Ode E B Ambition (1 results)

Folio, pp. 7; disbound. First edition. This poem is facetiously presented as spoken by William Pulteney, who had been created Earl of Bath in 1742. The occasion was an unsuccessful and embarrassingly brief last grasp at power, near the end of a tempestuous political career. 'When George II attempted to escape from the domination of his government by the Pelhams he turned to Bath, who accepted the Treasury, received the seals of office, and kissed hands on 10 February 1746. Such was the parliamentary strength of the Pelhams that within two days Bath had relinquished the seals on finding insufficient support to carry an administration' (ODNB). Pulteney had long been one of Williams's favourite targets; these six-line stanzas are very much in his manner, and his authorship is referred to in Horace Walpole's biographical sketch. Foxon W487.