midas, wear " Old paltry ijoigs to keep them under !" * This touch at our old friends, the Whigs, Made us as merry all as grigs. In short, (I'll thank you not to mention These things again) we get on gaily j And, thanks to pension and Suspension, Our little Club increases daily. • It was not under wigs, but tiaras, that King Midas endea- voured to conceal these appendages : Tempora purpureis tentat velare tiaris. Ovid. The Noble Giver of the toast, however, had evidently, with hi^ usual clearness, confounded King Midas, Mr. Listen, and the P e E — g — t together. 56 Castlbs, and Oliver, and such, Who don't as yet full salary touch. Nor keep their chaise and pair, nor buy Houses and lands, like Tom and I, Of course don't rank with us, salvators, * But merely serve the Club as waiters. Like Knights, too, we've our collar days, (For us, I own, an awkward phrase) When, in our new costume adom'd, — The R — G — t's buflf-and-blue coats turtCd'^ We have the honour to give dinners To the chief Rats in upper stations 5 f Your W Ys, V NS — half-fledg'd sinners, Who shame us by their imitations j Who turn, 'tis true — but what of that ? Give me the useful ptacA/ng^ Rat j • Mr. Fudge and his friends should go by this name — as the man who, some years since, saved the late Right Hon. George Kose from dro\vning, was ever after called Salvatnr Rosa, f This intimacy between the Rats and Informers is just as it should be — '* ver6 dulce sodalitioni." 57 Not things as mute as Punch, when bought, Whose wooden heads are all they've brought ; Who, false enough to shirk their friends. But too faint-hearted to betray. Are, after all their twists and bends. But souls in Limbo, damn'd half way. No, no, — we nobler vermin are A gentis useful as we're rare ; 'Midst all the things miraculous Of which your natural histories brag. The rarest must be Rats like us. Who let the cat out of the bag. Yet still these Tyros in the cause Deserve, I own, no small applause ; And they're by us receiv'd and treated With all due honours — only seated In th' inverse scale of their reward. The merely jtfomis'd next my Lord ; 58 Small pensions then^ and so on, down. Rat after rat, they graduate Through job, "red ribbon, and silk gown. To Chanc'llorship and Marquisate. This serves to nurse the ratting spirit ; The less the bribe the more the merit. Our female gallery's seldom sat in 3 Your ladies are no friends to ratting. Though there, of course, our Patron sends Orders '' for Lcwiy L — CH and friends,'* — (Or, as his Lordship in a speech Once called her, '' Desdbmona L — CH ;" A name to which her title's plain — '* Sir, she can turn and turn again.") Our music's good, you may be sure ; My Lord, you know, 's an amateur^-* * Hb Lordship, during one of tlic busiest periods of his ^fi- iiisterial career, look lessons three times a week from a celebrated music- master, rn glee- singing. 59 Takes every part with perfect ease. Though to the Base by nature suited. And J form'd for all, as best may please. For whips and bolts, or chords and keys, Turns from his victims to his glees, And has them both well executed, H T — —D, who, tho' no Rat himself^ Delights in all such liberal arts. Drinks largely to the House of Guelphj And superintends the Corni parts. While C — NN — G,* who'd hejirst by choice. Consents to take an under voice ; •This Right Hon. Gentleman ought to give up his present aUiance with Lord C, if upon no other principle than that which is inculcated in the following arrangement between two Ladies of Fashion : Says Clarinda, *' though tears it may cost, " It is time we should part, tny dear Sue; " For your character's totally lost, " And / have not sufficient for tico !" .M 60 And G-— s,* who well that signal knows. Watches the Voiti Subifos.f In short, as I've already hinted. We take, of late, prodigiously j But as our Club is somewhat stinted For Gentlemen, like Tom and me. We'll take it kind if you'll provide A few Squireens X from t'other side 3— Some of those loyal, cunning elves, (We often tell the tale with laughter) Who us'd to hide the pikes themselves. Then hang the fools who found them after. I doubt not you could find us, too. Some Orange Parsons that would doj • The rapidity of this Noble Lord's transformation, at the same instant, into a Lord of the Bed-chamber and an opponent of the Catholic Claims, was truly miraculous. f Turn instantly — a frequent direction in niusic«books. I The Irish diminutive of Squire, 61 Among the rest, we've heard of one^ The Reverend — something — Hamilton, Who stuff'd a figure of himself (Delicious thought ! ) and had it shot at. To bring some Papists to the shelf. That couldn*t otherwise be got at — If he'll but join th' Association, We'll vote him in by acclamation. And now, my brother,, guide, and friend. This somewhat tedious scrawl must end. I've gone into this long detail. Because I saw your nerves were shaken With anxious fears lest I should fail In this new, loyal, course I've taken. But, bless your heart ! you need not doubt — > We, Fudges, know what we're about. Look round, and say if you can see A much more thriving family. 62 There's JaCK^ the Doctor — night and day Hundreds of patients so besiege him, You*d swear that all the rich and gay Fell sick on purpose to oblige him. And while they think, the precious ninnies. He's counting o'er their pulse so steady. The rogue but counts how many guineas He*s fobb'd, for that day's work, already. I'll ne*er forget th' old maid's alarm, When, feeling thus Miss Sukey Flirt, he Said, as he dropp'd her shrivell'd arm, **^ Damn'd bad this morning— only thirty!' Your dowagers, too, every one. So gen'rous are, when they call him in. That he might now retire upon The rheumatisms of three old women. Then, whatsoe'er your ailments are. He can so learnedly explain ye 'em — 63 Your cold, of course, is a catarrh, Your head-ach is a hemi-cranium ;— His skill, too, in young ladies' lungs, The grace with which, most mild of men. He begs them to put out their tongues, Then bids them — put them in again ! In short, there's nothing now like Jack ;— Take all your doctors, great and small. Of present times and ages back, Dear Doctor Fudge is worth them all. So much for physic — then, in law too. Counsellor Tim ! to thee we bow 5 Not one of us gives more eclat to Th' immortal name of Fudge than thou. Not to expatiate on the art With which you play'd the patriot's part. Till something good and snug should, offer j*- Like one, who, by the way he acts 64 Th' enligktemng part of candle-snufer. The manager's keen eye attracts. And is promoted thence by him To strut in robes, like thee, my TiM !— fVho shall describe thy pow'rs efface, Thy well-fee'd zeal in every case. Or wrong or right — but ten times warmer (As suits thy calling) in the former — Thy glorious, lawyer-like delight In puzzling all that's clear and right, ^Vhich, though conspicuous in thy youth. Improves so with a wig and band on. That all thy pride's to way-lay Truth, And leave her not a leg to stand on.— Thy patent, prime, morality, — Thy cases, cited from the Bible — Thy candour, when it falls to thee To help in trouncing for a libel j — 65 " God knows, "I^ from my soul, profess ** To hate all bigots and benighters ! " God knows, I love, to ev'n excess, *^ The sacred Freedom of the Press, '* My only aim's to — crush the writers." These are the virtues, TiM, that draw The briefs into thy bag so fast ; And these, oh Tim — if Law be Law — Will raise thee to the Bench at last. I blush to see this letter's length, — But 'twas my wish to prove to thee How full of hope, and wealth, and strength. Are all our precious family. And, should affairs go on as pleasant As, thank the Fates, they do at present — Should we but still enjoy the sway F 66 Of S— DM— H and of C Ch, I hope, ere long, to see the day When England's wisest statesmen, judges. Lawyers, peers, will all be — Fudges ! Good bye — my paper's out so nearly, I've only room for Yours sincerely. LETTER VJI EROM PHELIM CONNOR TO Bbforb we sketch the Present — ^let us cast A few, short, rapid glances to the Past. WTxen he, who had defied all Europe's strength. Beneath his own weak rashness eunk at length ; — When, loos'd, as if by magic, from a chain That seem'd like Fate's, the world was free again. And Europe saw, rejoicing in the sight, The cause of Kings,^r once, the cause of Right 3 — F2 riMMHBttsa&5Ss;^:x^ 68 Then was, indeed, an hour of joy to those Who sigh'd for justice — ^liberty — repose^ And hop'd the fall of one great vulture's nest Would ring its warning round, and scare the rest. And all was bright with promise ; — Kings began To own a sympathy with suffering Man, And Man was grateful — ^Patriots of the South Caught wisdom from a Cossack Emperor's mouth. And heard^ like accents thaw*d in Northern air. Unwonted words of freedom burst forth there ! Who did not hope, in that triumphant time. When monarchs, after years of spoil and crime. Met round the shrine of Peace, and Heav*n look'd on. Who did not hope the lust of spoil was gone ; — That that rapacious spirit, which had play'd The game of Pilnitz o'er so oft, was laid, 69 I And Europe's Rulers, conscious of the past. Would blush, and deviate into right at last ? But no— the hearts, that nurs'd a hope so fair, I Had yet to learn what men on thrones can dare ; Had yet to know, of all earth's ravening things, j The only quite untameable are Kings ! i Scarce had they niet when, to its nature true. The instinct of their race broke out anew j Promises, treaties, charters, all were vain. And ''Rapine ! — rapine!" was the cry again. How quick they carv'd their victims, and how well. Let Saxony, let injur'd Genoa tell, — Let all the human stock that, day by day. Was at that Royal slave-mart truck'd away,— The million souls that, in the face of heaven. Were split to fractions,* barter'd, sold, or given * " Whilst the Congress was re-constructing Europe— not ac- cording to rights, natural affiances, language, habits, or laws; but warn 70 To swell some despot Power, too huge before, i And weigh down Europe with one Mammoth more ! j How safe the faith of Kings let France decide ; — ' Her charter broken, ere its ink had dried, — \ Her Press enthrall'd — her Reason mock'd again I With all the monkery it had spum'd in vain — ! Her crown disgrac'd by one, who dar'd to own He thank'd not France but England for his throne — ] Her triumphs cast into the shade by those, j Who had grown old among her bitterest foes, ] And now returned, beneath her conquerors* shields, I i Unblushing slaves ! to claim her heroes' fields, } To tread down every trophy of her fame, I I And curse that glory which to them was shame ! — ] by tables of finance, which divided and subdivided her population i into souh, demi-souls, and even fractions, according to a scale of the direct duties or taxes, which could be levied by the acquliing state," &c. — Sketch of the Military and Political Power of Russia. The words on the protocol are atnes, demi-ames, &c. 71 Let these — let all the damning deeds, that then I Were dar'd through Europe, cry aloud to men. With voice like that of crashing ice that rings Round Alpine huts, the perfidy of Kings ; And tell the world, when hawks shall harmless bear The shrinking dove, when wolves shall learn to spare The helpless victim for whose blood they lusted. Then, and then only, monarchs may be trusted ! I It could not last — these horrors could not last — France would herself have ris'n, in might, to cast Th' insuliers oflf — and oh ! that then, as now. Chain' d to some distant islet's rocky brow. Napoleon ne*er had come to force, to blight, Ere half matur'd, a cause so proudly bright j — To palsy patriot hearts with doubt and shame. And write on Freedom's flag a despot's namej — ■i 72 To rush into the lists, unask'd, alone. And make the stake of all the game of one ! Then would the world have seen again what power A people can put forth in Freedom's hour j Then would the fire of France once more have blazMj— For every single sword, reluctant rais'd In the stale cause of an oppressive throne. Millions would then have leap'd forth in her own ; And never, never had th' unholy stain Of Bourbon feet disgrac'd her shores again ! But fate decreed not so — th' Imperial Bird, That, in his neighbouring cage, unfear'd, unstirr'd, \ Had seem*d to sleep with head beneath his wing. Yet watch' d the moment for a daring spring ; — Well might he watch, when deeds were done, that made His own transgressions whiten in their shade ; 73 Well might he hope a world, thus trampled o*er By clumsy tyrants, would be his once more : — Forth from its cage that eagle burst to light. From steeple on to steeple* wing'd its flight. With calm and easy grandeur, to that throne From which a Royal craven just had flown ; And resting there, as in its aerie, furl'd Those wings, whose very rustling shook the world! What was your fury then, ye crownM array. Whose feast of spoil, whose plundering holiday Was thus broke up, in all its greedy mirth. By one bold chieftain's stamp on Gallic earth ! Fierce was the cry, and fulminant the ban,— " Assassinate, who will — enchain, who can, '' The vile, the faithless, outlaw'd, low-born man!'* * *' L'aigle volera de clocher en clocher, jusqu'aux tours de Notre-Dame.'* — Napoleon's Proclamation on landing from Elb*. 1 74 '' Faithless !'*— and this from you — from you, for- soothj Ye pious Kings, pure paragons of truth. Whose honesty all knew, for all had tried ; Whose true Swiss zeal had serv'd on every side j Whose fame for breaking faith so long was known. Well might ye claim the craft as all your own. And lash your lordly tails, and fume to see Such low-born apes of Royal perfidy ! Yes — yes— to you alone did it belong To sin for ever, and yet ne'er do wrong — The frauds, the lies of Lords legitimate Are but fine policy, deep strokes of state 5 But let some upstart dare to soar so high In Kingly craft, and *' outlaw" is the cry ! What, though long years of mutual treachery Had peopled full your diplomatic shelves With ghosts of treaties, murder'd 'mong yourselves > 75 Though each by turns was knave and dupe — what then? A Holy League would set all straight again j Like Juno's virtue^ which a dip or two In some bless'd fountain made as good as new !* Most faithful Russia — faithful to whoe'er Could plunder best, and give him amplest share 5 Who, ev'n when vanquished, sure to gain his ends. For want oijbes to rob, made free w\t\\ friends, f And, deepening still by amiable gradations. When foes were strip t of all, then fleec'd relations ! % Most mild and saintly Prussia — steep'd to th' ears In persecuted Poland's blood and tears, * Singulis annis in quodam Atticae fonte lota virginitatem recu- perasse fingitur. t At the Peace of Tilsit, where he abandoned his ally, Prussia, to France, and received a portion of her territory. J The seizure of Finland from his relative of Sweden, 76 And now, with all her harpy wings outspread O'er sever'd Saxony's devoted head ! Pure Austria too — whose hist'ry nought repeats But broken leagues and subsidized defeats j Whose faith, as Prince, extinguish'd Venice shows. Whose faith, as man, a widow'd daughter knows ! And thou, oh England — who, though once as shy As cloister*d maids, of shame or perfidy. Art now broke in, and, thanks to C gh. In all that's worst and falsest lead'st the way ! Such was the pure divan, whose pens and wits Th' escape from Elba frighten'd into fits 3 — Such were the saints, who doom'd Napoleon's life. In virtuous frenzy, to th' assassin's knife ! Disgusting crew ! — luho would not gladly fly To open, downright, bold-fac'd tyranny. To honest guilt, that dares do all but lie. .J 77 From the false^ juggling craft of men like these. Their canting crimes and varnish'd villanies 5— These Holy Leaguers, who then loudest boast Of faith and honour, when they've stain'd them most; Prom whose affection men should shrink as loath As from their hate, for they'll be fleec'd by both ; Who, ev*n while plund'ring, forge Religion's name To frank their spoil, and, without fear or shame. Call down the Holy Trinity* to bless Partition leagues, and deeds of devilishness ! * The usaal preamble of these flagitious compacts. In the same spirit, Catherine, after the dreadful massacre of Warsaw, ordered a solemn " thanksgiving to God in all the churches, for the bless- ings conferred upon the Poles f and commanded that each of them should *' swear fidelity and loyalty to her, and to shed in her de- fence the last drop of their blood, as they should answer for it to God, and his terrible judgment, kissing the holy word and cross of their Saviour!" 78 But hold— enough— soon would this swell of rage O'erflow the boundaries of my scanty page, — So, here I pause — farewell — another day Return we to those Lords of pray'r and prey, Whose loathsome cant, whose frauds by right divine Deserve a lash — oh ! weightier far than mine 1 LETTER VIII. FROM MR. BOB FUDG^ TO RICHARD , ESQ. Dear Dick, while old Donaldson's* mending my stays, — Which I knetv would go smash with me one of these days. And, at yesterday's dinner, when, full to the throttle. We lads had begun our desert with a bottle Of neat old Constantia, on mi/ leaning back Just to order another, by Jove I went crack ! — • An English tailor at Paris. 80 Or, as honest Tom said, in his nautical phrase, " D — n my eyes, Bob, in doubling the Cape you've missed stays*'* So, of course, as no gentleman's seen out without them, They*re now at the Schneider's f — and, while he*s about them. Here goes for a letter, post-haste, neck and crop- Let us see— in my last I was — where did I stop ? Oh, I know — at the Boulevards, as motley a road a» Man ever would wish a day's lounging upon ; With its cafes and gardens, hotels and pagodas. Its founts, and old Counts sipping beer in the sun : With its houses of all architectures you please. From the Grecian and Gothic, Dick, down by degree* To the pure Hottentot, or the Brighton Chinese ; • A ship is said to miss stays, when she do«s not obey the hel» in tacking. t The dandy term for a tailor. I I 81 Where in temples antique you may breakfast or dinner it, Lunch at a mosque, and see Punch from a minaret. Then, Dick,, the mixture of bonnets and bowers. Of foliage and frippery, ^tfcres and flowers, Green- grocers, green gardens — one hardly knows whether 'Tis country or town, they're so mess'd up together ! And there, if one loves the romantic, one sees Jew clothes-men, like shepherds, reclin'd under trees j Or Quidnuncs, on Sunday, just fresh from the bar- ber's. Enjoying their news and groseille* in those arbours, • " Lemonade and eau-de-groseille are measured out at every corner of every street, from fantastic vessels, jingling with bells, to thirsty tradesmen or wearied messengers." — See Lady Mor- gan's lively description of the streets of Paris, in her very amusing work upon France, Book 6. ^ While gaily their wigs, like the tendrils, are curling, f j And founts of red currant -juice* round them are i purling. J I Here, DicKj arm in arm as we chattering stray, j And receive a few civil "^ God-dems" by the way, — i For, 'tis odd, these mounseers, — though we've I wasted our wealth j And our strength, till we've thrown ourselves | into a phthisic, j To cram down their throats an old King for their { health, I As we whip little children to make them take j physic ;— i i Yet, spite of our good-natur'd money and slaughter, < They hate us, as Beelzebub hates holy-water ! * These gay, portable fountains, from which the groseillc water I is administered, are among the most characteristic ornaments of the | streets of Paris. \ 83 But who the deuce cares, Dick, as long as they nourish us Neatly as now, and good cookery flourishes- Long as, by bay'nets protected, we, Natties, May have our full fling at their salmis oadpatSs ? And, truly, I always declared 'twould be pity To burn to the ground such a choice-feeding city : Had Dad but his way, he'd have long ago blown The whole batch to old Nick — and the people, I own. If for no other cause than their curst monkey looks, Well deserve a blow-up — ^but then, damn it, their Cooks ! As to Marshals, and Statesmen, and all their whole lineage, For aught that / care, you may knock them to spinage ; g2 84 But thinks Dick, their Cooks — what a loss to man- kind! What a void in the world would their art leave behind ! Their chronometer spits — their intense salamanders — Their ovens — their potS;, that can soften old ganders. All vanish'd for ever — their miracles o'er, And the Mar mite Perpetuelle* bubbling no morel Forbid it, forbid it, ye Holy Allies, Take whatever ye fancy — take statues, take mo- ney — But leave them, oh leave them their Perigord pies. Their glorious goose-livers, and high pickled tunny ! f * " Cette merveilleuse Marmite Perpetuelle, sur le feu depuis pres d'un siecle j qui a donne le jour a plus de 300,000 chapous." — Alman. de Gourmands, Quatri^me Annee, p. 152. t Le thon marine, one of the most favourite and indigestible horSf-d*oBuvres. This fish is taken chiefly in the GoWe de Lyon. 85 Though many, I own, are the evils they've brought us. Though Royalty's here on her very last legs^ Yet, who can help loving the land that has taught us Six hundred and eighty-five ways to dress eggs ?* You see, Dick, in spite of their cries of *^ God-dam/' ** Coquin Anglais," et caet'ra— how generous I am! And now (to return, once again, to my " Day," Which will take us all night to get through in this way) From the Boulevards we saunter through many a I street. Crack jokes on the native? — mine, all very neat- Leave the Signs of the Times to political fops. And find twice as much fun in the Signs of the Shops y — " La tete et le dessous du ventre sont les parties les plus recher- chees des gourmets." — Cours Gastronomique, p. 252. * The exact number mentioned by M, de la Rejniere — " On connoit en France 685 mani^res diiFerentes d'accommoder les ceuls; sans coropteF celles que nos savans imagineut chaque jova-.'* 86 Here, a Louis Dix-huit — there, a Martinmas goose, | (Much in vogue since your eagles are gone out of j use) — I Henri Quatres in shoals, and of Gods a great many, j But Saints are the most on hard duty of any: — I St. Tony, who us'd all temptations to spurn, i Here hangs o'er a beer-shop, and tempts in his turn ; While there St. Venecia* sits hemming and frilling i her f Holy mouchoir o'er the door of some miUiner ; — j Saint Austin's the " outward and visible sign \ Of an inward" cheap dinner, and pint of small wine ; j While St. Dbnys hangs out o*er some hatter of ton, \ And possessing, good bishop, no head of his own,t < Takes an int'rest in Dandies, who've got — next to j none ! * Veronica, the Saint of the Holy Handkerchief, is also, under \ the name of Venisse or Venecia, the tutelary saint of milliners. ' f f St. Denys walked three miles after his head was cut off. The i! i I \ 87 Then we stare into shops — read the evening's of- Jiches — Or^, if some, who're Lotharios in feeding, should wish Just to flirt with a luncheon, (a devilish bad trick. As it takes oflf the bloom of one's appetite, Dick,) To the Passage des — what d'ye call't — des Panoramas* We quicken our pace, and there heartily cram as Seducing young fates, as ever could cozen One out of one's appetite, down by the dozen. We vary, of course — petits fates do one day. The next we've our lunch with the Gauffrier Hol- landais, f That popular artist, who brings out, like Sc — tt. His delightful productions so quick, hot and hot ; moi of a woman of wit iipon this legend is well known : — " Je le crois bien; en pareil cas, il n'y a que le premier pas qui coute." * Off the Boulevards Italiens. t In the Palais Royal ; successor, I believe, to the Flamand, so long celebrated for the mo'elkux of his Gaufres. m. Not the worse for the exquisite comment that fol- lows, — "PWinemaresqidno, which. — Lord^how one swallows! Once more, then^ we saunter forth after our snackj or Subscribe a few francs for the price of 'djiacre. And drive far away to the old Montagues Russes, Where we find a few twirls in the car of much use To regen'rate the hunger and thirst of us sinners. Who've laps'd into snacks — the perdition of dinners. And here, Dick — in answer to one of your queries. About which we. Gourmands, have had much discussion — I've tried aU these mountains, Swiss, French, and Ruggieri's, And think, for digestion* there's none like the Russian ; • Doctor Cotteiel recomraeuds, for this purpose, the Beaujon or 1' reach Mouiitams, and calls them *' upe luedeclce aerienne, coi*- l^J 89 So equal the motion — so gentle, though fleet — It, in short, such a light and salubrious scamper is. That take whom you please — take old L — s D — ^x- H— T, . And stuff him — ay, up to the neck — ^with stew'd lampreys, * So wholesome these Mounts, such a solvent I've found them, That, let me but rattle the Monarch well down them, leur de rose;" but I own I prefer the authority of Mr. Bob, who seems, from the follawuig .note found in his own. iiand-writing, to have studied all these mountains very carefully : Memoranda — The Swiss little nt tice deserves. While the fall at Ruggieri's is death to weak nerves ; • And (whate'er Doctor Cott'rel may write on the question) The turn at the Beaujon's too sharp for digestion. I doubt whether Mr. Bob is quite correct in accenting the second syllable of Ruggieri. * A dish so indigestible, that a late novelist, at the end of hi& book, could imagine no more summary mode of getting rid of all his heroes and heroines than by a hearty supper of stewed lam- preys. 90 The fiend, Indigestion, would fly far away, | And the regicide lampreys* be foiled of their prey! j I Such, Dick, are the classical sports that content us, ' Till five o'clock brings on that hour so momentous, j That epoch but woa ! my lad — here comes the \ Schneider, ^ And, curse him, has made the stays three inches j wider — \ Too wide by an inch and a half — what a Guy ! j But, no matter— 'twill all be set right by-and-by — ' As we've MASSiNOx'sf eloquent carte to eat still ) up, An inch and a halfs but a trifle to fill up, i * They killed Henry I. of England : — " a food (says Hume, i gravely,) which always agreed better with his palate than his « constitution." i t A famous Restaurateur — now Dupont. 91 So — not to lose time, Dick — here goes for the task ; Au revoir, my old boy — of the Gods I but ask. That my life, like '^ the Leap of the German," * may be, '* Du lit ^ la table, d'la table au lit !" R.F. * An old French sayings — " Faire le saut de I'Alleraand, du lit a la table et de la table au lit." LETTER IX. FROM PHIL. FUDGE, ESQ. TO THE LORD VISCOUNT C ST GH. AIy Lord, th' Instructions, brought to-day, " I shall in all my best obey." Your Lordship talks and writes so sensibly ! And — whatsoe'er some wags may say — Oh ! not at all incomprehensibly. I feel th' inquiries in your letter About my health and French most flattering ; Thank ye, my French, though somewhat better. Is, on the whole, but weak and smattering : — 93 Nothing, of course, that can compare With his who made the Congress stare, (A certain Lord we need not name) Who, ev'n in French, would have his trope, And talk of " batir un systeme " Sur V4quUikre de I'Europe ?' Sweet metaphor ! — and then th' Epistle, Which bid the Saxon King go whistle. That tender letter to '' Mon Prince," * Which show'd alike thy French and sense} — Oh no, my Lord — there*s none can do Or say un-English things like you ; And, if the schemes that fill thy breast Could but a vent congenial seek. And use the tongue that suits them best. What charming Turkish would'st thou speak ! * The celebrated letter to Prince Hardenburgh (written, however, I believe, originally iu English,) in which his Lordship, professing to see " no moral or political objection" to the dismemberment of Saxony, denounced the unfortunate King as " not only the most devoted, but the most favoured of Bonaparte's vassals.'* 94 But as for me, a Frenchless grub. At Congress never born to stammer, Nor learn like thee, my Lord, to snub Fall'n Monarchs, out of Chambaud's gfam- mar — Bless 3'ou, you do not, cannot know How far a little French will go ; For aU one's stock, one need but draw On some half dozen words like these — Comme qa — par-la — la-has — ah ha ! They'll take you all through France with ease. Your Lordship's praises of the scraps 1 sent you from my Journal lately, (Enveloping a few lacM caps For Lady C.) delight me greatly. Her flattering speech—''^ what pretty things One finds in Mr. Fudge's pages!" i J d5 Is praise which (as some poet sings) Would pay one for the toils of ages. Thus flatter'd, I presume to send A few more extracts by a friend ; And I should hope they'll be no less Approv'd of than my last MS. — The former ones^ I fear, were creas'd. As Biddy round the caps would pin them^ But these will come to hand^ at least Unrumpled, for — there's nothing in them. Extracts from Mr. Fudge s Journal, addressed to Lord C. Aug. 10. Went to the Mad-house — saw the man, * Who thinks^ poor wretch, that, while the Fiend • This extraordinary madman is, I believe, in the Bicetre. He , imagines, exactly as Mr. Fudge states it, that, when the heads of 96 Of Discord here full riot ran. He, lik€ the rest, was guillotin'd 5 — But that when, under Boney's reign, (A more discreet, though quite as strong one; The heads were all restor'd again. He, in the scramble, got a wrong one. Accordingly, he still cries out This strange head fits him most unpleasantly ; And always runs, poor dev'l, about, Inquiring for his own incessantly ! While to his case a tear I dropt. And saunter'd home, thought I — ye Gods ! How many heads might thus be swopp'd. And, after all, not make much odds ! For instance, there's V— s— tt — t's head — (*' Tarn carum^'* it may well be said) those who had been guillotined were restored, he by mistake got some other person's instead of his own. * Tam can capitis. — Horat. .J I. 97 If by some curious chance it came To settle on Bill Soames*s* shoulders^ Th* eflfect would turn out much the same On all respectable cash-holders : Except that while, in its nexv socket. The head was planning schemes to win A zig'Zag way into one's pocket. The hands would plunge directly in. Good Viscount S — hm — h, too, instead Of his own grave, respected head. Might wear (for aught I see that bars) Old Lady Wilhelmina Frump's — So while the hand sign'd Circulars ^ The head might lisp out '' What is trumps V The R — G — T^s brains could we transfer To some robust man-milliner, ♦ A celebrated pickpocket. H 98 The shop^ the shears, the lace, and ribboa. Would go, I doubt not, quite as glib on j And, vice versa^ take the pains To give the P — ce the shopman's brains,^ One only change from thence would flow. Ribbons would not be wasted so ! 'Twas thus I ponder'd on, my Lord; And, ev'n at night, when laid in bed, I found myself, before I snor'd, Thus chopping, swopping head for head. At length I thought, fantastic elf ! How such a change would suit mi/self, 'Twixt sleep and waking, one by one. With various pericraniums saddled, At last I tried your Lordship's on. And then I grew completely addled — Forgot all other heads, od rot 'era ! And slept, and dreamt that I was — Bottom .' 99 Jug. 2 1 . AV^alk'd out with daughter Bid — was shown The Hoiise of Commons, and the Throne, Whose velvet cushion's just the same * Napoleon sat on — what a shame ! Oh, can we wonder, best of speechers ! When Louis seated thus we see. That France's ^* fundamental featured" Are much the same they us'd to be ? However, — God i)reserve the Throne, Arid cushion too — and keep them free From accidents, which have been known To happen ev*n to Royalty ! f * The only change, if I recollect right, is the substitution of lilies for bees. This war upon the bees is, of course, universal '.'exitiura misere apibus," like the angry nymphs in Virgil: — but may not new sicarms arise out of the victims of Legitimacy yet? , f I am afraid that Mr. Fudge alludes here to a very awkward accident, which is well known to have happened to poor L— s le D— s — e, some years since, at one of the R — g— t's Fetes. He was, silting next our gracious Queen at the time. H 2 100 Jug. 28. Read, at a stall, (for oft one pops On something at these stalls and shops. That does to quote, and gives one*s Book A classical and knowing look, — Indeed I've found, in Latin, lately, A course of stalls improves me greatly.) 'Twas thus I read, that, in the East, A monarch*s/a^*s a serious matter ; And once in every year, at least, He*s weigh'd — to see if he gets fatter : * Then, if a pound or two he be Increas'd, there's quite a jubilee ! f • *' The 3rd day of the Feast the King caaseth himself to be weighed with great care."— F. Bemicr's Voyage to Sural, 8(c. f " I remember," says Bernier, " that all the Omrabs ex- pressed great joy that the King weighed two pounds more now than the year preceding." — Another author tells us that " Fatness, as well as a very large head, is considered, throughout India, as one of the most precious gifts of heaven. An enormous skull is absolutely revered, and the liappy owner is looked up to as a 101 Suppose, my Lord,— and far from me To treat such things with levity — But just suppose the R — g — t'S weight Were made thus an affair of state ; And, ev'ry sessions, at the close, — 'Stead of a speech, which, all can see, is Heavy and dull enough, God knows— We were to try how heavy he is. Much would it glad all hearts to hear That, while the Nation's Revenue Loses so many pounds a year, The P B, God bless him ! gains a few. With bales of muslin, chintzes, spices, I see the Easterns weigh their Kings j — But, for the R — G — T, my advice is. We should throw in much heavier things : superior being. To a Prince a joulter liead is invaluable. Oriental Field Sports. H 102 For instance — 's quarto volumes^ Whichj though not spices^ serve to wrap them ; Dominie St — dd — t's Daily columns, ^^ Prodigious ! " — ^in, of course, we'd clap them — Letters, that C — rtw t*s pen indites. In which, with logical confusion. The Major like a Minor writes. And never comes to a Conclusion : — Lord S — M — Rs' pamphlet — or his head — (Ah, that were worth its weight in lead !) Along with which we in may whip, sly. The Speeches of Sir John C — x H — pp — sly 3 That Baronet of many words, * Who loves so, in the House of Lords, To whisper Bishops— and so nigh Unto their wigs in whisp'ring goes. That you may always know him by A patch of powder on his nose ! — 103 If this won't do, we in must cram The *' Reasons" of Lord B — CK — 6H— M 3 (A Book his Lordship means to write. Entitled ^' Reasons for my Ratting :") Or, should these prove too small and lights His 's a host—- we'll bundle that in ! And, still should all these masses fail To stir the R — g— t's ponderous scale. Why th«i, my Lord, in heaven's name. Pitch in, without reserve or stint. The whole of R — gl — y's beauteous Dame — If that won't raise him, devil's in't ! Aug.^l. Consulted Murphy's Tacitus About those famous spies at Rome, * * The name of the first worthy who set up the trade of informer at Rome (to whom our Olivers and Castleses ought to erect a statue) was Ronianus Hispo ; — " qui formam vitaj iniit, quam postea cele- 104 Whom certain Whigs — ^o make a fuss — Describe as much resembling us,* Informing gentlemen, at home. But, bless the fools, they can't be serious. To say Lord S — dm — ^th's like Tibkrius ! What! he, the Peer, that injures no man. Like that severe, blood-thirsty Roman ! — 'Tis true, the Tyrant lent an ear to All sorts of spies — so doth the Peer, too. 'Tis true my Lord's Elect tell fibs. And deal in perj'ry — ditto Tib's. 'Tis true, the Tyrant screen'd and hid His rogues from justice f — ditto Sid. brero miseriae temporum et audaciae horainum fecerunt.'' — Tacit. Annal. 1, 74. * They certainly possessed the same art of instigating their vic- tims, which the Report of the Secret Committee attributes to Lord Sidmouth's agents : — " tocius (says Tacitus of one of them) libidi- uum et uecessitatum, quo pluribus indiciis inligaret." ■f " Neqae tameu id Sereno noxs fuit, quern odmm fuhlxaan tu- 105 *Tis true the Peer is grave and glib At moral speeches — ditto Tib. * 'Tis true, the feats the Tyrant did Were in his dotage — ditto Sid. So far, I own, the parallel 'Twixt Tib and Sid goes vastly well; But there are points in Tib that strike My humble mind as much more like Yourself, my dearest Lord, or him Of th' India Board — that soul of whim ! tioremfaciebat. Nam ut quis districtior accusator velut sacrosanctus erat.** Anna). Lib. 4, 36,— Or, as it is translated by Mr. Fudge's friend, Murphy : — " This daring accuser had the curses of the pe(yple, and the jyrotection of the Emperor. Informers, in propor- tion as they rose in guilt, became sacred characters.^' * Murphy even confers upon one of his speeches tlie epithet " constitutional." Mr. Fudge might have added to his parallel, that Tiberius was a good private character : — ♦' cgregiara vita faraaque quoad jmvatus." aaa^s^am^ 106 Like him^ Tiberius lov'd his joke, * On matters, too, where few can bear one ; E» g. a man, cut up, or broke Upon the wheel — a devilish fair one I Your common fractures, wounds, and fits. Are nothing to such wholesale wits ; But, let the suiF'rer gasp for life. The joke is then worth .any money j And, if he writhe beneath a knife, — Oh dear, that's something quite too funny. In this respect, my Lord, you see The Roman wag and ours agree : Now as to your resemblance — mum — This parallel we need not follow 3 f ♦ " Ludibria seriis permiscere solitus." + There is one point of resemblance between Tiberius and Lord C. which Mr. Fudge might have mentioned—" suspensa iemper et obscura verba.'^ 107 Though 'tis, in Ireland, said by some Your Lordship beats Tiberius hollow y Whips, chains— but these are things too. serious For me to mention or discuss -, Whene'er your Lordship acts Tiberius^ Phil. Fuj)Ge's part is Tacitus f Sept. 2. Was thinking, had Lord S — dm — th got Up any decent kind of Plot Against the winter-time — ^^if not, Alas, alas, our ruin's fated ; All done up, and spijlkated ! Ministers and all their vassals, Down from C — tl gh to Castles, — Unless we can kick up a riot, Ne'er can hope for peace or quiet \ iiiMMHlMittllli 108 What's to be done ? — Spa-Fields was clever j But even that brought gibes and mockings Upon our heads — so, mem. — must never Keep ammunition in old stockings j For fear some wag should in his curst head Take it to say our force was %corsted, Mem. too — when Sid. an army raises. It must not be *^ incog." like Bayes's : Nor must the General be a hobbling Professor of the art of Cobbling j Lest men, who perpetrate such puns, Should say, with Jacobinic grin. He felt, from soleing Welliiigtons, * A Wellington's great soul within ! Nor must an old Apothecary Go take the Tower, for lack of pence, * Short boots, so called. 109 With (what these wags would call, so merry) Physical force and phial-ence I No— no — our Plot^ my Lord, must be Next time contrived more skilfully. John Bull, I grieve to say, is growing So troublesomely sharp and knowing. So wise — in short, so Jacobin — 'Tis monstrous hard to take him in. Sept, 6, Heard of the fate of our Ambassador In China, and was sorely nettled 5 But think, my Lord, we should not pass it o'er Till all this matter's fairly settled ; And here's the mode occurs to me :— - As none of our Nobility (Though for their own most gracious King They would kiss hands, or — any thing) no Can be persuaded to go through This farce-like trick of the Ko-tou ; And as these Mandarins won't bend^ Without some mumming exhibition^ Suppose^ my Lord, you were to send Grimaldi to them on a mission : As Legate Joe could play his part. And if, in diplomatic art. The '' volto sciolto" * 's meritorious, Let Joe but grin, he has it, glorious ! A title for him 's easily made ; And, by the by, one Christmas time, If I remember right, he play'd Lord Mo R LEY in some pantomime; — f • The ofpen countenance, recommended by Lord Chesterfield'. + Mr. Fudge is a little mistaken here. It was not Grimaldi, but ^ome very inferior performer, whoplajed this part of *' Lord Mor- ley " in the pantomime, — so much to the horror of the distinguished Ill As Earl of M— rl — Y then gazette him. If t'other Earl of M— rl— Y '11 let him. (And why should not the world be blest With two such stars^ for East and West ?) Then^ when before the Yellow Screen He's brought — and, sure^ the very essence Of etiquette would be that scene Of Joe in the Celestial Presence ! — He thus should say : — '' Duke Ho and Soo, ' * I'll play what tricks you please for you, ** If you'll, in turn, but do for me '' A few small tricks you now shall see. " If I consult your Emperor's liking, '* At least you'll do the same for my King." He then should give them nine such grins^, As would astound ev'n Mandarins j Earl of that name. The expostulatory letters of the Noble Earl to Mr. Il-rr-s, upon this vulgar profanation of his spick-and-span- new title, will, I trust, some time or other, be given to the worlcl> 112 And throw such somersets before The picture of King GbORGE (God bless him!) As, should Duke Ho but try them o"er, Would^ by Confucius, much distress him ! I start this merely as a hint. But think you'll find some wisdom in't ; And, should you follow up the job. My son, my Lord, (you know poor Bob) Would in the suite be glad to go And help his Excellency, Joe j — At least, like noble Amh — rst's son. The lad will do to practise on. * * See Mr Ellis's account of the Erabassy. 113 LETTER X. FROM MISS BIDDY FUDGE TO MISS DOROTHY . ^ ELL, it is n't the King, after all, my dear creature ! But dorCt you go laugh, now — there's nothing to quiz in't — For grandeur of air and for grimness of feature. He might be a King, Doll, though, hang him, he is n't. At first, I felt hurt, for I wish'd it, I own. If for no other cau«e but to vex Miss Malonb,^ — I 114 {The great heiress, you know, of Shandangan, who's here. Showing off with such airs, and a real Cashmere, * While mine's but a paltry, old rabbit-skin, dear!) But says Pa, after deeply consid'ring the thing, *' I am just as well pleas'd it should not be the King; *' As I think for my Biddy, so gentUle andjo/te, '' Whose charms may their price in an honest way fetch, '' That a Brandenburgh" — (what w a Brandenburgh, Dolly ?)— • '' Would be, after all, no such very great catch. ^' If the R — G — T indeed — " added he, looking sly — (You remember that comical squint of his eye) ♦ See Lady Morgan's " France" for the anecdote, told her by Madame de Genlis, of the young gentleman whose lore was cured by findhig that his mistress wore a sharwl " peau de lapin." 115 But I stopped him with " La, Pa, how can you say so> *' When the R — g — t loves none but old women, you know !" Which is fact, my dear Dolly — we, girls of eighteen. And so slim — Lord, he'd think us not fit to be seen j And would like us much better as old — ay, as old As that Countess of Desmond, of whoml've been told That she liv'd to much more than a hundred and ten. And was kill'd by a fall from a cherry-tree then ! What a frisky old girl ! but — to come to my lover. Who, though not a King, is a hero I'll swear, — You shall hear all that's happen'd, just briefly run over, ' Since that happy night, when we whisk'd through the air ! Let me see — 'twas on Saturday — j-es, Dolly, yes — From that evening I date the first dawn of my bliss 5 I 2 m^m^mm 116 When we both rattled oflf in that dear little carri^e. Whose jaurney, BoB«ays, is so like Love and Marriage, " Beginning gay, desperate, dashing, down-hilly, *' And ending as dull as a six-inside Dilly !"* Well, scarcely a wink did I sleep the night through. And, next day, having scribbled my letter to you. With a heart full of hope this sweet fellow to meet I set out with Papa, to see Louis Dix-huit Make his bow to some half-dozen women and boys, Who get up a small concert of shrill Vive le Rois — And how vastly genteeler, my dear, even this is. Than vulgar Pall-Mall's oratorio of hisses ! The gardens seem'd full — so, of course, we walk'd o'er 'em, 'Mo ng orange-trees, clipp'd into town-bred decorum. And daphnes, and vases, and many a statue There staring, with not ev*n a stitch on them, at yon ! • The cars, oii the return, are dragged up »lowly by a chain. 117 The ponds, too> we view'd — stood awhile on the brink To cMitemplate the play of those pretty gold fishes — *' Lioe bullion," says merciless Bob, '*^ which, I think, '^ Would, if coined, with a little mint sauce, be delicious !" But iciliaty Dolly, what, is the gay orange-grove. Or gold fishes to her that's in search of her love ? In vain did I wildly explore every chair Where a thing like a man was — no lover sate there ! In vain my fond eyes did I eagerly cast At the whiskers, mustachios, and wigs that went past, To obtain, if I could, but a glance at that curl. But a glimpse of those whiskers, as sacred, my girl, As the lock that. Pa says,* is to Mussulman giv'n. For the angel to hold by that ^"^ lugs them to heaven!" — * For this scrap of knowledge " Pa" was, I suspect, indebted to a note upon Volney's Ruins ; a book which usually forms part of a Jacobin's library, and with which Mr. Fudge must have been well acquainted at the time when he wrote his " Down with Kings,' ' mm in lis .^as, there went by me full many a quiz. And musta Chios in plenty, but nothing like hia ! Disappointed, 1 found myself sighing out '' well-a- day,"- Thought of the words of T — m M — re's Irish Melody, Something about the ^' green spot of delight," * (Which, you know. Captain Macintosh sung to us one day) : Ah Dolly, viy *' spot" was that Saturday night. And its verdure, how fleeting, had withered by Sunday ! &c. The note in Volney is as follows: — " It is by thb tuft of hair, (on the crown of the head) worn by the majority of Mussul- mans, that the Angel of the Tomb is to take the elect and carry them to Paradise." ♦ The young lad^', whose memory is not very correct, most allude, I think, to the following lines: — Oh that lairy tonu is ne'er forgot, Which First Love trac'd ; Still it ling'ring haunts the greenest spot On Memorv's waste ! 119 We din'd at a tavern — La, wltat do I say ? If Bob was to know ! — a Restaurateur* s, dear ; Where your properest ladies go dine every day. And drink Burgundy out oflarge tumblers, like beer. Fine Bob (for he's really grown super -fine) Condescended, for once, to make one of the party ; Of course, though but three, we had dinner for nine, And, in spite of my grief, love, I own I eat hearty. Indeed, Doll, I know not how 'tis, but, in grief, Ihave always found eating a wond'rous relief j And Bob, who's in love, said he felt the same, quile^- < ""' My sighs," said he,'^ ceasM with the first glass 1 drank yoTi ; * * The lamh made me tranquil, the puffs made me light, " And — now that's all o'er — ^why, I'm — pretty well, thank you !" To my great annoyance, we sat rather late j For Bobby and Pa had a furious d ebat« I' I ill II ikiilBi MBiir i ^ .v.--^^.^>:=^-^^--^^^=^-^ — r-7T- 1- -L .. .MlMI^^^^Wf^gP 120 About singing and cookery — Bobby, of course. Standing up for the latter Fine Art in full force j And Pa saying, *' God only knows which is worst, " The French singers or cooks, but I wish us well over it — *' What with old Lais and Ve'ry, Tm curst '* If my head or my stomach will ever recover it!" 'Twas dark, when we got to the Boulevards to stroll, And in vain did I look 'mong the street Macaronis, When, sudden, it struck me — last hope of my soul — That some angel might take the dear man to ToRTONl's ! * We enter'd — and, scarcely had Bob, with an air. For a grappe a la jardiniere call'd to the waiters, When, oh Doll ! I saw him — my hero was there, (For I knew his Avhite small-clothes and brown leather gaiters) • A fashiooable caff glacier on the Italian Boulerardf. 121 A group of fair statues from Greece smiling o'er him, * And lots of red currant-juice sparkling before him ! Oh Dolly, these heroes — what creatures they are! In the boudoir the same as in fields full of slaughter; As cool in the Beaujon's precipitous car, As when safe at Tortoni's, o'er ic'd currant- water ! He join'd us — imagine, dear creature, my extasy — Join'd by the man I'd have broken ten necks to see ! Bob wish'd to treat him with Punch a la glaccy But the sweet fellow swore that my beaut S, my grace. And my je-ne'saiS'Quoi (then his whiskers he twirl'd) Were, to him, *'on de top of all Ponch in de vorld." — How pretty! — though oft (as, of course, it must be) Both his French and his English are Greek, Doll, to me. But, in short, I felt happy as ever fond heart did ; And happier still, when 'twas fix'd, ere we parted, • " You eat vour ice at Tortoni's," says Mr. Scott, " under a Grecian group." f ^ frfi " liii'fMt'MiT^nr'f--"'" '" ' ""' "'" '""ni^Ti^^^MBBMMMBhfa^^B—^^MMMM MMirf'-^^ 1^ That, if the next day should be pastoral weather. We all would set off, in French buggies, together. To see Montmorency — that place which, you know, Isso famous for cherries and JEANJACaUEsRoussEAU. His card then he gave us — the namei rather creas'd — But 'twas Calicot — something — a Colonel, at least ! After which — sure there never was hero so civil — ^he Saw us safe home to our door in Rue Rivoli, Where his last words, as, at parting, he threw A soft look o'er his shoulders, were — '* how do you do!"* But, lord, — there*s Papa for the post — I'm so vext — Montmorency must now, love, be kept for my next. That dear Sunday night ! — I was charmingly drest, And — so providential ! — was looking my best j • Not an uuusual mistake with foreigners. 123 j Such a sweet muslin gown, with a flounce — and my frills. You've no notion how rich — (though Pa has by the bills) And you'd SHGiile had you seen, when we sat rathernear. Colonel Calicot eyeing the cambric, my dear. Then the flow'rs in my bonnet — but, la, it's in vain — So, good by, my sweet Doll — I shall soon write again. B. F. Nota bene — our love to all neighbours about— Your Papa in particular — how is his gout ? P. S. — l*ve just open'd my letter to say. In your next you must tell me (now doy Dolly, pray. For I hate to ask Bob, he's so ready to quiz) What sort of a thing, dear, a Brandcnburgh is. 124 LETTER XI. FROM PHELIM CONNOR TO Yes — 'twas a cause, as noble and as great As ever hero died to vindicate — A Nation's right to speak a Nation's voice. And own no power but of the Nation's choice ! Such was the grand, the glorious cause that now Hung trembling on Napoleon's single brow j Such the sublime arbitrement, that pour'd. In patriot eyes, a light around his sword, A glory then, which never, since the day Of his young victories, had ilium 'd its way ! 125 Oh 'twas not then the time for tame debates. Ye men of Gaul, when chains were at your gates 5 When he, who fled before your Chieftain's eye. As geese from eagles on Mount Taurus fly, * Denounc'd against the land, that spurn'd his chain. Myriads of swords to bind it fast again — Myriads of fierce invading swords, to track Through your best blood his path of vengeance backj When Europe's Kings, that never yet combin'd But (like those upper Stars, that, when conjoin'd. Shed war and pestilence) to scourge mankind. Gathered around, with hosts from every shore. Hating Napoleon much, but Freedom more. And, in that coming strife, appaU*d to see The world yet left one chance for liberty !— • See JElian, Lib. 5. cap. 29 — who tells us that these geese, from a consciousness of their own loquacity, always cross Mount Taurus with stones in their bills, to prevent any unlucky cackle from betraying them to the eagles — iiaxcrmrca ^iuvMtrt;. 126 No, 'twas not then the time to weave a net Of bondage round your Chief j to curb and fret Your veteran war-horse, pawing for the fight. When every hope was in his speed and might — To waste the hour of action in dispute. And coolly plan how Freedom's houghs should shoot, When your Invader's axe was at the root! No, sacred Liberty ! that God, who throws Thy light around, like his own sunshine, knows How well I love thee, and how deeply hate All tyrants, upstart and Legitimate — Yet, in that hour, were France my native land, I would have followed, with quick heart and hand. Napoleon, Nero — ay, no matter whom — To snatch my country from that damning doom, That deadliest curse that on the conquer*d waits — A Conqueror's satrap, thron*d within her gates 1 , J ^ 127 True, he was false — despotic — all you pi Had trampled down man*s holiest liberties — Had, by a genius, form'd for nobler things Than lie within the grasp of vulgar Kings, But rais'd the hopes of men — as eaglets fly With tortoises aloft into the sky — To dash them down again more shatteringly ! *A11 this I own—but still * • * • Somebody (Fontenelle, I believe) has said, that if he had his hand full of truths, he would open but one finger at a time ; and I find it necessary to use the same sort of reserve with respect to Mr. Phelim Connor's verj' plain-spoken letters. The remainder ot thb Epistle is so full of unsafe matter-of-fact, that it must, for the present at least, be withheld from the public. 128 LETTER XII. FROM MI8S BIPDY FUDGE TO MISS DOROTHY At last, Dolly, — thanks to a potent emetic. Which Bobby and Pa, with grimace sympathetic. Have swallowed tliis morning, to balance the blisa Of an eel mat dote and a bisque cfecrevisses — I've a morning at home to myself, and sit down To describe you our heavenly trip out of town. How agog you must be for this letter, my dear ! Lady Jane, in the novel, less languish'd to hear If that elegant cornet she met at Lord Neville's Was actually dying with lore or — blue devils. I- 129 But Love, Dolly, Love is the theme I pursue j With Blue Devils,thank heav' n, 1 have nothing to do — Except, indeed, dear Colonel Calicot spies Any imps of that colour in certain blue eyes. Which he stares at till I, Doll, at his da the same ; Then he simpers — I blush — and would often exclaim^. If I knew but the French for it, *' Lord, Sir, for shame!" W^ell, the morning was lovely— the trees in full dress For the happy occasion — the sunshine express — Had we order'd it, dear, of the best poet going. It scarce could be fumish'd more golden and glowing. Though late when we started, the scent of the air \V^as like Gattie's rose-water— and, bright, here and there. On the grass an odd dew-drop was glittering yet. Like my aunt*s diamond pin on her gjeen tabbinet! K 130 And the birds seem'd to warble as blest on the boughs. As if each a plum*d Calicot had for her spouse j And the grapes were all blushing and kissing in rows, And^in short, need I tell you, wherever one goes With the creature one loves, 'tis all couleur de rose ; And, ah, I shall ne'er, liv'd I ever so long, see A day such as that at divine Montmorency ! There was but one drawback — at first when we started. The Colonel and I were inhumanly parted ; How cruel — young hearts of such moments to rob I He went in Pa's buggy, and I went with Bob 3 And, I own, I felt spitefully happy to know That Papa and his comrade agreed but so-^o. For the Colonel, it seems, is a stickler of Bonby's — SerVd with him, of course — nay, I'm sure they were cronies — 131 So martial his features T dear Doll, you can trace Ulm, Austerlitz, Lodi, as plain in his face As you do on that pillar of glory and brass,* Which the poor Due db B — Ri must hate so to pass I It appears, too, he made — as most foreigners do — About English affairs an odd blunder or two. For example — misled by the names, I dare say — He confounded Jack Castles withLordC GH5 And — such a mistake as no mortal hit ever on — Fancied tlie present Lord C — md — n the clever one! But politics ne'er were the sweet fellow's trade ; 'Twas for war and the ladies my Colonel was made. And, oh, had you heard, as together we walk'd Thro* that beautiful forest, how sweetly he talk'd -, And how perfectly well he appear'd, Doll, to know All the life and adventures of Jean Jacqces Rous- seau ! — • The column iu the Place Vendome. K2 132 '' 'Twas there/* said he — not that his xvords I can state — 'Twas a gibb'rish that Cupid alone could translate; — But " there/' said he (pointing where, small and remote, The dear Hermitage rose), ^' there his Julie he wrote, — '' Upon paper gilt-edg'd,* without blot or erasure ; " Then sanded it over with silver and azure, " And — oh, what will genius and fancy not do ? — '* Tied the leaves up together with nompareille blue !" What a trait of Rousseau ! what a crowd of emo- tions From sand and blue ribbons are conjur'd up here ! * " Employant pour cela le plus beau papier dore, s^cbant i I'ecriture avec de la poudre d'azur et d'argent, et cousant mes i cahiers avec de la nompareille bleue." — Les Cmfessions, Part '2, | liv. 9. I M 133 Alas, that a man of such exquisite* notions Should send his poor brats to the Foundling, my dear ! '' 'Twas here, too, perhaps/' ColojoelCALicoTsaid — As down the small garden he pensively led — (Though once I could see his sublime forehead wrinkle With rage not to find there the lov'd periwinkle) t • This word, " exquisite," is evidently a favourite of Miss Fudge's ; and I understand she was not a little angry when her brother Bob coramitted a pun on the last two syllables of it in the following cOHplet :— " I'd fain praise your Poem— but tell me, how is it When / cry out " Exquisite," Echo cries " quiz it f" f The flower which Rousseau brought into such fashion among the Parisians, by exclaiming one day, " Ah, voila de la per- venche!" 134 " Twas here he receiv'd from the fair D'Epinay, " (Who call'd him so sweetly her Bear,* every day,) '* That dear flannel petticoat, puU'd off to form '' A waistcoat, to keep the enthusiast warm !" f Such, Doll, were the sweet recollections we ponder'd. As, full of romance, through that valley we wander' d. The flannel (one's train of ideas, how odd it is ! ) Led us to talk about other commodities. Cambric, and silk, and — I ne'er shall forget. For the sun was then hastening in pomp to its set, • " Mon ourSj voili votre asyle et vous, moii ours, ne vien- drez-vous pas aussi?" &c. &c. f " Un jour, qa'il geloit tres fort, en ouvrant ua paquet qu'elle m'envoyoit, je trouvai un petit jupon de flanelle d'Angleterre, qu'elle me marquoit avoir porte, et dont elle vouloit que je me fisse faire un gilet. Ce soin, plus qu' amical, me parut si tendre, comme si elle se fut depoaillee pour me vetir, que, dans mon emotion, je baisai vingt fois en pleurant le billet et le jupon," 135 And full on the Colonel's dark whiskers shone down. When he ask'd me, with eagerness, — who made my gown? The question confus'd me — for,DoLL,youmustknow, And I ought to have told my best friend long ago. That, by. Pa's strict command, I no longer employ* That enchanting couturier e, Madame le Roi, But am forc'd, dear, to have Victorine, who— deuce take her ! — It seems is, at present, the King's mantua-maker*— 1 mean of his party — and, though much the smartest, Le Roi is condemn'd as a rank Bonapartist.f * Miss Biddy's notions of French pronunciation may be perceived in the rhymes which she always selects for " Le i?ot." t Le Roi, who was the Couturiere of the Empress Maria Louisa, is at present, of course, out of fashion, and is succeeded in her station by the Koyalist mantua-maker, Victorine. 136 Think, Doll, how confounded I look'd — so well ; knowing The Colonel's opinions — my cheeks were quite glow- ing j I stammer'd out something — nay, even half nam'd The legitimate sempstress, when, loud, he exclaim 'd, | "I *' Yes, yes, by the stitching 'tis plain to be seen v ^' It was made by that Bourbonite b h, A'^icto- i RiNE !" ; What a word for a hero ! — but heroes will err, ] And I thought, dear, I'dtellyouthingsjM^^ as they were. ' Besides, though the word on good manners intrench, '. \ I assure you 'tis not half so shocking in French. ! i But this cloud, though embarrassing, soon pass'd away, j And the bliss altogether, the dreams of that day, ; The thoughts that arise, when such dear fellows woo ^ us, — The nothings that then, love, are evert/ thing to us — i i 137 That quick correspondence of glances and sighs, And what Bob calls the ** Twopenny-Post of the Eyes" Ah Doll ! though I hnoix) you've a heart, 'tis in vain To a heart so unpractis'd these things to explain. They can only be felt, in their fulness divine. By her who has wander' d, at evening's decline. Through a valley like that, with a Colonel like mine ! But here I must finish — for Bob, my dear Dolly, Whom physic, I find, always makes melancholy. Is seiz'd with a fancy for church-yard reflections 5 And, full of all yesterday's rich recollections. Is just setting oflf for Montmartre — *' for there is," Said he, looking solemn, " the tomb of the Ve'bys ! * * It is the brother of the present excellent Restaurateur who lies entombed so magnificently in the Cimeti^re Montmartre. The inscription on the column at the head of the tomb concludes with the following words — " Toute sa vie fut consacree aux arts utiles" 138 t *' Long, long have 1 wish'd, as a votary true, " 0*er the grave of such talents to utter my moans ; *' And, to-day — as my stomach is not in good cue " For i\iejlesh of the Ve'rys— I'll visit their bones .'" He insists upon my going with him — how teasing ! This letter, however, dear Dolly, shall lie UnseaPd in my draw'r, that, if any thing pleasing Occurs while Tm out, I may tell you — good bye. B. F. Four o'clock. Oh Dolly, dear Dolly, I'm ruin'd for ever — I ne'er shall be happy again, Dolly, never ! To think of the wretch — what a victim was 1 ! 'Tis too much to endure — I shall die, I shall die — My brain's in a fever — my pulses beat quick — I shall die, or, at least, be exceedingly sick ! Oh, what do you think ? after all my romancing, My visions of glory, my sighing, my glancing. 139 This Colonel — 1 scarce can commit it to paper — This Colonel's no more than a vile linen-draper ! ! 'Tis true as 1 live— I had coax'd brother Bob so (You'll hardly make out what I'm writing, I sob so) For some little gift on my birth-day — September The thirtieth, dear, I'm eighteen, you remember — ITiat Bob to a shop kindly order'd the coach, (Ah, littlel thought who the shopman would prove) To bespeak me a few of those mouchoirs de poche, Which, in happier hours, I have sigh'd for, my love, — (The most beautiful things — two Napoleons the price — And one's name in the corner embroidered so nice !) Well, with heart full of pleasure, I enter'd the shop, But — ye Gods, what a phantom ! — I thought I should drop — 140 There he stood^ my i^ear Dolly— no room for a doubt — There,, behind the vile counter, these eyes saw him stand. With a piece of French cambric, before him roll'd out, And that horrid yard-measure uprais'd in his hand! Oh — Papa, all along, knew the secret, 'tis clear — 'Tvv£is a shopmari he meant by a " Brandenburgh," dear ! The man, whom I fondly had fancied a King, And, when that too delightful illusion was past. As a hero had worshipped — vile, treacherous thing — To turn out but a low linen-draper at last ! My head swam around — the wretch smil'd, I believe. But his smiling, alas, could no longer deceive — 1 fell back on Bob — my wholeheart seem'd to wither — And, pale as a ghost, I was carried back hither ! A- 141 i I only remember that Bob^ as I caught him. With cruel facetiousness said — " curse the Kiddy ! " A staunch Revolutionis always I've thought him, '* But now I find out he's a Counter one, Biddy !" I Only think, my dear creature, if this should be known To that saucy, satirical thing. Miss Mal one ! What a story 'twill be at Shandangan for ever ! What laughs and what quizzing she'll have with the men ! It will spread through the country — and never, oh, nfcver Can Biddy be seen at Kilrandy again ! Farewell — I shall do something desp'rate, 1 fear — And, ah ! if my fate ever reaches your ear. /« 142 One tear of compassion my Doll will not grudge To her poor — broken-hearted — young friend Biddy Fudge, Nota bene — I'm sure you will hear, with delight. That we're going, all three, to see Brunet to-night. A laugh will revive me — and kind Mr. Cox (Do you know him ?) has got us the Governor's box! NOTES, Oh this learning, what a thing it is ! Shakspkare, HSI )l NOTES. Page 16. So Ferdinand embroiders gaily. It would be an edifying thing to write a history of the private amusements of sovereigns, tracing them do^vn from the fly-sticking of Domitian, the mole-catching of Artabanus, the hog- mimicking of Parmenides, the horse-currying of Aretas, to the petticoat-em- broidering of Ferdinand, and the patience-playing of the P e R 1! Page 24. Your curst tea and toast. Is Mr. Bob aware that his contempt for tea renders him liable to a charge of atheism? Such, at least, is the opinion cited in Christian. Falster. Amaenitat. Phiblog. — " Atheum interpretabatur hominem ad herba The aversum." He would not, I think, have been so irreverent to this beverage of scholars, if he had read Peter Petit's Poem in praise of Tea, addressed to the learned Huet — or the Epigraphe which Pechlinus wrote for an altar he meant to dedicate to this herb — or the Anacreontics of Peter Fraiicius, in which he calls Tea L 146 The following passage from one of these Anacreonlics will, I have no doubt, be gratifying to all true Thdsts. Ey Xf!^<7£onip on his bobby. Ne'er paus'd, till lie lighted in St. Stephen's lobby. LINES ON THE DEATH OF SH— R— D— N. Principibus placaisse viris. — Horat. Yes, grief will have way — but the fast falling tear Shall be mingled with deep execrations on those. Who could bask in that Spirit's meridian career. And yet leave it thus lonely and dark at its close : — Whose vanity flew round him, only while fed By the odour his fame in its summer-time gave 3 — Whose vanity now, with quick scent for the dead. Like the Ghole of the East, comes to feed at his grave ! 161 Oh ! it sickens the heart to see bosoms so hollow. And spirits so mean in the great and high-born -, To think what a long line of titles may follow The relics of him who died — friendless and lorn ! j How proud they can press to the fun'ral array I Of one, whom they shunn'd in his sickness and sorrow : — How bailiffs may seize his last blanket, to-day. Whose pall shall be held up by nobles, to-morrow ! And Thou, too, whose life, a sick epicure's dream, Incoherent and gross, even grosser had pass'd. Were it not for that cordial and soul-giving beam. Which his friendship and wit o'er thy nothingness cast : — No, not for the wealth of the land, that supplies thee With millions to heap upon Foppery's shrine 3 — M 162 No, not for the riches of all who despise thee, Tho' this would make Europe's whole opulence j naine ; — Would I suflfer what — ev'n in the heart that thou hast — All mean as it is — must have consciously bum*d. When the pittance, which shame had wrung from thee at last. And which found all his wants at an end, was return'd ! * " Was this then the fate !" — future ages will say. When some names shall live but in history's curse ; When Truth will be heard, and these Lords of a day ji Be forgotten as fools, or remember'd as worse ; — [ • The sura was two hundred pounds — offered when Sh-r-d-n j could no longer take any sustenance, and declined, for him, bj his friends. 1 >. mm 163 " Was this then the fate of that high-gifted man, n " The pride of the palace, the bower and the hall, " The orator — dramatist — minstrel, — who ran " Through each mode of the lyre, and was master of all! •* Whose mind was an essence, compounded with art *',From the finest and best of all other men's powers ; — " Who ruled, like a wizard, the world of the heart, *' And could call up its sunshine, or bring down its showers ! '* Whose humour, as gay as the fire-fly's light, *' PlayM round every subject, and shone as it play'd 3— " Whose wit, in the combat, as gentle as bright, *' Ne'er carried a heart-stain away on its blade ; — 164 *' Whose eloquence — bright'ning whatever it tried, •'' Whether reason or fancy, the gay or the gravCj— *' Was as rapid, as deep, and as brilliant a tide, *' As ever bore Freedom aloft on its wave !" Yes — such was the man, and so wretched his fate ; — And thus, sooner or later, shall all have to grieve, Who waste their morn'sdew in the beams of the Great, And expect 'twill return to refresh them at eve ! In the woods of the North there are insects that prey On the brain of the elk till his very last sigh -, * Oh, Genius ! thy patrons, more cruel than they. First feed on thy brains, and then leave thee to die! * Naturalists have observed that, upon dissecting an elk, there was found in its head some large flies, with its brain almost eaten away by them.— HiVtor^/ of Poland. EPISTLE FROM TOM CRIBB TO BIG BEN CdNCERMNG SOME FOUL PLAY IN A LATE TRANSACTION.* Ahi, mio Ben !" — Metastasio. f What ! Ben, my old hero, is this your renown ? Is tJiis the new go f — kick a man when he's down ! When the foe has knock'd under, to tread on him then — By the fist of my father, I blush for thee, Ben ! " Foul ! foul !" all the lads of the fancy exclaim — * Written soon after Bonaparte's transportation to St. Helena, f Torn, I suppose, was " assisted" to this Motto by Mr. Jackson, wlio, it is well known, keeps the most learned company going. 166 C BARLEY Shock is electrified — Belcher spits flame — And MoLYNEUX — ay, even Blacky cries " shame!" Time was, when John Bull little difiference spied 'Twixt the foe at his feet, and the friend at his side ; When he found (such his humour in fighting and eating) His foe, like his beef-steak, the sweeter for beating — But this comes. Master Ben, of your curst foreign notions. Your trinkets, wigs, thingumbobs, gold lace and lotions 3 Your Noyaus, Cura^oas, and theDevil knows what — (One swig of Blue Ruin* is worth the whole lot !) Your great and small crosses — (my eyes, what a brood ! A cross-buttock from me would do some of them good !) ♦ Gin. 167 Which have spoilt you, till hardly a drop^ my old porpoise, Of pure English claret is left in your corpus ; And (as Jim says) the only one trick, good or bad, Of the fancy you're up to, is Jibbing, my lad ! Hence it comes^ — ^Boxiana, disgrace to thy page !— - Having floor'd, by good luck, the first swe/Zof the age. Having conquer'd the prime one, that miWd us all round. You kickM him, oWBen, as he gasp*d on the ground ! Ay — just at the time to show spunk, if you'd got any — Kick'd him, and jaw'd him, and lag*d * him to Botany ! Oh, shade of the Cheesemonger ! f you, who, alas ! Doubled up, by the dozen, those Mounseers in brass, * Transported. f A Life Guardsman, one oithe Fancy, who distinguished him- self, and was killed in the memorable set-to at Waterloo. 168 On that great day of milling j when blood lay in laki When Kings held the bottle, and Europe the stake Look doT^Ti upon Ben — gee him, dunghill aU o*er. Insult the fall'n foe, that can harm him no more ; Out, cowardly spooney ! — again and again. By the fist of my father, I blush for thee, Bbn. To shew the white feather is many men's doom. But, what of one feather ? — Ben shows a whole Plume :e? I THE END. T. DAVISON, LOMBAHD-STRBKT, WHITEFRIAM, LONDON. ' -.■ -i -5 .->* ^^o^ ./■0 l^J" .? -s-^ ,-*' S'^ -^\^^ ,.0, <-;''-^%d^ .-., c?^-- <5^ ^.rR.J? -% ■#- "O / .. . - \v O^ . ^ fr c ^ \>' ^ t, ,, ^^ \ i .^.o<^^- ^.'':?:^:\# "^e^ riC::&'!^ ^sf^ ^ ^^0^ H Q, ^ V; %" ^ %^0^ ^ -.nO'^ #^ sf^ ^ % ' % ^Htt^v* vlN ^ ^^ Q'.. ^^/ .'^^::^.' ^ ^ ^ ^> / ^ -^ ^G^ ^ < '^^^^^J^ ^ * .^-'>rv %"'• V