Each yelping cur of lurcher placemen barks,
From Pitt and Grenville to their office-clerks.

I too was form'd by pædagogic rules,
Have travers'd all the classic lore of schools;
I too have commerc'd, many a silent hour,
With bard and sage in Academic bower;
Youth, Pleasure, slighted for the Muse's song;
I lov'd her early, and have lov'd her long:
Nor fear'd to brand with bold, indignant pen,
The friends of War as MURDERERS OF MEN.-
'Tis folly, nay, 'tis madness, to forbear!

Shall I that perishable paper spare,

From which e'en G....e his gross rebukes may shower,
Safe in the ermine of judicial pow'r?

Some Lord of Lincoln make his readers nod,
When he would " vindicate the ways of God,"
Reserving, grateful, his best nerve and wit,
To vindicate the PIETY of PITT?

From which, good Wilberforce can prove, at least,
That PITT, on solemn fasts, abhors a feast;
Too blest! like Lincoln, could he dare to paint
His SABBATH-DUELLIST, a VITAL-SAINT?

с

"You must permit me, sir, to say, that I consider the Dedication of a Work designed to promote the knowledge of the SACRED SCRIPTURES as peculiarly appropriate to you, who have evinced yourself the zealous FRIEND OF RELIGION. But above all, I may state with inexpressible satisfaction, that under the influence of RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE, your conduct has afforded an eminent example of private as well as of public virtue."!!

See Dedication of the " ELEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY." "To the Right Honourable William Pitt, First Lord Commissioner of his Majesty's Treasury, &c. &c. c." 1799.

• Mr. Wilberforce, having lamented the notorious contempt of national

But, why the Muse her Pegasus should guide
Round those bold steeps of Pindus' rugged side,
Where, o'er the titled pimp and pension'd slave,
POPE his sith'd car with wheels of thunder drave,
Hear her strong reasons; but endure to hear
With calm affections and a vacant ear.

When triumphs SIN, by impious laws sustain'd,
When royal sanctions curse what God ordain'd,
A Senate trampling on his first command,
And hallowing whoredom in a Christian land;
To blank despair a princely offspring driven,
Barr'd the best blessings of indulgent Heaven,
The endearing ties of husband, child, and wife,
All that supports, and "cheers, and softens life:"-

Fasts, especially among the higher ranks, "thinks it necessary to declare, that the account, which appeared in some of the news-papers, of an entertainment having been given by Mr. Pitt on the Fast Day, is untrue; and he is glad of the opportunity, which the mention of this subject affords him, of contradicting a statement which he can positively affirm to have been false." "Practical Views," &c. 2d ed. p. 378. Having never seen the later editions of this work, we are unable to say, whether the worthy Author has been equally successful in proving that the celebrated Duel by his Friend was not fought on a SUNDAY. The common notion of the day of the week, on which this event happened, must surely be erroneous, as a Right Rev. Prelate, very soon after the transaction, hesitates not to declare to his patron, Mr. Pitt, his "inexpressible satisfaction" in the contemplation of the character of that gentleman-" the zealous Friend of Religion, and the firm supporter of our Ecclesiastical Establishment ;” regulating his conduct "under the influence of religious principle." [See the preceding Note.] Are not these strong presumptions, that the Duel was not fought on a SUNDAY? and, unless Mr. Wilberforce has already considered the subject, might he not make an interesting enlargement of his note, in his next edition, by an examination of this question, important at all times, and especially now, his Friend has resumed his high station?

When jobs, loans, contracts, lott'ries, round us spew
More noisome plagues than Egypt ever knew;
When, throned on law and statute, public Crime
Sends exhalations from Corruption's slime,
That, flamed to blazing meteors, as they rise,
Eclipse our nobles in their natives skies;
And grubs, in offals vile of office bred,

Turn flies, and flutter round the royal head:
While Wealth, from bleeding India's vitals torn,
To Britain's ruthless shores in triumph borne,
Sells to a crafty Premier's harlot smile

The barter'd suffrages of half our isle:-
'Midst crimes like these, who dares his rage controul,
If but one ray of Virtue strike his soul?

I write; my rebel Muse in vain contends:
The involuntary verse in Satire ends.

Could Stoic apathy sit still, and see
Such harden'd waste of wanton Luxury?
Where one great gala spends to Rutland's heir
Bread for his starving neighbours many a year;
When the vast vortex of a sensual town
Whirls, in one winter, patrimonies down,
And mortgag'd parks and manors scarce afford
A ball and supper to their spendthrift Lord,
While pining paupers wallow, happy dogs!
In eleomosunary soup with hogs:

When swoll'n Corruption her atrocious gains,
'Mid shrieks of Woe, that fright our famish'd plains,
With front of brass, with heart of stone, defends,
And but cheese-parings calls, or candles-ends.

"Each Briton," lordly D....m gravely tells, "Under his vine and fig, in plenty, dwells."

In a speech at a late county-meeting these were his words. W.

The gaping throng, with pangs of hunger shent,
Loud plaudits raise;-but wonder what he meant!

This prelate Prince, whose humble Saviour led,
With pilgrim foot and unreposing head,

His frugal flock, where streams of comfort flow,
Where meads of amaranthine verdure blow;-
Who less commended Martha's sumptuous treat,
Than pensive Mary listening at his feet;-
Sees Luxury's tide o'er his bright table pour,
And high-roof'd domes his mitred crest embower.
Yet a poor paltry pittance all his gains!
For cares, vexations, penalties, and pains,
Which, fresh and fresh, by day, by night, appear,
And leave no vacuum in the circling year:
A blessing given! a progress through the land,
When shoals of b....ds soil his holy hand!
A Visitation, in five years at least!
A Minster-Sermon, and a Clergy-feast!
At solemn seasons on a sable host

To

pour, benevolent, the Holy Ghost!

Shake o'er Non-Residents his angry rod,

And, on high Sabbath, give" THE PEACE OF GOD!"
What keen sensations all my soul inflame,
What rage convulsive tears my struggling frame,
While pompous Rennell most devoutly cries,

Crosier and mitre dancing in his eyes,

With hands uplifted and ecstatic stare,— "No Salem's good Josiahs must compare

e In that most sacred and edifying Ordinance of Confirmation. W. f The prayer, which is stiled the Blessing in the Church of England, begins with these words: "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, &c." and is ordered by the Rubric to be delivered by the Bishop, if present. W.

With him, whose sceptre sways this realm of Grace:
An Og, or Anak, to their pigmy race!"

While Landaff, plac'd from Landaff's duties far,
Near the keen glances of the Northern star,
Of Church and Schools amalgamates the fees,
And, thanks to hireling drudges! lives at ease:
Save when Translations tease his anxious breast,
Or VIRTUE's untomb'd spectre breaks his rest.

Our Noble youth what gen'rous cares employ!
No sensual revellings! no ignoble joy!
VIRTUE and REASON the presiding Power:
Or SCIENCE rules the philosophic hour!

When routs, and lengthen'd orgies of the night
Till spurious beams insult the sire of light,

8 The Doctor, in his Sermon before the House of Commons, Nov. 29, 1798, p. 18, speaking of his Majesty, George the Third, calls him "a Sovereign, who reigns BEYOND EXAMPLE, I believe, in the hearts of his people; -to whom the language of the sacred Scriptures may WITHOUT EXAGGERATION be applied: LIKE UNTO HIM THERE WAS NO KING BEFORE HIM, that (in an age of decay and apostasy) turned to the Lord with all his soul and with all his might, according to the law of his God."!!!

The learned reader will, perhaps, not be displeased with the following dilatation and illustration of this philosophical, sober, and disinterested sentiment:

Gloria concedat Salomonis, gloria Cyri;

Concedant veterum nomina magna virům.
Tu quoque concedas, rex optime! dixeris unam
Qui vacuam officiis disperiisse diem.

Nec tuus, Aureli! totiens celebratus, ob ora
Jam bene dedoctis gentibus ibit honos.
Prægravat Alfredi nomen novus editus orbi
Fulgor, ut exoriens obruit astra dies.
Heroum virtus, sapientia, fama, priorum

Gurgite Letheæ contumulantur aquæ :
Cunctas cunctorum laudes una undique regum
Complexa est proprio terra Britanna sinu!

W.