Fitzherbert, Maria Anne, 1756-1837; George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830
The same pamphlet contains 'A Moral Epistle from the Pavilion at
Brighton to Carlton House, London,' which gives an account of the style
of company kept there:
'When he first nestled here, he was handsome and thin,
No razor had then mown his stubbleless chin:
He was sportive and careless, bland, upright and young,
And I smiled on his feats when he said, or he sung:
Then youth bore its own pardon, while stumbling o'er ill,
As the passions o'erthrew what was meant by the will.
* * * * *
I have seen him inwove with a pestilent crew,
Who, nine tenths came undone, and the rest to undo!
When those caitiffs came thund'ring in impudent state,
And drew up their _tandems_ and _gigs_ at my gate,
Full of wrath at their daring, I rav'd and I swore,
Then I let in an Eddy that slamm'd to the door:
But, alas! it avail'd not--'twas open'd again,
And the P---- rose, and welcom'd the toad eating train!
He, urbane, smil'd on all, where 'twas sin to look sad,
As God's light aids, in common, the good and the bad.
I tore off Folly's cloak, to exhibit the wrong;
How I toil'd to advise, but was stunn'd with a song:
I made signs on my plaster to rally them all,
But no _Daniel_ was there to decipher the wall.--
Ah! I know his large heart, and beneficent plan;
Though he's run from the course, yet HE FEELS LIKE A MAN:
Though he dissipates seeds of an undeserv'd sorrow,
And, gaily, puts off half his ills till the morrow,
His radical nobleness knows no decay;
He will act, but not cant;--he'll relieve ere he'll pray:
As Charity's retinue own, while embrac'd,
IN HIS GIFT HE GIVES TWICE, 'TIS A DEED SO WELL GRAC'D.
When their mirth grew to madness, and jests met the ear,
Which Philosophy scorns, and no maiden should hear,
Convuls'd with disdain, I soon alter'd their note,
For I shut up the principal valve of my throat;
Till the smoke, in vast volumes, pour'd into the room,
And enwrapp'd the loud mob in a horrible gloom,
More fœtid than Vulcan inhal'd with his breath;
More thick than e'er pass'd o'er the threshold of Death;
More choking than Cyclops drank in at their forge;
More rank than the reptile of Thebes could disgorge:
As they gasp'd, it rush'd down their intestines, and clogg'd 'em,
And from _pharynx_ to _rectum_ begrim'd and befogg'd 'em:
While, hoarsely, they growl'd at the house, and the smother,
Though, by knowing the cause, they had curs'd one another.
'Mid their baneful carousals, I've fum'd and I've fretted,
Till from kitchen to garret, I've croak'd, and I've sweated;
By pressure, I made my joints crack--I can't bawl--
And drops, drawn from my heart, ran from every wall:
But, his H----s, not knowing my woes, or displeasure,
Renew'd the broad catch, and refill'd every measure;
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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