Groaning she cried, while tears roll'd down her

cheeks,

"Poor, glib-tongued youth, he means not what he

speaks.

"Like oil at top, these Whig professions flow,

66

But, pure as lymph, runs Toryism below.

"Alas, that tongue should start thus, in the race, "Ere mind can reach and regulate its pace!"For, once outstripp'd by tongue, poor, lagging mind,

"At every step, still further limps behind. "But, bless the boy!-whate'er his wandering be, "Still turns his heart to Toryism and me.

"Like those odd shapes, portray'd in Dante's lay*, "With heads fix'd on, the wrong and backward way, "His feet and eyes pursue a diverse track,

"While those march onward, these look fondly back."

And well she knew him-well foresaw the day, Which now hath come, when snatch'd from Whigs

away,

"Che dalle reni era tornato 'l volto,

E indietro venir li convenia,

Perchè 'l veder dinanzi era lor tolto."

The self-same changeling drops the mask he wore, And rests, restor'd, in granny's arms once more.

But whither now, mixt brood of modern light
And ancient darkness, can'st thou bend thy flight?
Tried by both factions, and to neither true,
Fear'd by the old school, laugh'd at by the new;
For this too feeble, and for that too rash,
This wanting more of fire, that less of flash,
Lone shalt thou stand, in isolation cold,
Betwixt two worlds, the new one and the old,
A small and "vex'd Bermoothes," which the eye
Of venturous seaman sees-and passes by.

A GHOST STORY.

TO THE AIR OF "UNFORTUNATE MISS BAILEY."

1835.

Not long in bed had L-ndh-rst lain,
When, as his lamp burn'd dimly,
The ghosts of corporate bodies slain*,
Stood by his bed-side grimly.

Dead aldermen, who once could feast,
But now, themselves, are fed on,
And skeletons of may'rs deceas'd,
This doleful chorus led on :-

"Oh Lord L-ndh-rst,
"Unmerciful Lord L-ndh-rst,
"Corpses we,

"All burk'd by thee,

"Unmerciful Lord L-ndh-rst!"

"Avaunt, ye frights!" his Lordship cried, "Ye look most glum and whitely."

*Referring to the line taken by Lord L-ndh-rst, on the question of Municipal Reform.

"Ah, L―ndh-rst dear!" the frights replied,

"You've us'd us unpolitely.

"And now, ungrateful man! to drive

"Dead bodies from your door so,

"Who quite corrupt enough, alive,

"You've made, by death, still more so.
"Oh, Ex-Chancellor,

"Destructive Ex-Chancellor,

"See thy work,

"Thou second Burke,

"Destructive Ex-Chancellor!"

Bold L-ndh―rst then, whom nought could keep Awake, or surely that would,

Cried "Curse you all"-fell fast asleep—

And dreamt of " Small v. Attwood."

While, shock'd, the bodies flew down stairs.
But, courteous in their panic,
Precedence gave to ghosts of may'rs,
And corpses aldermanic,

Crying, "Oh, Lord L-ndh-rst,
"That terrible Lord L-ndh-rst,

"Not Old Scratch

"Himself could match

"That terrible Lord L-ndh-rst."

THOUGHTS ON THE LATE DESTRUCTIVE PROPOSITIONS OF THE TORIES.*

BY A COMMON-COUNCILMAN.

1835.

I SAT me down in my easy chair,

To read, as usual, the morning papers;

But who shall describe my look of despair,

When I came to Lefroy's "destructive" capers!

That he that, of all live men, Lefroy

Should join in the cry "Destroy, destroy!"
Who, ev'n when a babe, as I've heard said,
On Orange conserve was chiefly fed,
And never, till now, a movement made
That wasn't most manfully retrograde!
Only think-to sweep from the light of day
Mayors, maces, criers, and wigs away;

These verses were written in reference to the Bill brought in at this time, for the reform of Corporations, and the sweeping amendments proposed by Lord Lyndhurst and other Tory Peers, in order to obstruct the measure.