Whilst 'midst her towering tresses, aptly set,

Shines bright with quivering glance, the smart Aigrette ;
Brocaded silks the splendid dress complete,

And the Glass Slipper grasps her fairy feet.
Six cock-tail'd Mice* transport her to the Ball,
And liveried Lizards wait upon her call.

So thy dark Arches, LONDON Bridge, bestride
Indignant Thames, and part his angry
tide.
There oft, returning from those green retreats,
Where fair Vauxhalia decks ber sylvan seats;-

Where each spruce Nymph, from City Compters free,

Sips the froth'd Syllabub, or fragrant Tea;

While with slic'd Ham, scrap'd Beef, and burnt Champagne,
Her 'prentice Lover soothes his amorous pain ;-
There oft, in well trimm'd wherry, glide along
Smart beaux and giggling bells, a glittering throng;
Smells the tar'd rope-with undulation fine

Flaps the loose sail-the silken awnings shine;

• Shoot me the Bridge !'-the vent'rous Boatmen cry;
Shoot me the Bridge !'-the exulting Faret reply.
Down the steep fall the headlong waters go,
Curls the white foam, the breakers roar below.
The veering helm the dextrous steersman stops,
Shifts the thin oar, the fluttering canvas drops;

*Cocktail'd Mice-COCTILIBUS MURIS. Ovid.-There is reason to believe that the murine, or mouse species were anciently much more numerous than at the present day. It appears from the sequel of the Line, that SEMIRAMIS surrounded the City of Babylon with a number of these animals.

Dicitur altam

COCTILIBUS MURIS cinxisse Semiramis Urbem.

It is not easy at present to form any conjecture with respect to the end, whether of ornament or of defence, which they could be supposed to answer. I should be inclined to believe, that in this instance the mice were dead, and that so vast a collection of them must have been furnished by way of tribute, to free the country of these destructive animals. This superabundance of the murine race, must have been owing to their immense fecundity, and to the comparatively tardy reproduction of the Feline species. The traces of this disproportion are to be found in the early History of every Country. The ancient Laws of Wales estimate a CAT at the price of as much corn as would be sufficient to cover her, if she were suspended by the tail with her fore feet touching the ground. See HowEL DHA.-In Germany it is recorded that an army of Rats, a larger animal of the Mus tribe, were employed as the Ministers of Divine Vengeance against a Feudal Tyrant; and the Commercial Legend of our own WHITTINGTON, might probably be traced to an equally authentick origin.

† Fare.-A person, or a number of persons, conveyed in a hired vehicle by land or water.

Then with clos'd eyes, clench'd hands, and quick-drawn breath,
Darts at the central arch, nor heeds the gulf beneath.

Full 'gainst the pier the unsteady timbers knock,
The loose planks starting own the impetuous shock;
The shifted oar, dropt sail, and steadied helm,
With angry surge the closing waters whelm-

Laughs the glad Thames and clasps each fair one's charms
That screams and scrabbles in his oozy arms.

Drench'd each smart garb, and clogg'd each struggling limb,
Far o'er the stream the Cocknies sink or swim;

While each badg'd boatman,* clinging to his oar,

Bounds o'er the buoyant wave, and climes the applauding shore.
So, towering Alp!+ from thy majestick ridge
Young Freedom gaz'd on Lodi's blood-stain'd Bridge;
Saw, in thick throngs conflicting Armies rush,
Ranks close on ranks and squadrons squadrons crush;
Burst in bright radiance through the battle's storm,
Wav'd her broad hands, display'd her awful form ;
Bade at her feet regenerate nations bow,
And twin'd the wreath round Bonaparte's brow.
Quick with new lights, fresh hopes, and alter'd zeal,
The slaves of despots dropp'd the blunted steel,

Exulting Victory own'd her favourite child,

And freed Liguria clapp'd her hands and smiled.

The expected invasion of England was a subject which at that time agitated all classes of the community. Good politicians saw in such an attempt by France, its inevitable failure, and by almost a necessary consequence, the brighter glory of Great-Britain, and the general safety of the continent of Europe. It therefore became a subject of ridicule to the wits of the kingdom, whilst the ministry found it for their interest to keep up the alarm; it is unfortunate, that the coalition on the continent, which so materially changed the aspect of affairs, had ever been formed, since nothing could be imagined so advantageous to the general cause, as the probable issue of the invasion.

Nor long the time ere Britain's shores shall greet
The warrior sage, with gratulation sweet;

*Badg'd Boatmen.-Boatmen sometimes wear a badge, to distinguish them; especially those who belong to the Watermen's Company.

+ Alp or Alps.-A ridge of mountains which separate the north of Italy from the south of Germany. They are evidently primeval and volcanick, consisting of granite, loadstone, and basalt, and several other substances, containing animal and vegetable recrements, and affording numberless undoubted proofs of the infinite antiquity of the earth, and of the consequent falsehood of the Mosaick Chronology.

Eager to grasp the wreath of Naval Fame,
The Great Republick plans the Floating Frame!
O'er the huge plane, gigantick Terror stalks,
And counts with joy the close compacted balks :
Of young-ey'd Massacres the Cherub crew,
Round their grim chief the mimick task pursue;
Turn the stiff screw,* apply the strengthening clamp,
Drive the long bolt, or fix the stubborn cramp,
Lash the reluctant beam, the cable splice,
Join the firm dove-tail with adjustment nice,
Through yawning fissures urge the willing wedge,
Or give the smoothing adze a sharper edge.
Or group'd in Fairy bands, with playful care,
The unconscious bullet to the furnace bear;
Or gaily tittering, tip the match with fire,
Prime the big mortar, bid the shell aspire;
Applaud, with tiny hands, and laughing eyes,
And watch the bright destruction as it flies.

Now the fierce forges gleam with angry glare--
The wind-mill+ waves his woven wings in air;
Swells the proud sail, the exulting streamers fly,
Their ninable fins unnumber'd paddles ply:
Ye soft airs breathe, ye gentle billows waft,
And, fraught with Freedom bear the expected Raft!

GENERAL WILKINSON,

THE commander of the armies of the United States, has been for some time, placed in a most odious situation; the publick hate and detest, and have hitherto imbibed no other sensation in

* Turn the stiff screw.-The harmony and imagery of these lines are imperfectly imitated from the following exquisite passage in the Economy of Vegetation.

Gnomes, as you now dissect, with hammers fine,
The Granite Rock, the nodul'd Flint calcine;
Grind with strong arm, the circling Chertz betwixt,
Your pure Ka-o-lins and Pe-tunt-ses mixt.

CANTO 2D. L. 297.

+ The wind-mill-This line affords a striking instance of the sound conveying an echo to the sense. I would defy the most unfeeling reader to repeat it over, without accompanying it by some corresponding gesture, imitative of the action described.-EDITOR.

regard to him. That so much ignorance, vanity, and pomposity, should be combined with so much sycophancy, tyranny, and oppressive intolerance, would produce emotions of the most determined disgust, was natural; and not having any great or agreeable quality about him to relieve the picture, it was natural that the publick should generally shudder at the idea of supporting a man at the head of the armies of the United States, so generally detestable in his character. But where they formerly hated, they now despise, he now is placed upon a pedestal before the publick with the blister of cowardice festering upon his forehead. How long such a blustering bully, such a sycophant of power, such a tyrannical master, such a bag of bad wind, will be suffered to offend the publick, by his conduct, we hope may soon be determined. We feel for the honour of the United States, for the reputation of the army, and for the feelings of those who may be placed immediately under him, when General Adair comes publickly forward with a yet uncontradicted and unrestrained epithet. Wilkinson may yet clear up his character in this odious particular, and it will then rest with the community to despise him somewhat less than they do at present.' But until this is done it is certainly not doubtful that government should scrupulously avoid giving him employment, and if he cannot be removed without resorting to a court-martial, he yet may only hold a nominal rank, and some worthy, brave, and intelligent officer fill the station with honour, which has so long. been most shamefully disgraced. The following conclusion to General Adair's communication to the publick, will afford a specimen of the contemptuous style in which the commander of the United States armies has been treated.

'Low and contemptible as this man has stood for some time past in the opinion of his countrymen, as well as myself, I would not have stooped to invite him to a meeting had it not been that he is still permitted to wear the coat of a soldier and wield the sword of my country. Nor would I have believed that he could have been stimulated to meet a call of honour from any man, had it not been for his late vapouring and blustering as a duellist in the Atlantick states, added to his own declaration to that effect. I have now done with him in this way, firmly believing that he is a COWARD, and that to apply any other weapon of Vol. 1.

X X

chastisement to him more formidable than a horsewhip, would but disgrace the arm making the application.

JOHN ADAIR.'

If a man in Wilkinson's situation can sustain this shock upon his character, and from a general too, it will be time to resort to some other tribunal than publick opinion to determine the value of a soldier's reputation.

MR. J. RANDOLPH.

Mr. John Randolph has commenced his career of this session of Congress with some most violent and justly deserved philipicks against the last administration. He offers the meed of praise to Mr. Madison for so accommodating our differences with Great-Britain, as to restore our commercial intercourse. This is all very praise-worthy. But Mr. Randolph relies too much on the individual supremacy of his talents, ever to have great influence in a deliberative assembly. He never acts in concert with any party, he is a friend on one day and an adversary on the next the consequence must inevitably be, that he will never find the doors of honour and confidence opened to his entrance. Mr. Randolph obtained some celebrity in Great-Britain, by his determined and powerful opposition to our ridicu lous non-importation laws. Mr. Stephens, the celebrated author of that eloquent, though fallacious work, of War in Disguise,' undertook to publish one of his speeches with comments; the Edinburgh Reviewers have also noticed him, and their notice is a passport to distinction. Mr. Randolph seems too conscious of the fame and celebrity, which accident rather than very great powers has gained for him, and presuming upon this extrinsically excited reputation, he appears to act for himself alone, without seeming willing to be considered as belonging to either of the parties into which the country is divided. Both claim him, but in reality, he is not the smallest service to either. What he crects for the federalists to-day, he overturns to-morrow; though we have understood whatever personal attachments he entertains, are generally on the federal side. This notice is given here, to shew that too much reliance ought not to be placed on the weight of Mr. Randolph in our favour, and that not the small