A BIT OF AN ODE TO MR. FOX.

I.

ON* grey goose-quills sublime I'll soar,
To metaphors unreach'd before,

That scare the vulgar reader :

With style well-form'd from Burke's best books— From rules of grammar (e'en Horne Tooke's)

A bold and free Seceder.

II.

I† whom, dear Fox, you condescend
To call your Honourable Friend,

Shall live for everlasting :

That Stygian gallery I'll quit,
Where Printers crowd me as I sit
Half dead with rage and fasting.

III.

I § feel! the growing down descends,
Like goose-skin, to my fingers' ends-
Each nail becomes a feather:

My || cropp'd head waves with sudden plumes,

*Non usitatâ nec tenui ferar

Which erst (like Bedford's, or his groom's)
Unpowder'd, brav'd the weather. †††

IV.

I mount, I mount into the sky,
"Sweet* bird," to † Petersburg I'll fly :
Or, if you bid, to Paris;
Fresh missions of the Fox and goose
Successful treaties may produce;
Though Pitt in all miscarries.
V.

Scotch, English, Irish Whigs shall read
The pamphlets, letters, odes I breed,
Charm'd with each bright endeavour :
Alarmists & tremble at my strain,
E'en | Pitt, made candid by champaign,
Shall hail Adair " the clever."

VI.

Though criticism assail my name,
And luckless blunders blot my ¶ fame,
O. ! ** make no needless bustle;

As vain and idle it would be

To waste one pitying thought on me,
As to t†"unplumb a Russell." ‡‡

*canorus

ELLIS, C.M.

No. XIII.

[Imitation of Catullus' Poems, No. 45. On the occasion of Fox's birthday (Jan. 24th) a big political meeting of the Whig Club was held at the Crown and Anchor tavern in Arundel Street, off the Strand. The Duke of Norfolk (Charles Howard, 1746-1815), celebrated for his conviviality, presided. He proposed the toast Our Sovereign's health-the Majesty of the People." The King, annoyed at this, caused him to be removed from the LordLieutenancy of the West Riding and from his Colonelcy of Militia.] Feb. 5.

ACME AND SEPTIMIUS ;

OR,

THE HAPPY UNION.

CELEBRATED AT THE CROWN AND ANCHOR TAVERN.

Fox,* with Tooke to grace his side,

Thus address'd his blooming bride-
"Sweet! should I e'er, in power or place,
"Another Citizen embrace;

Should e'er my eyes delight to look

"On aught alive, save John Horne Tooke,
"Doom me to ridicule and ruin,

"In the coarse hug † of Indian Bruin †

He spoke; and to the left and right,
Norfolk hiccupp'd with delight.

* Acmen Septimius suos amores
Tenens in gremio, mea, inquit, Acme,
Ni te perdite amo, &c.

† Casio veniam obvius Leoni.

Hoc ut dixit, Amor sinistram, ut

Dextram, sternuit approbationem.

[** An allusion to Fox's India Bill, 1783. See Introduction to

"The New Coalition" on page 68.]

*

Tooke, his bald head gently moving,

On the sweet Patriot's drunken eyes,
His wine-empurpled lips applies,
And thus returns in accents loving :-

So, my dear † Charley, may success
"At length my ardent wishes bless,
"And lead through Discord's low'ring storm,
"To one grand RADICAL REFORM!
"As from this hour I love thee more!
"Than e'er I hated thee before!"

He spoke, and to the left and right,
Norfolk hiccupp'd with delight.

With this good omen they proceed; §
Fond toasts their mutual passions feed;
In Fox's breast Horne Tooke prevails
Before || rich Ireland** and South Wales **
And Fox (un-read each other Book),
Is law and Gospel to Horne Tooke.

When were such kindred souls ¶ united !
Or wedded pair so much delighted ?

*At Acme leviter caput reflectens,
Et dulcis pueri ebrios ocellos

Illo purpureo ore suaviata.

Sic, inquit, mea vita, † Septimille, &c.
Hoc ut dixit, Amor sinistram, &c.

§ Nunc ab auspicio bono profecti

Mutuis animis amant, amantur.
Unam Septimius misellus Acmen

Mavult quam || Syrias Britanniasque.

Quis ullos homines beatiores

Vidit, quis venerem auspicatiorem ?

ELLIS, C.M.

** I.e., the Clerkship of the Pells in Ireland, and Auditorship of South Wales.

[* For note on Tooke see page 68.]

No. XIV.

Feb. 12.

It has been our invariable custom to suppress such of our Correspondents' favours as conveyed any Compliments to ourselves; and we have deviated from it in the present instance, not so much out of respect to the uncommon excellence of the Poem before us, as because it agrees so intimately with the general design of our Paper, to expose the deformity of the French Revolution, to counteract the detestable arts of those who are seeking to introduce it here, and, above all, to invigorate the exertions of our Countrymen against every foe, foreign and domestic, by shewing them the immense and inexhaustible resources they yet possess in British Courage and British Virtue!

TO THE

AUTHOR OF THE ANTI-JACOBIN.

FOE to thy country's foes! 'tis THINE to claim
From Britain's genuine sons a British fame-
Too long French manners our fair isle disgraced;
Too long French fashions shamed our native taste.
Still prone to change, we half-resolv'd to try
The proffer'd charms of FRENCH FRATERNITY.

Fair was her form, and FREEDOM's honour'd name
Conceal'd the horrors of her secret shame :
She claim'd some kindred with that guardian pow'r,
Long worshipp'd here in Britain's happier hour:
Virtue and peace, she said, were in her train,
The long-lost blessings of Astræa's reign-
But soon the vizor dropp'd-her haggard face
Betray'd the Fury lurking in the Grace-