This was so honest and well-meant,
The father well-nigh did relent;
He said, “I never saw before
So persevering an orator!”
The lover spoke, perhaps with grace,
For two hours in that empty place!
The servants at the Hall let out
The fact, and it got noised about
At concerts, balls, and conversations,
That Cicero spoke these orations
In that huge Hall, week after week,
With no one there to hear him speak.
What was the consequence? A run,
A rush, to see and hear it done;
“We really _must_ hear Cicero Brick!”
All London cried. The crowd was thick.
They mobbed the men who took the pay;
Hundreds that night were turned away;
And Cicero Brick spoke this oration
To an enormous congregation!
The father of the girl he wooed
Now kept his promise, as he should;
The wedding feast of Cicero Brick
Came off at once near Hampton Wick;
And all the guests gave three cheers for
The persevering Orator.
[Illustration]