The Press.
London, England, 1853-05-14 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

MAY 14, 1853.

no matter what its merely commercial policy might be, the party
of the Movement, regarding it as a barrier to those ulterior ob-
jects which you, as Whigs, had ever professed to oppose ; the section
of the Peelites, with whose desire for retribution it would be hypocrisy
indeed, could you affect, to sympathise :—the Irish Brigade—men, no
doubt, very ardent in their patriotism. and very zealous for their faith ;
but it is only to say that you were Protestants and Englishmen—to
prove that with those gentlemen you could have nothing in common,
unless you could be prepared to destroy any Government whatsoever
to which Protestants would trust their religion and Englishmen their
rights. By the help of all these divisions you might destroy Lord
Derby's Administration : by remaining aloof from them you might save
it. You chose the former alternative. No Deluge has yet occurred—but
it seems that you have foreseen its coming ; for the Government you
have helped to construct very much resembles the Ark in which crea-
tures of the most opposite species went in two by two.

lANILICS.

THE WOBURN BUCOLIC.

" Et vitula to digunt, et hie."

Where Woburn's Monks once hailed the Holy mod.
And Whigs now prey in quite another mood.
A solemn pair renowned for tiresome strains,
(Long-winded rivals on Arcadia's plains),
Damon and Lycidtts, did lately meet,
By stealth, at old Damtetas' country seat.
He gave them lodging, and he made them dine ;
He fill'd their cups with might• middling wine;
He bade. for party ends, their wrangling cease,
And join'd their noses in the kiss of peace.

DAMETAS.

Friends ! (for I term you friends, your feuds laid by.)
'Tis interest prompts this interview, not I !
For who but fools and honest men maintain
A barren quarrel vice mutual gain
To him who most forgets, and most forgives,
And least abasled by antecedents lives.
This staff' of office, apt for jobs, I bring,—
So banish coyness, and proceed to sing !
Blazon your special deeds ! your tires arouse !
And shake the laurels that adorn your brows.

DAMON.

Well 1 remember when (before the Pew)
1 sought thy ruin'd fines, dismantled Greece,
When I returned a learned book was writ,—
Wilkins approv'd, and Murray publish'd it.

LYCIDAS.

And I, collecting from my waifs and strays.
Bound up a little faggot of " ESSAYS ; "
" AnnoreA's NICS,"* pure child of snow and flame.
I gave my country, but withheld my name.

DAMON.

Serenely snug on strong old Tory bench.
Ere modern freaks gave ancient things a wrench,
Of Foreign Policy 1 lenrn't the trick,
And won the trusting heart of Metternich.

LYCIDAft.

Tong time I toil'd the Patriot's wreath to win,
But my heart fail'd me, and my legs grew thin
Kind Henven at length vouchsaf'd a wondrous cure.
In six and thirty lines by Thomas Moore.

DAMON.

Ere Villiers spoke, or Cobden's League was horn.
Or Peel had chang'd. I lov'd free trade in corn ;
And thus turn'd over an enlighten'd page.
Years in advance of this presumptuous age.

LYCIDAS.

Calrd by my line's hereditary claim.
To schedule rotten boroughs—l was game ;
Unshrinkingly resolved no job to spare,
I left the Whigs a borough here and there.

• The Nun of Arrvuca. :Murray, 1622.

DAMON.