74

Select Poetry.-Oxford Newsman's Address.

And guide, with honied rhymes at will,
His slowly-moving gray-goose quill,
Then worthy Masters would I tip ye
Whole buckets-full of Aganippe,
Would crop like other tuneful asses,
The weeds that sprout on Mount Parnassus,
And your minds' appetite appease
With intellectual fricasees :-

But since, alas! it is not mine
In themes of lofty rank to shine,
Let gifted Bards, and other men try
Their hands on matters Parliament'ry,
Pour the full tide of burning words
On BROUGHAM & DENMAN, QUEEN & LORDS,
And once again the whole rehearse
In living Chronicle of verse,
Of what befell the Royal Rover,
Since her first bubbling up at Dover,
Her gracious smiles and care exhausting,
On bowing WOOD and BILLY AUSTIN,
Until by various wishes toss'd,
Those thrilling words her ear accost,
"The Queen has won! The Bill is lost!"
Such be their boastful aim, who try
On Pegasean nag to fly,
In stinging stanzas to assail,

Earls Donoughmore and Lauderdale,
Or in soft lullabies to rock ye
By mirthful ditties on Majocchi;
On theme, so taking and bewitching,
Each hapless Anti- Queenite hitching,
In biting paragraphs, or bold rhymes,
In imitation of the Old Times;
Whilst I, on rhyming crutch essay,
To plod my dark and doggrel way,
Thro' London streets, both long and wide,
From Tyburn turnpike to Cheapside;
Thro' thronging squads, and echoing brawls
Of heavenly-minded Radicals,
When the Queen sojourned to St. Paul's!
For having from my masters got
Leave both for self, and Mrs. TROTT,
To chase, for once, our cares away,
In sunshine of a holiday;
[bours,
And breathe, like other reckless neigh-
Some little respite from our labours,
As maggots-for there's little difference-
Gain from crack'd filberts jail deliv'rance,
We crawled it-(Mrs. TROTT, you know,
More nimble is of tongue than toe) —
To where in amplest tide the folly ran,
To London's city metropolitan.
And now the day of days arrives!
When each with other strongly strives
To rend the air with such mad cries,
As drive the birds from out the skies,
And shake, with earthquake of applause,
High-flying pigeons and jackdaws;
Now the throng begins to pour
Through the Minories to the Tower,
From Spitalfields in crowds they come,
From Shoreditch and from Hackney some;
All the lanes and alleys fill soon,
Headed by Sir ROBERT WILSON:
Haste, WAITHMAN! haste, my darling boy!
To greet, and give your Mistress joy-
The Bill's no more-old WooD's no fool!
She's Queen in spite of Liverpool!

[Jan.

Hark! the merry bells are ringing-
Happy mortals! cheerful singing-
Cockades and laurel! joyous sights-
Regiments of blazing mutton-lights,
Red-lettered day for Bergamites!
Mercy on us! what a do!

"I've lost a cloak !"-" and I a shoe"-
"Stop thief! pray stop that running fel-
low-

He's scambering off with my umbrella!”
See the rumpled lasses stand,
Lending each a helping hand,
Smoothing back dishevelled tresses,
Pinning up their tattered dresses,
Conglomeration now of trampers,
Closely packed, like figs in hampers-
Free as the wind in key-hole narrow !
Happy as toads beneath a harrow!
And now the grand procession comes-
Strike up, ye trumpets, and ye drums!
The coach and six, all spick and span,
Containing QUEEN and LADY ANNE,
Their dresses glittering like the rainbow,
And elbowed close by WooD, their main
beau;

Next, fiercely mounted on highflyers,
JOE HUME and PETER MOORE, Esquires-
Then capering horsemen, two and two,
Proudly present themselves to view,
In all their hats white favours glow,
Fit emblems of " the unsunned snow;"
Though Love sometimes is apt to scorch,
And snow will melt in Cupid's torch!-
Amid the chariots that so mob us,
Lo one containing little HOBHOUSE.
In full Court dress, oh! how well-bred!
And fine, like gilded gingerbread ;-
The Sheriff's strut before the Queen,
In civic robes of mazarine,
Obeisances successive warp

The plastic back of Lord Mayor THORPE,
(Like goose, which catching water-snail,
His head immerged, turns up his tail,)
Then meets her, with uncovered pate,
Alighting at the Church-yard gate.
Look up! like tulip beds in May days,
See the balconies cramm'd with ladies-
Windows are choked with heads in piles,
And houses roofed with two-legg'd tiles;
The jam below, so firm and fitting,
You scarce could thrust an iron spit in ;-
Then, "Oh!" cries Mrs. TROTT, "my dear,
Pray let us budge a bit from here;
There's such a scrouging and such
squeezing,

--

The people's all so disobliging:
This mob-I'm sure we can't wag through
it-

St. Giles's Fair is nothing to it:
Oh! how I long once more to greet
Our home in Penny-farthing-street;
The horses kick and look so wild-
-I'm glad we did not bring the child ;-
Although poor Jackey cried to stump it-
Well, he shall have some butter'd crum-
pet-

With all this posse in the street,
'Tis plain they'd tread him under feet;

So

1821.]

Select Poetry.-Oxford Newsman's Address.

So that, for sure, I'm not to blame-
He'd better blubber than be lame.
La! how the buggaboos do splash,
They've all bedaub'd my best calash ;-
I little thought to run such risks

With this here late-string, bought at
FISK'S *:

Besides the streets is quite a hash-
Such heaps of mire-and all squish-
squash-

My flannel dickey's all in quod,
And smeared like any mason's hod-
Sure such a serious of ill forten

No other mortal e'er was caught in

Oh lud! my sides! -Oh, Ma'am what
gribs!

-Just take your elbows from my ribs→→
I beg you'll cease my back your whacks

on

D'ye think I'm made of putrefaction?
Stay, John!-mishap upon mishap-
My very toes are smash'd to pap-
I ne'er at home saw such a rabble,
Not e'en when Town and Gownsmen

squabble;

My flounce is all begrimed (worse luck),
And stockings, too, as damp as muck:
That sauce-box, with his grinning jowl,
Says I am like a parboiled owl-
This noise, and racketting, and hurry,
Has put my nerves in such a flurry,
I shan't be well, 'till I can tickle 'em
To rest again, with cup of MICKLEM+;
Let us cross over-haste, be quick-
Pray, Sir, take care, your horse will kick;
And when a nag rears up and capers,
It always puts me in the vapours:
Oh me! how awkwardly he rides-
The saddle's all askew-besides
His foot in stirrup is but half in-
Well, he's no gemman by his laughing :-
Odzooks! as sure as eggs eggs,
I've catched the cramp in both my legs;
And oh! that mad, I've just stepp'd flop

in

-And now I feel my garters dropping!"

Sooner might you, my worthy Masters,
Cure broken hearts with issue plasters;
Sooner with cobwebs build a ridge
Against the tide at London bridge;
Sooner in bull-rush find a knot,
Than stop the tongue of Mrs. Trott,
When once, with downhill speed, it goes
Along the path of her own woes.
So finding all my efforts vain,
To quell her ire, or heal her pain,
I gladly hook'd my arm in her's,
Sticking together close as burrs,
And led her gallantly along

Forth from the mud and maddening
throng,

* A celebrated tradesman in Oxford. An eminent brewer in Oxford.

75

To where from Hatchett's, Piccadilly,
Starts the bang up of sable Billy ‡ •
Then glad and happy uot t'have lost her,
I shoved her up outside of Costar §,
(Some drops of comfort in the flagon,
To keep the cold out as we wag on,)
Thus cheek by jowl, we posted down,
Revisiting, in Oxford Town,
(As folks of fashion say) our Seat
Bosomed in Penny-farthing-street;
No valet waiting there, or lackey,
Save, with extended arms, poor Jackey :
Yet quite content, if this our tour
Shall gently shake, for one half hour,
Care's aching wrinkles from your brow,
And light it up with pleasure now!
Determining henceforth to shun
Those plagues, which others nickname fun,
I'll fly the stir and anxious throbs
Of London politics and mobs;

Leave Kings and Queens and things of
State

To quid-nunc keen and learned pate;
And my attention solely turn all
To circulate old JACKSON'S JOURNAL.

At times and taxes some may fret,
And shudder at the Nation's debt;
I ne'er the fancied ills bemoan,
No deb's disturb me but my own;
Only those zealots mad I call,
Who take the name of Radical,
Who burn to tear-their hearts o'erflowing
With hate, that Hell itself might glow in-
The bonds of Church and State asunder,
To bring all wealth and wisdom under,
That they may batten in the plunder.
But let another hope be our's!
Still may Britannia's sea-girt towers
The gauntlet of defiance throw,
To foreign and domestic foe-
May strife and factious clamour fly,
Like clouds that rack the morning sky,
Before the sun of loyalty!
May crowded harvests smile around,
And hot sirloins be ever found
To smoke upon the board of those
Whose heart with patriot ardour glows.
May draught of MICKLEM's best be there,
To toast the King in bumpers rare ;
And tankards frothed above the brink,
To stop up each intestine chink;
To gird their nerves, and give 'em pluck
To thread life's varied maze with luck :
Nor while JOHN TROTT his weekly round
Trips, like Camilla, o'er the ground,
Will you, my generous friends, refuse
To speed his progress with the News,
To stay the craving throes his stomach

feels,

And kindly grease the hinges of his heels!

A first-rate whip, in the employ of Mr. Costar.

§ Mr. Costar, the obliging and opulent coach proprietor of Oxford..

HISTORICAL CHRONICLE.

PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, January 23. This being the day fixed by Proclamation for the meeting of Parliament, his Majesty, attended by the principal Officers of State and the Household, came down to the House about 2 o'clock, and opened the Session.-Sir T.Tyrwhitt, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, was directed to summon the Commons, and on their appearance at the Bar his Majesty delivered the following Speech:

"My Lords, and Gentlemen,

"I have the satisfaction of acquainting you, that I continue to receive from Foreign Powers the strongest assurances of their friendly disposition towards this Country.

"It will be a matter of deep regret to me, if the occurrences which have lately taken place in Italy should eventually lead to any interruption of tranquillity in that quarter; but it will, in such case, be my great object to secure to my people the continuance of Peace.

"Gentlemen of the House of Commons, "The measures by which, in the last Session of Parliament, you made provision for the expences of my civil government, and for the honour and dignity of the Crown, demand my warmest acknowledgments.

"I have directed that the estimates for the current year shall be laid before you; and it is a satisfaction to me to have been enabled to make some reduction in our military establishments.

"You will observe from the accounts of the public revenue, that, notwithstanding the receipts in Ireland have proved materially deficient, in consequence of the unfortunate circumstances which have affected the commercial credit of that part of the United Kingdom, and although our foreign trade, during the early part of this time, was in a state of depression, the total revenue has, nevertheless, exceeded that of the preceding year.

"A considerable part of this increase must be ascribed to the new taxes; but in some of those branches which are the surest indications of internal wealth, the augmentation has fully realized any

expectation which could have been reasonably formed of it.

"The separate provision which was made for the Queen, as Princess of Wales, in the year 1814, terminated with the demise of his late Majesty.

"I have, in the mean time, directed advances, as authorized by law; and it will, under present circumstances, be for you to consider what new arrangements should be made on this subject.

"My Lords, and Gentlemen,

"I have great pleasure in being able to acquaint you, that a considerable improvement has taken place within the last half year in several of the most important branches of our commerce and manufacures; and that in many of the manufacturing districts the distresses which prevailed at the commencement of the last Session of Parliament have greatly abated.

It will be my most anxious desire to concur in every measure which may be considered as calculated to advance our internal prosperity.

"I well know that, notwithstanding the agitations produced by temporary circumstances, and amidst the distress which still presses upon a large portion of my subjects, the firmest reliance may be placed on that affectionate and loyal attachment to my person and government, of which I have recently received so many testimonies from all parts of my kingdom, and which, whilst it is most grateful to the strongest feelings of my heart, I shall ever consider as the best and surest safeguard of my Throne.

"In the discharge of the important duties imposed upon you, you will, I am confident, be sensible of the indispensable necessity of promoting and maintaining, to the utmost of your power, a due obedience to the laws, and of instilling into all classes of my subjects a respect for lawful authority, and for those established Institutions, under which the Country has been enabled to overcome so many difficulties, and to which, under Providence, may be ascribed our happiness and renown as a Nation.

FOREIGN

FOREIGN OCCURRENCES.

78

Abstract of Foreign Occurrences.

GERMANY.

German papers contain the following Declaration, addressed to the different Governments of Europe by the Allied Sovereigns at Troppau, relative to the affairs of Naples. It was delivered to the Senate at Hamburgh, by the Austrian Resident Minister Baron Hadel:

"The overthrow of the order of things in Spain, Portugal, and Naples, bas necessarily excited the cares and the uneasiness of the powers who combated the revolu tion, and convinced them of the necessity of putting a check on the new calamities with which Europe is threatened. The same principles which united the great powers of the Continent to deliver the world from the military despotism of an individual issuing from the revolution, ought to set against the revolutionary power which has just developed itself.

"The Sovereigns assembled at Troppau, with this intention, venture to hope that they shall attain this object. They will take for their guides, in this great enterprise, the treaties which restored peace to Europe, and have united its nations together.

"Without doubt, the powers have the right to take, in common, general measures of precaution against those States, whose reforms, engendered by rebellion, are openly opposed to legitimate government, as example has already demonstrated; and, especially, when this spirit of rebellion is propagated in the neighbouring States, by secret agents. In consequence, the Monarchs assembled at Troppau have concerted together the measures required by circumstances, and have communicated to the Courts of London and Paris their intention of attaining the end desired, either by mediation or by force. With this view they have invited the King of the Two Sicilies to repair to Laybach, to appear there as conciliator between his misguided people and the States whose tranquillity is endangered by this state of things; and as they have resolved not to recognize any authority established by the seditious, it is only with the King that they can confer.

"As the system to be followed has no other foundation than treaties already existing, they have no doubt of the assent of the Courts of Paris and London. The only object of this system is, to consolidate the alliance between the Sovereigns;

[Jan.

it has no view to conquest, or to violations of the independence of other powers. Voluntary ameliorations in the Goveroment will not be impeded. They desire only to maintain tranquillity, and protect Europe from the scourge of new revolutions, and to prevent them as far as possible."

The Berlin Government Gazette states itself authorised to declare, that no idea was ever entertained for a moment at Troppau, of negociating with the party prevailing at Naples, or to make proposals to it to change the new order of things. This would be, in other terms, recognising the legality of an insurrection, the instigators of which were a secret political sect, and whose instrument was the army.

The typhus fever has broken out in the Austrian encampment in Italy; and has spread, so widely, that in some regiments there are from 700 to 800 men laid up in the hospitals and in all there were 16,000 men sick. The cavalry had also suffered considerable loss, attributed to want of forage; 1500 horses had died within a short time.

:

ASIA.

A proclamation has been issued by R. T. Farquhar, Esq. Governor of the Mauritius, granting the freedom of that port.

By accounts from Bombay, to the end of August, it appears, that his Excellency, Governor Elphinstone, had been obliged, in order to stop the depredations committed on British property by the pirates in the Arabian Gulph, to dispatch a squadron for the purpose.

A more serious disturbance has arisen, which all the exertions of the Most Noble the Governor General, and the Governor of Bombay, to settle amicably, have failed to accomplish. Some time in the month of June last, a Vakeel (or Ambassador) from the Sindians, a nation situated on the Indus, was proceeding to treat with the Government of Bombay, on some point, and who had a body of armed men with him; they were taken to be marauders, so common in that part of our territories (as a body of men called Cossacs and Justs had just been plundered in the district), and a scuffle took place, in which the Nakeel was unfortunately killed. It was entirely a mistake, as he had sent no account of his advance. The Hon. Mr. Elphinstone lost no time in explaining the matter, and the Sindiaus appeared to be satisfied; but, with the treachery that is their characteristic, they invaded Kutch, plundered a village, and wrote a most impudent dispatch to the Government of Bombay. In consequence of this, a force of 4000 troops was assembled in Kutch, under the command of the Hon. Colonel Lincoln Stanhope. Mr. Elphinstone then sent an agent to meet the Vakeels of the Emirs of the Sindians, in the hope of an amicable