EQUESTRIAN COURTSHIP.

1.

It was a young maiden went forth to ride,
And there was a wooer to pace by her side;
His horse was so little, and hers so high,
He thought his Angel was up in the sky.

II.

His love was great, tho' his wit was small;
He bade her ride easy-and that was all.
The very horses began to neigh,-
Because their betters had nought to say.

III.

They rode by elm, and they rode by oak, They rode by a church-yard, and then he spoke :"My pretty maiden, if you 'll agree

You shall always ramble through life with me."

IV.

The damsel answer'd him never a word,

But kick'd the gray mare, and away she spurr'd. The wooer still follow'd behind the jade,

And enjoy'd like a wooer-the dust she made.

V.

They rode thro' moss, and they rode thro' moor,—
The gallant behind and the lass before ;-
At last they came to a miry place,

And there the sad wooer gave up the chase.

VI.

Quoth he, "If my nag were better to ride,
I'd follow her over the world so wide.

Oh, it is not my love that begins to fail,

But I've lost the last glimpse of the gray mare's tail! "

AN OPEN QUESTION.

"It is the king's highway, that we are in, and in this way it is that thou hast placed the lions.”—BUNYAN.

I.

WHAT! shut the Gardens ! lock the latticed gate! Refuse the shilling and the Fellow's ticket! And hang a wooden notice up to state,

"On Sundays no admittance at this wicket!" The Birds, the Beasts, and all the Reptile race Denied to friends and visitors till Monday! Now, really, this appears the common case Of putting too much Sabbath into Sunday— But what is your opinion, Mrs. Grundy?

II.

The Gardens, so unlike the ones we dub

Of Tea, wherein the artisan carouses,―
Mere shrubberies without one drop of shrub,-
Wherefore should they be closed like public-
houses?

No ale is vended at the wild Deer's Head,—
Nor rum-nor gin—not even of a Monday—

The Lion is not carved-or gilt—or red,
And does not send out porter of a Sunday—
But what is your opinion, Mrs. Grundy?

III.

The Bear denied! the Leopard under locks!
As if his spots would give contagious fevers!
The Beaver close as hat within its box;

So different from other Sunday beavers !
The Birds invisible-the Gnaw-way Rats-
The Seal hermetically seal'd till Monday-
The Monkey tribe-the Family of Cats,-
We visit other families on Sunday-
But what is your opinion, Mrs. Grundy?

IV.

What is the brute profanity that shocks
The super-sensitively serious feeling?
The Kangaroo-is he not orthodox

To bend his legs, the way he does, in kneeling? Was strict Sir Andrew, in his sabbath coat,

Struck all a heap to see a Coati mundi? Or did the Kentish Plumtree faint to note The Pelicans presenting bills on Sunday ?But what is your opinion, Mrs. Grundy?

V.

What feature has repulsed the serious set?
What error in the bestial birth or breeding,
To put their tender fancies on the fret?

One thing is plain-it is not in the feeding!
Some stiffish people think that smoking joints

Are carnal sins 'twixt Saturday and Monday

But then the beasts are pious on these points, For they all eat cold dinners on a SundayBut what is your opinion, Mrs. Grundy?

VI.

What change comes o'er the spirit of the place,
As if transmuted by some spell organic?
Turns fell Hyæna of the Ghoulish race?
The Snake, pro tempore, the true Satanic?
Do Irish minds,-(whose theory allows [day)-
That now and then Good Friday falls on Mon-
Do Irish minds suppose that Indian Cows

Are wicked Bulls of Bashan on a Sunday-
But what is your opinion, Mrs. Grundy?

VII.

There are some moody Fellows, not a few,
Who, turn'd by Nature with a gloomy bias
Renounce black devils to adopt the blue,

And think when they are dismal they are pious: Is 't possible that Pug's untimely fun

Has sent the brutes to Coventry till MondayOr p'rhaps some animal, no serious one, Was overheard in laughter on a SundayBut what is your opinion, Mrs. Grundy?

VIII.

What dire offence have serious Fellows found

To raise their spleen against the Regent's spinney?