And they'd join such a log of a spouse to condemn, - One eternally thinking, - And blinking, and winking At grubs, when he ought to be winking at them. — 'Twas by no means so With the Lady Jane Ingoldsby - she, far discreeter Much less be still keeping lamenting, and weeping, Tout au contraire, No lady so fair Was e'er known to wear more contented an air; And, let who would call, every day she was there, Some toothsome conserve, of quince, apple, or pear, They had been, that "they ne'er In their lives had seen aught that at all could compare Nay more; don't suppose This account of her merits must come to a close; Or having an eye to affairs of the kitchen. Close by her side, Sat her kinsman, MacBride, - Her cousin, fourteen times removed, as you'll see Too, with the pedigree, Where, among the collateral branches, appears And there he'd be sitting, While she was a-knitting, Or hemming, or stitching, or darning and fitting, Some very "wise saw" from some very good book, – St. Thomas Aquinas; Or, equally charming, The "voyages and travels" Purchas's, Hawksworth's, or Lemuel Gulliver's, — It was always the same, The Captain was reading aloud to the Dame, Till, from having gone through half the books on the shelf, They were almost as wise as Sir Thomas himself. Well, it happen'd one day, -I really can't say The particular month; - but I think 'twas in May,— 'Twas, I know, in the Springtime, when "Nature looks gay," |