THE TOLLING BELL. Hark! the tolling bell!—what a fearful knell ! "Tis the voice of death,—with his warning breath, And where has Death been?-in the midst of kin ? Where all was so fair, has he flung despair? Perhaps he has torn, from a heart careworn, Perhaps he has ta'en, what had yet no stain- Oh! out upon Death, that his hateful breath Perchance 'tis some youth, whose honor and truth I know not in sooth, be it age or youth, For it makes one shrink, on the frightful brink Then toll away, Bell! thine's a powerful spell The murderer's wrath, it may stop in its path, Aye, toll away, Bell! what better can tell How Death in the dark, is choosing his mark To add to his heaps of slain. Toll! toll away, Death! fast fleeting's thy breath, Toll while thou mayest that Bell; But strike thy last chime!-thou endest with timeGod's trumpet shall ring thy knell. To the Senate, on taking leave in February, 1829. Farewell Senate Chamber, green tables and chairs, Farewell my dear friends, I pronounce it with tears, No more shall I listen to speeches, sublime, No more shall I sketch the discussion in rhyme, No more shall I grasp the warm hand of a friend, Like Othello's, my business is now at an end, No more shall I ponder, o'er book and o'er bill; Of bills I shall soon handle none; Like Gray, you will "miss me some morn on the hill," I must hop over clods, with an ignoble name, My Pegasus put to the plough, what a shame! No more shall I rummage old Commonwealth's chest, My constituents have laid my pretensions at rest, In my place I am told they intend to put in In the room of my body, you'll soon have a Chin, You have the last shot in the locker, dear friends! My ship, d'ye see, is upon her beam ends, A Song for the Members of the Assembly. TUNE.-"Meeting of the Waters." There is not in the wide world, a city so sweet, Yet it is not that Cooksey, serves finest of snacks, While we drink and carouse, sirs, at other men's cost. Then push round the bottle, ye lovers of fun, Should he ask his "small balance" we'll bid him to wait Till we've got all the balance of funds from the state. THE ADAMS CONVENTION. Jackson folks! Jackson folks! all who are orthodox Parson Ker! parson Ker! yes he was in there- That Jackson be left in the lurch. Richmond town, Richmond town were there to look down On the things that were speaking and writing, And some in the lobby, got up on their hobby, That is they went fairly to fighting. Little Frank! little Frank! they gave the first rank, But 'tis said, entre nous, he once hated John Q—, Bob Taylor! Bob Taylor! that eloquent railer, But if proverbs be true, no harm it will do Ned Colston! Ned Colston! whose nick-name is roll stone, Like Sysiphus labor'd amain; With a very good will, he'd been working up hill, And was ready to do so again. Sam Blackburn! Sam Blackburn said no man should backturn; Who once had put hand to the plough ; And his terrible eyes, he threw up to the skies, Chap Johnson! Chap Johnson! why he's Monsieur Tonson, Oh yes he's their Magnus Apollo ! From a whisper so small, none heard it at all, He gave them a Stentor-like halloo. Now between you and I, there were many small Fry, Whose names 'twould be needless to mention; What Johnson would halloo, they seem'd all to swallow, They came with no other intention. What a dust! what a dust! this assembly august! They have in their crowns, more wisdom, by zounds! Jackson's gone, Jackson's gone, to all be it known— By some hocus pocus, I hope 'tis to joke us, Yes, gentlemen, damn me! they've taken our Jamie, Rhyming lad, rhyming lad, you'll make people mad, The Meeting of Congress. Sound the trumpet!-beat the drum!- And pens are nibbing on ev'ry thumb— Come to the Congress, come. All who rise to the top like scum- Come to the Congress, come. Chief of the Nullifiers! Hayne! Come once more, with your might and main, Come to the Congress, come. Triton amongst the minnows small! |