They called him Carlo Khan, and Cogdie Shufflecard Reynardine, and they made the most infamous attacks on the Duchess of Devonshire and the other ladies who canvassed for him. Most of them are not to be quoted. The following extracts are the most decent:
Hail, Duchess, first of womankind!
Far, far you leave your sex behind;
With you none can compare:
For who but you, from street to street,
Would run about, a vote to get,
Thrice, thrice bewitching fair!
Each day you visit every shop,
Into the house your head you pop,
Nor do you act the prude:
For every man salutes your Grace;
Some kiss your hand and some your face,
And some are rather rude.
The girl condemned to walk the streets
And pick each blackguard up she meets,
And get him in her clutches,
Has lost her trade; for they despise
Her wanton airs, her leering eyes.
Now they can kiss a Duchess!
The following lyrics are the commencement of a short satiric poem, compelled, like the remonstrance of the “Father,” by the indignant heart of the poet:
See modest Duchesses, no longer nice,
In Virtue’s honour haunt the sinks of Vice:
In Freedom’s cause the guilty bribe convey,
And perjured wretches piously betray.
In a lighter strain the following:
Her mien like Cytherea’s dove,
Her lips like Hybla’s honey:
Who would not give a vote for love,
Unless he wanted money?
Alas! To reputation blind!
I wonder some folks bore it:
You’ve lost your fame, and those that find
Can ne’er again restore it.
On the other side there was one capable of putting the Duchess in a more amiable light: