Feb. 12. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



159 



Lycophron, form the base ; and on a ribbon 

 above is the legend, " An ass in the Greek pal- 

 lium teaching." In other respects my copy agrees 

 with Mr. Crossley's description of his, except 

 that the argument (p. 7.) commences, " The great 

 and good King Alfred," &c. 



Perhaps the following lines (though I doubt 

 their having been vrritten at the age of thirteen) 

 jnaj be received as germane to the subject : 



THE BIRCH : A POEM. 



Written by a Youth of thirteen. 



Though the Oak be the prince and the pride of 



the grove, 

 The emblem of power and the fav'rite of Jove ; 

 Though Phoebus his temples with Laurel has bound, 

 And with chaplets of Poplar Alcides is crown'd ; 

 Though Pallas the Olive has graced with her choice, 

 And old mother Cybel in Pines may rejoice, 

 Yet the Muses declare, after diligent search. 

 That no tree can be found to compare with the 

 Birch. 

 The Birch, they aflSrm, is the true tree of know- 

 ledge, 

 Revered at each school and remember'd at college. 

 Though Virgil's famed tree might produce, as its 



fruit, 

 A crop of vain dreams, and strange whims on each 



shoot, 

 Yet the Birch on each bough, on the top of each 



switch. 

 Bears the essence of grammar and eight parts of 



speech. 

 ""Mongst the leaves are conceal'd more than mem'ry 



can mention, ' 



All cases, all genders, all forms of declension. 

 Nine branches, when cropp'd by the hands of 

 the Nine, 

 And duly arranged In a parallel line. 

 Tied up in nine folds of a mystical string. 

 And soak'd for nine days In cold Helicon spring. 

 Form a sceptre composed for a pedagogue's hand. 

 Like the Fasces of Rome, a true badge of com- 

 mand. 

 The sceptre thus finish'd, like Moses's rod. 

 From flints could draw tears, and give life to a 



clod. 

 Should darkness Egyptian, or ignorance, spread 

 Their clouds o'er the mind, or envelope the head. 

 The rod, thrice applied, puts the darkness to flight. 

 Disperses the clouds, and restores us to light. 

 Like the Virga Divina, 'twill find out the vein 

 Where lurks the rich metal, the ore of the brain. 

 Should Genius a captive in sloth be confined, 

 Or the witchcraft of Pleasure prevail o'er the 



mind. 

 This magical wand but apply — with a stroke 

 The spell is dissolved, the enchantment is broke. 

 Like Hermes' caduceus, these switches inspire 

 Rhetorical thunder, poetical fire : 



And if Morpheus our temples in Lethe should 



steep. 

 Their touch will untie all the fetters of slee^. 

 Here dwells strong conviction — of Logic the 



glo"y» 



When applied with precision a posteriori. 



Fve known a bhort lecture most strangely prevail. 

 When duly convey'd to the head through the tail; 

 Like an electrical shock, in an instant 'tis spread, 

 And flies with a jerk from the tail to the head ; 

 Promotes circulation, and thrills through each vein, 

 The faculties quickens, and purges the brain. 



By sympathy thus, and consent of the parts, 

 We are taught, fundamentally^ classics and arts. 



The Birch, d priori, applied to the palm. 

 Can settle disputes and a passion becalm. 

 Whatever disorders prevail in the blood 

 The birch can correct them, like guaiacum wood : 

 It sweetens the juices, corrects our ill humours, 

 Bad habits removes, and disperses foul tumours. 

 When applied to the hand it can cure with a 



switch. 

 Like the salve of old Molyneux, used in the Itch! 

 As the famed rod of Circe to brutes could turn 



men, 

 So the twigs of the Birch can unbrute them again. 

 Like the wand of the Sybil, that branch of pure 



gold. 

 These sprays can the gates of Elysium unfold — 

 The Elysium of learning, where pleasures abound, 

 Those sweets that still flourish on classical ground. 

 Prometheus's rod, which, mythologists say, 

 Fetch'd fire from the sun to give life to his clay. 

 Was a rod well applied his men to inspire 

 With a taste for the arts, and their genius to fire. 

 This bundle of rods may suggest one reflection, 

 That the arts with each other maintain a con- 

 nexion. 

 Another good moral this bundle of switches 

 Points out to our notice and silently teaches ; 

 Of peace and good fellowship these are a token. 

 For the twigs, well united, can scarcely be broken. 

 Then, if such are its virtues, we'll bow to the 

 tree, 

 And THE Birch, like the Muses, immortal shall be. 



I copy from a MS. extract-book, and shall be. 

 glad of a reference to any place in which these 

 lines have appeared in print. Balliolensis. 



THE dutch EAST-INDIA COMPANY. 



(Vol. vi., p. 316.) 



These folio volumes appeared in 1646, without 

 name or place of either author or printer, under 

 the title — 



" Begin ende Voortgang van de Vereenighde Ne- 

 derlandsche Geoctroyeerde Oost-Indische Compagnie, 

 vervattende de vooraaemste Reysen, by de inwoonderen 

 derselver provincien derwaerts gedaen, alles nevens de 



