By the Rev. W. H. Hitchcock. 249 
There is no need to dwell on-his compulsory residence abroad for 
nearly three years, in consequence of his liability for a very con- 
siderable sum of money—a liability caused by no fault of Moore’s, 
but by the defalcation of his deputy in the Island of Bermuda, 
where Moore held an official position as Registrar to the Admiralty 
from 1804 onwards. After a tour in Italy, and a lengthy residence 
in Paris, he was relieved by the generosity of his patrons from the 
embarrassment, and his Bessy was welcomed by a peal from “ those 
evening bells” of Bromham as a prelude of the poet’s home-coming 
to Sloperton, 
And now his works poured forth in prolific variety. For, with 
all his gaiety, Moore was never indolent. No one worked harder. 
Up with the sun he wrote until breakfast, when he shed the bright 
halo of his wit upon his humble fare. After breakfast at work 
again, chiefly now as he walked to and fro in the laurel bower of 
his garden ; for it was in the open air (he used to say) that his 
mind worked most freely. There it was that the Bromham farmers 
came to consult him about the weather; “ Plaze, Sur, as you be 
Muster Moore, the almanac man, will you tell us when it will be 
fine enough to cut our grass ? ” 
Endless political squibs from his pen appeared in the “ Times” 
and “ Chronicle,” and other leading papers of the day. 
The following lines, written in 1828, before the Test and Corpo- 
ration Act, suffice to show that Moore was no friend of a State 
Church :— 
“See those Cherries, how they cover 
Yonder sunny garden wall: 
Had they not some net-work over, 
Thieving birds would eat them all! 
So, to guard our posts and pensions 
Ancient sages wove a net, 
Through whose holes of small dimensions 
Ouly certain knaves can get. 
Shall we then this net-work widen, 
Shall we stretch these sacred holes 
Through which, e’en already, slide in 
Lots of small dissenting souls? 
