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ON A HAWK PURSUED BY SWALLOWS.
He gafp'd and he groan'd, and he laid down his head;
The mafter was vext, for the creature feem'd dead:
But, to make the best poffible hand

Of his purchafe, thought he, "I will foon have his hide,"
And he faid, as he tumbled his burden afide,

,

"I will be of fome value when tanu'd."

Then ftraight he began his poor carcafe to strip;
But the creature, who never had winc'd at the whip,
No fooner perceiv'd the first twitch,

Than he lifted his foot, and he hit him fo fair,
That backward he fell with his heels in the air,
And fnapt his neck joint in the ditch.

Great lords of the continent, can you not fee
The fate of the Afs your condition may be?

Will you wait till he draws out his knife?
He batters your ribs, and he bruifes you fore;
Take courage, and tell him you'll bear it no more,
And give him one dowse for your life.

Go, Afs, to the Lion for fuccour apply;
Join him fairly, you'll find him a noble ally;
And if the new driver, call'd Jofeph,
Shall venture o'er channel his victim to chafe,
His Highnefs will give him a Cornifh embrace,
And claw both his ears and his nofe off.

ON SEEING A HAWK PURSUED BY A FLOCK
OF SWALLOWS.

ADDRESSED TO THE PEOPLE OF THE CONTINENT.

*Written when Jofeph Bonaparte was fpoken of as the leader of the expedition to England.

A well-known fact in natural history:

Yon

Yon fcene no wizard's voice dernands i
Its myftic meanings to declare,,
The movement of yon plumy bands {
An awful document fupplies:
See how they keep the foe at bay,
And turn the fortune of the day!.
Where oft, with bloody beak afcending,
You deftroying bird was feen,

Or fcattering o'er the bloody green
Spoils of captives uncontending.
The tame villatic fowl

below

Seem'd to low'r beneath the blow;
And all the feathery nations far aloof,
Sought the grove or fheltering roof,
(Like Macedon or Thrace, when Perfia's lord
Wav'd o'er them his terrific fword.)
But, lo! like Sparta's dauntlefs race,
Darkening the wide aërial space,
In line of battle from the wond,
Or from the calm and dimpled flood,
Where, they chas'd their fummer prey,
The bands of Progne foar away,
And warlike on the winnow'd gale
The tyrant of the skies affail.
Gallant nation!-keep your order,
And with cautious flight purfue;
If a foldier breaks the border,
Soon his rafhnefs he may rue.
Yonder youth, with headlong rage,
Darting from the plumy train,.
Burns th' unequal fight to wage:
Soon his feathers ftrew the plain.

Soon, devoted youth, to thee

Much the kindred bands fhall owe:
Soon the tribes, from bondage free,
Funeral honours fhall beftow;

For facred thirft of vengeance fires anew
The beating bofom of the gallant crew;

*Villatic fowl. MILTON.

F. 5

They

They foar a living cloud,
They dart upon the foe,..
He feeks the fylvan shroud,

He feels the fancied blow

Not tamely, like devoted Gaul,

/ Or dull-brain'd Germany, they mourn'd the hero's fall, While daftard man, the thrall of heartlefs fear,

Hears Freedom's fymphony aloft, and sheds the bitter tear; Not thus Britannia liftens to the song;

But fires her dauntless fons to ftem the tide of wrong.

BANK INCOMMODATION.

[From the Morning Herald.]

H. B.

To the Governor, Deputy-Governor, and Directors of the Bank.

The Petition of Timothy Tendertoes, Gregory Gouty, and Fanny Feeble, humbly fhoweth,

THAT your Petitioners having invefted their property in the Long Annuities, and in the fund called the Three per Cent. Reduced; and your Petitioners not being quite fo alert as they were fome fixty years ago, are expofed to confiderable inconvenience, and indeed much pain and peril, from the great difficulties they have to encounter, in paffing through the crowd of Bulls and Bears that rudely occupy the eastern entrance into the great dome of the Bank, through which it is neceffary to pass from the Long Annuity to the Three per Cent. office.

Your Petitioners with gratitude acknowledge the humanity of the Directors, in providing the Porter in the red cloak with an inftrument to difperfe the host of Jobbers; but unfortunately this, like many other remedies, proves as, bad, if not worfe than the difeafe it is meant to cure, it being difficult to afcertain which is most potent, the clamour of the Jews, or the rattle of the Porter.

Your

Your Petitioners therefore fuggefl, and trust the compaffion of the Directors will adopt, a more filent, but effectual mode of fecuring an eafy admiffion into the above office, by placing a shower bath over the door, which the Porter fhould, by a gentle touch of a pulley, discharge on the heads of those who obftruct the paffage, to the great annoyance of the aged and infirm Stockholders. And your Petitioners fhall, as in duty bound, ever pray.

ANECDOTE OF THE LATE KING OF PRUSSIA.

IT has often been juftly obferved, that great events fometimes fpring from trifling caufes. This is exemplified in a circumftance that occurred at the commencement of the late war. The King of Pruffia, the Duke of Brunfwick, and General Clairfayt, had concerted an attack on the French. It was made at the appointed time, but the French were prepared, and the allies retreated without fuccefs, The three chiefs again met, and the King of Pruffia opened the converfation by observing-" Well, this attack has failed, and it now only remains to confult what farther is to be done." General Clairfayt anfwered with fome afperity" Confultation will be ufelefs; for though there are only three of us here, one of us is a traitor : it was utterly impoffible that the French could have known of the attack itself, or the point where it was made, and have prepared themfelves as they did, unless our fecret had been betrayed; and I therefore repeat that one of us is a traitor." The King immediately replied Upon my word, General, this is extraordinary language: I am a fovereign, and accountable to nobody for my actions; but, however, to fhow that your charge does not apply to me, I here declare, upon my honour, that I never mentioned the circumftance to a fingle creature alive-except to he Countess

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Countes de Luftanou." This lady was His Majesty's mittels, and no doubt knew the value of the fecret too well not to fell it for a handfome bribe. She was banished from the capital after the King's death.Such are the effects of fecret influence.

THE TURF.

[From the British Prefs.]

TO BE SOLD, AT THE HACKNEY REPOSITORY,
GRUB STREET,

of

COURIER, a dark brown horse, late the property Efq. a hot fiery animal, extremely vicious, apt to lath out behind, and a great biter. Courier was got by Jacobin, dam by Guillotine, grand-dam by Regicide, and great-grand-dam by Robespierre, out of an old Cade mare. In 1793, Courier proved himself a colt of great promife, having distanced Telegraph, a capital horfe of the day, for the sweepstakes over the Revolution courfe. After long performance, with various fuccefs, he broke down in a match against Loyalty, Bri tannia, and John Bull. It is a curious circumstance in the hiftory of the turf, that Courier, in his prime, was always rode by a French jockey, and was never once backed by a true Englishman. He is very awkward in his paces, fteps badly, dishes, and throws up the dirt in every direction. He is hard mouthed, and has more than once fwallowed the bit in running. It is, therefore, very unfafe to ride him, unless with a curb. For fome time he has been driven in a tandem; took the whip kindly, and was found to go tolerably well in barnefs. Laft feafon he was hunted with a pack of Fox hounds; but he wanted both fpeed and bottoms was dull and fluggish, and thrown out in the chafe. In a recent plunge, Courier ran against a very ftrong Cabinet, by which he broke his cheft, and is

now