A SEMI-OFFICIAL INTRODUCTION.
[BERRY was introduced in a semi-official way, and at once said, "Good morning, Ma'am."—See Daily Papers on Mrs. Pearcy's execution.]
KING DEATH has a great Ambassador who journeys through all the land,
With a cap, and a strap, and a slip-noosed rope all ready to his hand.
He's a genial man with a joke for all, and a smile on his jovial face,
And a grip of the hand that is frank and free when he comes to the trysting place.
And, oh, when the gloomy winter night is fading into the day,
He comes to the cell and is introduced in a semi-official way;
With a jolly "Good morning, Ma'am," he comes, and as quick as a morning dream
He has corded his living parcel and flung it across the stream.
The stream flows silently onward, and the flood seems deep and strong,
And some of us pause on the hither-bank slow-footed, and linger long.
But early or late we must plunge in and battle across the tide,
Though the beckoning shapes look dark and grim that wait on the farther side.
But they whom the King's Ambassador, or ever their race be run,
Has summoned, must leave at the moment the sight of the friendly sun.
He's a kindly man, with a cheerful voice, but he never brooks delay
When once he has come and been introduced in a semi-official way.
And, ah, how lightly the minutes fly, that once seemed heavy as lead,
And the sleeper is fitfully tossing, alone on her prison bed.
At the hour of eight must the journey be, when the passing bell doth toll,
And God, it may be, who is merciful, will pity a sinful soul,
"Arise," they say, "for you know full well who waits at the outer gate,
With sheriffs to do his bidding, behold he is come in state.
The time is short, and the minutes fly, but ere we forget it, stay,
We must introduce the Ambassador in a semi-official way."
POLITE JUDGMENT.—A correspondence has been going on in the St. James's Gazette as to what six Gentlemen seated in a first class railway carriage ought to do if a Lady insists on thrusting herself upon them. Truth says, let her stand, unless she has been invited, and adds, that anyhow she, as an extra person, is a nuisance. Mr. Punch agrees with a difference, and says that the uninvited intruder who becomes a standing nuisance ought to be put down—by somebody giving her a seat.