1822.] 
‘These bows Sweet-looking held, as he 
Survey’d the lively company; ~ 
And ten broad arrows he had here, 
‘Tho’ in his hand but five appear ; 
Notch’d,feather’d, shaven, burnish’d bright, 
And tip’d with gold, they caught the sight ; 
True—but when from their bows they go, 
What heartfelt anguish lovers know! 
Islington. J. R. Prior. 
—< 
ODE TO MY SHOES. 
[When the writer was last at St. Albans, (the 27th 
of December,) he went to Gorhambury, for the 
purpose of making a sketch of those ruins near 
the present mansion of the Earl of Verulam; 
those ruins, which are extremely interesting, on 
account of the great fabricator of the original 
edifice,—they are the sad remains of a palace 
built by the father of the great Lord Keeper 
Verulam. When we reflect, that they were once 
inhabited byas great a man as ever saw the sun, 
or think they had often as a guest that princess, 
the pride of our land, and the envy of the world, 
Elizabeth,—no common feelings can be supposed 
to arise in a mind to whom the merits of Lord 
Bacon are known, or which is not totally unac- 
quainted with the history of his country. At the 
period above alluded to, on account of the long 
succession of wet weather, no place could be 
- found sufficiently free from moisture, regarding 
health, from whence to take the most advantageous 
view; this would have been essayed notwithstand- 
ing, had not a very violent storm come on, which 
peappcinted expectation. He had then to walk to 
Berkhampstead, eight miles, in his way to Tring 
and Aylesbury; at the latter (place the following 
jeu @esprit rushed upon his mind, being then in 
the presence of a lovely muse, iu mortal mould, 
and intended to commemorate an accident which 
occurred before at Gorhambury.] 
Say, sole of good and sound neat’s leather, 
With infant calf, stitch’d well together, 
And press’d by silken gordian knot, 
What boots repose if thou’rt forgot. 
Al! ‘why my confidence abuse, 
To let me leave in dirt my shoes? 
As o’er the sacred sod I press’d, 
Which eke receiv’d the honour’d guest, 
Or bore the weight of mighty science 
In living learning’s great alliance. 
Thou sod, which once a Bacon bore, 
Whom earth had never seen before,— 
‘Stephensiana—No. VII. 
327 
Nor since, nor.e’er will see again, 
So great, so rare, to live in vain. 
The turf once press’d by’s mighty welght, 
Was rendered holy by his state,— 
Like Sinai’s soil, to prophet’s feet, 
The obedient ground knew what was 
meet, WwW. 
— 
THE OYSTER AND CROW. 
Founded on Fact. 
ONCE on a pleasant summet’s day, 
When Sol his beams around 
Threw o’er the wide expansive sea, 
- And cheer’d the vast profound ; 
Not very far from Plymouth’s beach, 
Upon the winding shore, 
An Oyster lay, but far from reach, 
Where oft it might before, 
The Sun’s warm beams now tempt the fish 
Its folding case to expand ; 
And soon upon a double dish 
It lies upon the sand. 
A dainty bit it look’d, T trow, 
Upon the dish to view; 
A stranger flying o’er,—a Crow, 
Saw it, and hungry grew. 
Down soon it dropt, just like a kite 
When its long string is broke, 
And, lighting on the tempting mite, 
The Oyster felt the stroke, 
That moment the enclosure snapt, 
And held him by the bill; 
No mouse was more securely trapt, 
That ever dar’d to steal. 
Now struck with horror and dismay, 
As well one might suppose, 
The fluttering Crow flew far away, 
With Oyster at its nose. 
_At length the fatal wound it told, 
That piere’d the Oyster’s side, 
And then, alas ! it lost its hold, 
And both fell down, aud died, T.F. 
STEPHENSIANA. 
No. VII. 
The late ALEXANDER STEPHENS, Esq. of Park House, Chelsea, devoted an active and 
well-spent life in the collection of Anecdotes of his contemporaries, and generally entered in a 
book the collections of the pussing day ;—these collections we have purchased, and ‘propose to 
present a svlection from them to our readers. As Editor of the Annual Obituary, and many 
other biographical works, the Author may probably have incorporated many of these scraps ; 
but the greater part are unpublished, and all stand alone as cabinet pictures of men and 
manners, worthy of a place in a literary miscellany, 
—— 
GENERAL TARLETON AND MRS. 
ROBINSON. 
RS. R. became attached to Ge- 
. neral (then Colonel) Tarleton 
shortly after his ‘arrival from Ame- 
rica, in consequence of their mutual 
fascinations. Lieut.-Coloncl. Tarleton 
broke off a marriage with Lady A.M... 
daughter of the Karl of D, . The sor- 
rows of sickness were alleviated by the 
kind and unceasing attentions of her 
anxious friend ; in whose cause she in 
some measure lost her own health, by 
travelling all night in an open carriage, 
to dohimapecuniary actot service. In 
her pursuit, after health, Colonel Tt. 
attended Mrs. R. abroady Sixteen 
years did this attachment subsist bo- 
: tween 
