of parliament that the rest of the nation is ugly, and keeping up the delusion by means of prohibiting looking-glasses, is a happy one, and affords ample scope for the pen of the satirist.

"Of course, if any knave had hinted,

That the King's nose was turned awry,

Or that the Queen, (God bless her!) squintedThe judges doom'd that knave to die.

"But rarely things like this occurr'd,

The people to their King were duteous,

And took it, on his royal word,

That they were frights, and he was beauteous!

"The cause whereof, among all classes,

Was simply this-these island elves

Had never yet seen looking-glasses,

And, therefore, did not know themselves."

But our readers must study the whole of this admirable political essay for themselves. The shipwreck of a cargo of looking-glasses on the coast enables these islanders to "become a most reflecting nation," and arrive at this hitherto treasonable conviction,

"That kings have neither rights nor noses A whit diviner than their own."

In the "Torch of Liberty," Moore has given himself up to a finer vein; some of the verses are highly poetical-indeed, so much so, as to carry it into the lyrical kingdom; the lines describing France are worthy of his loftiest flight :

"The splendid gift then Gallia took, And, like a wild Bacchante, raising

The brand aloft, its sparkles shook,

As she would set the world a-blazing !"

We are afraid the prophecy contained in the following verse has yet to be fulfilled :—

The fifth fable is devoted to "Church and State," and sums up in a short space the absurdities of that union.

The tale of the combustible "Extinguishers" is admirably carried out, and full of the most pungent truth; indeed, we feel inclined to assert that a manual of policy might be compiled from these eight poems. Our space will only permit us to give the moral :—

"The moral hence my Muse infers

Is, that such Lords are simple elves,
In trusting to Extinguishers

That are combustible themselves."

Our readers will no doubt remember an amusing passage from Morton's "Speed the Plough," when old Handy, asking (when his hall was in flam) where his patent extinguisher is, is told that is on fire. So much for rulers depending upon t military to put down revolutions.

Just fancy how a bard like me,

Who reverence monarchs, must have trembled To see that goodly company,

At such a ticklish sport assembled.

Nor were the fears, that thus astounded
My loyal soul, at all unfounded-
For, lo! ere long, those walls so massy
Were seized with an ill-omen'd dripping,
And, o'er the floors, now growing glassy,
Their Holinesses took to slipping.
The Czar, half through a Polonaise,

Could scarce get on for downright stumbling; And Prussia, though to slippery ways

Well used, was cursedly near tumbling.

Yet still 'twas, who could stamp the floor most,
Russia and Austria 'mong the foremost.-
And now, to an Italian air,

This precious brace would, hand in hand go;
Now-while old Louis, from his chair,
Entreated them his toes to spare-
Call'd loudly out for a Fandango.
And a Fandango, 'faith, they had,
At which they all set to, like mad!

Never were Kings (though small th' expense is
Of wit among their Excellencies)
So out of all their princely senses.
But, ah, that dance-that Spanish dance-
Searce was the luckless strain begun,
When, glaring red, as 'twere a glance

Shot from an angry Southern sun,

A light through all the chambers flamed,
Astonishing old Father Frost,
Who, bursting into tears, exclaim'd,

"A thaw, by Jove-we're lost, we're lost; "Run, France-a second Waterloo "Is come to drown you-sauve qui peut !"

Why, why will monarchs caper so
In palaces without foundations?—
Instantly all was in a flow,

Crowns, fiddles, sceptres, decorations-
Those Royal Arms, that look'd so nice,
Cut out in the resplendent ice-
Those Eagles, handsomely provided

With double heads for double dealingsHow fast the globes and sceptres glided Out of their claws on all the ceilings! Proud Prussia's double bird of prey, Tame as a spatch cock, slunk away; While just like France herself, when she Proclaims how great her naval skill is— Poor Louis' drowning fleur-de-lys Imagined themselves water-lilies.

And not alone rooms, ceilings, shelves, But still more fatal executionThe Great Legitimates themselves

Seem'd in a state of dissolution. Th' indignant Czar-when just about To issue a sublime Ukase, "Whereas all light must be kept out”—

Dissolved to nothing in its blaze. Next Prussia took his turn to melt, And, while his lips illustrious felt The influence of this southern air, Some word, like "Constitution"-long Congeal'd in frosty silence there

Came slowly thawing from his tongue. While Louis, lapsing by degrees,

And sighing out a faint adieu
To truffles, salmis, toasted cheese,
And smoking fondus, quickly grew,
Himself, into a fondu too;—
Or like that goodly King they make
Of sugar for a Twelfth-night cake,
When, in some urchin's mouth, alas,
It melts into a shapeless mass!

In short, I scarce could count a minute,
Ere the bright dome, and all within it,
Kings, Fiddlers, Emperors, all were gone-

And nothing now was seen or heard
But the bright river, rushing on,

Happy as an enfranchised bird And prouder of that natural ray, Shining along its chainless way— More proudly happy thus to glide

In simple grandeur to the sea, Than when, in sparkling fetters tied, "Twas deck'd with all that kingly pride

Could bring to light its slavery! Such is my dream—and, I confess,

I tremble at its awfulness.

That Spanish Dance-that southern beam-
But I
say nothing-there's my dream-
And Madame Krudener, the she-prophet,
May make just what she pleases of it.

FABLE II.

THE LOOKING-GLASSES.

PROEM.

WHERE Kings have been by mob-elections Raised to the Throne, 'tis strange to see What different and what odd perfections Men have required in Royalty.

Some, liking monarchs large and plumpy,

Have chos'n their Sovereigns by the weight;Some wish'd them tall, some thought your dumpy, Dutch-built, the true Legitimate.

The Easterns in a Prince, 'tis said,
Prefer what's call'd a jolter-head ;3
Th' Egyptians wer'n't at all particular,

So that their Kings had not red hair—
This fault not even the greatest stickler

For the blood royal well could bear.
A thousand more such illustrations
Might be adduced from various nations.
But, 'mong the many tales they tell us,
Touching th' acquired or natural right
Which some men have to rule their fellows,
There's one, which I shall here recite:-

FABLE.

There was a land-to name the place Is neither now my wish nor dutyWhere reign'd a certain Royal race, By right of their superior beauty.

What was the cut legitimate

Of these great persons' chins and noses, By right of which they ruled the state, No history I have seen discloses.

But so it was-a settled case

Some Act of Parliament, pass'd snugly, Had voted them a beauteous race,

And all their faithful subjects ugly.

As rank, indeed, stood high or low,

Some change it made in visual organs; Your Peers were decent-Knights, so soBut all your common people, gorgons!

Of course, if any knave had hinted

That the King's nose was turn'd awry,

Or that the Queen (God bless her!) squintedThe judges doom'd that knave to die.

But rarely things like this occurr'd,

The people to their King were duteous, And took it, on his Royal word,

That they were frights, and He was beauteous.

The cause whereof, among all classes,
Was simply this-these island elves
Had never yet seen looking-glasses,

And, therefore, did not know themselves.

Sometimes, indeed, their neighbors' faces

Might strike them as more full of reason,

More fresh than those in certain placesBut, Lord, the very thought was treason!

Besides, howe'er we love our neighbor,
And take his face's part, 'tis known
We ne'er so much in earnest labor,
As when the face attack'd's our own.

So, on they went the crowd believing—
(As crowds well govern'd always do)
Their rulers, too, themselves deceiving—
So old the joke, they thought 'twas true.

But jokes, we know, if they too far go,
Must have an end-and so, one day,
Upon that coast there was a cargo
Of looking-glasses cast away.

"Twas said, some Radicals, somewhere,

Had laid their wicked heads together, And forced that ship to founder there,While some believe it was the weather.

However this might be, the freight

Was landed without fees or duties;

And from that hour historians date

The downfall of the Race of Beauties.

The looking-glasses got about,

And grew so common through the land, That scarce a tinker could walk out, Without a mirror in his hand.

Comparing faces, morning, noon,

And night, their constant occupation— By dint of looking-glasses, soon,

They grew a most reflecting nation.

In vain the Court, aware of errors

In all the old, establish'd mazards, Prohibited the use of mirrors,

And tried to break them at all hazards:

In vain their laws might just as well

Have been waste paper on the shelves; That fatal freight had broke the spell; People had look'd-and knew themselves,

If chance a Duke, of birth sublime,

Presumed upon his ancient face, (Some calf-head, ugly from all time,) They popp'd a mirror to his Grace:

Just hinting, by that gentle sign,

How little Nature holds it true,