A VINDICATION OF THE LIBEL:

OR, A NEW BALLAD,

Written by a SHOEBOY, on an ATTORNEY who was formerly a SHOEBOY.

"Qui color ater erat, nunc est contrarius atro."

WITH singing of ballads, and crying of news, With whitening of buckles, and blacking of shoes, Did Hartley set out, both shoeless and shirtless, And moneyless too, but not very dirtless;

*

Two pence he had gotten by begging, that's all;
One bought him a brush, and one a black ball;
For clouts at a loss he could not be much,
The clothes on his back as being but such;
Thus vamp'd and accoutred, with clouts, ball, and brush,
He gallantly ventur'd his fortune to push :
Vespasian thus, being bespatter'd with dirt,
Was omen'd to be Rome's emperor fort.
But as a wise fiddler is noted you know,
To have a good couple of strings to one bow;
So Hartley judiciously thought it too little,
To live by the sweat of his hands and his spittle:
He finds out another profession as fit,

And straight he becomes a retailer of wit.

One day he cried-" Murders, and songs, and great news!"

Another as loudly-" Here blacken your shoes!"
At Domvile's + full often he fed upon bits,

For winding of jacks up, and turning of spits;

*See the next poem. F.

Sir T. Domvile, patentee of the Hanaper office. F.

Lick'd all the plates round, had many a grubbing,
And now and then got from the cook-maid a drubbing:
Such bastings effect upon him could have none:
The dog will be patient that's struck with a bone.
Sir Thomas, observing this Hartley withal
So expert and so active at brushes and ball,
Was mov'd with compassion, and thought it a pity
A youth should be lost, that had been so witty:
Without more ado, he vamps up my spark,
And now we'll suppose him an eminent clerk;
Suppose him an adept in all the degrees
Of scribbling cum dasho, and hooking of fees;
Suppose him a miser, attorney per bill,

Suppose him a courtier-suppose what you will-
Yet would you believe, though I swore by the Bible,
That he took up two news boys for crying the libel?

A FRIENDLY APOLOGY FOR A CERTAIN JUSTICE OF PEACE,

By Way of Defence of HARTLEY HUTCHINSON, Esq.

"But he by bawling news about,
And aptly using brush and clout,
A justice of the peace became,
To punish rogues who do the same.'

HUDIB.

BY JAMES BLACK-WELL, OPERATOR FOR THE FEET,

I

SING the man of courage try'd,
O'errun with ignorance and pride,
Who boldly hunted out disgrace
With canker'd mind and hideous face;
The first who made (let none deny it),
The libel-vending rogues be quiet.

The fact was glorious, we must own,
For Hartley was before unknown,

Contemn'd, I mean;-for who would choose
So vile a subject for the Muse?

'Twas once the noblest of his wishes
To fill his paunch with scraps from dishes,
For which he'd parch before the grate,
Or wind the jack's slow-rising weight,
(Such toils as best his talents fit)
Or polish shoes, or turn the spit;
But, unexpectedly grown rich in
'Squire Domvile's family and kitchen,
He pants to eternize his name,
And takes the dirty road to fame;
Believes that persecuting wit
Will prove the surest way to it;
So, with a colonel * at his back,
The Libel feels his first attack;
He calls it a seditious paper,
Writ by another patriot Drapier;

Then raves and blunders nonsense thicker
Than alderman o'ercharg'd with liquor;
And all this with design, no doubt,
To hear his praises hawk'd about;
To send his name through every street,
Which erst he roam'd with dirty feet;
Well pleas'd to live to future times,
Though but in keen satirick rhymes.
So Ajax, who, for aught we know,
Was justice many years ago,
And minding then no earthly things,
But killing libellers of kings;
Or, if he wanted work to do,

To run a bawling news-boy through';

* Colonel Ker, a Scotchman, lieutenant-colonel to lord Harrington's regiment of dragoons, who made a news-boy evidence against the printer, F.

Yet he, when wrapp'd up in a cloud,
Entreated father Jove aloud,
Only in light to show his face,
Though it might tend to his disgrace.
And so the Ephesian villain fir'd
The temple which the world admir'd,
Contemning death, despising shame,
To gain an ever-odious name.

HORACE, PART OF BOOK I, SAT. IV.

Ir noisy Tom * should in the senate prate,
"That he would answer both for church and state;
And, farther to demonstrate his affection,
Would take the kingdom into his protection :"
All mortals must be curious to inquire,

Who could this coxcomb be, and who his sire?
"What! thou, the spawn of him whosham'dourisle,
Traitor, assassin, and informer vile!

+

Though by the female side I you proudly bring,
To mend your breed, the murderer of a king:
What was thy grandsire §, but a mountaineer,
Who held a cabin for ten groats a year;

Whose master Moore || preserv'd him from the halter!
For stealing cows; nor could he read the Psalter!

* Sir Thomas Prendergast. F.

The father of sir Thomas Prendergast, who engaged in a plot to 'murder king William HI; but, to avoid being hanged, turned informer against his associates, for which he was rewarded with a good estate, and made a baronet. F.

Cadogan's family. F.

A poor thieving cottager under Mr. Moore, condemned at Clonmell assizes to be hanged for stealing cows.

F.

The grandfather of Guy Moore, esq., who procured him a pardon. F.

Durst thou, ungrateful, from the senate chace
Thy founder's grandson*, and usurp his place?
Just Heaven! to see the dunghill bastard brood
Survive in thee, and make the proverb good +?
Then vote a worthy citizen ‡ to jail,

In spite of justice, and refuse his bail !"

VERSES SENT TO THE DEAN ON HIS BIRTH-DAY,

WITH PINE'S HORACE FINELY BOUND.

BY DR. J. SICAN.

(Horace speaking.)

You've read, sir, in poetick strain,

How Varus and the Mantuan swain
Have on my birthday been invited,
(But I was forc'd in verse to write it)
Upon a plain repast to dine,

And taste my old Campanian wine;

* Guy Moore was fairly elected member of parliament for Clonmell; but sir Thomas, depending upon his interest with a certain party then prevailing, and since known by the title of parson hunters, petitioned the house against him; out of which he was turned upon pretence of bribery, which the paying of his lawful debts was then voted to be. F.

"Save a thief from the gallows, and he will cut your throat." F.

Mr. George Faulkner. Mr. serjeant Bettesworth, a member of the Irish parliament, having made a complaint to the house of commons against the "Satire on Quadrille," they voted Faulkner the printer into custody (who was confined closely in prison three days, when he was in a very bad state of health, and his life in much danger) for not discovering the author. F.