On The Departure Of Peter Porcupine[173]

For England

A bird of night attends the sail That now towards us turns her tail With Porcupine, escaped from jail.

O may the sharks enjoy their bait: He came such mischief to create We wish him not a better fate.

This hero of the pension'd pen Has left our shores, and left his den To write at home for English men.

Five thousand dollars, we may guess, Have made his pension something less-- So, Peter left us,--in distress.

He writ, and writ, and writ so long[A] That sheriff came, with writ more strong, And he went off, and all went wrong.

[A] For several years he published newspapers and other periodical works in Philadelphia which had a vast circulation; the whole scope and tendency of which was, as is well remembered, to render the republican institutions of this country contemptible, as well as odious to the people; and by discontenting them with their government, to open the way for the introduction of a monarchial system. He was thought to be a pensioner of the English government; but whether such or not is uncertain.--Freneau's note.

May southern gales that vex the main, Or Boreas, with his whistling train Make Peter howl and howl again.

I hear him screech, I hear him shout!-- The storm has put his Rush light[B] out-- I see him famish'd with sour crout.

[B] A weekly pamphlet publication, in which the political as well as private character of Dr. Rush, and other persons of celebrity, was vilified to the lowest degree of scurrility, malignancy and falsehood.--Ib.

May on the groaning vessel's side All Neptune's ruffian strength be try'd Till every seam is gaping wide.

And while the waves about him swell May not one triton blow the shell (A sign at sea of doing well):

But should he reach the british shore, (The land that englishmen adore) One trouble will he find and more:

His pen will run at such a rate, His malice so provoke the great, They soon will drive him out of date.

With broken heart and blunted pen He'll sink among the little men Or scribble in some Newgate den.

Alack, alack! he might have stay'd And followed here the scribbling trade, And lived without the royal aid.

But democratic laws he hated, Our government he so be-rated That his own projects he defeated.

He took his leave from Sandy-Hook, And parted with a surly look, That all observed and few mistook.

From the 1815 edition. William Cobbett sailed for England in June, 1800.

Cobbett was sued by Dr. Rush for libel, was found guilty, and compelled to pay a fine of $5,000.