A PARALLEL CASE OF HARDSHIP.

A public subscription of several thousand pounds has been proposed to be raised towards Mr. Buckingham's losses in India; quickened by the threat that, if not sufficient to maintain him, he would be driven to the very dreadful necessity of "devoting the remainder of his days to useful and honourable labour!" To avert so dire a calamity, it will be proposed among Mr. B.'s friends to revive the old project, and send him round the world on a voyage of discovery and commerce. He is to sail on the first of next April, and will take with him passengers, emigrants, and merchandize. First exploring the British coast, he will establish a colony of tailors at Sheer-ness; then offer a consignment of saddles and bridles to the inhabitants of Ryde; afterwards call for Mr. Ole Bull off Cowes, as fiddler to the crew; from thence he will despatch a bale of blankets to Friez-land, and of gloves to the people of Pau, taking in exchange some cheap coffee for charitable purposes from Cham-berry. Proceeding through the Channel, he will receive a few distressed ladies at Brideport on an experimental voyage to Beau-maris. The late ministry will accompany him as far as the Ex, and at Ply-Mouth Sound he will take in the substance of his next parliamentary campaign. At the Scilly Islands he will try to dispose of a heavy consignment from Paternoster Row and some leading establishments at the west-end of the town. He will leave the Poor Law Commissioners at their headquarters at Flint; thence crossing the Atlantic, he will deposit the bones of Mr. Carus Wilson at Long Island, and offer a cargo of soft-soap at Washington. He will next despatch Stone masons to the Chipaway country, and Carpenters to the Chick-a-saws, and he will be commissioned to get a lot of old Joes exchanged at New-Found-Land. He will supply the natives of Chili with great coats, carry ham and beef to the Sandwich Islands, and broad cloth to Bombay. He will then reach the North Pole by taking up his ship in an air balloon, and remaining suspended, till, as the world goes round, the arctic circle is just under his feet, when he will drop into the midst of it. Coming home from the North, about next St. Swithin twelvemonths, he will bring us a little Blue from the Island of Skye, and call off the coast of Ayr-shire for another scheme to raise the wind. On his arrival, the wooden guns at Jack Straw's Castle will be fired, and the town illuminated with moonshine.

MAY.—Beating the Bounds.

		MAY.

		Some modern sages, nothing can be flatter,
		Find Bi-polarity 'twixt mind and matter.
		There's prima facie proof, upon the whole,
		It once existed in the man-maypole.
		But barring manners, you'll admit no less,
		He stands conspicuous for his pole-height-ness.
D.	Great Events and Odd Matters.		Prognostifications.
1	Chimney Sweepers' Jubilee. Emancipation of the Blacks.

2			the lords

3	ARCHERY.—Miss Higgins to Miss Figgins.		and ladies

4	This comes to tell you, dearest Coz, I've been to Beulah Spa,		☌ ♂
	And there, among the Archer folk, have shone with such éclat.
5	Well, I declare, 'tis charming sport to play at bows and arrows:		of all the
	I do not wonder little boys so love to shoot at sparrows.
6	Some petty, trifling accidents occurr'd, I must confess:		houses in
	In taking aim, I tore a hole in Mrs. Simpkin's dress,
7	Who gave me such a frightful look, as really made me shiver;		Petty
	And put my nerves in such a way as caus'd my hand to quiver.
8	So, just as Mr. Foozle, in his most politest manner,		France.[^[2]]
	Was paying me fine compliments, and calling me Diana,
9	My elbow slipped, and struck him such a blow upon the nose,		♋ ♀ ♐
	As caus'd the blood to spirt about, and cover all his clothes.
10	The boy who picks the arrows up, I shot right thro' the ear:		Again
	I'm sure he'd but himself to blame,—he stood so very near:
11	'Twas only just a hundred yards from where the target stood,		☽ ♀ ♐ ♄
	So how to help the hitting him would puzzle Robin Hood.
12	Altho' I'm sorry for the brat, I greatly pleas'd my spark,		who will
	Who thought me quite a heroine to shoot so near the mark.
13	So pr'ythee come, my dearest Coz, Diana's bow to draw,		deny, that
	And join the gay Toxophilites who shoot at Beulah Spa.
14
			♏ ♉
15	Whit-Monday.	Now madcap Mirth, with reckless air,
		Sports down gay Pleasure's tide;	Juniper
16	Whit-Tuesday.	With every care cast to the winds,
		And all his Wits-untied.	hath a more
17
			malignant
18
			influence
19
			than
20
			Jupiter?
21
	From Friars-Black and Chapel-White
22	They rush to Greenwich Fair,		♅ ☉ ☊ ☽
	Each donkey-cart has its asses' load,
23	Each chaise owns three a pair.
	Some go by steam or sailing vessel,		or, that,
24	Some by the Elephant and Castle.
			in the
25	The vent'rous see that famous hill,
	Renown'd for fate's decree,		olden times
26	That they who tarry at the top
	Shall soon the bottom see.		of pugilism,
27	There's merry frisking on the grass,
	For courting sporting people;
28	And the curious seek the spying glass,		♀ ♐ ♊ ♉
	To peep at Barking steeple.
29

30

31

[2]. A terra incognita, lying in the vicinity of Tothill Fields.

"Show his eyes and grieve his heart;

Come like shadows, so depart."

Courteous Reader,

Divaricating from the beaten track of all my predecessors in the Celestial Art, whose method it hath ever been to leave the interpretation of their symbolical prefigurements to be explorated and divined by the subtlety of the ingenious reader himself,—by the which they did shroud, in a tenfold tenebrosity of Cimmerian gloom, their no-meaning mysteries, and ambiguous puzzlements;—deviating, I say, from such a course, I do herewith not only present thee, as hath been my custom, with an Hieroglyphic "adapted to the times," but lifting the veil of obscurity, wherein it is shrouded from vulgar apprehension, lay patent and exposed the hidden meaning thereof.

It hath in it the three grand postulates or requirements of a veritable Hieroglyphic, videlicet,—It is Astroscopical, Astrological, and Prophetical:—

It is Astroscopical, as it is founded on an observation of the Stars.

It is Astrological, as it is indicative of planetary potency and lunar influence; and

It is Prophetical, inasmuch as it not only presenteth the present, but futurizeth the future.

Taurus, the Bull (egregious John!), having, through a plethora of purse, fallen into a dreamy mood, yielded himself up to a somniferous influence, which becloudeth, with a misty obfuscation, his natural senses; whereupon the megrims of his crazy brain do set themselves to work, and conjure up certain airy visions of speculative aggrandizement.

Floating in nubibus before his fancy's eye, are sundry bubbles, blown by an Imp of Speculation, who ruleth the phantasies which do take John's imagination captive. Gemini (the Twins) in the similitude of a joint-stock Company proffer him wealth;—baseless castles, of unsubstantial fabric, resting on ether, do shadow forth his brick-and-mortar predilections;—and a rail-road betwixt Dover and Calais, uniting that which nature had dissevered, accomplisheth that propinquity, which John ever affecteth for good neighbourhood and fellowship; while Luna, who hath established a reciprocity rail-road with our planet, grinneth at his gullibility, and marketh him for her own.

Descending from the clouds, note we the state of his household matters, while he thus dreameth in complacent security.

Thou mayest observe, gentle Reader, certain satellites of Mercury (the planet of thieves), who, under the impersonation of rooks, by an immersion of their long beaks into the profundity of his pockets, are abstracting his treasure. At the right hand of the dreamer, a cutpurse knave of Spades, the apt symbol of rail-road diggers and miners, hath, by an undermining trick, possessed himself of his bullion; while the Demon of Gin, in the likelihood of a crafty serpent, entwined round his lower extremities, shadoweth forth the ruin with which the fiend spirit threateneth the props of the body politic,—the Industrious Classes. The rats, those rogues in grain, are devouring his corn; and his faithful Tray is gnawing at his dinner.

Surrounded as he is by wealth and plenty, shall we marvel, that when the master of the house sleepeth on his post, knaves will cheat, thieves will steal, and servants will pilfer?