Did he good service? God must judge, not we I

Manly he was, and generous and sincere;
English in all, of genius blithely free:

Who loves a Man may see his image here.
THE HAPPY PRINTER



ao5



THE! HAPPY PRINTEft

*'Hoc est viv/rf/'— Martial

The Printer's is a happy lot:

Alone of all professions,
No fateful smudges ever blot

His earliest "impressions/*

The outgrowth of his youthful ken
No cold obstruction fetters ;

He quickly learns the "types" of men,
And all the world of "letters."

With "forms" he scorns to compromise;

For him no "rule" has terrors ;
The "slips" he makes he can "revise" —

They are but "printers' errors."

From doubtful questions of the "Press"

He wisely holds aloof;

In all polemics, more or less,

His argument is "proof,"

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Save in their "case," with High and Low
Small need has he to grapple I

Without dissent he still can go

To his accustomed "Chapel."*

From ills that others scape or shirk,

He rarely fails to rally;
For him, his most "composing" work

Is labour of the "galley."

Though ways be foul, and days are dim,
He makes no lamentation;

The primal "fount" of woe to him
Is — ^want of occupation :

And when, at last, Time Hnds him grey

With over-close attention.
He solves the problem of the day.
And gets an Old Age pension.
^ This, derived, it is said, from Caxton's connection with WeBtminster
Abbey, is the name given to the meetings held by printers to consider trade
affairs, appeals, etc. (Printers' Vocabulary).
