POETICAL LINES ON GOLDSMITH.

WRITTEN BY A FRIEND.

Here rests, from the cares of the world and his pen,
A poet whose like, we shall scarce meet again;
Who, though form'd in an age when corruption ran high,
And folly alone seem'd with folly to vie;

When genius, with traffic too commonly train'd,
Recounted her merits by what she had gain'd;
Yet spurn'd at those walks of debasement and pelf,
And in poverty's spite dar'd to think for himelf.
Thus free'd from those fetters the Muses oft bind,
He wrote from the heart, to the hearts of mankind :
And such was the prevalent force of his song,
Sex, ages, and parties, he drew in a throng.
The lovers-'twas theirs to esteem and commend,
For his Hermit had prov'd him their tutor and friend.
The statesman, his politic passions on fire,
Acknowledged repose from the charms of his lyre.
The moralist, too, had a feel for his rhymes,
For his essays, were curbs on the rage of the times:
Nay, the critic, all schooled in grammatical sense,
Who looked in glow of description for sense,
Reform'd as he read, fell a dupe to his art,

And confessed by his eyes what he felt in his heart.
Yet blest with original powers like these,

His principle force was on paper to please :

Like a fleet-footed hunter, though first in the chase,

On the road of plain sense he oft slacken'd his pace:
Whilst dullness and cunning, while whipping and goring,
Their hard-footed hackneys paraded before him:
Compounded likewise of such primitive parts,

That his manners alone would have gain'd human hearts.
So simple in truth, so ingeniously kind

So ready to feel for the wants of mankind:

Yet praise but an author of popular quill,

His flux of philanthropy quickly stood still:

Transformed from himself, he grew meanly severe,

And railed at those talents he ought not to fear.

Such then were his foibles: but though they were such

As shadow'd the picture a little too much,

The style was all graceful, expressive, and grand,
And the whole the result of a masterly hand.

It has been generally circulated, that he was a mere fool in conversation. In allusion to this, Mr. Horatio Walpole, who admired his writings, said he was an inspired idiot; and Garrick describes him as one

For shortness call'd Noll,

Who wrote like an angel, and talked like poor Poll.

FOR BACHELORS ONLY.

MRS. CHISHOLM says the best time to select a wife is in the morning. If a young lady is at all inclined to silks and slatterness, it is just before breakfast. As a general thing, a woman don't get on her temper" till after ten, a.m.

HINTS TO NEWS' ROOM MONOPOLIES.

66 :

IN a country news' room the following notice is written over the chimney Gentlemen learning to spell are requested to use yesterday's papers."

EDINBURGH.

LORD CARLISLE said-" This is a city from which royalty would never depart-which sat enthroned in natural and architectural beauty on her sparkling estuary at her feet-and which retained that sovereignty of intellect derived by her from a long series of philosophers, orators, poets, and divines, still kept glowing with copious lustre, amid her schools, her chair, her press, her forum, and her pulpit.

RECIPROCITY OF COMPLIMENT. SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS painted a portrait of Mrs. Bellington, the vocalist, representing her as St. Cecilia, the eyes turned towards heaven, listening to a choir of angels, faintly introduced on the upper part of the painting. Haydn, the composer, was present just as Sir Joshua was giving the finishing stroke, and his opinion of its merits was asked by Mrs. Bellington. "It resembles you," said Haydn, "but it has one great fault.' "And what is it ?" asked Mrs. Bellington, with inquietude, fearful that the artist might take offence. "The painter," continued Haydn, "has represented you as listening to the songs of angels; he should have painted the angels listening to your enchanting notes." Flattered by such a compliment, the beautiful Bellington threw her arms round Haydn's neck and kissed him.

CANARY BIRDS.

"ARE those pure canaries ?" asked a gentleman of a bird dealer, with whom he was negociating for a "gift for his fair." "Yes, sir," said the dealer, confidentially; "I raised them ere birds from canary seed?" It was deemed sufficient proof of the purity.

WARNING TO FIDGETTY WIVES. IF anything can justify a man for sometimes thinking of putting away his wife, it is when despite of continual entreaty and admonition," she is always putting away his things." Home truths for home peace.

WANTED.

A LINE to fathom the sea of troubles. A poker to stir the fire of genius. The cow that yields Circassian cream, The botanical nature of "ill weeds grow apace." The chair the sun sets in. The bed the moon rises from. A drummer to beat time to the "March of Intellect."

GOLDSMITH'S COUNTRY VILLAGE.

THE author addresses this poem to his friend, Sir Joshua Reynolds. He writes in the character of a native of a country village, to which he gives the name of Auburn, and which he pathetically addresses. He then proceeds to contrast the innocence and happiness of a simple and natural state, with the miseries and vices that have been introduced by polished life, and gives the following beautiful apostrophe to retirement :—

O blest retirement! friend to life's decline,
Retreats from care, that never must be mine;
How blest is he who crowns, in shades like these,
A youth of labour with an age of ease:
Who quits a world where strong temptations try,
And since 'tis hard to combat learns to fly!
For him no wretches born to work and weep,
Explore the mine or tempt the dangerous deep;
No surly porter stands, in guilty state,
To spurn imploring famine from the gate:
But on he moves to meet his latter end,
Angels around befriending virtue's friend:
Sinks to the grave with unperceived decay,
While resignation gently slopes the way:
And all his prospects brighten to the last,

His Heaven commences ere the world be past!

His description of the parish priest (probably) intended for a character of his brother (Henry), would have done honour to any poet of any age. In this description the simile of the bird teaching her young to fly, and of the mountain that rises above the storm, are not easily to be paralleled. The rest of the poem consists of the character of the village schoolmaster, and a description of the village ale-house, both drawn with admirable propriety and force; a descant on the mischiefs of luxury and wealth; the vanity of artificial pleasure; the miseries of those who, for want of employment at home, are driven to settle in colonies abroad; and concludes with the following beautiful apostrophe to poetry:

And thou sweet poetry! thou loveliest maid,
Still first to fly where sensual joys invade :
Unfit in these degenerate times of shame,
To catch the heart or strike for honest fame:
Dear charming nymphs, neglected and decry'd,
My shame in crowds, my solitary pride:
Thou source of all my bliss, and all my woe,
That found me pure at first and keep'st me so:
Thou guide, by which the nobler arts excel;
Thou nurse, of every beauty, fare-thee-well!

A POETICAL transatlantic auctioneer concluded an announcement of a furniture sale, with the following sublime comparison :"And a host of domestic appreciables, in some degree countless as the glittering jewels which bestride the lacteal turnpike of the blue ethereal."

A WEIGHTY JURY.

IN the Quarter Sessions Court, at Hull, lately, a very ludicrous scene occurred. The court was convulsed with laughter on the clerk of the court calling out the names of a jury. Twelve of the fattest men, in Hull, made their appearance in the box, and for some minutes considerable merriment continued, the recorder heartily joining in it. They probably formed the stoutest jury ever empanneled in an English court of law. Their several weights appear to have been as follows:-Messrs. Thomas Whately, 17st.; James Shaw, 18st.; G. F. Bristow, 21st.; William Josey, 20st.; J. Hookem, 18st.; P. Blenkin, 16st.; O. Lyndall, 14st.; J. Empson, 19st.; T. Wells, 17st.; George Smithson, 15st.; G. H. Fredrick, 13st.; and J. Gray, 16st.

THE END OF EDUCATION.

THE multitudes think that to educate a child, is to crowd into his mind a given amount of knowledge; to teach the mechanism of reading and writing; to load the memory with words; to prepare for the routine of trade. No wonder, then, that they think every body fit to teach. The true end of education is to unfold and direct aright our whole nature. Its office is to call forth powers of thought, affection, will, and outward action; power to gain and spread happiness. Reading is but an instrument; education is to teach its best use. The intellect was created, not to receive passively a few words, dates, and facts, but to be active for the acquisition of truth. Accordingly, education should inspire a profound love of truth, and teach the process of investigation. A sound logic-by which we mean the science of the art which instructs in the laws, of reasoning, and evidence; in the true method of inquiry, and the source of false judgment — is an essential part of a good education.

A QUESTION BY AND TO THE YOUNG AND

BEAUTIFUL.

WHAT," asked Margarita of Cecilia, "what dearest do you think is really the food of Cupid ?" And Cecilia answered "Arrow root.'

AN American paper says-" We are, indeed, a happy, elegant, moral, transcendent people. We have no masters, they are all principals; no shopmen, they are all assistants; no shops, they are all establishments; no servants, they are all helps; no gaolers, they are all governors; nobody is flogged in Bridewell, he merely receives the correction of the house; nobody is ever unable to pay his debts, he is only unable to meet his engagements; nobody is angry, he is only excited; nobody is cross, he is only nervous: lastly, nobody is drunk, the very utmost you can assert is that "he has taken his wine."

AN AMERICAN EDITOR'S EULOGIUM.

A WESTERN editor, announcing the death of a lady of his acquaintance, thus touchingly adds-" In her decease the sick lost an invaluable friend. Long will she seem to stand by their bedside as she was wont, with the balm of consolation in one hand, and a cup of rhubarb in the other.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

IF you should see a man digging a snow-drift with the expectation of finding valuable ore, or planting seeds on the rolling billows, you would say at once that he was beside himself; but in what respect does this man differ from you while you sow the seeds of dissipation in your youth, and expect the fruits of age will be a good constitution, elevated affections, and holy principles ?

THE BACHELOR'S DIFFICULTY.

"You have only yourself to please," said a married friend to an old bachelor. "True," replied he, "but you cannot tell what a difficult task I find it."

PRUDENT ADVICE.

A MAN was in the habit of making great professions when he was sick, but always returned to his old ways when he got well. In one of his illnesses, when he was as usual, making loud protestations of his change of heart, a homely neighbour said to him"Wait a bit, John; thou hast got the handcuffs on now."

THE OLD ONE.

SOON after Doctor Watson had been installed at Llandaff, a rural boniface exchanged for his original sign of the Cock, an effigy of his new diocesan. But somehow the ale was not so well relished by his customers as formerly. The head of the bishop proved less inviting to the thirsty than the comb and spurs of the original chanticleer. So to win back the golden opinions of the public, mine host adopted an ingenious device. From reverence to the church he retained the portrait of Dr. Watson; but as a concession to popular preference he caused to be written under it the following inscription:-" This is the old Cock."

A GALLANT Country parson, once wrote the following to a young lady, who sent her compliments on the ten of hearts :-

Your compliments, dear lady, pray forbear;
Old English services are more sincere;
You send ten hearts, the tithe is only mine;
Give me but one, and burn the other nine.