Transcription
FAVOU [smudged]
SUNG [smudged]
CHARACTER [smudged]
By Mr. [smudged]
(Belonging to the [smudged]
LE GR [smudged]
IN [smudged]
SIEGE OF [smudged]
NOW [smudged]
WITH [smudged]
I.
O, DEAR! What consternation
Is in this mad French nation,
And mine a pretty station,
In Valenciennes me Cook!
But diable [sic] a ting [sic] to dress—
Indeed I do confess:
My Saucepans are all dusty,
My spit is blunt and rusty;
And I’m not very lusty—
And I, now pray but look!
II.
Hark! how the cannons roaring!
Hot balls and bombs are pouring,
Poor Valenciennes devouring,
Now mine’s a pretty lot!
Each corner of the street
A bomb or ball I meet;
Besides there be great matter,
For all this noise and clatter
Has town me all to tatter,
Sans habit Sans Culotte!
III.
Tho’ I my country righting,
This firing and this fighting
To me is not inviting,
I’d rather run away;
Those people that they call
L’Assemblée Nationale,
They make such great deal bother
About von thing or t’other,
I fear my very brother
Will cut my throat von day.
IV.
I hope to this confusion
Will soon be von conclusion,
Ne’er be the link delusion,
Oh! I wou’d dance and sing.
May ev’ry Frenchman own
Young LOUIS on the Throne,
And may we ever cherish
Our Sovereign—love and nourish;
How can a nation flourish
Without von Royal King?*
*This character, which breathes a spirit of pleasantry, loyalty, and fear, exhibits also the horrors experienced by the inhabitants of Valenciennes, with which the writer seems to have had a more than ordinary knowledge.
