Broadsides; Chapbooks; Street literature -- Great Britain
H. DISLEY, Printer, 57, High Street, St. Giles, London, W.C.
A SCENE IN THE ELECTION.
A NEW FARCE.
Performed in various parts of the United Kingdom by His Majesty’s
Servants.
SCENE.--_A Cobbler’s Stall._ CRISPIN _at work hammering a sole_.
[Illustration]
_Crispin._ By the lord of the manor, thou art a tough piece, and not
much unlike the hide of my wife Bridget; for though I should beat her
hide with all my might and main, I cannot shape the vixen to my fancy:
Oh, you hard soles (_hammering_) are the most useless of all others,
except to the wearer. If I was a leading man in the state, I should
move for a law to be enacted, that good _leather_ and good _hemp_
should only be employed for smuggling courtiers, purse-proud citizens,
and for parliament-men--if such a law should pass, it would be a rare
thing for trade in general.
Enter PANDER and SIR BILBERRY DIBBLE.
_Pand._ Here’s a psalm-singing cobbler, Sir Bilberry; he has a vote for
the borough, as good as the best; do not let us pass honest Crispin.
_Sir B._ By the essence of lillies, thou’rt right, Pander; the scum of
mobility, as well as the scum of gentry, at this time, must be attended
to; ’tis a sacrifice that’s due to necessity. Therefore, may I never
more breathe the mellifluous air of Montpellier, if I do not descend
to request his suffrage; the controverted occasion carries a pardon
for the humiliating and filthy condescension.--Master Shoe-maker, your
most devoted humble servant (_bowing_), I am, sweet sir, yours to the
ground. (_still bowing._)
_Cris._ Master Shoe-maker! do you mean to mock me?--No, no, I am no
shoe-maker, but like some of your very fine gentlemen at the head of
affairs--a poor cobbler at best.
_Sir B._ This fellow, Pander, has been commended by some blockhead,
like himself for his insufferable bluntness, or he would never presume
to be so shocking to the feelings of delicacy.
_Pan._ Bear with him, Sir Bilberry; this is a time when men will say
whatever comes uppermost, paying no more respect to delicacy than
Æsops’s cock to his diamond. If you would succeed, Sir Bilberry, you
must descend to be perfectly reconciled to their oddities.
_Sir B._ I will be reconciled. Well, honest cobbler.--Do you love money?
_Cris._ Yes; but I love honesty better--
_Sir B._ Honestly said. If you do me a favor, you shall have as much
honesty as you please, and money into the bargain.
_Cris._ Who are you, and may it please you?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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