The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-10-11 00:00:00

THE SHEPHERD'S DAUGHTER.

Where the golden hand of morn
Touches light the singing fountain.
There a maiden, lowly born,
Guides her flock along the mountain ;
Bashful as the fawn, and fleet,
She invests the world with beauty :
Simple grace, and manners sweet,
Dignify her humble duty.
Sudden light has wreathed the earth,
Robed the fields and flowers in gladness ;
New delights, too deep for mirth ;
Gentle griefs, too sweet for sadness,
Who this sudden charm bath wrought ?
Sent this flow of bright revealings ?
Mind, that springs with joyous thought !
Heart, that glows with heavenly feelings!

Surely 'tis some angel strayed,
Not a shepherd's daughter solely,
Who hath earth like heaven arrayed,
In a light and love so holy !
Oh ! when stars, like drops of pearl,
Glimmer o'er the singing water ;
There I'll woo my mountain girl,
Proudly wed the shepherd's daughter!

ON TuE DEATH OF AN INFANT.

Full many a flow'r is scattered by the breeze,
And many a blossom shaken from the trees,
And many a morning beam in tempest flies,
And many a dew-drop shines a-while and dies :
But oft'ner far the dream that fancy weaves
Of future joy and happiness, deceives.
And thou, pale mourner o'er an infant's bier,
Brighten thy cheek, and dry the trickling tear ;
This came, though veiled in darkness, from above,
A dispensation of Eternal love !
He who perceives the dangerous control,
The heart-twin'd spell was gaining on thy soul,
Snatched from thine arms the treacherous decoy,
To give thee brighter hope and purer joy.
Oh I see how soon the flowers of life decay,
How soon terrestrial pleasures fade away.
This star of comfort, for a moment giv'n,
Just rose on earth, then set to rise in heaven.
Yet mourn not, as of hops bereft, its doom,
Nor water with thy tears its early tomb ;
Bede:m.ll'd by God from sin, released from pain,
Its life were punishment, its death is gain.
Turn back thine eye along the path of life,
View thine own grief, and weariness, and strife,
And say if that which tempts thee to repine
Be not a happier lot by far than thine.
If death in infancy had laid thee low,
Thou hadst escap'd from pain, and sin, and woe ;
The years thy soul the path of sorrow trod,
Had all been spent in converse with thy God,
And thou hadst shone in yonder cloudless sphere,
A seraph there, and not a pilgrim here.
Oh ! it is sweet to die—to part from earth—
And win all heav'n for things of little worth.
Then sure thou would'st not, though thou could'st—
Though it be hard to bid thy heart divide,
And lay the gem of all thy love aside,
Faith tells thee, and it tells thee not in vain,
That thou shalt meet thine infant yet again.
On seraph wings the new-born spirit flies
To brighter regions and serener skies
And, ere thou art aware, the day may be
When to those skies thy babe shall welcome thee.
While yet on earth thine ever circling arms
Held it securest from surrounding harms;
Yet even there disease could aim her dart,
Chill the warm cheek, and stop the flutt'ring heart ;
And many a fruitless tear-drop thou hast paid,
To view the sickness that thou couldst not aid.
No ill can reach it now, it rests above,
Safe in the bosom of celestial love :
Its short but yet tempestuous way is o'er,
And tears shall trickle down its cheek no more.
Then far be grief !—Faith looki beyond the tomb,
And heaven's bright portals sparkle through the gloom.
If bitter thoughts and tears in heaven could be,
It is thine infant that should weep for thee.

EDMIISTON,

SIR ROBERT PEEL AND MR. BUCKINGHAM

The interest taken by Lord Durham in Mr. Buckingham's
case, induced his lordship to solicit and obtain from Lord Grey,
as First Lord of the Treasury, an appointment for Mr. Bucking-
ham's eldest son, in the secretary's office, at the Custom-house
of London, at a salary of £9O a-year. In this office he was
occupied for three years, when a vacancy occurred in the
Comptrollership of the Custom-house of Savannah-le-Mar, in
Jamaica, with about £3OO a-year. This happened during the
short period of Sir Robert Peel's administration; and when
notice of the vacancy was sent up, in the usual way, to the
Treasury, Sir Robert Peel sent down to the Commissioners of
Customs, desiring them to send up the name of the individual
whom they thought most competent to discharge the duties of
the office, as it was his intention to confer the appointment
upon the person best qualified for it. In answer to this, the
name of Mr. Buckingham, jun., was sent up to the Treasury,
when Sir Robert Peel asked whether the person so recom-
mended was at all related to the member for Sheffield, and
being told it was his son, he expressed himself glad of an op-
portunity to confer an appointment on an individual of so much
merit, though so nearly connected with one who had so con-
sistently opposed his administration. The member for Sheffield,
who was not all aware of this proceeding until it was over,
sought an early opportunity to thank Sir Robert Peel for his
liberality; when the right hon. baronet said, that it gave him
as much pleasure to confer the appointment on so deserving a
son, as it could give his father to witness his advancement. It
will he seen that this version of the transaction differs in many
particulars from that which has appeared in the public prints ;
but it is in every point of view highly honourable to the cha-
racter of Sir Robert Peel, and may well be put in contrast with
the ungenerous and faithless conduct of the Whigs to Mr.
Buckingham, the elder.—Standard.