to remove their fufpicions, by furrendering what he has unjustly acquired, and by contributing with them to restore and to maintain a proper equilibrium of power. (Signed) NAPOLEON.

St. Cloud.

A

THE PEASANT AND HIS ASS,
[From the Morning Poft.]

CORSICAN Peafant was driving along

A well-burden'd Afs with the fmack of his thong,
With corn to the town of Cagliari;

Many miles had he travell'd, and rough was the road,
The weather was hot, and he bore fuch a load,
As he ne'er was accustoin'd to carry.

But ere they had travell'd half way to the town,
The Afs bent his legs, as he meant to lie down;
But his driver, as hard as a Turk,

Gave him a Weft India memento fo fmart,
With a cut o'er the loins, that it went to his heart,
And he mended his pace at the jerk.'

But at length he arriv'd at a ftony afcent,
All flippery and hard, and his vigour feem'd fpent,
While his master ftill laid on his crupper:
In vain for compaffion he whimper'd and bray'd,
His mafter exclaim'd, as his kidnies he flay'd,

"To the wolves I fhall give you for fupper."

སྒ

Thinks the Afs, "We shall fee;" for this Afs had a foul, Though nature yet never had fofter'd a foal

Yet

More patient, forgiving, and mild;

conftant oppreffion," as Solomon fage Has written," would put even Job in a rage, And turn a philofopher wild."

Unfit, or unwilling, to travel, at laft

He fairly lay down, white the hind stood agha;
He drubb'd him, but all was in vain;

He kick'd and he batter'd, he flogg'd and he fwore,
The beaft lay as patient as Grizzel of yore;

'T was thought he would ne'er rife again..

He gafp'd and he groan'd, and he laid down his head
The mafter was vext, for the creature feem'd dead:

But, to make the best poffible hand.

;

Of his purchase, thought he, " I will foon have his hide ;" And he faid, as he tumbled his burden aside,

"'T will be of fome value when tann'd."

Then ftraight he began his poor carcafe to ftrip;
But the creature, who never had wine d at the whip,
No fooner perceiv'd the firft twitch,

Than he lifted his foot, and he hit him fo fair,
That backward he fell with his heels in the air,
And fnapt his neck-joint in the ditch.

Great lords of the continent, can you not fee
The late of the Afs your condition may be?
Will wait till he draws out his knife?
you
He batters your ribs, and he bruifes you fore;
Take courage, and tell him you'll bear it no more,
And give him one dowse for your life.

Go, Afs, to the Lion for fuccour apply;
Join him fairly, you'll find him a noble ally;
And if the new driver, call'd Jofeph,
Shall venture o'er channel his victim to chase,
His Highness will give him a Cornish embrace,
And claw both his ears and his nofe off.

ON SEEING A HAWK PURSUED BY A FLOCK OF SWALLOWS.

ADDRESSED TO THE PEOPLE OF THE CONTINENT.

[From the Morning Poft.]

TREMBLING mortals, lift your eyes

Attentive to yon ambient skies,

But not in dull inactive prayer;
Watch the warnings of the air:

1

*Written when Jofeph Bonaparte was spoken of as the leader of the

expedition to England.

A well-known fact in natural history.

Yon

Yon fcene no wizard's voice dernands
Its myftic meanings to declare,
The movement of yon plumy bands
An awful document fupplies:
See how they keep the foe at bay,
And turn the fortune of the day!
Where oft, with bloody beak afcending,
Yon deftroying bird was seen,

Or fcattering o'er the bloody green
Spoils of captives uncontending.

The tame villatic fowl

below

Seem'd to low'r beneath the blow;
And all the feathery nations far aloof,
Sought the grove or sheltering roof,
(Like Macedon or Thrace, when Perfia's lord
Wav'd o'er them his terrific sword.).
But, lo! like Sparta's dauntless race,
Darkening the wide aërial space,
In line of battle from the wond,
Or from the calm and dimpled flood,
Where they chas'd their fummer prey,›
The bands of Progne foar away,
And warlike on the winnow'd gale
The tyrant of the skies affail.
Gallant nation!-keep your order,
And with cautious flight purfue;
If a foldier breaks the border,
Soon his rafhnefs he may rue.
Yonder youth, with headlong rage,
Darting from the plumy train,
Burns th' unequai fight to wage:
Soon his feathers ftrew the plain.

Soon, devoted youth, to thee

Much the kindred bands fhall owe: Soon the tribes, from bondage free,

Funeral honours fhail beftow;

For facred thirft of vengeance fires anew
The beating bo om f the allant e.ew;

*Villatic ow..

MILTON.

F. 5.

They

They foar a living cloud,
They dart upon the foe,
He feeks the fylvan shroud,

He feels the fancied blow;

Not tamely, like devoted Gaul,

Or dull-brain'd Germany, they mourn'd the hero's fall,
While daftard man, the thrall of heartless fear,

Hears Freedom's fymphony aloft, and flieds the bitter tear;
Not thus Britannia liftens to the fong;

But fires her dauntless sons to ftem the tide of wrong.

BANK INCOMMODATION.

[From the Morning Herald.]

H. B.

To the Governor, Deputy-Governor, and Directors of the Bank.

The Petition of Timothy Tendertoes, Gregory Gouty, and Fanny Feeble, humbly fhoweth,

TH

'HAT your Petitioners having invested their property in the Long Annuities, and in the fund called the Three per Cent. Reduced; and your Petitioners not being quite fo alert as they were fome fixty years ago, are expofed to confiderable inconvenience, and indeed much pain and peril, from the great difficulties they I have to encounter, in paffing through the crowd of Bulls and Bears that rudely occupy the eastern entrance into the great dome of the Bank, through which it is neceffary to pass from the Long Annuity to the Three per Cent. office.

Your Petitioners with gratitude acknowledge the humanity of the Directors, in providing the Porter in the red cloak with an inftrument to difperfe the host of Jobbers; but unfortunately this, like many other remedies, proves as bad, if not worse than the difcafe it is meant to cure, it being difficult to afcertain which is moft potent, the clamour of the Jews, or the rattle of the Porter.

Your

Your Petitioners therefore fuggeft, and truff the compaffion of the Directors will adopt, a more filent, but effectual mode of fecuring an easy admiffion into the above office, by placing a shower bath over the door, which the Porter fhould, by a gentle touch of a pulley, discharge on the heads of thole who obftruct the paf. fage, to the great annoyance of the aged and infirm Stockholders. And your Petitioners fhall, as in duty bound, ever pray.

ANECDOTE OF THE LATE KING OF PRUSSIA.

IT

T has often been justly obferved, that great events fometimes fpring from trifling caufes. This is exemplified in a circumftance that occurred at the commencement of the late war. The King of Pruffia, the Duke of Brunfwick, and General Clairfayt, had concerted an attack on the French. It was made at the appointed time, but the French were prepared, and the allies retreated without fuccefs. The three chiefs again met, and the King of Pruffia opened the converfation by obferving Well, this attack has failed, and it now only remains to confult what farther is to be done." General Clairfayt anfwered with fome afperity-"Consultation will be useless; for though there are only three of us here, one of us is a traitor : it was utterly impoffible that the French could have known of the attack itself, or the point where it was made, and have prepared themfelves as they did, unless our fecret had been betrayed; and I therefore repeat that one of us is a traitor." The King immediately replied- Upon my word, General, this is extraordinary language: I am a fovereign, and accountable to nobody for my actions; but, however, to show that your charge does not apply to me, I here declare, upon my honour, that I never mentioned the circumstance to a fingle creature alive-except to be