Classic Poem

Book I. Ode X.

R ICHARD , eloquent and witty,
Polisher of Town and City,
Grandson of Mercurial gift,
In the Sheridan of Swift;
Rhetorician of the Mutes ,
Driller of the Whig Reçruits;
Manager — on either Stage ,
And of Royal Hopes — the Page;
Leader of insidious Wits;
Prompter of sarcastic hits;
Cunning, if they pick and steal,
What they pilfer to conceal.
Thy Instructor, when he chid
Thee, for breeches lost or hid,
Smil'd , perceiving as he whipp'd thee,
In a pair thou hadst equipp'd thee.
Led by thee , who wrote his Brief,
Sire of modern Whigs, and Chief,
Horne the laughing Juries cheated ,
Pitt and Grenville's frown defeated;
Gave his Pupil Fox a check,
Turn'd the laugh, and sav'd his neck.
Thine to form the re-elected ,
Of the piously affected;
And with golden hopes deceive
Party mobs, till they believe,
Dear to Norfolk's Princely Duke,
Pet of Stanhope , and of Tooke .