LETTER TO CHRISTOPHER NORTH, ESQ.

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Respected Christopher,

As an appendage to the "Whippiad," so happily rescued from the fate designed for it by its author, to be embalmed in the never-dying pages of Maga, the following jeu d'esprit, connected with its hero, may not be unacceptable, especially as both productions were generally attributed to the same pen. A note on the line—

"And cuckoo mingle with the thoughts of Bell,"

towards the end of the first canto, alludes to "a young lady of singular elegance and personal accomplishments," to whom Dr Toe's attentions were supposed not to have been unacceptable. This elegant and accomplished young lady, however, (a certain Miss Bell H——,) is said to have eventually jilted the Doctor, and married her footman; a circumstance which gave rise to the following stanzas:—

'Twixt footman John and Dr Toe
A rivalship befell,
Which of the two should be the Beau
To bear away the Belle!
The Footman won the Lady's heart,
And who can blame her?—No man.
The whole prevail'd against the part:
'Twas Foot-man versus Toe-man.

By the way, Christopher, your compositor has "misused the queen's press most damnably" in the quotation from Coriolanus prefixed to the second canto, where he converts the "Great Toe of the Assembly" into its "Great Foe." Rap his knuckles with your crutch, old Gentleman; and tell him, too, that the "Shawstone's party" he speaks of was a very jolly symposium, given by a very hearty fellow of the name of "Rawstorne," whose cognomen stands sic in orig.

Thine ever.
My dear Christopher,
Erigena.
Brazenose Quad., July 15, 1843.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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