Out of the ring I pitch’d him neck and crop,
Tho’ towards a parson I feel reverence due,
Josh Cautley states the thing that isn’t true.
But let that pass—the issue I’ll not shirks—
Convinc’d your fiat will acquit Deaf Burkes;
Proclaiming that from testimony strong,
The pugilist was right, the parson wrong.
I’ve studied, sirs, since my career began,
To prove myself through life an honest man—
Humble my origin, my lot obscure,