"John Bull, the other day, in pensive mood,
Near to the Serpentine Flotilla stood;
His hands were thrust into his emptied pockets,
And much of ships he muttered, and of rockets;
Of silly Fêtes—and Jubilees unthrifty—
And Babies overgrown, of two-and-fifty;
I guess'd the train of thought which then possess'd him,
And deem'd th' occasion fit, and thus address'd him:
Be generous to a fallen foe,
With gratulations meet,
On Elba's Emperor bestow
Thy Lilliputian fleet;
For with his Island's narrow bounds
That navy might agree,
Which, laugh'd at daily here—redounds
In ridicule to thee.
Says John, 'Right readily I'll part
With these, and all the gay things,
But it would break the R——'s heart
To take away his playthings.'"
The chaff was great about these ships—see under:—
"A simple Angler, throwing flies for trout,
Hauled the main mast, and lugg'd a First Rate out."
"A crow in his fright, flying over the Fleet,
Dropped something, that covered it all, like a sheet."
The Chinese Bridge, and even the Fire-works were made fun of.
"I overheard a silly Cambridge Clerk,
Thus mutter, as he passed St. James's Park:
'What's this? A Bridge? How hard to be got over!
Oh! 'tis the Ass's Bridge, I do discover.'"
"The R—— thinks to make us stare,
By raising rockets in the air;—
His scheme to please will fail, he'll find,
Since we for it must raise the wind."