AN INTRODUCTORY SPEECH, Recited at B School, June 26, 1811, [Speaks as entering]

wall."

THEN I am forc'd to introduce you all : How truly said, "The weakest goes to the [Enters I only told them 'twas a grievous task, First to appear, and first your candour ask. Could I be backward? No! 'twas pleasure all; [call. For every nerve is strain'd when Parents I was not backward; no, my breast was fir'd, [quir'd. I knew you'd shew the candour we reI knew the Ladies virtuous, gentle, kind, And ever prone to raise the timid mind. I knew the Gentlemen had gracious hearts, I knew they'd cheer us in our various parts; My Master likewise told me you were such, You'd smile on me, you'd favour'd him so much.

NATURAL BLOOM.

WHO to the drooping flowret can restore Those early beauties which it spreads no more?

pale?

Or should it still in native colours glow, What fairer tinctures can the hand bestow? What tho' the Lilies clust'ring in the vale, And lowly Primrose, from their birth are [them drest We deem them beauteous, nor would wish In Tulip streaks, or gaily-chequer'd vest: The virgin charms of Nature shrink away, When Art obtrusive claims a mingled sway. How vainly then she plies her vapid bloom To teach expiring Beauty to resume Health's roseate hue!-say, shall the pallid

ways,

cheek 'Neath borrow'd beauties for a refuge seek, Yet mimic Love through all his wanton [raise And still to rapturous warmth the bosom -In Delia's cheek, which love has taught to glow, Where roses in their native wildness grow, Where modest Virtue taking oft her stand, With secret touch will make them more expand,

I see the blush of silent censure rise,
See mild reproaches falling from her eyes:
These lovely tokens modestly reprove,
Yet shew their own superior claim to love.

But who shall say unlovely is the fair Whose lilied cheeks no roses too may bear, If silent sickness pluck the blossoms gay. Or Nature ne'er has strown them in her way Still

LONE wanderer of the midnight sky,
I mark thee through mycasement gleam;
And, stretch'd upon a sleepless couch,
I bless thy paly beam!

Say, com'st thou here with silent foot,
When all is bush'd in deep repose,
To whisper to my troubled heart
A solace for its woes ?

Oh, give to me that placid mien,
That tranced look-as when on high
Thou pausest for awhile to drink
The spheres' wild harmony!

That Aitting blush !-sure, modest Queen,
Thrón'd on thy fleecy clouds above,
The young God hath not with thy rays
Lighted his torch of Love?

Come, if thy soul has felt his power,
To me thou art a welcome guest;

For sportive he hath kindled too
A flame within this breast.

Yes, I will sympathize with thee,
(And mutual cares will each endear);
Thy beams' discourse most eloquent,
I'll answer with a tear.

Be Love our theme - its visious warm,
Its balmy sigbs, its secret joy-
Emotions trembling on the brink
Of bliss and agony.

Come, thou shalt say what rapture stole
O'er every sense at dead of night,
When first the breeze pour'd on thy ear,
Endymion and delight.

And I will tell if words can tell

Oh, no! this throb and deep-fetch'd sigh Will best express the glance of love That darts from Mary's eye,

Oh, might that blue eye's tender languish,
Beam but on me what bliss were mine:
'Twould o'er my soul diffuse a ray
Of happiness divine.

But why that blush again, sweet maid ?
Why 'thwart thy face so shining fair
Roll clouds so dark that Fancy reads
In them the page of ('are?

Alas, they say, Love 's but a dream,
Fleeting and few its happiest hours
That Life 's at best a thorny wild,
Oh, never strew'd with flowers.
Sweet Moralist! I know it well-
Man onward toils in pain and sorrow,
Yet fondly hopes a glimpse of joy

Will bless him on the morrow.

Vain, vain the hope;-yet should that glimpse

Strike on his mind, in mercy giv'n,
It but reveals the darkness round,
Like the lightning flash of Heav'n.
Still visit thou my lonely couch
To soothe my heart with woe opprest
And say the sleep of Death is sweet
To those who sigh for rest.
Dec. 14.

SONNET.

A. M.

"Amnem fundens Tamesis pater urna." AD AMICUM.

TANDEM divitias, et fuge limina
Nunquam urbis vacuæ vocibus, et sono
Vulgi; et semper honestis
Indignam invidiam viris.

Hic tempus faciles ducere per dies
Fas sit, dum trepidat Vere Favonius;
Atque errare, per agros
Dulces, quà Tamesis fluit.

Hic puris decores tempora floribus.
Hic sertum roseum, aut hiç breve lilium
Carpas; fronde sub orni,
Quercûs aut veteris sedens ;-

Dum curat pecudes, prataque tibia
Respondere docet pastor amoribus ;
Vel ramo canit atthis,
Lugens Ismarium nefas.

Haud atrox Tamesis sanguine, et horridus
Nigra morte fluit; semper amabili
Gaudet munere pacis;

Et volvit placidas aquas.

Von hic turba virûm; nescia sed doli
Insons simplicitas; et pudor omnibus
Divis charus, amore
Non turpi satus; et fide.

Hic quisquis jaceat, fessus ab æstibus;
Miratur tacite," splendidior vitro,"
Rivus dum fluit agris;
Spargens dona virentibus.

Miratur bibulis impositam ilicem
Ripis; et salices frondibus ut leves
Gaudent tangere fluctus;
Prisci haud immemores boni;

Ut ridet labiis undique Copia
Lætis; ut gregibus dulcia dat nemus
Glandes, pabula; et umbras
Frigentes domino gregum.

Jan. 14.

W. C. LANGTON.

On sky-topt hill, or velvet plain,
Or flow'ry vale, or flowing main,
Or where her softer waters glide-
Ah! what are these to Nature's pride,
Where God, conducting Nature's plan,
Completes her noblest work in MAN?

Childhood, dear Will, however blest,
Is a fair negative at best.
"Tis innocence personified,
Yet it is little else beside;
'Tis pure as mountain snow, and takes
The impression that a feather makes,
Yet, lighter than that feather's fall,
It leaves no lasting trace at all;
But, like the snow, the sun's first ray
The tender mark will melt away.

But when arriv'd at riper age,
Gaining of life its second stage,
When trackless Childhood yields to Youth,
And WISDOM comes led on by TRUTH;
On whom the CHARITIES attend

In forms of Neighbour, Son, and Friend:
Soon will these make thy bosom glow,
Till thou shalt wish more fast to grow;
Soon will they kindle Manhood's fires,
And all that manly hope inspires!.

O couldst thou guess what loftier joys
Succeed to Childhood's transient toys;
'Tho' these now seem to fill thy breast,
And scarce leave wishes for the rest;
Thy wisdom drawn from fabled charms,
Thy conquests from fictitious arms,
Enraptur'd with thine own applause
At every form thy Fancy draws;
Castle, or Cot, or Town, or Ship,
And now a bound, and now a skip-
Yes-couldst thou think what varied worth
Maturing Time might bring to birth,
The power to soothe the sorrowing heart,
To blunt the point of Envy's dart,
The sick to help, the sad to cheer,
And dry the Widow's, Orphan's tear:
Fram'd as thon art with ardent mind,
Emotions quick, and feelings kind-
In spite of Manhood's stronger care,
Thy heart would form a different prayer,
Still more, the boast of tender friends
Would point thy wish to nobler ends.

Soon wouldst thou see with glad surprize
Thy fondest visions realize;
Thy inky boat, and pencil'd town,
Would like thyself, dear Boy, be grown;
This to some warlike bark well-mann'd,
And thou appointed to command!
Or haply, by the Fates decreed,
Thou shalt some Admiral succeed!
Or, some fam'd General of the field,
Shalt provethy Country's spear and shield

Then wish no more a Boy to be,
For ever dandled on the knee;
But as the Soldier's feats delight,
And thou art pleas'd with mimic fight,
Wish, Willy, thou wert six feet high,
Resolv'd on Death or Victory;
Or else a man of Peace, and know
All that may make thee lov'd below!
Stafford, Jan. 1.

HOUSE OF LORDS, Jan. 7.

Parliament was this day opened by commission.

The Commissioners, Earls Camden and Westmoreland, and Marquis Wellesley, took their seats; when the Speaker, with the members of the House of Commons, appearing at the bar, the Lord Chancellor read the following Speech:

"My Lords, and Gentlemen, "We are commanded by his Royal Highness the Prince Regent to express to you the deep sorrow which he feels in announcing to you the continuance of bis Majesty's lamented indisposition, and the unhappy disappointment of those hopes of his Majesty's early recovery which had been cherished by the dutiful affection of his family and the loyal attachment of his people.

"The Prince Regent has directed copies of the last Reports of her Majesty the Queen's Council to be laid before you, and he is satisfied that you will adopt such measures as the present melancholy exigency may appear to require.

" In securing a suitable and ample provision for the support of his Majesty's royal dignity, and for the attendance upon his Majesty's sacred person during his illness, the Prince Regent rests assured, that you will also bear in mind the indispensable duty of continuing to preserve for his Majesty the facility of resuming the personal exercise of his royal authority in the happy event of his recovery, so earnestly desired by the wishes and the prayers of his family and his subjects.

"The Prince Regent directs us to signify to you the satisfaction with which his Royal Highness has observed, that the measures which have been pursued for the defence and security of the kingdom of Portugal have proved completely effectual; and that on the several occasions in which the British or Portuguese troops had been engaged with the Enemy, the reputation already acquired by them has been fully maintained:

"The successful and brilliant enterprize which terminated in the surprize in Spanish Estremadura of a French corps by a detachment of the Allied Army under Lieutenant General Hill, is highly creditable to that distinguished officer, and to the troops under his command, and has contributed materially to obstruct the designs of the Enemy in that part of the Pennsuta,

"The Prince Regent is assured, that while you reflect with pride and satisfacton on the conduct of his Majesty's troops, GENT. MAG. January, 1812.

and of the allies, in these various and important services, you will render justice to the consummate judgment and skill displayed by General Lord Viscount Wellington in the direction of the campaign. In Spain the spirit of the people remains unsubdued; and the system of warfare, so peculiarly adapted to the actual condition of the Spanish nation, has been recently extended and improved, under the advantages which result from the operations of the allied armies on the frontier, and from the countenance and assistance of his Majesty's Navy on the coast. Although the great exertions of the Enemy have in some quarters been attended with success, his Royal Highness is persuaded, that you will admire the perseverance and gallantry manifested by the Spanish Armies. Even in those provinces principally occupied by the French forces, new energy has arisen among the people; and the increase of the difficulty and danger has produced more connected efforts of general resistance.

"The Prince Regent, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, commands us to express his confident hope, that you will enable him to continue to afford the most effectual aid and assistance in the support of the contest, which the brave nations of the Peninsula still maintain with such unabated zeal and resolution.

"His Royal Highness commands us to express his congratulations on the success of the British arms in the Island of Jaya,

"The Prince Regent trusts that you wiil concur with his Royal Highness in approving the wisdom and ability with which this enterprize, as well as the capture of the Islands of Bourbon and Mauritius, has been conducted under the immediate direction of the Governor General of India, and that you will applaud the deoision, gallantry, and spirit, conspicuously displayed in the late operations of the brave Army under the command of that distinguished officer Lieut.-general Sir Samuel Auchmuty, so powerfully and ably supported by his Majesty's naval forces.

"By the completion of this system of operations, great additional security will have been given to the British commerce and possessions in the East Indies, and the colonial power of France will have been entirely extinguished.

"His Royal Highness thinks it expedient to recommend to your attention the propriety of providing such measures for the future government of the British pos. sessions in India, as shall appear from expe