The minor lodgers in the house,
On hearing this to John,
Began to whisper and to laugh,
And call’d it famous fun.
At last a little urchin said,
Please ma’am I’d take my oath,
At master John were neutral,
And stuck up for them both.
Stuck up for both, offended both,—
Is that it what you mean?
Continued Madame Europe,
Then spoke to John again:
Now I’ll tell you what it is, John,
We’ve long watch’d your career,
You take your fag’s advice to save
Your paltry sums a year.
There’s Bob and Bill, besides some more
That I call naught but scums,
They’ve got you fairly in between
Their fingers and their thumbs.
If such like men as Ben and Hugh
This day your fags had been,
They would have saved both you and me
The cursed disgraceful scene.
And instead of being half-clad and shod,
As everybody knows,
You would have dared these rivals now
To come to such like blows.
There was a time in this house, John,
If you put up your thumb,
The greatest blackguard tongue would stop
As if they had been dumb.
But not a one i’t house
This moment cares a fig,
For all you say or all you do,
Although your purse be big.
I couldn’t hurt poor Louis, ma’am,
Although he did begin;
And then you see that Will and I
Are very near akin.