Praiseworthy Indignation.

A slur thus thrown upon the art,

Thrill'd Catalogus to the heart;

Who thus held converse with himself:

"Shall I with purse o'erstock'd with pelf (f),

"And instinct of the higher class,

"Herd still with such an arrant ass?

"Forbid it bobbin, tape, and lace,

"I'll quit the city, drudging place;

"And henceforth bid such dolts defiance,

66

Leaguing with Auctioneers and Science.”

With mind thus fir'd, the just reflector

Of bold Achilles fam'd or Hector,

Our bobbin knight friend Blue-mould quits,

Resolv'd to bid adieu to cits:

So strait to Haberdasher blade,

Good-will is sold and stock in trade;

(f) Fortuna nimium quem fovet stultum facit.

The Hero's Person described.

When fraught with no one germ of pity,

Great Catalogus leaves the city;

And to regale with Sales his heart,

Takes lodgings near the Picture Mart,
That he Don Quixote-like-may glance,

And tilt at every lot—the lance;
Since bacon-hock had left a stamp,
No earthly pow'r could ever damp.
Thus Champion Catalogus see,

'Scap'd bonds of Haberdashery;

Fraught with a soul that might stand stilt on, And war with Shakspeare wage, or Milton ; Whose brain for grand pictorial flow,

Might Raphael daunt or Angelo.

For whoso dares look half so big

As he who wisdom gleans from Pig?

But now his person to describe

He was in troth of dumpling tribe;

Costume of Catalogus.

'Neath jazy white as fat of mutton,
Was circle seen like mould of button;
Wherein were set two sharp black eyes,
With grunters' vying for the prize;
Which o'er the cheeks of pimply red,
Shone knobs of jet on coral bed;

While features spoke conception dense;
Replete with all-save common-sense :

The stomach like the face was round,
True type of Aldermanic mound,

His thighs were short; each leg was thin,

And club-foot base to either pin.

As for his garb, cock'd hat he wore,

Like beaver gilt o'er hatter's door (g);

(g) Lest the reader should erroneously be led to infer that the head-covering in question is after the modern fashionable shape, it is but needful that I should place matters in a just point of view; therefore, I beg leave to acquaint him that the beaver of our

Costume of Catalogus.

The coat was blue, of full dimension,

His vest of silk brac'd stomach's tension :

For brigs he wore choice glossy satin

Whose breech had well ta'en Whitbread's vat in,

While mottled worsted cloth'd each leg,

That look'd in Hessian boot a peg;

Nor treat friend reader with disdain,

Though mention'd last-gold-headed cane ;

Which ranks with Doctor of Degree,

The half procurement of his fee,

Since sconce with him is oft as thick

And brainless as companion stick :

Wherefore with Esculapian bane,

'Tis head 'gainst stick, and stick 'gainst brain. Arm'd cap-a-pee thus view my Knight,

On Hobby dare the Auction fight,

Catalogus is framed after the fashion of those gilt gingerbread

hats which are annually strung up at Bartholomew Fair.

The Hero's Invocation.

1

With gold he vows the palm to win

By bidding bold, through thick and thin;
A name, a name, he must ensure,

And burns to rank Great Connoisseur (h).
Not Alexander, Cæsar, Boney,

Ambition holds so much a crony;

As Catalogus sought to view,

His name enroll'd with prime Vertu.

"Ah!" would he cry ;—" could I but boast,

"A Musgrave's (i) fame, though now a ghost, "Was I not as I am, a stranger

"To deep intricacies of Granger,

(h) Digito monstrari et dicier hic est.

PERSIUS.

(i) The foundation of S-r W-11-m M—sgr-v's collection was the purchase of the stores of Mr. Throsby, the historian of Leicester, which were procured for a very mediocre price; where