The Old Dominion: A Ballad [pp. 235-236]

The Old Dominion. A Ballad. 235
saucers-they all tumble about. I gave him a
glass jar of magnesia yesterday to put upon a
shelf, under which stood a single China basin.
In this shelf was a single hole. He put the jar
into the hole, upon which it fell so exactly into
the basin that he broke both. This morning I
bade him get me some water, for there was none
in the ewer; so he asked me whether I wanted
to drink or wash, as he could get it accordingly
either in the tumbler or the basin. He looked
quite surprised at my ingenuity when I assured
him that if he got it in the ewer I could do either.
I am sure he is the very man who had the cat
and kitten, and when he cut a large hole in the
door for the cat to go through he cut a little one
for the kitten!"
Lewis was quite famous for epigrams and impromptus. On one occasion being in company
with Lord Erskine, this noble personage indulged
in severe raillery at the ladies: he was thus answered by the "Monk," who though like his
brotherhood, a patron of celibacy, was at the
same time a gallant:
", Lord Erskine at women presuming to rail
Says "wives are tin canisters tied to one's tail,"
While fair Lady Anne as the subject he carries on,
Feels hurt at his Lordship's degrading comparison,
Yet wherefore degrading? considered aright
A canister's useful, and polished, and bright,
And should dirt its original p)urity hide,
That's the fault of the puppy to whom it is tied."
In reviewing the whole career of so extraordinary a person as "Monk" Lewis, it is difficult to
write impartially and correctly: it would be
wrong to employ with some the language of unbounded praise; unjust to use with others the
language of unlimited censure. His life was a
chess-board, on whose chequered paths the pieces of fate took strange and devious ways. Early
sent into the world with competent fortune and
energetic genius, with a high ambition and head strong perseverance, his parents separating before his years of discretion had arrived; his
mother weak in heart and his father haughty
and imperious; what wonder that his morals be came loose and his way of life unsettled? It
should rather be a wonder that amid flattery and
vituperation, the visitor of the green room and
the floor of parliament, he preserved his affec tionate habits and generous impulses!
If he injured society in one way he benefitted
it in another. He was one of those men who
are sent into the world for some great and un seen purpose. The moralist may deduce one,
and the man of the world another. But be that
what it may, none who knew him, who had fre quent and various opportunities of studying his
virtues and his vices, will say that Matthew Gre gory Lewis lived in vain!
THE OLD DOMINION.
A BALLAD.
BY M. J.
Ho! gallant Old Dominion! I hail thee as the state,
Of all our thirty commonwealths, most proudly consecrate;
My pulse beats quicker as I feel my feet upon the sod
Which nurtured men of giant mind, which true-born heroes
trod;
Where'mid primeval forests, rich in hues of varied green,
The noble Raleigh planted first the standard of his Queen l*
When over all the "Old Thirteen" extended Britain's sway,
Thou ever wert the loyalest,-the readiest to obey:
The high romantic chivalry that marked thy gentler blood,
Made thy forbearance virtue seem, and kept allegiance
good;
But when thy nature once was roused, thy most heroic soul
Spurned, in its consciousness of might, oppression's stern
control.
With generous heart thou did'st obey thy country's rallying
call,
And pledge thyself for her dear sake, to sacrifice thine all;
Tho' others laid with zeal as true, their offerings on the
shrine,
No gift was found of such a pure and priceless worth as
thine:
With Spartan matron's hope and pride, thou brought'st thy
noblest son,
And gav'st to freedom and the world, thy glorious Wash ington!
Virginia! brave Virginia!-a happy Mother thou,
Whose children's fame will ever shed a splendor round thy
brow;
The thrilling words of eloquence that Henry's fervor flung;
The simple majesty of thought that flowed from Marshall's
tongue,The force and skill political which Jefferson could show,
The statesmanship of Madison,-the wisdom of Munroe;
The biting sting of Ranrdolph's wit,-the matchless grace
of Wirt,An Alexander's zeal that leaves no energy inert;
The saint-like piety of Rice,-McDowell's wealth of
thought,The pure and classic mind of Rives with lore so varied
fraught;Oh! where from Maine to Florida, from east to western
bound,
Can such a shining galaxy, of brilliant names be found!
And Nature too has dowered thee, the favorite of the band,
And scattered beauties everywhere, with most unsparing
hand.
The azure mountain-tops are seen, where'er I turn my eye,
And stretched between in loveliness the shadowy vallies
lie;
In Alpine grandeur Otter's Peaks uprear their lofty forms,
And stand serenely looking down on summer's passing
storms.
* The first settlement of Virginia was made under Sir
Walter's auspices, though he himself did not accompany
the colonists in person.
ea$
The Old Dominion. A Ballad.