In vain, the bright course of thy talents to wrong,

Fate deaden'd thine ear and imprison'd thy tongue;

For brighter o'er all her obstructions

arose

The glow of the genius they could not

oppose;

And who in the land of the Saxon or Gael

Might match with Mackenzie, High Chief of Kintail?

Thy sons rose around thee in light and in love,

All a father could hope, all a friend could approve;

What 'vails it the tale of thy sorrows to tell,

In the spring-time of youth and of promise they fell!

Of the line of Fitzgerald remains not a male

549

COMPOSED FOR THE OCCASION, ADAPTED TO HADYN'S AIR,

"God Save the Emperor Francis,"

AND SUNG BY A SELECT BAND AFTER THE

EDINBURGH TO THE

For thy clan and thy country the cares of a Chief,

Whom brief rolling moons in six changes have left,

Of thy husband, and father, and brethren bereft,

To thine ear of affection, how sad is the hail

That salutes thee the Heir of the line of Kintail!*

MY AUNT MARGARET'S

MIRROR.

THERE are times

When Fancy plays her gambols, in despite

Even of our watchful senses, when in sooth

The Honourable Lady Hood, daughter of the last Lord Seaforth, widow of Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, afterwards Mrs. Stewart Mackenzie of Seaforth and Glasserton.-1833,

AND HIS SUITE, 19TH DECEMBER, 1816.

GOD protect brave ALEXANDer,
Heaven defend the noble Czar,
Mighty Russia's high Commander,
First in Europe's banded war;
For the realms he did deliver
From the tyrant overthrown,
Thou, of every good the Giver,
Grant him long to bless his own!
Bless him, 'mid his land's disaster,
For her rights who battled brave,
Of the land of foemen master,
Bless him who their wrongs forgave.

O'er his just resentment victor,
Victor over Europe's foes,
Late and long supreme director,
Grant in peace his reign may close.
Hail! then, hail! illustrious stranger!
Welcome to our mountain strand;
Mutual interests, hopes, and danger,
Link us with thy native land.

But that several Southrons assured me the januam

Was a twitch to both ears of Ass Priscian's cranium.

You, perhaps, may observe that one Lionel Berguer,

In defence of our blunder appears a stout arguer:

But at length I have settled, I hope, all these clatters,

By a rowt in the papers-fine place for such matters.

I have, therefore, to make it for once my command, sir, That my gudeson shall leave the whole thing in my hand, sir, And by no means accomplish what Sonie banter in Blackwood to claim James says you threaten, your dog-Latin.

I have various reasons of weight, on my word, sir,

For pronouncing a step of this sort were absurd, sir.

Second-how, in God's name, would my bacon be saved,

By not having writ what I clearly engraved?

On the contrary, I, on the whole, think it better

To be whipped as the thief, than his 'ousy resetter.

Thirdly don't you perceive that I don't care a boddle, Although fifty false metres were flung at my noddle,

For my back is as broad and as hard as Benlomon's,

And I treat as I please both the Greeks and the Romans;

Whereas the said heathens might rather look serious

of Valerius.

And, fourthly and lastly—it is my good

pleasure

To remain the sole source of that murderous measure.

Sostet pro ratione voluntas-betractile. Invade not, I say, my own dear little dactyl;

If you do, you'll occasion a breach in our intercourse.

To-morrow will see me in town for the winter-course,

But not at your door, at the usual hour, sir,

My own pye-house daughter's good prog to devour, sir. Egro-peace!-on your duty, your squeamishness throttle, And we'll soothe Priscian's spleen with

a canny third bottle. A fig for all dactyls, a fig for all spondees, A fig for all dunces and dominie Grundys;

A fig for dry thrapples, south, north, east, and west, sir,

Speates and raxes* ere five for a famishing guest, sir;

And as Fatsman+ and I have some topics for haver, he'll

Be invited, I hope, to meet me and Dame Peveril,

Upon whom, to say nothing of Oury and Anne, you a

Dog shall be deemed if you fasten your Fanua.

LIFE OF NAPOLEON.

JUNE, 1825.

"The rapid accumulation of books and MSS. for the Life of Napoleon was at once flattering and alarming; and one of his notes to me, about the middle of June, had these rhymes by way of postscript :

WHEN with Poetry dealing
Room enough in a shieling:

*See Scotts Essays.

+ A nickname for James Ballantyne.

Too small for a novel :
Though my back I should rub
On Diogenes' tub,

How my fancy could prance
In a dance of romance!

But my house I must swap
With some Brobdignag chap,
Ere I grapple, God bless me! with
Emperor Nap."
Scott's Life.

JUVENILE LINES.

FROM VIRGIL

1782.-ÆTAT. II.

"Scott's autobiography tells us that his translations in verse from Horace and Virgil were often approved by Dr. Adams [Rector of the High School, Edinburgh]. One of these little pieces, written in a weak boyish scrawl, within pencilled marks still visible, had been carefully preserved by his mother; it was found folded up in a cover, inscribed by the old lady-" My Walter's first lines, 1782."-LOCKHART, Life of Scott.

IN awful ruins Etna thunders nigh. And sends in pitchy whirlwinds to the sky

Blacks clouds of smoke, which, still as they aspire,

From their dark sides there bursts the glowing fire;

At other times huge balls of fire are toss'd,

That lick the stars, and in the smoke are lost :

Sometimes the mount, with vast convulsions torn,

Emits huge rocks, which instantly are borne

With loud explosions to the starry skies, The stones made liquid as the huge

mass flies,

Then back again with greater weight recoils,

While Etna thundering from the bottom boils.