[1] Written after hearing a celebrated speech in the House of Lords, June
10, 1828, when the motion in favor of Catholic Emancipation, brought
forward by the Marquis of Lansdowne, was rejected by the House of Lords.
WRITE ON, WRITE ON.
A BALLAD.
Air.--"_Sleep on, sleep on, my Kathleen dear.
salvete, fratres Asini_. ST. FRANCIS.
Write on, write on, ye Barons dear,
Ye Dukes, write hard and fast;
The good we've sought for many a year
Your quills will bring at last.
One letter more, Newcastle, pen,
To match Lord Kenyon's _two_,
And more than Ireland's host of men,
One brace of Peers will do.
Write on, write on, etc.
Sure never since the precious use
Of pen and ink began,
Did letters writ by fools produce
Such signal good to man.
While intellect, 'mong high and low,
Is marching _on_, they say,
Give _me_ the Dukes and Lords who go
Like crabs, the _other_ way.
Write on, write on, etc.
Even now I feel the coming light--
Even now, could Folly lure
My Lord Mountcashel too to write,
Emancipation's sure.
By geese (we read in history),
Old Rome was saved from ill;
And now to _quills_ of geese we see
Old Rome indebted still.
Write on, write on, etc.
Write, write, ye Peers, nor stoop to style,
Nor beat for sense about--
Things little worth a Noble's while
You're better far without.
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