The Sun.
London, England, 1823-04-24 00:00:00

POETRY.

TO THE REFORMERS.
cc, There are veople who rave' ",
" Of the IN;rattonal Debt. '
" Let them pay off their owu,
the natiou's forget. ." • -
" o'filEßS bawl for ItErottm,
- 4+ 'Willi areteettsilyd'Onei
" if each would resolve,
$‘ To iefoim num int' ONX."
.f pc21..F.0,, Aug lutos lANJE.

ADDRESSVII TO A STATUE orTNES; A FEDIALX WEEPING,
By ELLEN VAiLott; Peasant Girl.

. ,
Say., pretty weeping figure, say,
iror whom ipts yoti rocturn ? .
Oi by whose ashes thus yo 4 stay,
And grieving grasp the urn?
In thy unstudied, flowing dress,
"No Widol's weeds appear ;
Then ?tia met turtle* tenderneasi • •
That Both demand a tear.
Nor on thy finger, straight and long,
Appears .the nuptial ring, z •
Then 'di not from a mother's pane,
Thathere thy sorrowi'spring. -
Was it one
.parent bore-ye both?
Was it one milk ye drew ?
NVas he -compitnian- of thy youth,
And infant playntate too ?
. ,
Did he find pleasure yn thy mirth ?
Did he thy gripfs, console ? • '
And was his love, as dews to earth,
Refreshing to thy soul ?
Was he companion, brother, friend,
In every sense to thee ?
Did blighting death these comforts end,
And rob thee of all three ?
If so, fair figure, drink thy tears,
In luxury of woe; •
While mine drawn on by kindred cares,
In plenteous streams shall flow.

NIEGItATI NG BIRDS.

The month of April is a very.interesting one
to the ornithologist, as_ at this period most pf our migrating
birds return from their travels, and we recognize in the'grove
and the hedgerow the voices of many of our old acquaintances,
which we as much expect to hear abbut this time, as if an
appointment were made for that purpose; and we greet them
as the harbingers of a delightful season. A person well con..
versant with birds will know them, as certainly by their
voice, or flit, as if the creature were in his hand ; but
the parus tribe, (tom tits,) in the spring, have such a variety
of notes, that they at times surprise, and occasion a disappoint.
meat: we hear an unusual note, and creep withraution tolobserve
he stranger it proceeds from, and at length perceive our old ac.
quaintance searching with his usual activity the lichens of an old
apple-tree. All these birds will often acquird or compound a note
not common to each other, seem delighted with it for a day, and
then we hear it no more. Thelarger tom tithes two particular calls
which he uses in the spring and autumn, so invariable, that
they are become familiar to every gardener; and no spring
passes without our hearin the singularly harsh notes of this
beautiful bird. The arrival of the swallow, About the middle
of the month, foretels the approach of summer. The next
bird that appears is the nightingale.
From the time of Homer to the present day, the poets have
ever considered the nightingale as a melancholy bird. But
Vallans, in his Tale of Two Swannes, says—
The cheerful birds . . • .
With sweetest notes do sing their Maker's praise :
Among the which the merrie nightingale,.
With swete and nvete, her breast against a thorn,
flings out all night.
The following letter of the Hon. C. J. Rix, while it confirms
the accurate description of the poet, will also serve to she*
Mr. F.'s fondness for literary inquiries, and for,works of imagi.
nation and poetry :
Dear Grey—ln defence of my opinion about the nightin.
gales, I find Chaucer, who of all poets seems to have been the
fondest of the singing of birds, calls it 4 Wtry note; and though
Theocritus mentions nightingales six or seven times, he never
mentions their note as .plaintive or ,melancholy; 'is true
he does not call it any where merry, as Chaucer does ;
but by mentioning it with the song of the blackbird, and
as answering it, he seems to imply that it was a cheerful
note. Sophocles is against us; but even he says, lamenting
Itys, anti the comparison of her to Electra is :rather as to
perseverance by day and night, than as to sorrow. At all
events, a tragic poet is not halt' so good authority in this
question as Theoctims and Chaucer. I cannot light upon the
passage in the Odyssey, where Penelope's restlessness is compared'
to the nightingale; but I am sure that it is only as to restlessness
and watchfulness that lie makes the comparison. If you will read
the last twelve books of the Odyssey, you will certainty • find
it, and I am sure you will he paid for your hunt, whether you
find it or not. The passage in Chaucer is in the Flower ..and
Leaf, p. 99. The one "particularly allude to in Theocritus, is
in his Epigrams ; I think in the fourth. Dryden has transferred
the word merry to the goldfinch, in the Flower and the;Leef ; in
deference, may be, to the vulgar error; but pray read hie de,
scription of the nightingale there; it Is quite delightful:• T am
afraid I like these, researches as, much better than thoie that
relate to Shaftesbury, Sunderland, &c. as I do those, better than
attending the House of Commons.

Your's affectionately, C. J. FOX.'
That beautiful little bird, the wryneck, makes its appearance
about the middle of the month, preceding the cuckoo by a few
days. The well-known cry of the ctec►rlut canon's is heard
soon after the wryneck, and ceases the latter end of June : its
stay is short, the old cuckoos being said to quit this country about
the end of June; but it is more probable that its departure is
delayed till about the end of August. • All, however, do not
leave England, as well authenticated instances have recently
occurred of cuckoos, like swallows, being found in a state of
torpidity.

DIED.—On Wednesday, the 23c1 instant, after
a short but severe illness, Clime'.Es GRANT, Esq. youngest
brother of the Right Hon. Sir War. GRANT.

The cabriolets, in honour of his Majesty's birthday, were
introduced to the public yesterday: They are built to 'hold
two persons besides the driver (who is partitioned off from his
company), and are furnished with a book of fares for the use
of the public, to prevent the possibility of imposition ; these
books will be found in a pocket hung inside of the head of the
cabriolet.. The drivers are selected from gentlemen's servants
only, who have produced frond characters from their last places
for sobriety end civility, and are dressed Ina plain stable livery,"
and who will be discharged for any incivility or thud. The I
fares are one-third less than haCkney-coaches. They had a
private trial on Tuesday, anti were inund to answer all the pur-
poses intended.
HOPPING IN A SAM—Yesterday morning between six
and seven James Kendrick, a journeyman butcher, tied up in
a sack, with only his head out, undertook for a wager of one
sovereign to hop round Queen-square, a distance of three
furlongs, in the short space of 13 minutes, which 'arduous
task, to the astonishment of all present, he performed. in 11
minutes and a half, although he fell down, twice by the way,
anti had much difficulty' each time in getting up, on account
of his hands being inclosed within the sack. Although the
performance took place at an early hour, the concourse of spec.
tators was immense, owing to the novelty of the undertaking.
At starting bets were four to one against him.
Munurn OF MRS. RlCllARDS.—Yesterdar a
,man named Charles Keppell underwent an exutni-
nation before L. B. ALLEN, Este., charged on
suspicion with having been the perpetrator of the
murder of Mrs. Richards. The prisoner, who is
between 18 and 19 years of age, and of ferocious
aspect, was apprehended by Hall and Glennon
on Wednesday morning at a house in an obscure
street in Newington. He is well known to all
the officers of Union-hall, and has been repeatedly
in custody. At the time the officers seized him
he was completely disguised with a smockfrock, which reached down to his heels, and the tails of
a fashionable frock coat pinned up behind. Ever
since the murder he has been missing from, his
usual haunts, and he accounts for his absence by
stating that he has been at work at his trade (a
bricklayer) on the Brighton road. The prisoner
did not betray the slightest emotion throughout
the investigation, notwithstanding that circum.
stances of the strongest suspicion were stated
against him ; and afterwards he called for bread
and cheese andporter) which he devoured greedily.