On Mackintosh
Though thou art like Judas, an apostate black,
In the resemblance one thing thou dost lack;
When he had gotten his ill-purchased pelf,
He went away and wisely hanged himself:
This thou may do at last, yet much I doubt
If thou hast any bowels to gush out!
This castigation, by Charles Lamb, of the author of “Vindiciæ Gallicæ,” followed his acceptance of an office which gave great offence to his friends, while his enemies branded him as a traitor to his principles. Mackintosh asked Dr. Parr how Quigley (an Irish priest who had been executed for high treason) could have been worse. Parr replied, “I’ll tell you, Jemmy; Quigley was an Irishman—he might have been a Scotchman; he was a priest—he might have been a lawyer; he was a traitor—he might have been an apostate.”