Thou did'st let slip thy slip of mischief on me,
With weary, weary sighs;

And then, outworn with demoning o'er town,
Oblivion won thee !

Best of compositors! thou didst compose
Thy decent little wicked self, and go

A Devil-cruiser round the shores of sleep-
I hear thee fathom many a slumber-deep,
In the waves of woe;
Dropping thy lids of lead

To sound the dead!

Heaven forgive me! I

Have wicked schemes about thee, wicked one;
And in my scheming, sigh

And stagger under a gigantic thought;
"What if I run my pen into thine eye,
And put thee out?

Killing the Devil will be a noble deed,

A deed to snatch perdition from mankind—
To make the Methodist's a stingless creed-
To root out terror from the Brewer's mind-
And break the bondage which the Printer presses
To change the fate of Lawyers-
Confirm the Parson's holy sinecure—
Make worthless sin's approaches-
To justify the bringing up addresses
To me, in hackney coaches,
From operative Sawyers!"

"To murder thee"

Methinks-" will never harm my precious head"For what can chance me, when the Devil is dead?

390

But when I look on thy serene repose,

Hear the small Satan dying through thy nose,
My thoughts become less dangerous and more deep;
I can but wish thee everlasting sleep!

Sleep free from dreams

Of type, and ink, and press, and dabbing-ball-
Sleep free from all

That would make shadowy, devilish slumber darker,
Sleep free from Mr. Baldwin's Mr. Parker!

Oh! fare thee well!

Farewell, black bit of breathing sin! Farewell,
Tiny remembrancer of a Printer's Hell!
Young thing of darkness, seeming

A small, poor type of wickedness set up!
Full is thy little cup

Of misery in the waking world! So dreaming
Perchance may now undemonize thy fate
And bear thee, Black-boy, to a whiter state!
Yet mortal evil is, than thine, more high ;-
Thou art upright in sleep; men sleep-and lie!
And from thy lids to me a moral peeps,

For I correct my errors—while the Devil sleeps!

ODES AND ADDRESSES

ΤΟ

GREAT PEOPLE.

"CATCHING ALL THE ODDITIES, THE WHIMSIES, THE ABSURDITIES, AND THE LITTLENESSES OF CONSCIOUS GREATNESS BY THE WAY."

Citizen of the World.

ADDRESS.

THE present being the first appearance of this little Work, some sort of Address seems to be called for from the Author, Editor, and Compiler; and we come forward in prose, totally overcome, like a flurried manager in his every-day clothes, to solicit public indulgence-protest an indelible feeling of reverence-bow, beseech, promise-and "all that."

To the persons addressed in the Poems nothing need be said, as it would be only swelling the book (a custom which we detest), to recapitulate in prose what we have said in verse. To those unaddressed an apology is due, and to them it is very respectfully offered. Mr. Hunt, for his Permanent Ink, deserves to have his name recorded in his own compositionMr. Colman, the amiable King's Jester, and Oath-blaster of the modern stage, merits a line-Mr. Accum, whose fame is potted-Mr. Bridgman, the maker of Patent Safety Coffins-Mr. Kean, the great Luster of the Boxes-Sir Humphry Davy, the great Lamplighter of the Pits-Sir William Congreve, one of the proprietors of the Portsmouth Rocket—yea, several others call for the Muse's approbation;-but our little volume, like the Adelphi Theater, is easily filled, and those who are disappointed of places now are requested to wait until the next performance.

Having said these few words to the unitiated, we leave our Odes and Addresses, like Gentlemen of the Green Isle, to hunt their own fortunes; and, by a modest assurance, to make their way to the hearts of those to whom they are desirous of addressing themselves.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION.

A SECOND Edition being called for, the Author takes the opportunity of expressing his grateful thanks to his Readers and Reviewers for the kind way in which they have generally received his little book. Many of those who have been be- Oded in the following pages have taken the verse-offerings in good part; and the Author has been given to understand that certain "Great People," who have been kept "out of situations," have, like Bob Acres, looked upon themselves as very ill-used Gentlemen. It is rather hard that there should not be room for all the great; but this little conveyance-a sort of light coach to Fame-like other coveyances, while it has only four in, labors under the disadvantage of having twelve out. The Proprietor apprehends he must meet the wants of the Public by starting an extra coach; in which case Mr. Colman, (an anxious Licenser,) and Mr. Hunt, (the best maker of speeches and blacking in the City and Liberty of Westminster,) shall certainly be booked for places. To the latter Gentleman the Author gratefully acknowledges the compliment of a bottle of his permanent ink it will be, indeed, pleasant to write an Address to Mr. Wilberforce in the liquid of a beautiful jet black, which the author now meditates doing. Odes, written in permanent ink, will doubtless stand a chance of running a good race with Gray's.

A few objections have been made to the present Volume, which the Author regrets he can not attend to without serious damage to the whole production. The Address to Maria Darlington is said by several ingenious and judicious persons to be namby-pamby. This is a sad disappointment to the writer, as he was in hopes he had accomplished a bit of the right Shenstonian. The verses to the Champion of England are declared irreverent, and those to Dr. Ireland and his Partners in the Stone Trade are