Stern o'er each bosom reason holds her state, I see the lords of human kind pass by; By forms unfashion'd, fresh from Nature's hand, While even the peasant boasts these rights to scan, Thine, freedom, thine the blessings pictured here, Thine are those charms that dazzle and endear; Too bless'd indeed were such without alloy, But foster'd even by freedom, ills annoy; That independence Britons prize too high, Keeps man from man, and breaks the social tie; The self dependent lordlings stand alone, All claims that bind and sweeten life unknown: Here by the bonds of nature feebly held, Minds combat minds, repelling and repelled. Ferments arise, imprisoned factions roar, Represt ambition struggles round her shore, Till overwrought, the general system feels Its motions stop, or frenzy fire the wheels. Nor this the worst. As nature's ties decay, As duty, love, and honour fail to sway, Fictitious bonds, the bonds of wealth and law, Still gather strength, and force unwilling awe. Hence all obedience bows to these alone, And talent sinks, and merit weeps unknown; Till time may come, when, stript of all her charms, The land of scholars, and the nurse of arms, Where noble stems transmit the patriot flame, Where kings have toiled, and poets wrote for fame, One sink of level avarice shall lie, And scholars, soldiers, kings, unhonoured die. Yet think not, thus when freedom's ills I state, By proud contempt or favour's fostering sun, That those who think must govern those that toil; O then how blind to all that truth requires, To call it freedom when themselves are free; Each wanton judge new penal statutes draw, Tear off reserve, and bare my swelling heart; I fly from petty tyrants to the throne. Yes, Brother, curse with me that baleful hour, Even now, perhaps, as there some pilgrim strays Vain, very vain, my weary search to find 1 This line is said in Croker's Boswell to have been written by Dr. Johnson, as were also the last ten lines of the poem, with the exception of the last couplet but one. 2 Referring to the torture of a red hot iron crown fixed round the head of a rebel in Hungary. "HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NO BREAD." from the peculiar construction of that aquatic city, could not boast of the convenience of a mezzanità floor: so poor Monsieur Comifo unfortunately fell into the muddy water, on a level with the canals, and surrounded by the huge piles on which the edifice was erected. Before efficient aid could be obtained, for Dutch stage-carpenters are habitually slow, Zephyr was drowned. This proved a consid ing; and some practical economists amongst the spectators, with a proper and exact feeling of commercial arrangement, went and demanded back the price of admission from the moneytaker, as the manager of the theatre had made a breach of his contract. This being refused, the proceeding opened the door to several petty lawsuits, and the case being a novel one, and quite without precedent, the aforesaid suits, which at first were so small that they would barely fit anybody, became gradually enlarged, until they completely enveloped the persons of the fattest and wealthiest burgomasters. In the ancient city of Dort, or Dordrecht, in South Holland, on the banks of a canal, dwelt, where his father and grandfather resided before him, Jan Dirk Peereboom. By trade he was a timber-merchant, and was the pur-erable damper to the performance of the evenchaser of large rafts which were brought down the Rhine for sale, and there broken up; and as there were many saw-mills in Dort, and ship-building forming a large branch of its industry, Jan Dirk Peereboom was a thriving man. He prided himself considerably in being an inhabitant of the same city which gave birth to Gerard Vessius and the brothers De Witt. But Jan Dirk Peereboom lacked somewhat of the usual Dutch prudence in his marriage, for instead of entering into the blessed state of wedlock with the daughter of a neighbouring merchant, where the interests of trade could have also been united, he made an alliance that much disturbed the consciences of his relatives, who were lineal descendants of those excellent and learned worthies who translated the Bible into the Dutch language, John Bogerman, William Baudart, and Gerson Bucer. The alliance into which Jan Dirk Peereboom entered was caused by the timbermerchant, when on a visit to Amsterdam, be coming fascinated with the charms of Madame Coralie Comifo, a principal danseuse of the theatre, and who was in high vogue at the period in the principal city of Holland. She was a widow; and the cause of her becoming so had created considerable interest amongst the frequenters of the opera; for Monsieur Comifo, getting rich and corpulent on an extravagant salary, was representing Zephyr in a newly imported ballet from Paris, and in which he had to fly lightly through the air; this aerial feat was to be accomplished by the means of wires which were affixed to a sort of pair of stays which were laced round the body of the fat Zephyr, and by which he was to be guided in various directions across the stage. But Monsieur Comifo forgetting his weight, and only thinking of his consequence, insisted on performing this principal part. He got safely through the rehearsals, but alas! on the first night of the representation, as he was most gracefully floating through the scenic air, the wires suddenly snapped, and, piteous to relate, down came Zephyr with such force, that he effectually made his way plump through the stage of the Amsterdam theatre, which, We will not dwell on this painful subject, but skip over a six months' widowhood, when the still charming Madame Coralie was enabled again to skip over the stage with her customary grace and elasticity. It was about this time that Jan Dirk Peereboom arrived in Amsterdam on business, and having partaken of a plenteous dinner, and indulged in exciting potations, resolved to finish his day's amusement by a visit to the theatre. But oh! when he saw the celebrated Coralie voluptuously dressed he stared-he was breathless-he fell over head and ears in love with her. The love of a Dutchman is not of so ardent a nature as his own Geneva; he usually takes it "cold without," but in the instance of Jan Dirk Peereboom it was like igniting a cask of spirits-he was all in a blaze; he endeavoured to smoke off his passion, but in vain; the more pipes he smoked, the more enamoured he grew, he neglected all his timber concerns. "Adieu, for him. We have quoted the above lines from Acheinside to give a proper notion of the condition of Jan Dirk Peereboom. The friends at Dort could not divine what had come to him, or what detained him so long at Amsterdam. Jan Dirk now thought, that as he had observed that perseverance and money can carry everything in the world before them, that he would try their effect. He accordingly obtained an introduction to Madame Coralie Comifo, where he made himself as agreeable as he could, but that was not very sprightly; by his looks and manner he soon discovered to the cunning Frenchwoman that he was her devoted slave. She acted her part to admiration, giving him no encouragement, but at the same time, apparently unconsciously, displaying in a hundred little ways the charms that had captivated him. Jan Dirk could no longer endure to exist without the fair widow, so he abruptly told her the amount of his fortune, and that, if she refused to accept him for her mate, he would inevitably drown himself in the deepest and muddiest canal. Now Coralie had a tender heart: she had already lost one lover by drowning (poor Zephyr!), and she took into consideration that the property of Jan Dirk Peereboom was a very comfortable thing to retire upon, that dancing nightly was a great exertion, and that dancing cannot last for ever, though Holbein has endeavoured to perpetuate it in his painted moral "The Dance of Death;" she therefore implored time to consider. Jan Dirk was delighted, for he knew enough of the world to be aware, that if a female demands "time to consider," she has already fully made up her mind. It soon came to preliminaries. At the expiration of six months, the conclusion of Madame Coralie Comifo's theatrical engagement, she was to quit the stage, to be married to Jan Dirk Peereboom according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, as she professed that creed, and was very particular; as well as being also united to him in the Presbyterian form, in which Jan Dirk had been brought up; that her own property was to remain in her possession, and that she was to have the unlimited power of spending it as she pleased. The love of Jan Dirk Peereboom also occasioned him to give way to a most tyrannical requisition, which was no less than that he was to leave off smoking his pipe, as the smell of tobacco was offensive to the olfactory nerves of the fair widow. Coralie made also some other stipulations, which savoured more of a cautious engagement with a playhouse director than an agreeable understanding with a good-natured husband; but these occurred from habit, the lady in her day having always been in turmoil with her managers. Amongst the articles specified, her favourite poodle Mouton (almost as big as a sheep) was, if she required it, to travel with them; and although she did not condescend to give her private reasons for this measure, she had frequently found the great benefit of her large white, glossy, curled poodle being her compagnon du voyage. This will require a little explanation, but will simply solve itself thus. Madame Coralie, not being permanently attached to the Académie Royale at Paris, frequently visited the provincial theatres of France and the Continent generally. Now everybody who has travelled abroad is aware that there is not the same attention paid by landladies, and chambermaids, and garçons, to the airing of bed-sheets as is practised in England. Indeed, we have heard of the garçon sprinkling the bed-clothes with water in the interim between the departure of one nightly occupant and the arrival of another. Madame Coralie had undergone the usual result of this refreshing proceeding, and rheumatism was consequent; and as rheumatism is decidedly the worst disorder, and the most readily taken, that a public or private dancer can experience, she, with that ingenuity for which French women have always been admired, after dismissing the chambermaid or garçon, ordered Mouton to jump into the bed. The warm silken poodle was so thoroughly accustomed to this, that it became a matter of perfect habit, and if any damp was in the sheets or coverlets, Mouton extracted it unheeded and unhurt, rendering her beloved mistress perfectly safe from the ravages of cold or sciatica, and leaving a minor annoyance only, in the shape of that most active, industrious, and (as it has been proved in this enlightened age) intellectual animal, the Pulex irritans. The six months glided away, and Jan Dirk Peereboom, after having been kept in the state of misery so delightful to a lover, at length was united to the object of his passion. He had not dared to mention the matter to his grave friends at Dort. It could not be supposed that the descendants of the celebrated Synod, who were rigid Calvinists, would countenance a marriage with a French operadancer. Perfectly aware of this, Jan Dirk Peereboom, accompanied by Madame, went to Paris. With infinite astonishment Peter Bogerman, auctioneer and agent at Dort, received directions from Jan Dirk Peereboom to dispose of his house, timber-wharf, stock in trade, ships, barges, &c. &c. The announcement was the subject of conversation in Dort for one entire month. But when the sedate, plodding, and money-getting merchants ascertained that Jan Dirk had actually married Madame Coralie Comifo, there was a general commotion of tobacco-puffs, turning up the whites of the eyes, hemming, and lamentations at his gross imprudence. The spinsters of Dort were utterly enraged. Jan Dirk Peereboom, in the height of his honey-moon, made the reflection that he had married to please himself, not to gratify his friends. He therefore visited with his beloved Coralie all the places of public amusement, and partook of every gaiety that the fascinating city of Paris afforded. We have in a former page hinted that Monsieur Zephyr Comifo had an extravagant salary for the performances of himself and wife, and this was rendered exceedingly necessary, as both Monsieur and Madame were very expensive in their habits, stage and otherwise. Madame Coralie figured away three pairs of shoes nightly, and the fact is recorded to introduce a personage who will turn out to be of some importance towards the end of this narrative. This individual was named Scheck Stalman, and at the period we are describing he was in thriving circumstances at Amsterdam as a ladies' shoe-maker; he was manufacturer to Madame Coralie Comifo. When Jan Dirk Peereboom first paid his addresses to the enchanting Coralie, she was struck by the resemblance in features between her lover and her cordonnier. Scheck Stalman had an excellent customer in Madame Coralie; and though he was occasionally obliged to give her considerable credit, yet, when she did pay, she paid most liberally. He was also in the habit of discounting the notes of hand of Monsieur Comifo, at a large rate per cent., which the improvidence of the dancer rendered necessary; Stalman was therefore a very useful person to Madame, and knew exactly the length of her foot. a refinement of cruelty to recommend it that could only have entered the imagination of a Dutch or a China man. Scheck Stalman was condemned to seven years' imprisonment, and to live without salt to his food. The consequence of this sentence to the unhappy beings who have the misfortune to fall under it is that they become dreadfully infested with worms. Some, whose obstinate spirits could never be subdued, used in bravado and ridicule to call this punishment the Diet of Worms. As we cannot help Scheck Stalman in his predicament, however large the bump of benevolence may be on our cranium, there he must remain, and return we to Jan Dirk Peereboom and his bride. The Dort auctioneer, Peter Bogerman, after writing several letters of remonstrance to Jan Dirk, but without any avail, proceeded slowly, but surely, to sell the effects to the very best advantage; but the worthy agent, and nearly all the town of Dort, were sore on account of Jan Dirk Peereboom's marriage; for his family had been mixed up with an extraordinary event, well recorded in the province. This event has been variously related; and at the period it occurred it created so great a sensation, that the money coined at the mint of the city (pieces of which are to be seen to this day), dollars, stivers, and doights, bore the impress of a milkmaid milking a cow. Well, what was the occasion of this? Why, the Spaniards, under the cruel Duke of Alva, undertook suddenly to surprise the town of Dort. They made forced marches in the night, and arriving within five miles of the city, 3500 soldiers were placed in ambush, to wait for an opportunity to attack. In the neighbourhood of Dort resided a farmer, But Scheck Stalman in heart was a great by name Booser; his riches consisted of a large rogue, he prospered for a time; but when a number of cows, from which he supplied the Dutchman is a rogue, perhaps from their ex- town with milk and butter. When his dairytreme punctuality in business, and exactness maids went to their avocations in the morning in keeping accounts, the rogue cannot escape at a very early hour, one buxom lass, Elizabeth detection so long as in other countries. And Peereboom, espied some soldiers in strange about the period of our tale some new fiscal uniforms lying on the ground behind the arrangements with the French government in- hedges. With great presence of mind she introduced without a duty the manufactures in sisted on her companions milking the cows as which Scheck Stalman excelled, and his trade usual, and singing merrily; when they had declined at the moment that he had made completed their task, they returned unmolested some unlucky and over-reaching bill-discount- with their pails to the farm. Elizabeth ing speculations. All his attempts to reinstate Peereboom now went to Booser, and related himself proving ineffectual, he in despair comwhat she had seen. He was sorely alarmed, mitted a forgery, for which, when convicted, but took her with him on a horse to Dort, he was condemned to a singular punishment, where he aroused one of the burgomasters, who we believe peculiar to Holland, and which has lost no time in sending for the aid of a force from Rotterdam. The government then commanded the sluices to be opened, which speedily laid under water the ground on which the Spaniards were in ambush, and a great number of them were drowned. The timely information and presence of mind of Elizabeth Peereboom thus saved the city, and she was afterwards munificently rewarded with a handsome annuity, not only on her own life, but to her heirs for ever. We have made this digression, because Jan Dirk Peereboom, being a descendant of the noble-spirited milkmaid, was in the present receipt of this same annuity, which made him care the less about giving up his timber trade. All for a time went on gaily with the newmarried couple, but at length the husband began to discover that he was dragged too often to the theatres in the evenings, and he grew sick of the eternal pirouetting of the various corps de ballet, particularly as Madame criticized every dancer with much severity, though she insisted on seeing them perform. The mornings of Jan Dirk Peereboom began now to wear heavily for the want of his counting-house and timber-yard. He had relinquished his accustomed employ. "A want of occupation is not rest, A mind quite vacant is a mind distress'd." His circulation of blood became sluggish, his spirits sunk, he grew pettish and fretful; he brooded over every little vexation or inconvenience; he not only increased his real, but conjured up imaginary evils, and got no sympathy with any one in either; his original and grand resource in his bachelorship, under any calamity, was a pipe of tobacco; and of this, under his marriage articles, he was deprived. Jan Dirk Peereboom certainly preferred the smell of his late pipe to all the fragrant and subtle Parisian perfumes in which his wife delighted. Jan Dirk thought he would endeavour to pave the way to resume, with Madame's permission, his favourite recreation, so he turned over in his mind as to how he should introduce the subject of tobacco; and as they were sitting together, he suddenly said,— "Did I ever tell you a curious thing that happened to a nephew of mine, of my own name, whom I sent out as a supercargo to Batavia, from whence he was to proceed with a freight to Japan?" "Never, my dear," replied Madame Coralie Peereboom, yawning. "Don't let it be a very long story, mon ami,” again yawned the lady. This was a discouraging commencement, but Jan was a Hollander, and possessed perseverance; if he was flung in a ditch, he could raise an embankment. "If I tire you, Coralie, with my relation," said he, "you can but stop me. "What relation was he?" asked Madame. "My nephew, Jinks Peereboom," continued Jan, "a staid demure clerk, who had been brought up with a proper respect for his superiors, and with a knowledge of what is due from man to man in any part of the globe; and under his immediate charge was placed a valuable commodity already imported from our other settlements, a ton of tobacco." "And where is Asia?" said Coralie, with a prodigious yawn; "somewhere in America, I suppose?" The imperturbable Dutchman was aroused to a smile by this remark; but he felt somewhat of a superiority, for the first time, that he exceeded his wife in geographical knowledge. He did not think it worth while to discompose her good opinion of herself by any remark on her profound ignorance, but continued his narrative. "When Jinks Peereboom discharged his cargo at Batavia, the ship was newly freighted with Dutch goods and the TOBACCO for Japan-" 'Why do you lay that stress on tobacco, my dear?" said Coralie. I Because," replied Jan Dirk, "I consider it to be the most cordial, cheering, and valuable vegetable production supplied by nature. I am sure it saved Jinks Peereboom's life. have said the lad was well brought up, and he had been informed that the Japanese were a very polished, polite, and ceremonious people, and when his ship arrived at the island of |