[B] A weekly pamphlet publication, in which the political as well as private character of Dr. Rush, and other persons of celebrity, was vilified to the lowest degree of scurrility, malignancy and falsehood.--_Ib._ May on the groaning vessel's side All Neptune's ruffian strength be try'd Till every seam is gaping wide. And while the waves about him swell May not one triton blow the shell (A sign at sea of doing well): But should he reach the british shore, (The land that englishmen adore) One trouble will he find and more: His pen will run at such a rate, His malice so provoke the great, They soon will drive him out of date. With broken heart and blunted pen He'll sink among the little men Or scribble in some Newgate den. Alack, alack! he might have stay'd And followed here the scribbling trade, And lived without the royal aid. But democratic laws he hated, Our government he so be-rated That his own projects he defeated. He took his leave from Sandy-Hook, And parted with a surly look, That all observed and few mistook. [173] From the 1815 edition. William Cobbett sailed for England in June, 1800. [174] Cobbett was sued by Dr. Rush for libel, was found guilty, and compelled to pay a fine of $5,000. THE NAUTICAL RENDEZVOUS[175] Written at a house in Guadaloupe, in 1800, where they were collecting Recruits for a Privateer The ship preparing for the main Enlists a wild, but gallant train, Who in a moving jail would roam Disgusted with the world at home. They quit the fields and quit the trees To seek their bread on stormy seas; Perhaps to see the land no more, Or see, but not enjoy the shore. There must be some as this world goes Who every joy and pleasure lose, And round the world at random stray To gain their bread the shortest way. They hate the ax, they hate the hoe And execrate the rural plough, The mossy bank, the sylvan shade Where once they wrought, where once they play'd: Prefer a boisterous, mad career, A broken leg, and wounds severe, To all the joys that can be found On mountain top or furrow'd ground. A hammock holds them when they sleep; A tomb, when dying, in the deep, A crowded deck, a cann of beer These sons of Amphitrite prefer To all the verdure of the fields Or all a quiet pillow yields. There must be such a nervous race, Who venture all, and no disgrace; Who will support through every blast, The shatter'd ship, the falling mast-- Who will support through every sea The sacred cause of liberty, And every foe to ruin drag Who aims to strike the gallic flag. [175] From the 1815 edition. TO THE MEMORY[176] Of the Late Ædanus Burke, Esq., of South-Carolina _Quiesco--ubi saeva indignatio, Ulterius cor lacerare nequit!_