Thus roared the King, not Hercules so big;
And all the Palace echoed, ‘Wear a Wig!’ ”
So successful was the first canto of “The Lousiad,” which appeared in 1785, that during the next ten years four additional cantos were written, in which members of the Household and Ministers were introduced, scarified and dismissed; but the gem of the collection is the lengthy “Petition of the Cooks,” which, after references to France, the Schwellenberg and Wilkes, concludes:
“ ‘O King, our Wives are in the Kitchen roaring,
All ready in rebellion now to rise;
They mock our humble methods of imploring,
And bid us guard against a wig surprise:
“Yours is the hair,” they cry, “th’ Almighty gave ye,
And not a King in Christendom should shave you.’ ”
‘Lo! on th’ event the World impatient looks,