VII. Speeches-which once in college chapels told Sonnets-whose fire made Petrarchs love seem cold, VIII. I watch her at her devastating work, And rushing visions of the past throng o'er me; Reversing the old fable of the Stork, The offspring which my youthful fancies bore me, Bear not their parent up on filial wing, But prey upon the vitals whence they spring. IX. There lie they-in one indiscriminate mass X. But self-love then again is gratified, That my lot's but an 18mo. epitome Of the great folio of all human pride; And that the world has never been a whit to me Or to my merits blind, more than to others Whose infant muse each critic monthly smothers. XI. It surely is encouraging to vanity That this sad fate falls not alone on me, That thousands have experienced this insanity, This yearning after fame, this thirst to be Named with the glorious-only to be foiledHave dream'd, and woke to find their hearts despoil'd. XII. This is meant for philosophy-though I Will in the reader's ear a moment whisper, That though on paper it shows plausibly, There's not a ten year old girl who can lisp her First elements of feeling, but knows better And would despise such thoughts-would fashion let her. XIII. For in our early days, when life is new, And the warm tears of feeling fondly gush XIV. The pangs of others but augment our pain The kindly feelings which the young heart pours To weep o'er our own woes, nor mourn when others mourne XV. But though the fountains of the heart are froze Treachery of friends-the thousand griefs that close XVI. Still it is mere indifference which ensues, Not hate-our sympathies are checked and changed, But are not quite reversed-our hearts refuse To be from their young thoughts so wide estrangedThe fount of feeling may be chilled-and blackDried up or poisoned—but it ne'er rolls back. XVII. And so I think upon reflection that It does not make my case a pin the better, That other's hopes have oft been prisoned at The self same gaol-where I remain a debtor, Owing so much to Heaven for gifts, and yet Cannot refuse the gifts-nor pay the debt. XVIII. But all this is digressive, and is meant to XIX. The point which I digressed from. I believe, (God willing and the publishers) by showing XX. I said that I began to feel the passion Of scribbling on me-and in all such cases, As my rule is to balk no inclination, I mount my pegasus to try his paces. Under the spur of this poetic rabies, Onward he goes-extremum capiat scabies. XXI. I will translate-in charity to those Who cannot construe Latin-this last phrase. Shrink not fair reader-nothing here is meant To impatient feeling when we're in a hurry, And here it simply means, I'm in such haste More polished modes of speech or rhymes more proper→→→ XXIX. And if I should be voted in minority On this important question, I can plead I had the courtly Horace's authority, Which will weigh something; we the learned, indeed, XXV. After these flourishing preliminaries, I think I'll state what 'tis that I intend The purport and the aim of these vagaries What they discourse of, and when they shall end. I will narrate a tale of my own times. XXVIII. At present this appears the patent way Caucus commands, and thousands rush to do- XXIX. It's an exceedingly convenient mode For those who choose to govern, but not quite The few retain, themselves, the loaves and fishes— XXX. This was once very fashionable-but It is now getting rather out of fashion- GENERAL LAFAYETTE. “The style in which General La Fayette has been received in America shows how little essential difference there is between republican and monarchical honours. The same flattery; the same pomp; the same ceremony; the same parade; but more servility and infinitely more of burlesque self importance." The foregoing pitiful effusion of spleen is extracted from the London Courier, of September 14th. The whole article is written in the spirit of vindictive chagrin, and betrays, in every line, the workings of a jealous and restless malevolence. In short, it is precisely the thing we anticipated; and we should have been much disappointed, if the gall of these creatures of the ministry had not been moved by a spectacle, which, as long as it lasts, will be 'wormwood and aloes' to the palates of the pandars of legitimacy. The attempt to conceal their vexation beneath a rueful risus sardonicus is truly deplorable, and compels us to believe that their sufferings are too serious to be laughed at; for perhaps it is ungenerous in freemen to rejoice in the torments even of the enemies of liberty. In the mean time, let us see to what extent the rites of republican honours can be said to resemble the pageants of the slaves and adherents of a monarch. The arrival of General Lafayette in America has given rise to the most singular display of natural feeling that the world has ever witnessed. That a private and unpretending 6 citizen, unadorned with the dazzling appendages of wealth or of elevated station, unaccompanied by the 'pomp and circumstance' of political or military influence, should thus become the object of a nation's hospitality, and the theme of innumerable tongues, is one of those extraordinary events which are now and then developed to the notice of the world, to furnish matter of abundant inquiry to the curious philosopher, and subject for joy and exultation to the lover of mankind. The nature of the national enthusiasm, now in full operation from one end of the union to the other, is, perhaps, without its parallel in history, We do not mean to say, that the extent and the amount of the popular excitement, the noise and the bustle, the parade and the pageantry, the trappings and the suits' of counterfeited homage, have not been far and frequently surpassed. These may be commanded. 'The autocrat whose arm wields the powerful machinery of despotism, holds the lever that forces down the knees and extorts the exclamatious of millions of miserable puppets; but nothing but the folly of a tyrant can confound the forms of gratitude or the shows of love, with that spontaneous exhibition of a people's affections, which cannot, by its very constitution, be purchased or enforced. Not all the armies of confederated Europe can compel a single heart to throb with joy in the presence of an arbitrary tyrant; nor can all the wealth of Golconda or Peru bribe the eyes of a freeman or a slave, to shed a tear of affection at the approach of the proudest of the sovereigns of Europe. There have been, doubtless, occasions, in which as genuine and as generous demonstrations of public feeling have evinced the sincerity of a people's thankfulness, or the warmth of their regard. But in all these instances, it will be found, either that the tumult of popular applause has followed close upon the achievement that created it, and subsided shortly after into absolute indifference, or else that this object has been gained by the sacrifice of national humanity or justice, and secured by administering largely to the meanest appetites of a sensual and ignorant populace. In the honours we are now conferring on our guest, the circumstances are so different from those which give rise to the commoner developments of popular excitement, as to render the phenomenon unique in the history of political events. Nearly half a century has elapsed since our friend became entitled to our gratitude, and we are now returning our acknowledgements for benefits conferred, (although all of us partake of their results) at a time when but |