[1] The Lord Chancellor Eldon.
THE PETITION OF THE ORANGEMEN OF IRELAND.
1826.
To the people of England, the humble Petition
Of Ireland's disconsolate Orangemen, showing—
That sad, very sad, is our present condition;—
Our jobbing all gone and our noble selves going;—
That forming one seventh, within a few fractions,
Of Ireland's seven millions of hot heads and hearts,
We hold it the basest of all base transactions
To keep us from murdering the other six parts;—
That as to laws made for the good of the many,
We humbly suggest there is nothing less true;
As all human laws (and our own, more than any)
Are made by and for a particular few:—
That much it delights every true Orange brother
To see you in England such ardor evince,
In discussing which sect most tormented the other,
And burned with most gusto some hundred years since;—
That we love to behold, while old England grows faint,
Messrs. Southey and Butler nigh coming to blows,
To decide whether Dunstan, that strong-bodied Saint,
Ever truly and really pulled the De'il's nose;
Whether t'other Saint, Dominic, burnt the De'il's paw—
Whether Edwy intrigued with Elgiva's odd mother—
And many such points, from which Southey can draw
Conclusions most apt for our hating each other.
That 'tis very well known this devout Irish nation
Has now for some ages, gone happily on
Believing in two kinds of Substantiation,
One party in Trans and the other in Con;[1]