The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift/Volume 7/Whitshed's Motto on his Coach
LIBERTAS et natale solum:
Fine words! I wonder where you stole 'em.
Could nothing but thy chief reproach
Serve for a motto on thy coach?
But let me now the words translate:
Natale solum, my estate;
My dear estate, how well I love it!
My tenants, if you doubt, will prove it,
They swear I am so kind and good,
I hug them, till I squeeze their blood.
Libertas bears a large import:
First, how to swagger in a court;
And, secondly, to show my fury
Against an uncomplying jury;
And, thirdly, 'tis a new invention,
To favour Wood, and keep my pension;
And, fourthly, 'tis to play an odd trick,
Get the great seal, and turn out Broderick;
And, fifthly, (you know whom I mean)
To humble that vexatious dean;
And, sixthly, for my soul, to barter it
For fifty times its worth to Carteret[2].
Now, since your motto thus you construe,
I must confess you've spoken once true.
Libertas et natale solum:
You had good reason, when you stole 'em.
- ↑ The chief justice who prosecuted the Drapier.
- ↑ Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.