NEW VISITORS-A STERN CHASER-A KING'S SPEECH-A PATHETIC FAREWELL-DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL.
For the horrible act
Which they meant to transact,
And addresses them thus with abundance of tact:-
"Fellow countrymen, after so many long years
Of absence, I scarce can refrain shedding tears
At meeting, in this remote region of earth,
So many whose land is the land of my birth:
I came here a boy, and this beautiful isle
Was then a mere solitude;-that noble pile
Was then unerected;-in these remote parts
There were no manufactures-no tillage-no arts!
By my sole exertions-I say it with pride-
By my sole exertions these wants were supplied:
And now look around on this prosperous isle,-
See arts, agriculture,- see everything smile;
No lawyers, no doctors, no landlords, no rents,
No Corn-laws, no Sliding-scale, no Three-per-cents.,
No changing of coin, no vile clipping of gold,
No charge upon getting new sovereigns for old!
No villanous workhouses-no Income-tax !-
Heaven help the poor wights who have that on their backs!
Am I wrong, friends, in saying that this is the spot
Where those who seek happiness should cast their lot?
As for you, friends, you have been convicted, 't is true,
Of a crime which perhaps would find pardon from few :
The soil of old England once venture to tread,
Ah! my friends, you'll be hanged by the neck till
But can I permit this-will I, who can save,
Allow you to fill thus a premature grave?
Oh no, my friends, no, take this island, take all,
Far sooner than into so sad a trap fall.
For myself, friends, my duty recalls me, alas!
To my country, a very few months there to pass;
Take the isle, then, and Heaven grant that all may go smack
And merrily forwards until I come back-
And when I do, trust me, you'll bless me each day,
For treating you all in so handsome a way;