The Ingoldsby Legends or, Mirth and Marvels. By Thomas Ingoldsby [i.e. R. H. Barham] |
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 | The Ingoldsby Legends |  |
The Monks, and the Abbot, the Sexton, and Clerk
Were exceedingly struck with the Friar's remark,
And the Judge, who himself was by no means a shark
Of a Lawyer, and did not do things in the dark,
But still leaned (having once been himself a gay spark,)
To the merciful side,—like the late Allan Park,—
Agreed that, indeed, The best way to succeed,
And by which this poor caitiff alone could be freed,
Would be to absolve him, and grant a free pardon,
On a certain condition, and that not a hard one,
Viz.—“That he, the said Infidel, straightway should open
His mind to conviction, and worship the Pope,
And “ev'ry man Jack” in an amice or cope;
And that, to do so, He should forthwith go
To Rome, and salute there his Holiness' toe;—
And never again Read Voltaire or Tom Paine,
Or Percy Bysshe Shelley or Lord Byron's Cain;—
His pilgrimage o'er, take St. Francis's habit;—
If anything lay about never to “nab” it;
Or, at worst, if he should light on articles gone astray,
To be sure and deposit them safe in the Monast'ry!”
Were exceedingly struck with the Friar's remark,
And the Judge, who himself was by no means a shark
Of a Lawyer, and did not do things in the dark,
But still leaned (having once been himself a gay spark,)
To the merciful side,—like the late Allan Park,—
Agreed that, indeed, The best way to succeed,
And by which this poor caitiff alone could be freed,
Would be to absolve him, and grant a free pardon,
On a certain condition, and that not a hard one,
Viz.—“That he, the said Infidel, straightway should open
His mind to conviction, and worship the Pope,
And “ev'ry man Jack” in an amice or cope;
180
To Rome, and salute there his Holiness' toe;—
And never again Read Voltaire or Tom Paine,
Or Percy Bysshe Shelley or Lord Byron's Cain;—
His pilgrimage o'er, take St. Francis's habit;—
If anything lay about never to “nab” it;
Or, at worst, if he should light on articles gone astray,
To be sure and deposit them safe in the Monast'ry!”
| The Ingoldsby Legends | |