"BEAU BROCADE"

Such was the name of a ruined abode,
Just on the edge of the London road.

Thence she thought she might safely try,
As soon as she saw it, to warn the “ Fly.”

But, as chance fell out, her rein she drew,
As the BEAU came cantering into the view.

By the light of the moon she could see him drest In his famous gold-sprigged tambour vest;

And under his silver-gray surtout,
The laced, historical coat of blue,

That he wore when he went to London-Spaw,
And robbed Sir MUNGO MUCKLETHRAW.

Out-spoke DOLLY the Chambermaid, (Trembling a little, but not afraid,)

"Stand and Deliver, O' BEAU BROCADE'!"

But the BEAU rode nearer, and would not speak, For he saw by the moonlight a rosy cheek;

And a spavined mare with a rusty hide;
And a girl with her hand at her pocket-side.

So never a word he spoke as yet,

For he thought 'twas a freak of MEG or BET ;— A freak of the Rose or the Rummer set.

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44

"BEAU BROCADE"

Out-spoke DOLLY the Chambermaid, (Tremulous now, and sore afraid,)

44

'Stand and Deliver, O' BEAU BROCADE'!"—

Firing then, out of sheer alarm,

Hit the BEAU in the bridle arm.

Button the first went none knows where,
But it carried away his solitaire ;

Button the second a circuit made,

Glanced in under the shoulder-blade ;

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Down from the saddle fell “ BEAU BROCADE " !

Down from the saddle and never stirred !—
DOLLY grew white as a Windsor curd.

Slipped not less from the mare, and bound
Strips of her kirtle about his wound.

Then, lest his Worship should rise and flee,
Fettered his ankles-tenderly.

Jumped on his chestnut, BET the fleet (Called after BET of Portugal Street);

Came like the wind to the old Inn-door ;-
Roused fat JOHN from a three-fold snore ;—

Vowed she'd 'peach if he misbehaved.
Briefly, the "Plymouth Fly" was saved!

"BEAU BROCADE"

Staines and Windsor were all on fire :-
DOLLY was wed to a Yorkshire squire ;
Went to Town at the K-G's desire !

But whether His M-J-STY saw her or not,
HOGARTH jotted her down on the spot;

And something of DOLLY one still may trace
In the fresh contours of his “ Milkmaid's " face.

GEORGE the Guard fled over the sea:
JOHN had a fit-of perplexity;

Turned King's evidence, sad to state ;-
But JOHN was never immaculate.

As for the BEAU, he was duly tried,

When his wound was healed, at Whitsuntide ;

Served-for a day-as the last of "sights,"
To the world of St. James's-Street and "White's,"

Went on his way to TYBURN TREE,
With a pomp befitting his high degree.

Every privilege rank confers :

Bouquet of pinks at St. Sepulchre's ;

Flagon of ale at Holborn Bar;

Friends (in mourning) to follow his Car("t" is omitted where HEROES are !)

OLIVER GOLDSMITH

Every one knows the speech he made;
Swore that he "rather admired the Jade !"—

Waved to the crowd with his gold-laced hat:
Talked to the Chaplain after that;

Turned to the Topsman undismayed.
This was the finish of "BEAU BROCADE " !

And this is the Ballad that seemed to hide
In the leaves of a dusty " LONDONER'S GUIDE ";

"Humbly Inscrib'd (with curls and tails) By the Author to FREDERICK, Prince of WALES :

"Published by FRANCIS and OLIVER PINE; Ludgate-Hill, at the Blackmoor Sign. Seventeen-Hundred-and-Thirty Nine."

OLIVER GOLDSMITH

IN attempting to estimate Goldsmith as he struck his contemporaries-to use Mr. Browning's phrase-it is important to bear in mind his history and antecedents. Born a gentleman, he had, nevertheless, started in life with few temporal or personal advantages, and with a morbid susceptibility that accentuated his defects. His younger days had been aimless and unprofitable. Until he became a middle-aged man, his career had been one of which, even now, we do not know all the degradations, and they had left their mark upon his manners. Although he knew Percy

OLIVER GOLDSMITH

as early as 1759, and Johnson in 1761, it was not until the establishment of "The Club," or perhaps even until the publication of "The Traveller," that he became really introduced to society, and he entered it with his past associations still clinging about him. If he was not unnaturally-elated at his success, he seems also to have displayed a good deal of that nervous self-consciousness, which characterizes those who experience sudden alternations of fortune. To men like Johnson, who had been intimate with him long, and recognized his genius, his attitude presented no difficulty, but to the ordinary spectator he seemed awkward and ill at ease, prompting once more the comment, that genius and knowledge of the world are seldom fellow-lodgers. On his own part, too, he must have been often uncertain of his position and capricious in his demands. Sometimes he was tenacious in the wrong place, and if he thought himself neglected, had not the tact to conceal his annoyance. Once, says Boswell, he complained to a mixed company that, at Lord Clare's, Lord Camden had taken no more notice of him than if he "had been an ordinary man -an utterance which required all Johnson's championship to defend. At other times he would lament to Reynolds that he seemed to strike a kind of awe upon those into whose company he went, an awe which he endeavoured to dispel by excess of hilarity and sociability. "Sir Joshua," says Northcote (or Laird, who collected Northcote's "Recollections"), "was convinced, that he was intentionally more absurd, in order to lessen himself in social intercourse, trusting that his character would be sufficiently supported by his works." This anecdote