"When Adam delr'd, and Eve span,
Where was THEN the Gentleman ?
Wretched is the infant's lot,

Born within the straw-roof'd cot!
Be he generous, wise, or braye,
He must only be a slave !

Long, LONG LABOUR-LITTLE REST,
Still to toil to be OPPRESS'D;
Drain'd by TAXES of his store,
Punish'd next for being POOR!
This is the poor wretch's lot,

Born within the straw-roof'd cot."

Then comes the description of the Gentleman :

"While the peasant works-to sleep;

What the peasant sows to REAP;

On the couch of ease to lie,

Rioting in revelry;

Be he VILLAIN, be he rooL,

Still to hold DESPOTIC rule;

TRAMPLING on his SLAVES with SCORN

This is to be NOBLY born,"

Then follows a speech of Dr. John Ball to the audi

ence :

"Friends! Brethren! for ye are my brethren all;
Englishmen met in arms to advocate

The cause of freedom! hear me ! pause awhile
In the career of vengeance; it is true

I am a priest; but, as these rags may speak,
Not one who riots in the poor man's spoil,
Or trades with his religion. I am one

Who preach the law of Christ, and in my life,
Would practice what he taught. The Son of God
Came not to you in power :---humble in mien,
Lowly in heart, the man of Nazareth

Preach'd mercy, justice, love: Woe unto ye,
Ye that are rich :---if that ye would be saved,
Sell that ye have, and give unto the poor.'.
So taught the Saviour: oh, my honest friends! ¦
Have ye not felt the strong indignant throb
Of justice in your bosoms, to behold
The lordly baron feasting on your spoils ?
Have you not in your hearts arraign'd the lot

That gave him on the couch of luxury
To pillow bis head, and pass the festive day
In sportive feasts, and ease and revelry ?
Have you not often in your conscience ask'd
Why is the difference, wherefore should that man,
No worthier than myself thus lord it over me,
And bid me labour and enjoy the fruits?
The god within your breasts has argued thus!
The voice of truth has murmur'd: came ye not
As helpless to the world?-shines not the sun
With equal ray on both ? do ye not feel

The self-same winds of heaven as keenly parch ye!
Abundant is the earth-the Sire of all

Saw and pronounc'd that it was very good.

Look round the vernal fields smile with new flowers,
The budding orchard perfumes the soft breeze,
And the green corn waves to the passing gale.
There is enough for all, but your proud baron
Stands up, and, arrogant of strength, exclaims,
'I am a lord-by nature I am noble:

These fields are mine, for I was born to them,
I was born in the castle-you, poor wretches,
Whelp'd in the cottage, are by birth my slaves.'
Almighty God! such blasphemies are utter'd!
Almighty God! such blasphemies believ'd!

In another passage Dr. Ball says:→→

"My brethren, these are truths, and weighty ones: Ye are all equal; nature made

ye so.

Equality is your birth-right;--when I gaze
On the proud palace, and behold one man
In the blood-purpled robes of royalty,
Feasting at ease, and lording over millions;
Then turn me to the hut of poverty,

And see the wretched labourer, worn with toil,
Divide his scanty morsel with his infants;

I sicken, and, indignant at the sight,

Blush for the patience of humanity.'

I call upon the gentlemen on the other side to say, whether the termination of the piece, or any thing uttered by the other personages of the drama is calculated to extenuate the danger of such a publication. The archbishop and the chief justice are called upon the stage

only that they may appear more odious in their own persons. The archbishop is introduced for the purpose of advising the king to resort to artifice and hypocrisy, the king says,

"It were well

To yield them what they ask."

To which the archbishop replies:

"Aye, that my liege

Were politic. Go boldly forth to meet them;
Grant all they ask, however wild and ruinous;
MEANTIME THE TROOPS you have already summon’d
Will gather round them. Then my Christian power
Absolves you of your promise."

"What matters me who wears the crown of France? Whether a Richard or a' Charles possess it?

They reap the glory-they enjoy the spoil

We

pay-we bleed!-The sun would shine as cheerly, The rains of heaven as seasonably fall,

Tho' neither of these royal pests existed.

Nay- -as for that, we poor men should fare better!
No legal robbers then should force their way
The hard-earn'd wages of our honest toil,
The Parliament for ever cries MORE MONEY,
The service of the state demands MORE MONEY.
Just heaven! of what service is the state ?
Oh! 'tis of vast importance! who should pay for
The luxuries and riots of the court?

Who should support the flaunting courtier's pride,
Pay for their midnight revels, their rich garments,
Did not the state enforce ?-Think ye, my friend,
That I-a humble blacksmith, here at Deptford,
Would part with these six groats-earn'd by hard toil,
All that I have! to massacre the Frenchmen,
Murder as enemies men I never saw !

Did not the state compel me?"

Another passage is:

"My good friends,

Heed well your danger, or be resolute;
Learn to laugh menaces and force to scorn,
Or leave me. I dare answer the bold deed-

Death must come once; return you to your homes,
Protect my wife and child, and on my grave
Write why I died; perhaps the time may come,
When honest Justice shall applaud the deed."
Again,

"Oh! I am griev'd that we must gain so little!
Why are not all these empty ranks abolish'd,
King, slave, and lord, "ennobled into man?''
Are we not equal all?-have you not told me
Equality is the sacred right of man,
Inalienable, tho' by force withheld?"

The great object being to shew the erroneous opinions entertained by judges; this speech is put into the mouth of Sir John Tresilian:

"John Ball, you are accused of stirring up
The poor deluded people to rebellion;

Not having the fear of God and of the king
Before your eyes; of preaching up strange notions,
Heretical and treasonous; such as saying

That kings have not a right from heaven to govern;
That all mankind are equal; and that ranks
And the distinctions of society,

Aye, and the sacred rights of property,
Are evil and oppressive :-plead you guilty
To this most heavy charge?"

The answer is

"If it be guilt

To preach what you are pleas'd to call strange notions, That all mankind as brethren must be equal;

That privileg'd orders of society

Are evil and oppressive; that the right

Of property is a juggle to deceive

The poor whom you oppress; I plead me guilty,"

A Chop-House Anecdote.

A grave citizen, worth a PLUMB, going to a little chop house in a dark alley behind the 'Change, ordered a twopenny mess of broth, with a boiled chop in it: when it was brought him, he scooped the orumb out of a halfpenny roll, and soaked it in the porridge for his present meal ; then, carefully placing the chop between the upper and under crust, he wrapped it up in a checked handkerchief, and carried it off for the next day's repast.

PAINTING.

BRITISH INSTITUTION.-Sheep-Washing, by DAVID WILKIE, R.A. This is an excursion from his usual line of practice, by an artist who was the first to rescue us from the slovenly imitators of the worst defects, which marked the sketchy trade-pictures of Morland, Gainsborough, and Wilson. The most hasty productions of these artists, had something of the taste and pencil of a master. Their copyists, without understanding their principles or sharing in their genius, for many years deluged the exhibition rooms with flimsy thefts equally destitute of truth and fancy. Wilkie, in Edinburgh, happily removed from the contagion, formed his style from his own view of nature, and gave to his domestic subjects the genuine feeling and playful simplicity of village life. About the same period, Mulready, the JAN STEEN of the British school rose into notice, by painting a similar choice of subjects, in London. In their works, precision, attention to essential details, delicacy of touch, transparency of effect, and brilliancy of colour, superseded the washy productions of the mannerists. We advert here, only, to pictures of rustic figures and familiar landscape. The country owes Mr. Wilkie a lasting debt of honour, as the first cause of this improvement in the British school.

The eye of the amateur circles is on his performances. They are consulted for lessons of instruction. His beauties are copied; and if he was to fall into either extreme, of a too curious elaboration or sketchiness, his defects would become objects of immediate imitation. An artist placed on so distinguished an eminence has a double duty to perform. His works cannot assume a negative character. They must be a good or evil to his age. These remarks will be read by another artist, whose rise and declension may be a salutary warning to all. A few years age, this gentleman, beloved for his private worth and admired for his genius, stood between Fame and Fortune, sharing their gifts, and idly offended both. He adopted an expeditious method; painted to make money; became a confirmed mannerist; and is now slowly toiling up-hill to regain his place in public esti

mation.