VIII. Each with its varied virtue, in its turn,' Had woo'd thee to itself, thou envied Isle ? Though rough th' embrace, and oft obliged to mourn The lame, the puny, those of nerveless hand, Could ne'er have brav'd our surge, or won with wile. Thus from the best and boldest of each land We sprang, and hence it is we strongly stand! IX. A happy mixture. What! shall there be no end to this digression? Are all forgot in one beloved expression; And thou can'st sing but of that land divine, Where Rose and Shamrock, Thistle, all entwine! Time is a thief, that must not, cannot stay To morrow's dawn shall see our brigantine Outstrip the wind ;-So Raymond, may, I pray, Thou wilt resume the story of thy lay? A lady's reproof. X. "One bright- Thou would'st not, Alice, sure that Bard disdain, ening speck of heavenly blue." Who, through those bickering clouds, and stormy sky, Or, spite the harsh discordance roaring nigh, XI. May we pre- Oh! might I, dare I, here presume to say, sume? Our Native That that most Righteous One, who rules above, XII. Is there no potent, counteracting charm, To win this Bardling from his boasted isle? No Naiad of the river to disarm The spell ?-By all that's lovely, there's the smile Of Arrabell! who labours to beguile The heavy hours within Colonia's wall, Till once again, all radiant, juvenile, She shall be rous'd by the loud thund'ring call Of Kaiser's cannon, warning to us all. A happy thought. XIII. "Twas said the Hanseatic League ow'd much to thee, Cologne, nor was thy civic spirit mean : Thy treasures wafted over many a sea; Thy hardy legions, too, not seldom seen, Where heavy blows and hardiment had been, Flush'd with the glory of the conquering hour. What time the Reinhold sway'd in tent and tower 1 La pompe d'un Prince ne l'emportait pas sur celle des deux Bourg No mean pretensions. XIV. What mis chief does discord do? But what, alas! is stable here below? How frequently does discord1, raging wild, Or blur, or overturn, by one rude blow, Those bonds which usage long had link'd, and pil❜d Correct betimes would you not spoil the child :— "Twixt lawful liberty, and lawless devil. XV. And sooth, the present are right ticklish times, mestres de Cologne, lorsqu'ils paraissaient revetus de l'ancienne toge consulaire: Entourès de Patriciens, et souvent à la tette de dix mille bourgeois sous les arms, ils recevaient les Empéreurs de l'Allemagne, dans leur ville, et leur donnaient les fetes les plus brilliantes. Ce cas avait lieu principalement à l'epoque de leurs archeveques, et nommement Reinhold, portaient la parole d'une maniere si ponderante.-Voyage du Rhin de Mayence à Cologne, par J. A. Klein, traduit par Lendrig, page 397, 398. 1 An insurrection having taken place amongst the cloth-weavers of Cologne, they became at length so insolent and exorbitant in their demands, That freedom which, not poisons, but sublimes : And leads with speed to more accurs'd disputes Would'st thou tear up good order by the roots, 1 Let Plato's 1 republic be brought to bear, Then each loud wrangling fool would minister. XVI. It were an easy thing to say-Be free! Then thousands toss their caps in air for joy. that, in 1372, 10,000 of them were banished from the city; and, such was their folly and misconduct, that the greater part of the burghers took the part of the patricians against them.-Nouveau Merian, p. 298. 1 Plato's notions of a republic, if we may believe Martin (Biographia Philosophica, pages 19, 20), were chiefly borrowed from Epicharmus, a Greek philosopher of Abdera, who wrote about 400 years B. C. Plato wished to inculcate the notion, that it was possible to have a community of men, whose passions could be governed with moderation, and who, ever sensible of the evils and miseries which spring from outrage and ill conduct, might ultimately aspire to excellence, and attain that perfection which can be derived from the proper exercise of the rational and moral powers; but we much fear that the system is more beautiful in theory than possible in practice; at least all that has yet been seen of human nature tends to this conclusion. . Spurious liberty. |