The Gentleman's Magazine

And yet fair bow, no fabling dreams,
But words of the Most High,
Have told why first thy robe of beams

Was woven in the sky.
When o'er the green undeluged earth

Heaven's covenant thou didst shine,
How came the world's grey fathers forth
To watch the sacred sign?
And when its yellow lustre smil'd
O'er mountains yet untrod,
Each mother held aloft her child
To bless the bow of God.
Methinks, thy jubilee to keep,

The first made anthem rang,
On earth deliver'd from the deep,
And the first Poet sang.
Nor ever shall the Muse's eye
Unraptured greet thy beam:
Theme of primeval prophecy,

Be still the Poet's theme.
The earth to thee its incense yields,
The lark thy welcome sings,
When glittering in the freshen'd fields

The snowy mushroom springs. How glorious is thy girdle cast

O'er mountain, tower, and town, Or mirror'd in the ocean vast

A thousand fathoms down. As fresh in yon horizon dark,

As young thy beauties seem As when the eagle from the Ark First sported in thy beam. For, faithful to its sacred page,

Heaven still rebuilds thy span, Nor lets the type grow pale with age That first spoke peace to man.

That render life but a long disease.

LORD BYRON TO MR. T. MOORE.

MY boat is on the shore,

And my bark is on the sea: But ere I go, Tom Moore, Here's a double health to thee.

Here's a sigh for those I love, And a smile for those I hate,

And, whatever sky's above, Here's heart for any fate.

Though the ocean roar around me, It still shall bear me on ;

Though a desert should surround me, It hath springs that may be won. Were it the last drop in the well, As I gasp'd on the brink,

Ere my fainting spirits fell, 'Tis to thee that I would drink.

In that water, as this wine, The libation I would pour

Should be-Peace to thee and thine, And a health to thee, Tom Moore.

The OXFORD NEWSMAN'S ADDRESS to his Worthy MASTERS and MISTRESSES.-CHRISTMAS, 1820. POETS were scarce in former ages,

At least so thought our antient sages; "Three Poets in three distant ages born, Greece, Italy, and England did adorn!" But in this age of worth and wit, All-bounteous Nature has thought fit To bless us with three bards at once, To whom each Antient seems a dunce;~ Scarce Homer's self can stand his ground, Where BYRON, SCOTT, and MOORE are found:

And, lest these sons of fire should quarrel, For Beauty's smile, or Phoebus' laurel, Kind Nature to prevent a wrangle, Has placed 'em in a fair triangle, Which plan appears most right to me, As Wit should always pointed be :The Northern point a Minstrel guards, Whom Scotia hails the first of bards; The Western point, green Ireland's shore, Enraptur'd hails the name of MOORE; The Southern point is England's Isle, Where BYRON woos the Muse's smile, With phrenzied eye, and song divine, Bright favourite of the dark-haired line! Might one of these but condescend, This troublous year, to stand my friend, To touch with spark of seraph fire, Old JOHN TROTT's bald and broken lyre(Who still his arduous circle goes, Through Summer's heat, and Winter's

snows,

And News of every colour brings then,
To Whigs and Tories, Queen's and King's

men ;)

Might one of these, with fluent strains, But irrigate his barren brains,

And

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,

[bours,

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;
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!

shoe"

"I've lost a cloak!"-" and I
"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 Woop, 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 HоBHOUSE.
In full Court dress, oh! how well-bred!
And fine, like gilded gingerbread ;-
The Sheriffs 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;

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 lute-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

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 burry,
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-
Fray, 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 is eggs,
I've catched the cramp in both my legs;
And oh! that mud, I've just stepp'd flop

-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.

To where from Hatchett's, Piccadilly,
Starts the bang up of sable Billy ‡ ·
Then glad and happy not 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 debts 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.

[ 76 ]

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.

FRANCE.

The King of France has opened the Session of the Chambers. The ceremony took place in one of the halls of the Louvre, which was magnificently prepared for the occasion. On the right of the Throne was Monsieur, and on the left the Duke d'Angouleme. The Duke d'Orleans was on the right of his Majesty, next to Monsieur.-The speech was, upon the whole, an interesting document. Its tone is decidedly pacific in referring to the foreign relations of France, and to the general state of Europe. His Majesty presents a very flattering picture of the state of his kingdom; and, to prove the sincerity of the representation, he states that a diminution of the public imposts will be submitted to the Chamber.

Dec. 28. Louis XVIII. received a Grand Deputation of the Chamber of Peers, with their Address. His Majesty's answer was as follows:

"I receive with deep sensibility this testimony of the sentiments of the Chamber of Peers. I observe with real satisfaction the conformity of its principles with mine.

"I have said, and I repeat it, that if I wish to see my life prolonged, it is to consolidate the institutions which I have given to my people. But, whatever may be the decrees of Providence, let us not forget

this maxim of our public law" the King

never dies in France."

NETHERLANDS.

The palace of the Prince of Orange, at Brussels, has been destroyed by fire.

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. The Constitutionnel gives an extract of a private letter from Madrid of the 5th inst. stating that the Cortes had been convoked for the 9th for the purpose of taking into consideration an invitation, in the name of the Allied Sovereigns, to Ferdinand VII. to proceed personally to the Congress of Laybach! It is added, that this intelligence had produced (as well it might) a great sensation. Upon this circumstance, which is confirmed by private letters received in this country from Madrid, there remains therefore no doubt.

A new conspiracy is stated to have been discovered at Saragossa; but which had been completely frustrated, and a number of individuals arrested.

The Portuguese Government has published a "Manifesto of the Portuguese Nation to the Sovereigns and People of Europe," enumerating to them the sufferings of Portugal for many years, describing the corrupt and debased administration by which that country had been go

verned, the malversation that prevailed in all the departments of State, and ascrib. ing the late changes to the pressure of all these grievances.

Dispatches from Rio Janeiro contain information, that the King has forwarded his Royal acquiescence in the measures of reform now taking place at Lisbon; accompanied by an assurance, that when the constitutional restorations are completed by the Cortes, he will give them his cordial sanction, and send one of his sons to perform the offices of a Royal Chief Magistrate.

NAPLES.

We are informed by the French journals, that the King of Naples arrived at Florence on the 22d ult. from Leghorn. His Majesty quitted Florence the 27th, arrived the same day at Bologna, and on the 28th at Modena. The King was expected at Laybach on the 4th inst. The Duke de Gallo, the Neapolitan Minister for Foreign Affairs, joined the King at Florence.

The following is a translation of a letter dated Dec. 20, which has excited considerable interest among the uatural philo:-"Cosenza,-On the sophers of Naples :29th of November last, about half past six in the evening (un 'ora e mezzo della notte), there suddenly appeared on the West of the horizon a luminous body more brilliant than the moon at its full.

This body had the figure of a dragon.

After passing with great velocity across the horizon, it changed into a dark and thick cloud. After three or four minutes several violent flashes of lightning burst from the cloud, which, after playing awhile through the air, died away. In the moment of their disappearance a long and loud peal of thunder was heard, and a considerable motion was felt in the air. The cloud then took a triangular figure, and rolling rapidly to the East, disappeared. On the following morning the mountains to the East were found covered with snow, although the weather had been very mild. Where it exploded there remained a long via lactea near the cloud. My opinion is, that it was a meteor composed of the same materials as lightning. Neither it nor its precipitations fell in direct lines, because their specific gravity was less than that of the air. On the tops of the mountains it was met by winds which dissolved it into snow."-This luminous body was visible at Naples, but none of its characteristics were observed: in some parts of Calabria, and on the part of Sicily opposite, we have heard that its appearances were more singular than those described in the foregoing letter.

TURKEY.

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The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 91, Part 1; Volume 129