The way Hope builds his House 1
It is not with a sill－
Nor Rafter－has that Edifice
But only Pinnacle－
Abode in as supreme 5
This superficies
As if it were of Ledges smit
Or mortised with the Laws－
It is not with a sill－
Nor Rafter－has that Edifice
But only Pinnacle－
Abode in as supreme 5
This superficies
As if it were of Ledges smit
Or mortised with the Laws－
(F.1512/J.1481)
[1] Hope, House:: indicating the bank Hope & Co., founded by Henry Hope (1736–1811).
[2–4] not sill, Rafter, but Pinnacle:: banking, above labor and others, the highest of all business.
[5] superficies:: the surface of a land, a hint on land deals. The word also means something superficial, a critic on Hope's profitable slave trade transport business.
[5–8] superficies, Laws:: indicating the Louisiana Purchase (1803). Hope & Co. provided loan to the United States.
The first foreign territory acquired by the United States is known as the Louisiana Purchase. It was purchased of France in 1803, and comprises the whole country west of the Mississippi, as far as the Rocky Mountains, and, taken in connection with the explorations of Lewis and Clarke, was one of the sources of our claim to Oregon. ─ A Brief Treatise upon Constitutional and Party Questions (1866)