THE NEW CHIVALRY.
["In a case heard before Judge French at Shoreditch, the Judge remarked that the plea of infancy was not a very meritorious one. 'No,' replied the defendant, 'but it's jolly convenient.'"—The Globe.]
When, toddling along with a swell, I pretend
Not to notice a shabby (though excellent) friend,—
Well, it is not lofty, to that I assent,
But then, "it's so jolly con-ve-ni-ent!"
When a tenant has built up a business with care,
And saved to his landlord all cost of repair,
It may not be kind just to double his rent,
Yet somehow "it's jolly con-ve-ni-ent!"
If you've suffered, in polling, a "moral defeat,"
Then to grab each Committee and every paid seat
Some might say was the act of a "cad," not a "gent";
But, you see, "it's so jolly con-ve-ni-ent!"
Then your house is for sale, and, if gifted with brains,
You, of course, do not mention the damp, rats, and drains
Which is not what the ancients by "honesty" meant,
But, still, it is "jolly con-ve-ni-ent!"
Transcriber's Note
Page 159: Footnote [*] refers to [www.] gutenberg.org/ebooks/30739
Page 168: 'progess' corrected to 'progress'.
"Francis Powell, usually mild-mannered man, went so far as to move to report progress."