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[Page 123]
MR. FOOTE's ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC,
After a Prosecution against him for a LIBEL.
1 HUSH! let me search before I speak aloud —
2 Is no informer skulking in the croud!
3 With art laconic noting all that's said,
4 Malice at heart, indictments in his head,
5 Prepar'd to levy all the legal war,
6 And rouse the clamorous legions of the bar!
7 Is there none such? — not one? — then entre nous,
8 I will a tale unfold, tho' strange, yet true;
9 The application must be made by you.
10 At Athens once, fair queen of arms and arts,
11 There dwelt a citizen of moderate parts!
12 Precise his manner, and demure his looks,
13 His mind unletter'd, tho' he dealt in books;
[Page 124]14 Amorous, tho' old; tho' dull, lov'd repartee;
15 And penn'd a paragraph most daintily:
16 He aim'd at purity in all he said,
17 And never once omitted eth nor ed;
18 It hath, and doth, was rarely known to fail,
19 Himself the hero of each little tale:
20 With wits and lords this man was much delighted,
21 And once (it has been said) was near being knighted.
22 One Aristophanes (a wicked wit,
23 Who never heeded grace in what he writ)
24 Had mark'd the manner of this Grecian sage,
25 And thinking him a subject for the stage,
26 Had, from the lumber, cull'd with curious care,
27 His voice, his looks, his gesture, gait and air,
28 His affectation, consequence, and mien,
29 And boldly launch'd him on the comic scene;
30 Loud peals of plaudits thro' the circle ran,
31 All felt the satire, for all knew the man.
32 Then Peter — Petros was his classic name,
33 Fearing the loss of dignity and fame,
34 To a grave lawyer in a hurry flies,
35 Opens his purse, and begs his best advice.
36 The fee secur'd, the lawyer strokes his band,
37 "The case you put, I fully understand;
38 "The thing is plain from Cocus's reports,
39 "For rules of poetry an't rules of courts:
40 "A libel this — I'll make the mummer know it. "
41 A Grecian constable took up the poet;
42 Restrain'd the sallies of his laughing muse,
43 Call'd harmless humour scandalous abuse:
[Page 125]44 The bard appeal'd from this severe decree:
45 Th' indulgent public set the pris'ner free;
46 Greece was to him, what Dublin is to me.
About this text
Title (in Source Edition): MR. FOOTE's ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC, After a Prosecution against him for a LIBEL.
Author: Samuel Foote
Themes:
poetry; literature; writing; theatre
Genres:
heroic couplet; address
References:
DMI 31245
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Mendez, Moses. A collection of the most esteemed pieces of poetry: that have appeared for several years. With variety of originals, by the late Moses Mendez, Esq; and other contributors to Dodsley's collection. To which this is intended as a supplement. London: printed for Richardson and Urquhart, 1767, pp. 123-125. [8],320p. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T124631; DMI 1073; OTA K099398.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Harding C 148].)
Editorial principles
The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.