University of Virginia Library

HENLEY'S SHIELD.

An orator with wit so keen
A shield would hammer from a screen,
Whose hardness has been often tried,
Whether of brass or of bull's hide.
He shielded Preston-rebels many,
Who got their penn'orth for their penny.
In Porto-Bello's peaceful field,
What thousands slept beneath our shield!
He members shields in his good graces
From loss of pensions and of places.
He shields our traffic; as is clear
By captain Jenkins and his ear.
He shields alike, in peace and war,
Our freedom and our Gibraltar.
How did astonish'd Europe dread
Our shield, when shaken at Spithead!
And then for shielding, who but he,
Widows and orphans in South Sea?
He shields our laws,—the case is plain,—
By Acts of Penalty and Pain.
He shields our army, too, no less,
With Wolfenbuttle and with Hesse.
He shielded George the First, and shook
His promise made to Bolingbroke.
And though no shield he did appear
To save the promised life of Layer,
Yet no man can deny, I hope,
He shielded Charteris from a rope:
The fittest cause that e'er was known
To show the shield in, but his own!