Part 189 (1/2)

MORAL

O, let this tale dramatic, Anent the whale Norwegian And pressure hydrostatic, Warn you, my young collegian,

That down-compelling forces Increase as you get deeper; The lower down your course is, The upward path's the steeper.

_Henry A. Beers._

THE CAMERONIAN CAT

There was a Cameronian cat Was hunting for a prey, And in the house she catched a mouse Upon the Sabbath-day.

The Whig, being offended At such an act profane, Laid by his book, the cat he took, And bound her in a chain.

”Thou d.a.m.ned, thou cursed creature!

This deed so dark with thee!

Think'st thou to bring to h.e.l.l below My holy wife and me?

”a.s.sure thyself that for the deed Thou blood for blood shalt pay, For killing of the Lord's own mouse Upon the Sabbath-day.”

The presbyter laid by the book, And earnestly he prayed That the great sin the cat had done Might not on him be laid.

And straight to execution Poor p.u.s.s.y she was drawn, And high hanged up upon a tree-- The preacher sung a psalm.

And, when the work was ended, They thought the cat near dead; She gave a paw, and then a mew, And stretched out her head.

”Thy name,” said he, ”shall certainly A beacon still remain, A terror unto evil ones For evermore, Amen.”

_Unknown._

THE YOUNG GAZELLE

A MOORE-ISH TALE

In early youth, as you may guess, I revelled in poetic lore, And while my schoolmates studied less, I resolutely studied _Moore_.

Those touching lines from ”Lalla Rookh,”-- ”Ah, ever thus--” you know them well, Such root within my bosom took, I wished _I_ had a young Gazelle.

Oh, yes! a sweet, a sweet Gazelle, ”To charm me with its soft black eye,”

So soft, so liquid, that a spell Seems in that gem-like orb to lie.

Years, childhood pa.s.sed, youth fled away, My vain desire I'd learned to quell, Till came that most auspicious day When _some one gave me a Gazelle_.

With care, and trouble, and expense, 'Twas brought from Afric's northern cape; It seemed of great intelligence, And oh! so beautiful a shape.