THE 
 
 HOST OF CHATHAM ; 
 
 A VISION. 
 
 DEDICATED TO THE HOUSE OF PEERS. 
 
 " Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received 
 a little thereof. A SPIRIT passed before my face." 
 
 Jon. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED FOR WILLIAM HONE, 
 45, LUDGATE HILL. 
 
 1821. 
 
 Sixpence.
 
 J. M'Creery, Tooks-Court, 
 
 Cljaucry-Laue, London.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE following lines were written under the power- 
 ful impulse of feelings which appear to have been 
 almost consentaneous with those of the whole Bri- 
 tish people. The national spirit has been rouzed 
 against this cruel and unconstitutional attack upon 
 the QUEEN, with pervasive ardour, which forcibly 
 recals the language of the Augustan poet : 
 
 " SPIRITUS intus alit, totamque infusaper ARTUS, 
 MENS agitat MOLEM, et magno se corpore miscet" 
 
 This irresistible movement has been one of LOYALTY, 
 not of FACTION ; of love and not of enmity towards 
 the constitution. Jt is not disputed that factious 
 men exist, who are ready to swell public tumult 
 whenever it arises: but it is mere drivelling, for mi- 
 nisters and their adherents, to talk of " radicalism" 
 and democracy on this occasion. They must know, if 
 they consult the commonest sources of intelligence 
 open to them, that detestation of " THE BILL OF 
 PAINS AND PENALTIES" is rooted beyond all pos- 
 sibility of eradication in the breasts of an overwhelm- 
 ing majority of good men, and faithful subjects. 
 
 At the moment when it was determined to send 
 the following " VISION " to the press, a burst of 
 honest exultation has electrified the whole kingdom. 
 
 10S2405
 
 IV 
 
 With feelings of solemn gratitude to God, and love 
 for my country, I rejoice not only that the QUEEN 
 is thus delivered from the fangs of her enemies ; but 
 that THE KING, THE CONSTITUTION, and THE COUN- 
 TRY, have been thus, as I do unequivocally believe, 
 rescued from a tremendous explosion, which would 
 at best have been of doubtful issue to our liberties. 
 
 Notwithstanding this most happy, this providential 
 result, I have determined still to send out the poem 
 to the public ; because it expresses in strong, how- 
 ever inadequate language, sentiments which are 
 essential to our character as a free people, and to 
 the preservation of our justly balanced monarchy. 
 
 I have not assumed the FASCIS of satire, without 
 deep conviction that its rods were imperatively 
 called into action : but most gladly shall 1 reverse 
 them, after the manner of the ancient LICTORS, over 
 the obsequies of an administration, which must be 
 now in its death-pangs. May succeeding cabinets 
 be WARNED, not guided, by its example! 

 
 THE 
 
 GHOST OF CHATHAM ; 
 
 A VISION. 
 
 A VISION came ! It was not in the hour 
 
 Of sleep ; but when the unresisted power 
 
 Of magic Fancy, threw, with full control, 
 
 Her half prophetic mantle o'er the soul. 
 
 The place was thron'd like Britain's royal halls, 
 
 And her proud navy deck'd the tap'stried walls. 
 
 Statesmen and heroes grac'd the pictur'd scene; 
 
 Fathers who were what since their sons have been ; 
 
 And some whose laurell'd brows might glow with 
 
 shame, 
 
 Of sons with nought of their's besides the name. 
 In this august abode the loud debate 
 Seem'd hush'd, and prince and peer in silence sate ; 
 E'en G ff d's brazen descant seem'd to fail, 
 And gasping C pley gazed on L d rd le ; 
 Panting, they loll'd their contumelious tongues, 
 And suck'd Italian juice to clear their lungs.
 
 6 
 
 Y k mus'd on armies ; yet, with doubtful trust, 
 Wish'd he were certain, or the cause were just : 
 The eye of Cl r nee fiercely rang'd the floor, 
 But soften'd as it fell on D n ghm re ; 
 While L v rp 1, who inly seem'd to fear 
 For place and power, his fellows strove to cheer 
 With sickly smile ; and courtier lords obscene, 
 Temper'd new tilth, to daub their libell'd QUEEN. 
 
 Sudden amid the peers whom ENGLAND hails 
 
 HER nobles men who fail but when SHE fails, 
 
 The vision rose. It was a rev'rend form 
 
 Of aged dignity : its eye was warm 
 
 With kindlings of a spirit that of old 
 
 Made those walls tremble through its earthly mould. 
 
 Now a mild glory round its presence play'd, 
 
 And 'spoke from heav'nly courts the awful shade. 
 
 Its brow wore high reproof; the lifted arm 
 
 Was stretch'd for pleading ; and there was a charm 
 
 Of coming eloquence, as firm it stood, 
 
 Like one whose rank was with the great and good ; 
 
 And well that rank was own'd, when ERSKINE 
 cried, 
 
 " Tis England's CHATHAM !" "CHATHAM !" all re- 
 plied.
 
 7 
 
 -i 
 
 Like the dead stillness of the summer air, 
 When pregnant clouds of shrouded fire are there, 
 They sat : and like the voice of thunder broke 
 The rolling periods, as the vision spoke. 
 " Is this," he cried, "the consecrated floor, 
 
 " Where England's peerage stood, as known of yore, 
 
 < 
 
 " Jealous of honour, zealous for the laws ; 
 
 " Justice their sword, and England's weal their 
 
 cause? 
 
 " Are these the walls whose echoes then return'd 
 " No words that chasten'd gallantry had spurn'd? 
 " Is this the throne whose last loved tenant view'd 
 " His people's morals as the monarch's good ? 
 " Display'd beneath the sov'reign diadem, 
 " DOMESTIC VIRTUE, Britain's dearest gem; 
 " And bade Example to his court proclaim 
 " What taught, unpractis'd, is the teacher's shame ? 
 " Ah no ! that throne is chang'd ; this gew-gaw thing 
 " Befits a raree-shew, not England's King ! 
 " And can it be that Brunswick's cherish'd heir 
 " Will also change the laws which plac'd him there ? 
 " Forget the STUART'S FATE, the BRUNSWICK'S 
 
 OATH ; 
 " Yet make his sorrowing subjects dwell on both ?
 
 s 
 
 " Forbid it, Heaven ! Far other thoughts he knew, 
 
 " When yet his talents with his graces grew ; 
 
 " When Genius, Beauty, in his circle ran, 
 
 " Admired the prince, and half adored the man. 
 
 " Nor now thus fall'n ! Yet whence this hot cabal 
 
 " Of treasury bench, and bench episcopal ? 
 
 " These monstrous portents that before me rise 
 
 " Of mitred pimps, and coronetted spies ! 
 
 " This deep, dark plotting, spreading net and snare, 
 
 " By hands that used their country's ark to bear? 
 
 " This hateful truckling to misguided power, 
 
 " Combined in palace, temple, hall, and bower, 
 
 " To crush an outcast Queen, with evidence 
 
 " By facts refuted, ridiculed by sense? 
 
 " Tales that would merit but an equal fate, 
 
 " Told of the veriest wench in Billingsgate ! 
 
 " FATHERS! and BRITONS! whence this alien band 
 
 " Of miscreant lechers bribed from sea and land? 
 
 " By England spurn'd, yet plied with England's gold, 
 
 " Till every scoundrel's stock of oaths was sold; 
 
 " Then hither sent by hirelings vile as they, 
 
 " To pass for sterling truth in open day. 
 
 " Monstrous fatuity ! and British peers 
 
 " Have lent these vermin not unwilling ears ;
 
 9 
 
 " For new-born lies have barter'd ancient law, 
 
 " Broke public faith, to patch a private flaw, 
 
 " And made a court that freemen never saw. 
 
 " ACCUSERS, JURY, JUDGES, a//moNE! 
 
 " O England ! now be firm, or be undone! 
 
 " Strangle this monster, ere its birth be o'er, 
 
 " Or grov'lling lick the dust to rise no more ! 
 
 " Heard I aright? and was it HERE I heard 
 
 " This crew 'gainst England's CONSORT QUEEN 
 
 preferred ? 
 
 " Here did their sland'rous breath infest the air ? 
 " Hence did malicious tongues the scandal bear? 
 
 " Gush'd 'neath this sacred dome the prurient flood 
 
 / 
 
 " Of filth and venom, from that viper brood, 
 
 " Which o'er the land hath spread its noisome stain, 
 
 " While shudd'ring virtue weeps, but weeps in vain ? 
 
 " And (O shame's nauseous dregs !) did noble lips 
 
 " Here taste that stream with epicurean sips? 
 
 44 And mitred heads, as o'er its scum they bent, 
 
 " Snuff the rank steam, and chuckle at the scent ? 
 
 " My soul is sick ! I turn with sated ear, 
 
 " And find a cordial in my brethren here. 
 
 44 Peers who their conscience to no market bring ; 
 
 44 Respect themselves, their country, and their king:
 
 10 
 
 " Nor would round England's smiling hearths diffuse 
 
 " The breath the very atmosphere of stews, 
 
 " O horrid ! yes, I feel the blast impure, 
 
 " Air no blessed spirit may unpained endure : 
 
 " Yet leave I not without a warning voice : 
 
 " Hear, and obey, and Britons shall rejoice! 
 
 " You cannot, Lords ! by votes create a crime, 
 " Nor make your country's voice with falsehood 
 
 chime : 
 
 " You cannot quench, with all this flood of LIES, 
 " A gallant people's glowing sympathies : 
 " You cannot hide your idol God from them, 
 " When prone you kiss its garment's nether hem : 
 " You cannot waste their treasure on a cause, 
 " That boldly violates their guardian laws ; 
 " And 'scape the arrows from their quiver hurl'd 
 " The keen reproach, and hisses of the world. 
 " You may cry ' GUILTY ! ' but the umpire land 
 " Cancels the verdict with indignant hand, 
 " Reveres the NOBLE MANY who uphold 
 " The nation's dignity ; nor brooks that gold, 
 " Wrung hardly from her toiling sons, should pay 
 " The Judas gang that would her rights betray.
 
 11 
 
 " Scorn meets THE FEW who, bought by pandering 
 
 power, 
 
 " Outvote the nation's voice in hapless hour. 
 " Q pause ere yet that fatal hour is seen ! 
 " Be counsell'd, Lords ! You cannot crush your 
 
 Queen, 
 
 " But by a blow that must, with blind intent, 
 " Bruise THRONE and ALTAR in its dire descent ! 
 
 " O where, ye PRELATES ! is your light withdrawn ? 
 " Where now the lustral influence of your lawn?* 
 " Where the meek crosier, and the crook of fleece, 
 " That guard the fold (not reckless of the peace)? 
 " Is there no wolf in all your pastur*d plains? 
 " No murrain rankling in your lambkins' veins ? 
 "No lurking thief, by whom they nightly bleed ? 
 " No arid spots refreshing streams that need ? 
 " Q why, forgetful of your solemn call, 
 " Sit ye, unmindful where the victims fall, 
 " To hire ONE SACRIFICE with cords be bound, 
 " And your anointed hands inflict the wound ? 
 
 * See the Earl of Chatham's animated speech against the em- 
 ployment of Indian warriors to assist in the subjugation of 
 America.
 
 12 
 
 " O desecrated thus, by off'rings high 
 
 " To demon passions ! Foul idolatry ! 
 
 " If such your rites, no LEVITE here I view, 
 
 " But BAAL'S PRIESTS may leap and shout with you.* 
 
 " O whither urge these bodings of my breast? 
 
 " Let hope, let chanty their flight arrest ! 
 
 " In Britain's SARDIS, surely some remain 
 
 " Whose courtly robes yet bear no wilful stain ! 
 
 " PRINCES! and PEERS! once more on you I call 
 
 " Save ! save your tottering glory ere it fall ! 
 
 * In this, as I conceive, seasonable reproof of certain " Lords 
 Spiritual" I would not be understood to involve the whole of that 
 reverend body. Some of them, I firmly believe, have remained at 
 a distance from the combat, aged and infirm, like ELI, sitting by 
 the wayside of Shiloh, and watching with trembling heart, lest the 
 ark (I will not say of GOD, but of THE CONSTITUTION) should fall in 
 the unhallowed conflict. Others, perhaps, have not cared to meddle 
 in what they may have considered a doubtful matter : but it must 
 not be concealed,that when TRUTH and JUSTICE are at stake, neutrality 
 is no honourable sanctuary for the avowed servants of the TEMPLE. 
 Let the Bishops beware of discovering their nakedness upon the 
 very steps of the altar. The eye of an enlightened people is upon 
 them ; and with their character for real consistent PIETY, and fidelity to 
 
 SOUnd PROTESTANT PRINCIPLES, THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IVtll Stand 
 
 orfall.
 
 13 
 
 " If truth, if virtue, to your hearts be dear; 
 
 " If sounds of sweet content you love to hear ; 
 
 " If generous sons, and daughters chaste, you prize, 
 
 " And all a happy home's delightful ties ; 
 
 " If just gradation on the social scale 
 
 " Be worth your care ; if rank can aught avail : 
 
 " If rev'rence for the altar and the throne, 
 
 " Be yours, and GEORGE the lawful king, you own: 
 
 " If rights your fathers were combin'd to save, 
 
 " When Britain's sceptre to his race they gave, 
 
 " Be justly claim'd, as justly claim'd they are 
 
 " By every son that British mothers bear : 
 
 " O save your names from hate, disgrace, and scorn, 
 
 " HIST'RY'S bequest to ages yet unborn ! 
 
 " Ah ! heard ye not your lion-genius roar, 
 " And shake with mighty tread his ev'ry shore? 
 " Deem not that roar in vain ; for it hath found 
 " Redoubl'd echoes all the realm around, 
 " And generous hearts have rous'd them at the sound. 
 " There is a spirit mightier far than yours 
 " Magnanimous and mild, it much endures : 
 " But urg'd too far, a giant's strength awakes, 
 " And gyves and bonds at one fierce effort breaks.
 
 14 
 
 " O hear yet more ! There is a GOD, whose eye 
 " Pierces your counsels' darkest mystery ; 
 " Whose blessing England owns for countless years, 
 " Whose vengeance now she deprecates with tears. 
 " To HIM your Queen appeals, and at His bar, 
 " Your names must mark the awful calendar ; 
 " There must the witness CONSCIENCE naked plead, 
 " And guilty kings receive the culprit's meed. 
 " O think on this! e'en now that witness own, 
 " And save YOURSELVES, your COUNTRY, and your 
 THRONE!" 
 
 The vision cea&'d, and in a radiant cloud 
 Withdrew The breathless senate rev Vent bow'd. 
 New vigour throbb'd in every patriot breast, 
 And nerveless horror sicken'd all the rest. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 
 J. M'Creery, Tools Court. 
 Chancery Lane, London.
 
 JUST PUBLISHED BY WIL 
 
 45, LuDGATE-HlI 
 
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 THE PREROGATIVES OF A QUEEN CONSORT OF ENG- 
 LAND; particularly of her vtbility to make and receive Gifts, to Mtetond 
 be sued, and to hold Courts without the King ; of its being Treason to plot 
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 r-pHE ORIGIN OF DR. SLOP'S NAME. BY THE AUTHOR 
 JL OF THE POLITICAL HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. 
 
 " I have conferred on him a glorious immortality." 
 " With his name the mothers still their babes." 
 
 King Henry VI. 
 
 " By virtue of my pnblic authority, I hereby ratify and confirm his right 
 and title to the name of " SLOP ;" and it is my parodial will and pleasure, that 
 he continue to bear it during his natural life." PREFACE. 
 
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 THE APOCRYPHAL NEW TESTAMENT, 
 
 Being all the Gospels, Epistles, and other pieces now extant, attri- 
 buted in the first four centuries to JESUS CHRIST, his Apostles, 
 and their companions, and not included in the New Testament by 
 its compilers. Translated from the original, and now first collected 
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 sidered sacred by Christians during the first four centuries after his birth. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface. 
 
 Gospel of the birth of Mary. 
 
 The Protetangelion, or birth of Christ 
 
 and the Virgin, by James the lesser. 
 The first Gospel of the Infancy of Christ. 
 Thomas's Gospel of the Infancy. 
 Epistles of Christ and Abgarus. 
 Gospel of Nicodemus. 
 Apostles' Creed. 
 
 Paul's Epistle to the Laodiceans. 
 Epistles of Paul and Seneca, 
 Acts of Paul and Thecla. 
 
 Clement's Two Epistles to the Corin- 
 thians. 
 
 Epistle of Barnabas. 
 
 The Seven Epistles of Ignatius to the 
 Ephesians, Magnesians, Tralliant, 
 Romans, Philadelphians, Smyrnaans, 
 and Polycarp. 
 
 Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians. 
 
 The Shepherd of Hermas, in three books. 
 
 Table I. List of all the lost Apocry- 
 phal books. 
 
 Table II. List of early Catalogues of 
 the Books of the New Testament. 
 
 *** By tne publication of this Volume, the Editor conceives he 
 has rendered an acceptable service to the THEOLOGICAL STUDENT and 
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