Moss, Thomas

(1740-1808)

   Not much is known of this poet but that he graduated B.A. in 1761 from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and after taking holy orders he was a minister in several parishes in Staffordshire and Worcestershire. In 1769 he published Poems on Several Occasions. The first poem is the heart-wrenching and popular "Beggar's Petition" to which Jane Austen refers in Chapter 1 of Northanger Abbey. Of Catherine Morland, Austen says, "Her mother was three months in teaching her only to repeat the "Beggar's Petition"; and after all, her next sister, Sally, could say it better than she did." The 26 stanzas written in 1766 tell the tale of bereavement and near-starvation. The beggar appeals to William Pitt (the Elder, the Earl of Chatham), who became prime minister in 1766, to alleviate the burden of the poor.

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. The Beggar's Petition (poem) by Thomas Moss (http://www.pemberley.com/litcomp/beggar.html). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The New Oxford Book of Eighteenth Century Verse. Roger Lonsdale, ed. Oxford University Press, 1984. The New Oxford Book of Seventeenth Century Verse. Alastair Fowler, ed. Oxford University Press, 1991.