1826.
Great Sultan, how wise are thy state compositions!
And oh! above all I admire that Decree,
In which thou command'st that all _she_ politicians
Shall forthwith be strangled and cast in the sea.
'Tis my fortune to know a lean Benthamite spinster--
A maid who her faith in old Jeremy puts,
Who talks with a lisp of "the last new West_minster_,"
And hopes you're delighted with "Mill upon Gluts;"
Who tells you how clever one Mr. Funblank is,
How charming his Articles 'gainst the Nobility;--
And assures you that even a gentleman's rank is
In Jeremy's school, of no sort of _utility_.
To see her, ye Gods, a new Number perusing--
ART. 1.--"On the _Needle's_ variations," by Pl--ce;[1]
ART. 2.--By her Favorite Funblank[2]--"so amusing!
"Dear man! he makes Poetry quite a _Law_ case."
ART. 3.--"Upon Fallacies," Jeremy's own--
(Chief Fallacy being his hope to find readers);-
ART. 4.--"Upon Honesty," author unknown;--
ART. 5.--(by the young Mr. Mill) "Hints to Breeders."
Oh, Sultan, oh, Sultan, tho' oft for the bag
And the bowstring, like thee, I am tempted to call--
Tho' drowning's too good for each blue-stocking hag,
I would bag this _she_ Benthamite first of them all!
And lest she should ever again lift her head
From the watery bottom, her clack to renew--
As a clog, as a sinker, far better than lead,
I would hang around her neck her own darling Review.
[1] A celebrated political tailor.
[2] This pains-taking gentleman has been at the trouble of counting, with
the assistance of Cocker, the number of metaphors in Moore's "_Life of
Sheridan_," and has found them to amount, as nearly as possible, to 2235--
and some _fractions_.