Shall thus the fierce Destroyer's hand II. "Is then the contest o'er ?" we cried, Yes! we will guard our old renown; Not thus the fierce Destroyer's hand III. The Foe advance. In firm array We'll rush o'er Albion's sands Till the red sabre marks our way Then, as they lie in death's cold grasp, "OUR CHOICE IS MADE! We'll cry, "These hands the sabre's hilt shall clasp, "Your hearts shall feel the blade." Thus Britons guard their ancient fame, Resolv'd to conquer or to die, True to their KING, their LAWS, their LIBERTY : The following Poem has been transmitted to us without preface or introduction, by a gentleman of the name of Ireland. We apprehend from the peculiarities of the style, that it must be the production of a remote period. We are likewise inclined to imagine, that it may contain allusions to some former event in English history. What that event may have been, we must submit to the better judgment and superior information of our Readers: from whom we impatiently expect a solution of this interesting question. The Editor has been influenced solely by a sense of its poetical merit. で THE DUKE AND THE TAXING-MAN. WHILOME there liv'd in fair Englonde A Duke of peerless wealth, And mickle care he took of her Full fifty thousand pounds and more But ne to King, ne Countree, he The taxing man, with grim visàge The taxing-man, with wrothful words, Thus to the Duke did say: “ Lord Duke, Lord Duke, thou'st hid from me, "As sure as I'm alive, "Of goodly palfreys seventeen, “Of varlets twenty-five.” Then out he drew his gray goose quill, Ydipp'd in ink so black, And sorely to SURCHARGE the Duke, I trowe, he was ne slack. Then 'gan the Duke to looken pale, And stared as astound, *Twaie coneynge Clerks, eftsoons he spies Sitting their board around. "O woe is me," then cried the Duke, "Ne mortal wight but errs! "I'll hie to yon twaie coneynge Clerks, The Duke he hied him to the board, And straught 'gan for to say, "A seely wight I am, God wot, "Ne ken I the right way. "These varlets twenty-five were ne'er *Twaie coneynge Clerks.-Coneynge is the participle of the verb to ken or know. It by no means imports what we now denominate a knowing one: on the contrary, twaie coneynge clerks means two intelligent and disinterested clergymen. + Seely is evidently the original of the modern word silly. -A seely wight, however, by no means imports what is now called a silly fellow, but means a man of simplicity of character, devoid of all vanity, and of any strange ill-conducted ambition, which, if successful, would immediately be fatal to the man who indulged it. D "And by St. George, that stout horseman, 66 My palfreys seventeen, "For two years, or perchance for three, "I had forgotten clean." "Naie," quoth the Clerk, " both horse and foot "To hide was thine intent, "Ne seely wight be ye, but did "With good advisament.* "Surcharge, surcharge, good Taxing-man, "Anon our seals we fix, "Of sterling pounds, Lord Duke, you pay "Three hundred thirty-six." EPIGRAM ON THE PARIS LOAN, CALLED THE LOAN UPON ENGLAND. THE Paris cits, a patriotic band, Advance their cash on British freehold land. But let the speculating rogues beware- * Good advisament means-cool consideration. |