Part 4

For many who from active trades Have plung'd into sequester'd shades, Will dismally assure ye, That it's a harder task to bear Th' ennui produced by country air, And sigh for _Urbs in rure_.

The cub in prison born and fed, The bird that in a cage was bred, The hutch-engender'd rabbit, Are like the long-imprison'd Cit, For sudden liberty unfit, Degenerate by habit.

Sir William Curtis, were he mew'd In some romantic solitude, A bower of rose and myrtle, Would find the loving turtle dove No succedaneum for his love Of London Tavern turtle.

Sir Astley Cooper, cloy'd with wealth, Sick of luxurious ease and health, And rural meditation, Sighs for his useful London life, The restless night--the saw and knife Of daily amputation.

Habit is second nature--when It supersedes the first, wise men Receive it as a warning, That total change comes then too late, And they must e'en assimilate Life's evening to its morning.

Thrice happy he whose mind has sprung From Mammon's yoke while yet unwrung Or spoilt for nobler duty:-- Who still can gaze on Nature's face With all a lover's zeal, and trace In every change a beauty.

No tedium vitae round him lowers, The charms of contrast wing his hours, And every scene embellish:-- From prison, City, care set free, He tastes his present liberty With keener zest and relish.

_New Monthly Mag_.

* * * * *

THE GATHERER.

A snapper up of unconsidered trifles.

SHAKSPEARE.

* * * * *

ACCOMMODATION FOR THREE HALFPENCE.

A gentleman on a wet evening entered the bar of an inn, and while standing before the fire, called to a servant girl who had come to receive his orders, "Margaret, bring me a glass of ale, a clean pipe, a spitoon, a pair of snuffers, and the newspaper. And Margaret, take away my great coat, carry it into the kitchen, and hang it before the fire to dry, and dry my umbrella, and tell me what o'clock it is; and if Mr. Huggins should come in, request him to come this way, for I think 'tis near seven, and he promised to meet me at that hour. And Margaret, get me change for a sovereign, and see that all the change is good, take for the glass of ale out of it, and put the coppers in a piece of paper. And Margaret, tell Jemima to bring some more coals, take away the ashes, and wipe the table. And Margaret, pull down the blinds, shut the door, and put-to the window-shutters."--N.B. The gentleman had his own tobacco.

* * * * *

TWO EVILS, (EXTEMPORE.)

Can man sustain a greater curse Than to possess an empty purse? Yes, with abundance to be blest, And not enjoy the pow'r to taste.

G.K.

* * * * *

EPIGRAM, FROM THE GERMAN.

If one has served thee, tell the deed to many? Hast thou served many?--tell it not to any.

J.L.S.

* * * * *

A GENTLEMAN.

To tell the reader exactly what class of persons was meant to be designated by the word _gentleman_, is a difficult task. The last time we heard it, was on visiting a stable to look at a horse, when, inquiring for the coachman, his stable-keeper replied, "He has just stepped to the public-house along with another gentleman."

The following is the negro's definition of a _gentleman_:--"_Massa make de black man workee--make de horse workee--make de ox workee--make every ting workee, only de hog: he, de hog, no workee; he eat, he drink, he walk about, he go to sleep when he please, he liff like a GENTLEMAN_."

* * * * *

"VERY BAD."

Why are washer-women, busily engaged, like Adam and Eve in Paradise? Because they are _so-apy_ (so happy).

Why is a widower, going to be married, like Eau de Cologne? Because he is _re-wiving_.

Why is a vine like a soldier? Because it is listed and trained, has _ten-drills_, and shoots.

Why is a sailor, when at sea, not a sailor? Because he's _a-board_.

Why is a city gentleman, taken poorly in Grosvenor-square, like a recluse? Because he is _sick-westward_ (sequestered.)

Why is it better for a man to have two losses than one? Because the first is a loss, and the second is _a-gain_.

"If Britannia rules the waves," said a qualmish writing-master, going to Margate last week in a storm, "I wish she'd rule 'em _straighter_."-- _Lit. Gaz._

* * * * *

_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset House,) London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic; and by all Newsmen and Booksellers._