VI. flow fleet is a glance of the mind!

Compar'd with the speed of its flight The tempest itself lags behind,

And the swift-winged arrows of light. When I think of my own native land,

In a moment I seem to be there; But, alas! recollection at hand

Soon hurries me back to despair.

VII.
But the sea-fowl is gone to her nesi,

The beast is laid down in his lair ;
Even here is a season of rest,

And I to my cabin repair. There's mercy in every place,

And mercy, encouraging thought' Gives even affliction a grace,

And reconciles man to his lot.

REPORT

Of an adjudged Case, not to be fourd in any ny

the Books.

I. BETWEEN Nose and Eyes a strange contest arose,

The spectacles set them unhappily wrong; The point in dispute was, as all the world knows, To which the said spectacles ought to belong.

II. So Tongue was the lawyer, and argued the cause With a great deal of skill, and a wig full of

learning, While chief baron Ear sat to balance the laws, So fam'd for his talent in nicely discerning.

III. In behalf of the Nose it will quickly appear, And your lordship, he said, will undoubtedly

find, That the Nose has had spectacles always in wear, Which amounts to possession time out of mind.

IV. Then holding the spectacles up to the court, Your lordship observes they are made with a straddle

242

REPORT OF A LAW CASE.

LAW

243

As wide as the ridge of the Nose is; in short,

Design'd to sit close to it, just like a saddle.

V. Again, would your lordship a moment suppose, ('Tis a case that has happen'd, and may be

again) That the visage or countenance had not a Nose, Pray who would, or who could, wear specta

cles then ?

VI. On the whole it appears, and my argumen:

shows, With a reasoning the court will never condemn, That the spectacles plainly were made for the

Nose And the Nose was as plainly intended for them.

VII. I hen shifting his side, (as a lawyer knows how,)

He pleaded again in behalf of the Eyes : But what were his arguments few people know, For the court did not think they were equally

wise.

VIII. So his lordship decreed, with a grave solemn tone,

Decisive and clear, without one if or but That, whenever the Nose put his spectacles on, By day-light or candle-light-Eyes should be

shut.

CATHARINA.

Addressed to Miss Stapleton, now Nirs. Courlney

She came-she is gone-we have met

And meet perhaps never again, The sun of that moment is set,

And seems to have risen in vain. Catharina has fled like a drean

(So vanishes pleasure, alas !) But has left a regret and esteem,

That will not so suddenly pass.

The last ev'ning ramble we made,

Catharina, Maria, and I,
Our progress was often delay'd

By the nightingale warbling nigh.
We paus'd under many a tree,

And much she was charm'd with a tone Less sweet to Maria and me,

Who so lately had witness'd her own.

My numbers that day she had sung,

And gave them a grace so divine,
As only her musical tongue
Could infuse into numbers of mine

The longer I heard, I esteem'd

The work of my fancy the more, And e'en to myself never seem'd

So tuneful a poet before. Though the pleasures of London exceed

In number the days of the year, Catharina, did nothing impede,

Would feel herself happier here ; For the close-woven arches of limes

On the banks of our river, I know, Are sweeter to her many times

Than aught that the city can show

So it is, when the mind is endu'd

With a well-judging taste from above Then whether embellish'd or rude

Tis nature alone that we love ;
The achievements of art may amuse,

May even our wonder excite,
But groves, hills, and vallies diffuse

A lasting, a sacred delight.

Since, then, in the rural recess

Catharina alone can rejoice, May it still be her lot to possess

The scene of her sensible choice! To inhabit a mansion remote

From the clatter of street-pacing steeds, And by Philomel's annual nole

To measure the life that she leads.