Behold the' Engraver's mimic labours trace The sober image of that sapient face: See him, in each peculiar charm exact, Below dilate it, and above contract; For Nature thus, inverting her design, From vulgar ovals hath distinguish'd thine: See him each nicer character supply, The pert no-meaning puckering round the eye, The mouth in plaits precise demurely clos'd, Each order'd feature, and each line compos'd, Where Wisdom sits a-squat, in starch disguise, Like Dulness couch'd, to catch us by surprise. And now he spreads around thy pomp of wig, In owl-like pride of legal honour's big; That wig, which once of curl on curl profuse, In well-kept buckle stiff, and smugly spruce, Deck'd the plain Pleader; then in nobler taste, With well-frizz'd bush the' Attorney-General grac'd; And widely waving now with ampler flow, Still with thy titles and thy fame shall grow, Behold, SIR LLOYD, and while with fond delight The dear resemblance feasts thy partial sight, Smile, if thou canst; and, smiling on this book, Cast the glad omen of one favouring look.
But it is on public grounds, that I principally wish to vindicate my choice of YOUR HONOUR for my Patron. The ROLLIAD, I have reason to believe, owed its existence to the [2] memorable speech of the Member of Devonshire on the first Discussion of the Westminster Scrutiny, when he so emphatically proved himself the genuine descendant of DUKE ROLLO; and in the noble contempt which he avowed, for the boasted rights of Electors, seemed to breathe the very soul of his great progenitor, who came to extirpate the liberties of Englishmen with the sword. It must be remembered, however, that Your Honour ministered the occasion to his glory. You, SIR LLOYD, have ever been reputed the immediate Author of the Scrutiny. Your opinion is said to have been privately consulted on the framing of the Return; and your public defence of the High-Bailiff's proceeding, notoriously furnished MR. ROLLO, and the other friends of the Minister, with all the little argument, which they advanced against the objected exigency of the Writ. You taught them to reverence that holy thing, the Conscience of a Returning Officer, above all Law, Precedent, Analogy, Public Expediency, and the popular Right of Representation, to which our Forefathers erroneously paid religious respect, as to the most sacred franchise of our Constitution. You prevailed on them to manifest an impartiality singularly honourable; and to prefer the sanctity of this single Conscience, to a round dozen of the most immaculate consciences, chosen in the purest possible manner from their own _pure House of Commons_.