New face for friends, for foes some new rewards;
New ornaments for black—and royal Guards;[1]
New laws to hang the rogues that roared for bread;
New coins (most new)[2] to follow those that fled;
New victories—nor can we prize them less,
Though Jenky[3] wonders at his own success;
New wars, because the old succeed so well,
That most survivors envy those who fell;170
New mistresses—no, old—and yet 'tis true,
Though they be old, the thing is something new;
- ↑ New caps and Jackets for the royal Guards.—[MS. M.]
- ↑ Amongst others a new ninepence—a creditable coin now forthcoming, worth a pound, in paper, at the fairest calculation.
- ↑ [Robert Banks Jenkinson, second Earl of Liverpool, was Secretary at War and for the Colonies from 1809 to 1812, in Spencer Perceval's administration, and, on the assassination of the premier, undertook the government. Both as Secretary at War and as Prime Minister his chief efforts were devoted to the support of Wellington in the Peninsula.]
- ↑ "Oh that right should thus overcome might!" Who does not remember the "delicate investigation" in the Merry Wives of Windsor?—
"Ford. Pray you, come near; if I suspect without cause,
(1866), p. 11). The "new victories" were the fall of Ciudad Rodrigo (Jan. 17), the capture of Badajoz (April 7), and the Battle of Salamanca (July 12, 1812). By way of "new wars," the President of the United States declared war with Great Britain on June 18, and Great Britain with the United States, Oct. 13, 1812. As to "new mistresses," for a reference to "Our Sultan's" "she-promotions" of "those only plump and sage, Who've reached the regulation age," see Intercepted Letters, or the Twopenny Post-bag, by Thomas Brown the Younger, 1813, and for "gold sticks," etc., see "Promotions" in the Annual Register for March, 1812, in which a long list of Household appointments is duly recorded.]
