and a bear! A bear, my friends, is a very grave kind of personage, and, as you plainly see, does not understand a joke'!” PAR'O DY. For this kind of burlesque, see The Bachelor's Soliloquy, page 234. b RĂIL'LER Y, pronounced rål'ler y: banter; satirical merriment. C LALANDE (läh lănd'), a celebrated French astronomer, born in 1732. d RECAMIER pronounced re cä'me ā. • DE STAËL, pronounced stäl, or stawl. SAV O YÄRD', a native of Săv'oy; one of the Sardinian States, south of Switzerland. LESSON LXXVII. FATHER LAND AND MOTHER TONGUE. A Humorous Poem.-SAMUEL LOVER. [SAMUEL LOVER, an Irish author and painter, was born in Dublin in 1797. He is the author of many popular Tales, Plays, Songs, and other poems.] 1. OUR Father land'! And would'st thou know Was made of earth by Nature's hand', Do call our country "Father land." 2. At first, in Eden's bowers, they say, No sound of speech had Adam caught, And maybe 'twas for want of thought: Made Adam soon surpass the birds; 3. And so, the NATIVE LAND I hold By male descent, is, proudly, mine': And thus, we see, on either hand, We name our blessings whence they've sprung; We call our country FATHER land, We call our language MOTHER tongue. LESSON LXXVIII. THE PROUD MISS MACBRIDE. A Legend of Gotham.-JOHN G. SAXE. [JOHN GODFREY SAXE, an American poet, lawyer, and journalist, was born in Vermont in 1816. His earliest poems were published in the Knickerbocker Magazine in 1843.] PART I. 1. Он, terribly proud was Miss MacBride, As she minced along in fashion's tide, There was pride in the head she carried so high, 2. And yet the pride of Miss MacBride, But, like the fabrics that gossips devise- And grow till they reach a four-story size- 3. Her birth, indeed, was uncommonly high- And in talking about her wealth and worth, 4. But Miss MacBride had something beside According to public rumor; And he lived" up town," in a splendid square, And feathers enough to plume her. 5. A thriving tailor begged her hand, She perfectly scorned the best of his clan, 6. Another, whose sign was a golden boot, Was mortified with a bootless suit, In a way that was quite appalling; For, though a regular sutora by trade, He wasn't a suitor to suit the maid, Who cut him off with a saw-and bade "The cobbler to keep to his calling!" 7. The last of those who came to court In one who wears an elegant coat, 8. Now dapper Jim his courtship plied (I wish the fact could be denied) With an eye to the purse of the old MacBride, And, really, "nothing shorter !" For he said to himself, in his greedy lust, "Whenever de dies-as die he must And yields to Heaven his vital trust, He's very sure to come down with his dust,' In behalf of his only daughter." 9. And the very magnificent Miss MacBride, Half in love, and half in pride, Quite graciously relented; And, tossing her head, and turning her back, PART II. 1. Alas! that people who've got their box. Of cash beneath the best of locks, Secure from all financial shocks, Should stock their fancy with fancy stocks, Alas! that people whose money-affairs 2. Old John MacBride, one fatal day, Of fortune's undertakers; 3. At his trade again in the very shop, 4. But, alas, for the haughty Miss MacBride, 'Twas such a shock to her precious pride! She couldn't recover, although she tried Her jaded spirits to rally; "Twas a dreadful change in human affairs, 5. And to make her cup of woe run over, To quiet the butcher and baker!" 6. And now the unhappy Miss MacBride- Cramped in the very narrowest niche, MORAL. 7. Because you flourish in worldly affairs, With insolent pride of station! a SUTOR is the Latin for shoemaker. b The bulls and the bears, in cant language, are the two opposing cliques of Wall Street brokers: the former operate to effect a rise in stocks, and the latter to cause a decline;-as the bulls toss up with their horns, and the bears pull down with their claws. HOPE. Tha'les, being asked what thing is the most universally enjoyed, answered, "Hope: for they have it who have nothing else." |