No more with dog and lantern comes the maid,
To guide the mistress when the rubber's play'd;
Sad shifts are made, lest ribbons blue and green
Should at one table, at one time be seen.
On care and merit none will now rely,
'Tis party sells what party-friends must buy;
The warmest burgess wears a bodger's coat,
And fashion gains less int'rest than a vote;
Uncheck'd, the vintner still his poison vends;
For he too votes, and can command his friends.
But, this admitted, be it still agreed,
These ill effects from noble cause proceed;
Though like some vile excrescences they be,
The tree they spring from is a sacred tree,
And its true produce, strength and liberty.
Yet if we could th' attendant ills suppress;
If we could make the sum of mischief less;
If we could warm and angry men persuade
No more man's common comforts to invade ;
And that old ease and harmony re-seat
In all our meetings, so in joy to meet :
Much would of glory to the Muse ensue,
And our good vicar would have less to do.
Note 1, page 333, line 140.
He lived, nor dream'd of corporation-doles.
I am informed that some explanation is here necessary, though I am ignorant for what class of my readers it can be required. Some corporate bodies have actual property, as appears by their receiving rents; and they obtain money on the admission of members into their society: this they may lawfully share perhaps. There are, moreover, other doles, of still greater value, of which it is not necessary for me to explain the nature, or to inquire into the legality.
Mea nunc facinora aperiuntur, clam quæ speravi fore.
[Plaut. Trucul. A&t Iv. Sc. 3, VV. 20-1].
Trades and Professions of every Kind to be found in the Borough-Its Seamen and Soldiers-Law, the Danger of the Subject-Coddrington's Offence-Attorneys increased; their splendid Appearance, how supported-Some worthy Exceptions-Spirit of Litigation, how stirred up-A Boy articled as a Clerk; his Ideas-How this Profession perverts the Judgment-Actions appear through this Medium in a false Light-Success from honest Application-Archer a worthy Character-Swallow a Character of different Kind-His Origin, Progress, Success, &c.
RADES and Professions "-these are themes the Muse, Left to her freedom, would forbear to choose; But to our Borough they in truth belong, And we, perforce, must take them in our song.
Be it then known that we can boast of these
In all denominations, ranks, degrees;
All who our numerous wants through life supply,
Who soothe us sick, attend us when we die,
Or for the dead their various talents try.
Then have we those who live by secret arts,
By hunting fortunes, and by stealing hearts;
Or who by nobler means themselves advance;
Or who subsist by charity and chance.
Say, of our native heroes shall I boast,
Born in our streets, to thunder on our coast—
Our Borough-seamen? Could the timid Muse
More patriot-ardour in their breasts infuse;
Or could she paint their merit or their skill,
She wants not love, alacrity, or will;
But needless all: that ardour is their own,
And, for their deeds, themselves have made them known. Soldiers in arms! Defenders of our soil!
Who from destruction save us; who from spoil
Protect the sons of peace who traffic, or who toil:
Would I could duly praise you; that each deed
Your foes might honour, and your friends might read:
This too is needless; you've imprinted well
Your powers, and told what I should feebly tell.
Beside, a Muse like mine, to satire prone,
Would fail in themes where there is praise alone.
-Law shall I sing, or what to Law belongs?
Alas! there may be danger in such songs;
A foolish rhyme, 'tis said, a trifling thing,
The law found treason, for it touch'd the king.
But kings have mercy in these happy times,
Or surely one had suffer'd for his rhymes;
Our glorious Edwards and our Henrys bold,
So touch'd, had kept the reprobate in hold;
But he escaped-nor fear, thank Heav'n, have I,
Who love my king, for such offence to die.
But I am taught the danger would be much,
If these poor lines should one attorney touch-
(One of those limbs of law who're always here;
The heads come down to guide them twice a year.)
I might not swing indeed; but he in sport
Would whip a rhymer on from court to court;
Stop him in each, and make him pay for all
The long proceedings in that dreaded Hall.-
Then let my numbers flow discreetly on,
Warn'd by the fate of luckless Coddrington';
Lest some attorney (pardon me the name)
Should wound a poor solicitor for fame.
One man of law in George the Second's reign
Was all our frugal fathers would maintain;
He too was kept for forms; a man of peace,
To frame a contract, or to draw a lease:
He had a clerk, with whom he used to write
All the day long, with whom he drank at night;
Spare was his visage, moderate his bill,
And he so kind, men doubted of his skill.
Who thinks of this, with some amazement sees,
For one so poor, three flourishing at ease-
Nay, one in splendour !-See that mansion tal!,
That lofty door, the far-resounding hall;
1 The account of Coddrington [Collingbourne] occurs in "The
Mirrour for Magistrates"; he suffered in the reign of Richard III.
Well-furnish'd rooms, plate shining on the board,
Gay liveried lads, and cellar proudly stored:
Then say how comes it that such fortunes crown
These sons of strife, these terrors of the town?
Lo! that small office! there th' incautious guest
Goes blindfold in, and that maintains the rest;
There in his web th' observant spider lies,
And peers about for fat intruding flies;
Doubtful at first, he hears the distant hum,
And feels them flutt'ring as they nearer come.
They buzz and blink, and doubtfully they tread
On the strong birdlime of the utmost thread;
But, when they're once entangled by the gin,
With what an eager clasp he draws them in;
Nor shall they 'scape till after long delay,
And all that sweetens life is drawn away.
"Nay, this," you cry, "is common-place, the tale
"Of petty tradesmen o'er their evening-ale.
"There are who, living by the legal pen,
“Are held in honour-honourable men.""
Doubtless-there are, who hold manorial courts,
Or whom the trust of powerful friends supports;
Or who, by labouring through a length of time,
Have pick'd their way, unsullied by a crime.
These are the few-in this, in every place,
Fix the litigious rupture-stirring race:
Who to contention as to trade are led,
To whom dispute and strife are bliss and bread.
There is a doubtful pauper, and we think
'Tis not with us to give him meat and drink ;
There is a child, and 'tis not mighty clear.
Whether the mother lived with us a year;
A road's indicted, and our seniors doubt
If in our proper boundary or without:
But what says our attorney? He our friend
Tells us 'tis just and manly to contend.
"What! to a neighbouring parish yield your cause,
"While you have money, and the nation laws?
"What! lose without a trial, that which tried, May-nay it must-be given on our side?
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