The Marchioness of Lansdown-Mrs. O'Daisy— "Huzza for Old Ireland and Ballynatrot !?"; Lord Folkstone Robin the Gardener my strawberries? Here am I."

1

IMPROMPTU,

Who buys

ON OBSERVING ONE OF A CERTAIN PIOUS POLITICAL PARTY VERY BUSY, PROPOSING RESOLUTIONS AT THE OPERA COMMITTEE, ON A DAY WHEN THERE WAS A DEBATE IN THE HOUSE-INSCRIBED TO MR. BANKES.

[From the Morning Chronicle, Jan. 14.]

H, wondrous Taylor! who, to serve the nation,
Hadst power to wean a Saint from legislation !
Let him, like David, " worship in the dance;"
He ne'er can laud his Maker by-finance!

L

THE AFFRONT.

[From the British Press, Jan. 14.]

AST night my fair-one came in all her charms,
Her charms that ever thrill my soul with bliss ;

Eager I rush'd to clasp her in my arms,

And from her cheek rude snatch'd a burning kiss.

So

A NEW GLEE.

So coy, so modest was the maid I priz'd,
Her rosy
cheek became of lily hue;
For this I lov'd her more, but felt surpris'd,
When she in anger to her chamber flew.
I follow'd fast to soothe her virgin fears,
And ask forgiveness for the unmeant pain;
But she, infuriate, cried, dissolv'd in tears,
"Get out, you fool, and let me rouge again!"

ΤΟΥ

АСКЕЕ О.

EPIGRAM.

[From the Morning Chronicle, Jan. 15.]

OUR good old King, alas! is yet too ill

The duties of his station to fulfil;

But lawyer Perceval's mirac' lous zeal
For Cæsar's presence substitutes a Seal.
Ye rigid Catholics! it thus appears,

Though your religious doctrines much he fears,
Applied to Politics, when self's in view,
E'en transubstantiation's just and true.

A NEW GLEE,

?

SUNG BY CERTAIN MEN IN OFFICE.

[From the Morning Herald.]

"TWAS John Bull's boast

To rule the roast,

When he'd a well-lin❜d belly,

But how crop-sick

Of taxes thick

His lantern jaws may tell ye!

Long live the

That's just the thing

For men like us about him,

Who know our cue,
And therefore do

So thrivingly without him!

F 3

DA CAPO.

MINISTERIAL

Head Quarters, Downing Street, Jan. 13, 1811.

HIS Little Excellency Major-general Poucett, Commander-in-chief of the Ministerial Forces, being sorely afraid that all his arts and stratagems are insufficient to enable him to keep his present ground; and wisely conceiving that it is the duty of every prudent General, on the eve of a defeat, to provide for a retreat and prepare accordingly; takes this opportunity of returning his thanks to the Officers and Mercenaries under his command, for their zeal and discipline on the various services in which they have been employed under his auspices.

And, first, to the venal, scurrilous, and mercenary squad, commonly called the Treasury Journals," he returns his most heartfelt thanks for the grossness and illiberality with which they have attacked His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, from the moment that the wishes of the country placed him at the head of the Staff, and in the van of the Constitution and the country. The ability with which they masked their infamous designs, under the appearance of loyalty and love of our venerable Sovereign, and the curious structure of the covered ways by which they sought to gain admission into the hearts and minds of the great body of the British nation, and to draw them over to his standard, merit his highest commendation. The attack by the leader of these freebooters upon the whole body of the Royal Dukes and Princes, although badly executed, was well intended. When the object was to defeat the Head, it was a good preliminary measure to bring the whole corps into disre

pute.

MINISTERIAL RETREAT.

103

pute. It may, notwithstanding the first miscarriage, be advisable to persevere in this system of tactics: but in doing so it will be necessary to tread carefully, and avoid those morasses and quicksands in which so many gallant souls have lately got entangled and been made prisoners, and are now confined in the grand depôt of Newgate!

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It might also harass the enemy, impede his operations, and excite mutiny and discontent in the army, if an idea could be inculcated, that it was the intention of His Royal Highness, the new Commander-inChief, to increase the number of his Staff Officers, and provide full pay for them by deductions from that of the private soldiers; and that he further meant to disregard all claims of merit, of wisdom, valour, and virtue, and to put the meanest, the most worthless and contemptible, in the ranks, over the heads of old and meritorious veterans and soldiers. This calumny, if only advanced in general terms, might not have been efficient. It was therefore necessary to give it a barb to make it stick; and with, this view his Litde Excellency Major-general Poucett has seen, with admiration, the address with which his libelling corps have revived the old story of an intended barter of Peerages, for corrupt borough-interest, with Sir Christopher Hawkins and Alexander Davison; and the boldness with which they have brought it forward in the most base and shameless manner. The fire from this battery appears to have done great execution, and to have induced the persons exercising the Government of the Country to put His Royal Highness upon -short allowance. No rations extraordinary-no badges or medals will he be able to grant, at least for a considerable time, and perhaps during the whole of the present campaign!

At the time when his Little Excellency Major-general Poucett assumed his command, it is fresh in

every man's recollection, that there was an idea of emancipating the galley-slaves. The galley-slaves, by some strange notion respecting the etymology of the word galley, have been strangely enough connected with the Gauls; and hence a connexion has been presumed between the galley-slaves, so to be emancipated, and the descendants of the Gauls, the present French. His Little Excellency Major-general Poucett having completely crushed this conspiracy the very moment when he assumed the command, he conceived that it would greatly strengthen his interest if the enemies of that measure were well assured that the new Commander-in-Chief meant to carry it into execution. On this subject his Little Excellency can dwell with pleasure. The conduct of his mercenary troops challenges his highest commendation, and the remembrance of it can never be obliterated from his heart. His pleasure was scarcely known, when his miscreant mercenaries flew to arms. They discovered a detached -corps encamped in the city of Dublin, under the name of the Catholic Committee; and having obtained a list of the general order and private signals, the signs and countersigns of this corps, they affected to imply a complete understanding between this corps and the main army in England.

His Little Excellency Major-general Poucett has contemplated the diversion created in his favour by these ruses de guerre, these little arts and stratagems, Ithese marches and counter-marches, these feints and -false signals; but it would be a reflection upon his own military talents, and upon the zeal and perseverance of the gallant troops under his command, were he to pass, without his most especial praise, the last grand effort made by them to perpetuate his present command.

A soldiery inured to plunder cannot bear the idea of being disbanded. Military history, ancient and modern,