If, not mov'd by her example,
You obey her fatal call,
Your deftruction fhall be ample,
Dreadful fhall be feen your fall.

SLOW.

But reflect, how long our glory
Has adorn'd th' hiftoric page:
Britain ever fam'd in story,
Still with traitors war will

wage.
Would we have our King victorious?
Have we wife, or child, or friend.?
Would we have Old England glorious?
Let us all our fuccour lend!

QUICK.

As for Frenchmen, need we heed 'em?
Here's "Confufion to their arts!"
We, already bleft with freedom,

Own her empire o'er our hearts:
Liberty and blifs enjoying,

Hail the fource from which they fpring;
And, our jovial hours employing,

Drink, "Long life to George our King."

THE DEFENDERS OF THE COUNTRY DISBAND THEMSELVES.

MR. EDITOR,

[From the Times.]

SIR James Bland Burgefs has condefcended to inform the public in a morning paper, that "he and his officers (in the Knight Marfhal's Volunteer Corps) voluntarily refigned their commiffions for caufes which it is unneceffary for him to mention."

Sir James Burgess alfo informs the public, that he has been in the country, and that he is not induced by any perfonal feelings to ftate the fact I have just related. Now, Sir, as I am fure the public takes much more interest in the refignations of great men, than

the

the worthy Baronet is aware of, I fhall communicate the important circumftances which have led to this important and melancholy event, and which with fo much modefty he has judged proper to conceal.

Under the apartments of the Secretary of State for the foreign department at Whitehall, you must know, Mr. Editor, there is a fpacious room, which by the permiffion of Lord Grenville was occupied as a place d'armes by the Volunteers aforefaid. Their powder was depofited in this vault, and hither they repaired to polifh their mufkets, clean their leather breeches, crack their jokes, and drink to the health and fame of their gallant commander, who, you very well know, Sir, is the very firft poet of this age, of the rank of Baronet! Now it unfortunately happened that the noble Lord who has fucceeded Lord Grenville in this department, defirous, as it is rumoured, of faving the country an immenfe expenfe incurred by couriers, thinks proper to tranfact the public bufinefs in his office; and as thefe jokes and healths, and the clangour of arms, caufed a great annoyance and diftraction, it became abfolutely neceffary either that the Secretary of State fhould cede his office, or the Knight Marshal his cellar!

Thirteen letters and feventeen deputations were fent upon this interefting but unfortunate occafion. How many of them were read by his Lordship, I know no more, Sir, than of his conferences with Mr. Otto; but I do know upon this occafion at least the Minifter was firm, and that he remains in poffeffion. It will grieve you, Sir, and the public at large, to learn, that the worthy Baronet could not reconcile it to his feelings, that the corps fhould brighten their arms in any other fpot in the whole metropolis, or crack a joke which fhould not be heard by Mr. Otto and Lord Hawkesbury.

Not that I mean to infinuate that the

jokes of men fo ably difciplined and commanded, were

not worth their Excellencies' attention, or that I do not deeply feel the lofs of the Martial Knight's brilliant fervices in the volunteering way. Indeed, that he fhould voluntarily ceafe to be a volunteer, gives me much concern; the more fo, as his ever to be lamented refignation has evidently arifen in those which the country has fo much deplored, and of which the memory and baneful confequences are thus cruelly renewed and exemplified. Had the late Minifters been ftill in office, Mr. Editor, the Volunteers would have disturbed no Secretary of State, and we might ftill have counted Sir Bland Burgefs, Baronet and Poet, amongst the braveft defenders as well as the brightest ornaments of the country.

I am, Sir, &c.

H. H.

AN IRREGULAR ODE.

BY SIR JB- B-, LATE K. M. (KNIGHT MARSHAL).

[From the Oracle.]

WE E cannot commit the following admirable performance to the public, without acknowledging moft gratefully the high fenfe we entertain of the flattering partiality with which this paper is peculiarly diftinguifhed. We have taken the liberty of making fome trifling emendations in the fpelling, and have likewife ventured to add a few notes, by way fully illuftrating its various and incomparable beau

ties.

of more

THE ARGUMENT.

Lord H having thought fit to deny me and my Knights Companions the ufe of a room under the Secretary of State's Office, in Downing Street, under pretence that the cleaning

our

our arms, and other military exercifes, difturbed the public business, 1 ftraight invoke the Muse.

RECITATIVE.

A FEW eves fince, quite tir'd with noise and talk *,
I penfive fought the lonely Birdcage Walk;
The drill being o'er, the foldiers ftood at eafe +,
Some play'd at chuck-farthing beneath the trees,
Whilft others tempted to the leafy fhades,
To hear foft tales, the blooming nurs'ry maids.
Thus all being ftill, I call'd my valiant Knights,
Who danc'd around me like so many fprites;
All arm'd from top to toe, before, behind-
Their nodding feathers quiver'd in the wind §;.
Thrice did I clear my pipes, which made the Park to ring;
Thrice did I cough and fneeze; and, lo! I thus did fing

AIR.

Oh, barb'rous man! Oh, H-——,
-,too fevere,
Behold these cheeks, bedew'd with many a tear;

*The familiar opening and eafy language of this line cannot be fufficiently admired. What an image does it draw of a great man fatigued with bufinefs, and wearied with applications! The word "Eves" deferves particular commendation." Nights," or "Evenings," would have been common and profaic, but "Eves" is in the highest degree poetical.

How ingenioufly and unaffectedly does Sir James, in this and the three following lines, difplay his knowledge of military duty and amufements!

We conceive this to be a licenfe in which poets are allowed to indulge; for, how could all be fill, when, three lines before, the foldiers are playing at chuck-farthing?

§ What wonderfully obedient men are thefe Knights! Bounce, they leap upon us, armed cap-a-pee, at the word of their commander, without our fo much as knowing if they were within call.

Sir James has here improved upon Pope's Alexandrine verfé. He doubtlefs thought it unjust for the laft line to be longer than the one preceding, and has, therefore, with the ftri&teft impartiality, manufactured them both of the fame extent, fo that now neither has a right to complain. But there is still a more striking beauty in thefe two lines: when the reader is breathless with expectation; when his impatience to know the confequence of all this preparation of coughing and freezing is wound up to the higheft pitch, how artfully and fatisfactorily is he relieved by "Lo! I thus did fing."

G 3.

But,

But, no! a warrior fhould be bold-
By Mars! I'll weep no more:
Though Bland by name,
No longer I'll be tame,
But growl, and curfe, and fcold,

Grin, storm, and chatter, gnash my teeth, and roar *

H

CHORUS OF KNIGHTS.

thou shalt have thy gruel,

Dread the baggonet fo bright;

How couldft thou be so very cruel
To fuch a brave poetic Knight † ?

RECITATIVE,

ACCOMPANIED BY FLUTES AND TRUMPETS.

Thanks, thanks, my friends, companions of my toil,
Your balmy praifes feel like foftening oil,
Which, gently trickling o'er the gaping fore,
Allays the pain, and bids it throb no more
'Tis true we muft, inexorable doom!
Confent to lofe our ancient fav'rite room;
(ALLEGRO.)

But mind, attend,
Each valiant friend;
Hear what I vote,
With gaping throat §:

In the air, Sir James difcovers a furprifing verfatility of talent. In the commencement he is charmingly pathetic; then, recollecting. himself, he waxeth warm, the confequence of which is, he growls; her is then induced to curfe, and at laft (like a man afcending a ladder) he reaches, ftep by step, the climax of roaring.

+ Superficial minds may confider this chorus low, but it muft ever please the reader of tafte and difcernment. It is written with a ftrict regard to what the painters call "Keeping," for the fame elegant language which fuits an officer would found unnatural from the mouth, of a private. The poet has here embraced a fine opportunity of praifing himself, without running the rifk of being charged with egotifm.

Sir James exhibits both gratitude and furgical skill.-Oil bidding a wound to ceafe throbbing, is a figure not lefs novel than pleafing. § The poet is here in earnest.

(FORTE.)