Then hurrah!—though his client be swindler or thief,—
For the barrister never in want of a brief.
Punch. 1845.
The late Albert Smith wrote a piece entitled “Novelty Fair, or hints for 1851,” which was produced at the Lyceum Theatre, on May 21, 1850. In this, Father Thames enters with a goblet of dirty water in his hand, and exclaims:—
“Oh, did you e’er hear of such jolly bad water, man,
As at Blackfriars Bridge comes out of I?
No wonder they talk of my stream with severity,
Sickening each nose, and disgusting each eye!”