[392] “Written, in my opinion, at the General Election of 1818.”—(The Rev. Thomas Hutchinson of Kimbolton.)
[393] “Bird-nest” was the old name of Brougham Hall.—Ed.
PLACARD FOR A POLL BEARING AN OLD SHIRT
Wordsworth was deeply interested in the successive parliamentary elections for Westmoreland (see his “Addresses to the Freeholders of Westmorland, 1818,” in the Prose Works.) He particularly disliked Lord Brougham’s candidature. The following squib is in MS. at Lowther Castle. He wrote on the MS.—“For a version of part of B.’s famous London Tower Speech see opposite page.”—Ed.
If money’s slack,
The shirt on my back
Shall off, and go to the hammer:
Though I sell shirt and skin
By Jove I’ll be in,
And raise up a radical clamor!