And then our Revenue, Lord knows how they viewed it, While each petty Statesman talked lofty and big, And the Beer tax was weak as if Windham had brewed it, And the Pig Iron Duty a shame to a pig; In vain is their boasting, Too surely there's wanting What judgment, experience and steadiness give; Come, Boys, Drink about merrily, Health to sage Melville, and long may he live! Our King too,--our Princess--I dare not say more, Sir, May Providence watch them with mercy and might; While there's one Scottish arm that can wag a day more, Sir, They shall ne'er want a friend to stand up for their right. Be d--d he that dare not, For my part I'll spare not To beauty afflicted a tribute to give! Fill it up steadily, Drink it off readily, Here's to the Princess and long may she live! And since we must not set Auld Reekie [41] in glory, And make her brown visage as light as her heart, Till each man illumine his own upper storey Nor _Law_ trash nor Lawyer shall force us to part. In Grenville and Spencer And some few good men, Sir, High talents and honour slight difference forgive, But the Brewer we'll hoax; Tally ho! to the Fox; And drink Melville for ever as long as we live!" CHAPTER II 1805-1810 LETTERS OF AN EXILE To a man far distant from the memorable scene of Lord Melville's trial, the news of the verdict, sent by Mrs Stanhope, must have caused peculiar satisfaction. Among her numerous correspondents at this date, probably few had been more frequently in her thoughts during the past two years than her kinsman, Cuthbert Collingwood. From her earliest days, indeed, he had occupied a certain prominence in her horizon. Her mother, Winifred Collingwood, had belonged to another branch of the Northumberland family which owned a common ancestor with that of the afterwards famous Admiral, [1] and this tie had been strengthened rather than diminished throughout the passing of generations by the propinquity of the two branches.