Readers, who take Mr. MacCarthy's view and estimate of the evidence, have no doubt that the sale of this remarkable poem, after paying the costs of its production, yielded nearly one hundred pounds to the fund that was raised for Mr. Finerty's sustenance and comfort in captivity. To persons who remember the wretched quality of the Oxonian Shelley's prose and verse, it can scarcely be obvious why a lost poem by his still feeble pen should be likened to a star, and why the shadowy evidence that he wrote the poem should be comparable with the surrounding light of the heavenly body. Let that pass, however; and let it be conceded that evidence of so successful a poem, by the youthful and hitherto unfortunate aspirant to literary fame, would be a matter of some interest, even to persons in no degree touched with Shelleyan madness. What is the evidence that Shelley produced this successful poem, no copy of which has ever come under the notice of living man? The evidence consists of,-- (_a_) This advertisement in the 9th March, 1811, number of the _Oxford Herald_:-- 'Literature. Just published, Price Two Shillings, _A Poetical Essay On The Existing State of Things_. "And Famine At Her Bidding Wasted Wide The Wretched Land. Till In The Public Way, Promiscuous Where The Dead And Dying Lay, Dogs Fed On Human Bones In The Open Light Of Day." By A Gentleman Of The University Of Oxford. For assisting to Maintain In Prison Mr. Peter Finerty, Imprisoned For A Libel. London: Sold by B. Crosby and Co., And All Other Booksellers. 1811.' (_b_) Four advertisements of the same poem in London newspapers; two of them being in the _Morning Chronicle_ for 15th and 21st March, 1811, whilst the other two may be found in the _Times_ for 10th and 11th April, 1811. (_c_) These words by an anonymous writer in the _Dublin Weekly Messenger_ of 7th March, 1812:-- 'We have but one more word to add. Mr. Shelley, commiserating the sufferings of our distinguished countryman, Mr. Finerty, whose exertions in the cause of political freedom he much admired, wrote a very beautiful poem, the profits of the sale of which, we understand, from undoubted authority, Mr. Shelley remitted to Mr. Finerty. We have heard they amounted to nearly an hundred pounds. This fact speaks a volume in favour of our new friend.' (_d_) The fact that Shelley sent from Dublin a copy of the paper containing these words, and particularly called Godwin's attention to the article in which they appeared. (_e_) The fact that during his imprisonment Mr. Finerty had the sympathy of the _Dublin Weekly Messenger_.