"A distant age asks where the fabric stood"
THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
Introductory Note: The Political House that Jack Built was first published in December of 1819 while a furious public debate still raged over the "Peterloo" massacre of 16 August. The text reproduced below comes from the forty-fourth edition of the work.
Because of the repetitive form of the text, line numbers have been abandoned in favor of numbered "accumulations." In the interests of space and readability, Hone's irregular lineation has been slightly altered, but the original capitalization has been preserved. (Original lineation is evident, of course, in the facsimile images.) It is important to recognize that the words printed in bold capitals functioned not only as part of Hone's verse but also as captions for the Cruikshank engravings. In addition, the illustrated pages contain lines quoted from Cowper's The Task (reproduced here in smaller-font text preceding Hone's lines) that often provide an ironic context for the interpretation of the images and text.
Each accumulation here is accompanied by two links--one to a set of brief explanatory notes on the specifics of the text, the other to a larger-scale facsimile page showing the engravings in greater detail.
"A distant age asks where the fabric stood"
THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
--"Not to understand a treasure's worth,
Till time has stolen away the slighted good,
Is cause of half the poverty we feel,
And makes the world the wilderness it is."
This is THE WEALTH
That lay in the House
That Jack Built.
-----"A race obscene,
Spawn'd in the muddy beds of Nile, came forth,
Polluting Egypt: gardens, fields, and plains,
Were cover'd with the pest;
The croaking nuisance lurk'd in every nook;
Nor palaces, nor even chambers, 'scaped;
And the land stank--so num'rous was the fry.
These are THE VERMIN
That Plunder the Wealth,
That lay in the House,
That Jack Built.
"Once enslaved, farewell!
* * * *
Do I forebode impossible events,
And tremble at vain dreams? Heav'n grant I may!"
This is THE THING, that, in spite of new Acts,
And attempts to restrain it, by Soldiers or Tax,
Will poison the Vermin, that plunder the Wealth
That lay in the House,
That Jack Built.
"The seals of office glitter in his eyes;
He climbs, he pants, he grasps them--
To be a pest where he was useful once."
This is THE PUBLIC INFORMER,
Who would put down the Thing,
That, in spite of new Acts,
And attempts to restrain it, by Soldiers or Tax,
Will poison the Vermin, that plunder the Wealth
That lay in the House,
That Jack Built.
"Ruffians are abroad---
* * * *
Leviathan is not so tamed."
These are THE REASONS OF LAWLESS POWER
That back the Public Informer,
Who would put down the Thing,
That, in spite of new Acts,
And attempts to restrain it, by Soldiers or Tax,
Will poison the Vermin, that plunder the Wealth
That lay in the House,
That Jack Built.
---"Great offices will have
Great talents."
This is THE MAN--all shaven and shorn,
All cover'd with Orders--and all forlorn;
THE DANDY OF SIXTY, who bows with a grace,
And has taste in wigs, collars, cuirasses and lace;
Who, to tricksters, and fools, leaves the State and its treasure,
And, when Britain's in tears, sails about at his pleasure:
Who spurn'd from his presence the Friends of his youth,
And now has not one who will tell him the truth;
Who took to his counsels, in evil hour,
The Friends of the Reasons of lawless Power;
That back the Public Informer,
Who would put down the Thing,
That, in spite of new Acts,
And attempts to restrain it, by Soldiers or Tax,
Will poison the Vermin, that plunder the Wealth
That lay in the House,
That Jack Built.
"Portentous, unexampled, unexplain'd!
-------- What man seeing this,
And having human feelings, does not blush,
And hang his head, to think himself a man?
-------- I cannot rest
A silent witness of the headlong rage,
Or heedless folly, by which thousands die--
Bleed gold for Ministers to sport away."
These are THE PEOPLE all tatter'd and torn,
Who curse the day wherein they were born,
On account of Taxation too great to be borne,
And pray for relief, from night to morn;
Who, in vain, Petition in every form,
Who, peacably Meeting to ask for Reform,
Were sabred by Yeomanry Cavalry, who,
Were thank'd by THE MAN, all shaven and shorn,
All cover'd with Orders--and all forlorn;
THE DANDY OF SIXTY, who bows with a grace,
And has taste in wigs, collars, cuirasses and lace;
Who, to tricksters, and fools, leaves the State and its treasure,
And, when Britain's in tears, sails about at his pleasure:
Who spurn'd from his presence the Friends of his youth,
And now has not one who will tell him the truth;
Who took to his counsels, in evil hour,
The Friends of the Reasons of lawless Power;
That back the Public Informer,
Who would put down the Thing,
That, in spite of new Acts,
And attempts to restrain it, by Soldiers or Tax,
Will poison the Vermin, that plunder the Wealth
That lay in the House,
That Jack Built.
THE DOCTOR.
"At his last gasp--as if with opium drugg'd."DERRY-DOWN TRIANGLE.
"He that sold his country."THE SPOUTER OF FROTH.
"With merry descants on a nation's woes--
There is a public mischief in his mirth."
THE GUILTY TRIO.
"Great skill have they in palmistry, and more
To conjure clean away the gold they touch,
Conveying worthless dross into its place;
Loud when they beg, dumb only when they steal.
* * * *
-------- Dream after dream ensues;
And still they dream, that they shall still succeed,
And still are disappointed."
This is THE DOCTOR of Circular fame,
A Driv'ller, a Bigot, a Knave without shame:
And that's DERRY DOWN TRIANGLE by name,
From the Land of mis-rule, and half-hanging, and flame:
And that is THE SPOUTER OF FROTH BY THE HOUR,
The worthless Colleague of their infamous power;
Who dubb'ed him 'the Doctor' whom now he calls 'brother',
And, to get at his Place, took a shot at the other;
Who haunts their Bad House, a base living to earn,
By playing Jack-pudding, and Ruffian, in turn;
Who bullies, for those whom he bullied before;
Their Flash-man, their Bravo, a son of a -----;
The hate of the People, all tatter'ed and torn,
Who curse the day wherein they were born,
On account of Taxation too great to be borne,
And pray for relief, from night to morn;
Who, in vain, Petition in every form,
Who, peacably Meeting to ask for Reform,
Were sabred by Yeomanry Cavalry, who,
Were thank'd by THE MAN, all shaven and shorn,
All cover'd with Orders--and all forlorn;
THE DANDY OF SIXTY, who bows with a grace,
And has taste in wigs, collars, cuirasses and lace;
Who, to tricksters, and fools, leaves the State and its treasure,
And, when Britain's in tears, sails about at his pleasure:
Who spurn'd from his presence the Friends of his youth,
And now has not one who will tell him the truth;
Who took to his counsels, in evil hour,
The Friends of the Reasons of lawless Power;
That back the Public Informer,
Who would put down the Thing,
That, in spite of new Acts,
And attempts to restrain it, by Soldiers or Tax,
Will poison the Vermin, that plunder the Wealth
That lay in the House,
That Jack Built.
----- "Burghers, men immaculate perhaps
In all their private functions, once combin'd,
Become a loathsome body, only fit
For dissolution.
-------- Power usurp'd
Is weakness when oppos'd; conscious of wrong,
'Tis pusillanimous and prone to flight.
--------I could endure
Chains nowhere patiently; and chains at home,
Where I am free by birthright, not at all."
This WORD is the Watchword--the talisman word,
That the WATERLOO-MAN's to crush with his sword;
But, if shielded by NORFOLK and BEDFORD's alliance,
It will set both his sword, and him, at defiance;
If FITZWILLIAM, and GROSVENOR, and ALBEMARLE aid it,
And assist its best Champions, who then dare invade it?
'Tis the terrible WORD OF FEAR, night and morn,
To the Guilty Trio, all cover'd with scorn;
First, to the Doctor, of Circular fame
A Driv'ller, a Bigot, a Knave without shame:
And that's DERRY DOWN TRIANGLE by name,
From the Land of mis-rule, and half-hanging, and flame:
And that is THE SPOUTER OF FROTH BY THE HOUR,
The worthless Colleague of their infamous power;
Who dubb'ed him 'the Doctor' whom now he calls 'brother',
And, to get at his Place, took a shot at the other;
Who haunts their Bad House, a base living to earn,
By playing Jack-pudding, and Ruffian, in turn;
Who bullies, for those whom he bullied before;
Their Flash-man, their Bravo, a son of a -----;
The hate of the People, all tatter'ed and torn,
Who curse the day wherein they were born,
On account of Taxation too great to be borne,
And pray for relief, from night to morn;
Who, in vain, Petition in every form,
Who, peacably Meeting to ask for Reform,
Were sabred by Yeomanry Cavalry, who,
Were thank'd by THE MAN, all shaven and shorn,
All cover'd with Orders--and all forlorn;
THE DANDY OF SIXTY, who bows with a grace,
And has taste in wigs, collars, cuirasses and lace;
Who, to tricksters, and fools, leaves the State and its treasure,
And, when Britain's in tears, sails about at his pleasure:
Who spurn'd from his presence the Friends of his youth,
And now has not one who will tell him the truth;
Who took to his counsels, in evil hour,
The Friends of the Reasons of lawless Power;
That back the Public Informer,
Who would put down the Thing,
That, in spite of new Acts,
And attempts to restrain it, by Soldiers or Tax,
Will poison the Vermin, that plunder the Wealth
That lay in the House,
That Jack Built.END OF THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
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Edited January 1998, Kyle Grimes
