4
First on the Stage, drag am'rous Charley forth
Of stolid countenance in mirth or wrath,
Whose blue bagged jowl proclaims his boasted tree,
The Dead sea[1] fruit of bastard ancestry;—
Clever to "tip the silk" give double thong
Or chalk out cherubs a là Mittagong——
This pilot, England's choice, to guide the helm
Corrupt a people and confound a realm,
Where Nature's gifts were all that man could have,
Each stream Pactolus, Commerce on the wave,
Wise were such choice, did wine and wassail bring
The attributes pertaining to a King;
Wise were the choice, did ignorance decree
Weal, worth, and blessing to posterity;
Wise is the choice, blind mortals slow to know,
Where foulest sewer, the richest crop must grow;
Virtue and Justice prove etceteras here
Where vice is rampant, Wisdom sheds a tear.—
Unhappy Land! where every post is sold
Where wives work wonders, woman versus gold,
Where lust and passion find an easy prey,
For mothers pander for a mouster's pay;
Husbands devour the bread that beauty buys,—
Oh! drop the veil o'er past atrocities—
As Fouché spoke of some voluptuous halls
Those deeds, re-echo our vice-regal halls
As o'er Pompeian stews 'neath sign of brass
Be blazoned here ("hic habet felicitas")—
Oh look around, where this mis-govern'd land
Shews, labor lost, engraved on every hand,
Should any pile rear loftier roof on high
There spilt the blood of convict dynasty—
Now Farmers-General vegetate at ease,
The driv'ling dotards but increase their fees,
Lessen the lustre of Great Britain's name,
While virtue blushes, deepest blush of shame;
The land were happy with no farther harm,
Nor envy we the ordure of their farm——.
Glorious achievement of two lustrums peace
- ↑ Apples of Sodom fair outside, dirt to the core.
