Black Marks

Holding it not a subject fit To write about at all, Johnson, we know, would never read Gibbon's "Decline and Fall."

Had he been here on Friday last He would have found no joy in The story of the base echo Of a, once honest, coin.

Pity we have for one whose fall Is unpremeditated. Malice aforethought in this case Can be most clearly stated.

We see a nation here descend To wholesale counterfeiting, And think that smart, which honest men Would designate as cheating.

For issuing from a printing press, Erected in a cellar, Come marks that can be reckoned, but By computation stellar.

These Master Printers ruthlessly Their countrymen controlling For work and raw materials, both, Their worthless paper doling.

The goods produced they ship away, To all and sundry nations, Taking good care no cash returns For settling reparations.

Clearly, as if we had been there, We hear these wise ones saying, "They'll find their vict'ry dearly bought Before they get through paying!"