 | The Ingoldsby Lyrics |  |
Waddington's Name.
While Johnny Gale Jones the memorial was keeping
Of penny subscriptions from traitors and thieves,
Hard by, at his elbow, sly Watson stood peeping,
And counting the sums at the end of the leaves.
But, oh! what a grin on his visage shone brightly,
When, after perusing whole pages of shame,
'Midst his soi disant betters,
In vilely-formed letters,
The Doctor beheld little Waddington's name!
Of penny subscriptions from traitors and thieves,
Hard by, at his elbow, sly Watson stood peeping,
And counting the sums at the end of the leaves.
But, oh! what a grin on his visage shone brightly,
When, after perusing whole pages of shame,
'Midst his soi disant betters,
In vilely-formed letters,
The Doctor beheld little Waddington's name!
“Hail, imp of sedition!” he cried, while he nodded
His head, and the spectacles drew from his eyes;
“Magnanimous pigmy! Since Carlile's been quodded,
We wanted some shopman, about of your size!
For though many we've had, yet unbless'd was their lot,
When Murray and Sharpe with the constable came,
And for want of good bail
They were sent off to jail,
And the mittimus signed with an alderman's name.
His head, and the spectacles drew from his eyes;
“Magnanimous pigmy! Since Carlile's been quodded,
We wanted some shopman, about of your size!
40
When Murray and Sharpe with the constable came,
And for want of good bail
They were sent off to jail,
And the mittimus signed with an alderman's name.
Then come, the last crown of thy toils is remaining,
The greatest, the grandest that thou hast yet known;
Though proud was thy task my placard board sustaining,
Still prouder to utter placards of thine own!
High perched on that counter where Carlile once stood,
Issue torments of blasphemy, treason, and shame,
While snug in your box,
Well secured with two locks,
We'll defy them to get little Waddington's name.
The greatest, the grandest that thou hast yet known;
Though proud was thy task my placard board sustaining,
Still prouder to utter placards of thine own!
High perched on that counter where Carlile once stood,
Issue torments of blasphemy, treason, and shame,
While snug in your box,
Well secured with two locks,
We'll defy them to get little Waddington's name.
“Little Waddington,” as he was called, was employed during the imprisonment of Carlile, the infidel publisher, to conduct the sale of seditious works at the latter's shop in Fleet Street. He sat concealed behind a sliding panel, through which the money was paid, when the book required was dropped down from a room above. Waddington was tried, in 1820, for sedition, and acquitted. The above parody was, by an error of the editor, included in the “Remains of Theodore Hook.”
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