The National Register.
London, England, 1812-09-06 00:00:00

POE7'RY.

TO A YOUNG LADY ON PRESENTING TIER WITH A
NOSEGAY.
Accept, dear girl, at these untiallow'd hand,
A tribute which thy beauteous form demands;
And thoagli tT►e,,e fading emblems only I►rove,
flow short the time for bea.:iy and tOr love;
Yet virtues such us thine shall never die,
Itit live and bloom to all eternity.
Bromley.

EPIGRAM.
FROM T;IE SATITIISI OF THE PRESENT MONTH.

On the State if the Pavement, through the laudable Excrtions of the
11'aterteorks Companies.
These Water-workers' fiery zeal
Loridorr save from c'er harti'd ;
And mnre—to serve the common weal,
They lace not left a .5 tone maimed.

LUDICROUS GA:ETTE ;
OR, MING TO BE LI.UGHED ! !

Some of our Correspondents apt.ear to have fallen into an error re-
',prolog the ielentiou of the Ludicrous Catecte. We wish it to he un-
ricrAtrott that it is not intenthd to he the receptacle of light original
ccs, jet( d'csprits, &c. Articles of this description our Correspon-
dents must he content to see disposed of in Varioul parts cf our publi.
catio;, as heretofore. to take the chance of being looked roam in a vt ry
grave light, according to the humour of the retqler, C.!' of being reg trdid
a, things to he laughed at.
This; explanatioa will account Ibr the non-insertion of various articles
under 111 i, head, svlech have been se, tto its. The Ludicrous cricette
will ee.ner tl'y be the repo-itory of things which tiplicar to be ridiculous,
but which wire not intended to be so, or ut least Which were not its-
*coded to excite that sort of laughter which we roay conceive them
I.kely to call forth. An extract from a bad comedj, for instance, may
sometimes be given as a thing to be Worried 'at, on account of
its containing nothing laughable. Tho-c things which are intended
to be comic, but which are really grave ; and thoFe which
nitenditig to be serious, are really comic, will to us appear equally
oorthy a place among " things to be laughed at." Thus an impotent
attwapt at humour in a Farce, and a comic song front an Opera, may
be here inserted as ridiculous, from their gravity while endeavouring to
provoke mirth, and a French Bulletin, mid a speech in Parliament,
may ne placed in the .Ludicrous Gazette, on account of the extravagant
absurdities which appear iu them, while their aim is to command re-
ap. ct tul belief and solemn attention.
In making this statement, we feel we have been led in some measure
to depart front our plan. Its formality sits awkwardly on us,
as it 111113 t have the effect of making our profeisions and our actions
seem rather at variance. This, however, after all, may have in it a
something of the ridiculous, and therefore we may nut be too sanguine
when we presume to hope that it will be laughed at.
Among the most 'prominent incidents which have occurred in the
ridiculous world (a comprehensive phrase) Mr.Waithman's declaration
respecting the late victory deserves a place :----
" Had he proposed a vote of thanks, or of congratulation, on tills
occasion, it might have appeared that he was running a race for popu-
larity, and this feeling, he assured the Court, upon his honour, had
alone kept him front so coming. forward."
If any of his enemies had imputed to him this affectation of a dread
of appearing to court popularity, we should have thought them too
severe on the worthy gentleman. To us it would have appeared, that
they were quite es much tun hard on him as Lord Kenyon was, when
his Lordship thought he was not to be believed upon his oath—not upon
his bnour.
The following paragraph has appeared in several papers:—
" The immense Tummy of combustible matter which has been dis-.
charged from the " Souffriere Mountain," says a St. Vincent's Journal,
"is equal to the balk of the whole island. It is obvious that the
matter thus exploded.cannot belong to the mountain itself, otherwise it
would have been quickly consumed; it cannot be derived from mo-
derate depths, since its amazing quantity evinces that all the places
near the bottom nnist have lung since been exhausted.".
Quere—Who measured the combustible matter and the Island of St.
Vincent, or how was the fact, here positively stated, ascertained ?
MawsioN-Housz.—" On Wednesday the Book-keeper of an inn
was summoned before the Lord Mayor for charging more for the car-
.fiage of a parcel from Canterbury than is allowed by act of parlia-