As soon as I could paint I set my heart
On making money (else what good is Art?);
In painting show-bills ’twas I made my start.
(O, sweet is the chink of cash to me!)
I found the public vulgar scenes liked best,
(A goodly balance is fair to see!)
And so I painted my great “Crowner’s Quest;”
(The rarest of letters are £ s. d.!)
And when its sordid realism took,