Hone's View of the Regent's Bomb
Transcription of header material:
HONE'S
VIEW OF THE | REGENT'S BOMB, NOW UNCOVERED, | FOR THE GRATIFICATION OF THE
PUBLIC | In St. James's Park, Majestically Mounted | On a Monstrous
Nondescript, Supposed to Represent Legitimate Sovereignty
Description:
The
work is a half-sheet broadside. At
the top is a colored engraving of the cannon; its stumpy barrel angles toward
the upper left corner, resting on the back of a kind of geryon figure, the
whole on a stumpy rectangular pedestal. Beneath
this is the title of the sheet as above.
At the bottom are three columns of text, the first two containing a
fairly straight prose description of the "bomb" and its
history--i.e. booty from the 1812 seige of Cadiz.
Then,
"It having, for some time past, been customary for the Prince Regent
to indulge curiosity, by some spectacle on the Anniversaries of his birth, on
Monday, August 12th, 1816, preparations were duly made, and His Royal Highness
was graciously pleased to cause his Bomb to be uncovered, in which state
it will henceforth remain for public inspection."
After this introductory material, the
last column contains a burlesque poem, ostensibly by one
"Bombastes"—the final stanza of the poem is as follows:
For roundness, smoothness, breech, and bore,
Such Bomb was never seen before!
Then, Britain! be not this forgotten,
That, when we all are dead and rotten,
And every other trace is gone
Of all thy matchless glory won,
This mighty Bomb shall grace thy fame
And boast thy glorious Regent's name!
In every age such pilgrims may go
As far t'outrival fam'd St. Jago!
And, centuries hence, the folks shall come,
And contemplate--the Regent's Bomb!
