THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES • ; I EXERCISES A RECUMBENT VACATION 1860—61: WITH A FEW OF EARLIER DATE IN KEMOTIS I IRM1ST.A ROPIB1 LONDON: l'UINll D, l OR I '1 ION, \-\ MANN NEPHEWS, 39, CORNHILL: mi » a i.\i. OFFERED, WITH THE WRITER S TO 1 «.- fzA.J-j£zT2-c/ ' 0-7 1^- fZ ^a^/l^zrz. 16, Lansdowne Circus, South Lambeth, October, 1861. (271 t Hit MRpttM confinement to < l-covch at R I 1860—01. DIED AT THE STATION-HOUSE. Polite Report ■ Died at the Btation-house.' Ah, Mr. Combe, You've marked oil' many a sorrowful doom. But that dark record of -in ami woe Can hardly a Badder entry -how. • Drunk ami incapable' — bo it ran — Shunned of woman ami SCOmed of man; Outcast hawker from bar to bar, Where the poison-fire and the gas-lights are: Thrusl forth, 'insensible,' into the night, When the time was come to put out the light; Nameless ami homeless — her last abode, Sa\<- one the pavement of Cornwall Road. 'Turned out drunk.' Only think. .Mr. Combe, There's something worse than an "inn's worsl room'- The bleak outside of the closed inn-door, And never a bench but the ston DIED AT THE STATION-HOUSE. There she was found, alone with Death Listening close to the struggling breath: ' Her face was downwards ' — so they say Who gently raised and bore her away — And, yet, we can fancy that face, Mr. Combe, With an upward eye, and an innocent bloom Of maiden pride and gladsome health, Prodigal outlay of Nature's wealth. So. taken off to the station, she Was charged with due formality — But the vaulted cell was tenanted too By her grim friend Death, the sole and true, Who disposed of the case, without delay, In his own so merciful, summary way; And, in place of hard labour,*gave the boon Of a rest which could hardly come too soon. ' Fitful fever ' of life o'ercast! Poor downward face! Upturned at last, Let us hope, to the dawn of a nightless day ■ Even your hot tears may be wiped away. A CHRISTMAS < AliOL. id bless 3 on. g I and loyal fri< o trusty and so tried: The absentee iii> greeting sends To you, this Christmas tide, When Christians should do other Than ( ihristian names empl In wishing one another VII comfort and nil joy. 'Comfort and joy' — as testifies The carol's homely lin< — Fell, in an age of mysteries, From messengers divine, Vi this so sweet and solemn time, In tidings from on high: Theme all too lofty lor a rhj me Slipshod as mine to trj . A CHRISTMAS CAROL. And though good Angels talk no more To wonder-stricken men, The heavenly messages they bore Are sent and felt as then: Comfort and joy, on every hand, For hearts and homes reserved Where thankfulness lias softened, and Where hope and trust have nerved. But chiefly do these visitants To their firesides repair Who feel for others' woes and wants And alien troubles share. Most sure of such rich guerdon be The steadfast friends in need. Who never tire of ministry To lonely invalid. To you, then, shall they come to-night, My ' friends indeed,' and bring, (To chase the sense of summer's flight, ) A foretaste of the spring In that fair promise clustering round Your knees — the flowers you've reared - With just one thought for him, still bound. Whose heavy hours you' ve cheered. ( ONJUGAL DIALOGUE n: i \ki.i ( LOSING M"\ I ITENT. — Loweb Norwood. ,— Saturday, 11.80 P.M. ■li you're waking, donM disturb me; call me later, there's a dear ; For though I can't account for it, I feel a littli queer : To morrow, youknow, is Sunday, so I think at home I 'II Btay, Instead of going to church, and have a nice long quiel day.' • // I'm waking! — precious chance of sleeping / shall get, What with tossing and with snoring! Don't tell me, I'm not your pet — It':- thai good-for-nothing friend of yours who's welcome to the term : \!,, you may well look scared to liml you've roused th<' trodden worm !' 10 CONJUGAL DIALOGUE. 'Well really, now, its hard upon a fellow — just for what ? I caught the last but one, and here's a wigging I have got ! It' s the only day for comfort, and I' m sure we never wish For more than a plain joint, and, p'rhaps, a little bit of fish.' • Plainer joints than / see daily I defy you, Sir, to find, And a bit of fish in matting packed you never used to mind, When the Five o'clock you rarely missed on Saturday from town, And at Six, or so, we constantly sate comfortably down.' ' At Six, my treasure ! obsolete, unscientific hour, Quite exploded since the glorious recent Movement's moral power, (Early closing, shutters hoisting, locking desks,) has set us free For a healthy promenade, love, and a sober meal at three.' * Promenade, love ! gallivanting, you had better say at once ; But be good enough to notice that I'm not quite such a dunce \.n GA1 DI \i.ni.i 1 I A- iml fco know thai four from t * -u arc six. my Lord, ■ pray, Wliat healthy pastime filled ap tin- remainder of the day?' Sis hours, my little dar — well, Jemima, if preferred; Bui i" reckon time in thai way is bo palpably absurd ! Win-, digestion and the topics of the current week require Two hours at least, and then a little chal before the fire'— 'Before the fire! domestic scene! Behind the fire, you mean. Of your cigars, which cannot help revealing where v thee Arabian tale, ( \t dream of fairy land ! From loftiest elm t<> lowliest blade, The landscape ia in gems arrayed ( )f matchless lustre, and inlaid With "sweel and cunning hand." Meet aspect for the earth to wear On this the high day of the year, This solemn holy-day — Fit garb wherein to celebrate The birth of the Immaculate, Of Him who, greatest of the great. In humblest cradle lay. I would that all who see this hour The goodness of Almighty power In this fair scene displayed. Might feel its influence, and know Thai peace -which cities ne\r bestow So may IIi> kingdom coiiie, and so Ilis law of Love he here below Known, honoured, and obeyed. 30 SONNET ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF CHARLES'S MARTYRDOM: January 30th, 1835. Flag of my country! emblem of her power — Her wide, hard- won dominion o' er the sea — I better love to mark thee streaming free From high mast-head, or floating from proud tower, Than, as I now behold thee — in this hour Of glad remembrance — to yon house of prayer - Discordant ornament. What dost thou there? What but denounce the hirelings who deflower Religion of her purity, and wed Her spotless truth to foul hypocrisy, In honour of his name who justly bled, The martyred saint of baflled bigotry. Vain fraud! they cannot English hearts ensnare: Milton and Hampden still are cherished there. 31 PARAPIIKASK OF ST. .JOHN, XX. 1 — 17 Easter, 1836. Ebe (he grey dawn had touched Judsea'e bills, (The firsl day <>!' the week, ami third from that Which saw tin' .Man of Sorrows crucified,) Tlic tearful Magdalen arose, ami came Onto 'I"' Saviour's lonely sepulchre, And saw. with Bad amaze, the irrave-stone rolled Hack from (he door. So tremblingly she ran To Peter, and the young disciph — him Whom Jesus loved— and cried, 'Our woe is full. The Lord is taken from the sepulchre, Nor know we where his body has been laid.' Then went they forth, and. with the eager ha of anxious love, together quickly ran. And he whom Jesus, living, loved so well Did outrun Peter, and first reached the grave. He. stooping down, beheld the grave-clothes there. Yet entered not ; but Peter, following, came. And went into the sepulchre, where lay The linen clothes in decent order spread. The head-cloth separate: then he who first Reached the tomb entered it. ami sadly saw That it was tenantless, ami lie believed; 32 PARAPHRASE OP ST. JOHN, XS. 1 — 17. For yet they knew not Christ must t rise again, And, in that resurrection, prophecy Be from the first fulfilled. Then went away Those two disciples sadly to their home. But Mary left not with them : she, whose love And steadfast gratitude had overcome Her woman's weakness and cast out all fear, Who shrank not from the horrors of the Cross, And braved the scoffs and taunts of Calvary — She, weeping, stood without, yet not as one Of hope deserted utterly, but, strong In her true heart's defiance of despair, Still lingered at the grave of him she loved. So, as she wept, she stooped to gaze once more Into the sepulchre, when, seated there At either end, two angel-forms appeared In heavenly raiment clad, which questioned her, ' Woman, why weepest thou?' And Mary said, (Angelic radiance glistening through her tears,) ' Because my Lord is taken from his grave, Nor know I where the body has been laid.' Here, breaking off in sobs, she turned and saw Jesus regarding her, but knew him not. He saith unto her, ' Woman, lone and sad, Why weepest thou? Whom seek'st thou here?' To him thus Mary, pensively, ' If thou Have borne him hence, oh, tell me, Sir, that I May take him from the place where he is laid.' PARAPHRASE OF BT. JOHN, XX. 1 — 17. \ml -Icsii-, answered, 'Mary!' Then, amazed, Willi beating heart and quivering lip, Bhe cried, Rabboni!' bul he answered, 'Touch me not, For I am not as j el ascended hence 1 Into my Father : to my brethren go Ami say tliat to my Father I ascend And yours — i" Heaven, and the God of all.' FOR THE FIRST LEAF OF A SCRAP BOOK .\ i. mber, 1835. I'm fairest flow ers, on which the < \ • Delighted gazes, fade and die, Men emblems of mortality — Types of all fair material things, To which affection vainly clings — Admonitory offerings. From other, Lighter hearts than mine Springs the glad impulse to entwine So transient wreaths for Beauty's shrine I rat her chose to cull for i hee Sweet food for thoughl and memory— The undj ing flow ers of Pot 34 STANZAS. 1838. Bravely the lone old forest tree Survives his leafy prime — A relic of England's past is he, A tale of her olden time : He has seen her sons, for a thousand years, Around him rise and fall, But well a green old age he wears, And still survives them all. For a thousand years around that tree The careless child has played ; And the lover's voice sweet melody Beneath his branches made ; And many an old grey head found there A balm for the care-worn brow: They played, they wooed, they toiled — they share The same cold slumber now. The Norman Baron his steed has reined, And the pilgrim his journey stayed, And the toil-worn serf brief respite gained Tn his broad and pleasant shade. STAN . The Briar and forester loved it well, Ami hither the jocund horn Ami the Bolemn peal of the vesper bell < )n the evening breeze were borne. - Friar and forester, lord and slave, Lie mouldering, side by side, In the dreamless Bleep of a nameless grave Where revelling earth-worms hide; Ami echo ao longer wakes at sound ( )i' bugle <>r \ esper chime, For the keep and the belfry are ivy-bound By the ruthless hand of Time. But gentle and few with the stout old tree Have the Spoiler's dealings been, And the brook, as of* old, is clear and free And thr turf around as green. Thus Nature has scattered on every hand Her lessons since earth began, And long may her sylvan teacher stand, A check to the pride of man. 36 SONG OF A RETURNED WANDERER, 1838. Home of the early, careless years Which once your wanderer knew No face a smile of welcome wears So tender and so true. Familiar voices seem to sing From wood and murmuring rill; The sunshine of life's cloudless spring- Is resting on you still. Old times and scenes before me glide, To pensive memory dear ; My sister's form is at my side, My mother's voice I hear. Old sights and sounds with starting tears Rough manhood's eyes can fill: Ah! ye long-vanished, happy years, Your spell is on me still! 37 I\m Kll'TloN FOB THE GRAVE OF A CAT I I ' .: \. O-DIDAI no.) I Cate, like mankind, have differing lota in Btore; Some Beauty's lap, and Bome the kitchen floor. She, who below this rude memorial lies, Ne'er fell the warmth of parlour sympathies. To humbler sphere, from kittenhood, confined, To the chance care of humbler hands resigned, She meekly bore the unheeded exile's doom. Nor deemed thai earth contained a drawing-room. Yet costly couch her place might fitly be, For Puss, though scorned, was very fair to sec; Perfecl her form, and clad in glossiesl fur, Graceful her mien, 'most musical' her purr; Of temper tractable and aspect mild, To her dull home serenely reconciled. 1 > 1 1 1 lived she not unseen, unknown, nor there Wasted her sweetness <>n a desert air: Little recked she of luxury or show — Upstairs neglected, she was prized below, And ever welcomed there with fond can And pridet'ul looks, and words ot tenderni And when, as evening closed, the guardian pan. The kind providers of her ilaih fare, Drew to the tire, from household duties frei Italia'- greyhound not more blest than she. 38 INSCRIPTION FOB THE GRAVE OF A CAT. But Fate decreed her an untimely end — Sad as feline biographer e 'er penned — From miscreant hand unknown, fell poison's power Smote and o'ercame her in a single hour. (So the lorn gossips murmur o'er their tea, Though no post-mortem solved the mystery.) Thus closed poor Puss her blameless, brief career, Without a will, yet not without a tear. Slight not the sorrow in that tear confessed, Deem not the memory of a brute unblessed. No selfish interest its influence aids, No self-reproach its quietude invades. And a yet holier link should still remain, Though Reason triumph, and Affection wane: Creatures of God, oh, let us not disclaim A common origin and kindred name; The meanest creature still His hand declares, Fulfils His purpose, and His bounty shares; Object and portion of Almighty plan, Which heeds the sparrow, as it cares for Man. 3$) INSCRIPTION FOB A SUN DIAL 1844 Creature of God, I whisper not alone The sunny Imur thou fondly deem'sl thy own. List: in this shadowed line the boundary lies Of Pasl mid Future — two Eternities. 40 APPENDIX, Page 5. From the Times, December 15, 1860. Sodthwark Police Office.— Mr. Combe said that he perceived an entry of a woman, name unknown, charged with being drunk and incapable. He asked the reason why she had not been brought before him in the usual way. Sergeant Kackstraw said, that unfortunately the poor woman died shortly after her arrival at the Station-house. Prior to that, she was insensible, and consequently they were unable to ascertain her name and address. Constable Perrin said he saw the woman lying on the pavement, in the Cornwall Road, Lambeth, shortly after one o'clock that morning. Her face was downwards and she was quite insensible. He removed her to the step of a door, and, finding her in a very bad state, conveyed her to the Station-house, when the Divisional Surgeon attended, and pronounced life to be extinct. Mr. Combe asked if anything was known of her. The constable replied that he believed she gained a precarious subsistence by selling pencils from public-house to public-house. He heard that she had been turned out of one, quite drunk, at twelve o'clock, near the spot. Mr. Combe marked the sheet off, "Died at the Station- house." IIX. Page 20. From the AruiiNKi m, An,/. It is now stated that those pupils of the Palais Soi-bonn--. who most i ically p ' it the taai writing a prize | m in praise of the late Prince Jerome have been expelled. To no purpose, we are inclined to think ; for the c tions of this pliant minority an .n more hostile to the Second of Deceinl>. r than the decided refusal of the expelled. Tho folio? ment of one of the prize-poems signalizes, in a characteristic way, the spirit of the present youth of France : — Vousne comprenez pas qu'il eut6te plus sage Ue laisser reposer cet homme en son tombeau ! Vous voulez que prenant cette vie au passage, La muse de l'histoire y porte son flambeau ! Vous ne comprenez pas que nos veilles muettes Ontdechacun de nous Gut un republicain, Que nous BUpportonB mal nos fers, que nos poetc- Ce sont les Juvenal, les 1 1 ugo, les Lucain. Oui, nous attendons tous, le ccour plein d'esperam L'liouio si desiroc et si leute a venir, L'heure du grand reveiL I'heure sainte ou la France Ello aussi du passe voudra se souvenir. Vousne comprenez pas que pour Irs jours pro Nous reservons nos chants avec un soin jaloux ; Qu'il en est parmi nous peut-etre dontles pei Furent sacrifies par 70s maitres, a vous! D 42 APPENDIX. Done a propos d'un toit effondr<§ qui s'ecroule, D'un debris surnageaut qui tombe au fond de l'eau, A propos d'un zero disparu de la foule. II faut parler de vous, 6 morts de Waterloo ! II faut parler de vous parce qu'un vieux fantQme Vivant a peine bier, pourrit, sinistre et seul : II faut aller troubler a propos d'un Jtirorne La paix de votre gloire et de votre linceul ! O morts de Waterloo ! dormez dans la pouissiere ! Heros ne rouvrez pas vos yeux inaninies, II n'est rien de commun entre votre ame altiere Et ce vieillard impur. O grands vaincus, dormez ! Vous serviez un tyran, l'bistoire en tiendra compte ; Mais a la niort, joyeux, vous courriez a grands pas ! Nous qui, portant le joug, marchons droit a la honte, A votre souvenir nous n'insulterons pas ! Paix aux cadavres ! paix aux tombeau qu'on nous laisse. Nous recueillant dans 1 'ombre et dans l'aust^rite' Pr6parer a l'eeart, sans peur et sans faiblesse, Le long onfantement de notre liberte ! Et s 'il faut au vieux roi qui dort aux Invalides, Vieux fou qu'hier encore sa maitresse battait, Quelques vers bien frappes, quelques hymnes splendides, Nous en laissons la gloire a Monsieur Belmontet ? APPENDIX. m a,, A i in ■ September - s , 1 A French Correspondent wishes I bhe following ■■■in. nt on the subject of the i I , ize poem the circumstances conneoted with whii . ed so much emotion in Paris, and surprise elsewhere : — "Parti, Sepi 1,1860." ■■ Allow nit! to give you a few details respecting the prize a on Prince Jerome, which was published in the Athe- naeum of the - J"jth of August. The Rector and I'm lessors of the Paris University are the functionaries whose busi- it is to choose the subjects for several prizes annually competed for by the head pupils of the different colleges. These gentlemen, anxious to show their zeal in behalf of a Government to which they owe their situations, \ injudiciously selected the ' Death of Prince Jerome ' as the theme for the compositions in Latin versification. As ought have been expected l'rom a concourse of lads whose fathers belong to any of the half-dozen political parties at present existing in France, a certain number of pupils refused to compete. One of them, however, (the son of a Pole, whose political tendencies have brought about his banishment both from his native country and from France), instead of writing a copy of Latin vei up a poem in French, part of which was published iri the number of the Athenaeum above referred to. It is much to be regretted that the Government thought lit to inflict very severe punishment on this misguided, perl but certainly most talented youth, lie has not only 1 lied from the College to which he belongs, but he can no longer lie admitted to any other college or to any oi the 'Special So] ach as the Ecole de Droit, the 1" de M6decine, the Ecole Polytechnique, &c. This practii precludes the possibility of his following any of the 44 APPENDIX. ' liberal ' professions in France. The pupils who refused to compete were not expelled from their respective colleges ; they were simply denied the privilege of competing for any other prize. The Minister of Public Instruction and Worship is, probably, responsible for this unmerited severity. The Emperor cannot personally have authorised a measure so calculated to diminish what popularity he may have. Here is a fact, which happened a few years ago, analogous to the above ; but which was attended with far different results. A pupil of the College de Sainte- Barbe, now a rising and well-known author, was com- petitor for the prize in French composition. The subject chosen was ' Napoleon III.' As in the present instance, many pupils refused to compete. He, however, wrote an essay, remarkable both for its style and spirit, but quite the reverse of laudatory. A few days afterwards, the first prize was awarded to him. Having the honour to be personally acquainted with the gentleman in question, I can vouch for the authenticity of the above. Every one is at liberty to extract from it the moral he pleases." This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 3m-6 : '50 (550)470 malin - 5671 Exercise s °f fl 5e recumbent vaca lion. 000 372 628 I PR 5671 T33e BOUND BY BONE A.SON