STEADY and a skilful toiler,
John got his bread as a soap-boiler,
Earned all he wished, his heart was light,

He worked and sang from morn till night.

E'en during meals his notes were heard,

And to his beer were oft preferred;

Born in Hamburgh in 1708; studied law, and in 1729 he came to England as secretary of the Danish Legation, and made himself master of our language. In 1733 he was appointed secretary of the English factory at Hamburgh, and in 1754 he died suddenly.

At breakfast, and at supper, too,
His throat had double work to do;
He oftener sang than said his prayers,

And dropped asleep while humming airs:
Until his very next door neighbour,

Had learned the tunes that cheered his labor,

And every passer-by could tell

Where merry John was wont to dwell.

At reading he was rather slack,
Studied at most the almanac,
To know when holy days were nigh,
And put his little savings by;
But sang the more on vacant days,

To waste the less his means and ways.

'Tis always well to live and learn.

The owner of the soap concern—

A fat and wealthy burgomaster,

Who drank his hock, and smoked his knaster,

At marketing was always apter

Than any prelate in the chapter,

And thought a pheasant in sour krout
Superior to a Turkey-poult ;

But woke at times before daybreak
With heart-burn, gout, or liver ache—
Oft heard our sky-lark of the garret,
Sing to his slumber, but to mar it.

He sent for John one day and said,

What's your year's income from your trade?”

"Master, I never thought of counting

To what my earnings are amounting

At the year's end: if every Monday

I've paid my meat and drink for Sunday,

And something in the box unspent
Remains for fuel, coals, and rent,

I've husbanded the needful scot,

And feel quite easy with my lot.

The maker of the almanac

Must, like your worship, know no lack,

Else a red letter earnless day

Would oftener be struck away."

"John, you've been long a faithful fellow,
Though always merry, seldom mellow.
Take this rouleau of fifty dollars,
My purses glibly slip their collars;
But, before breakfast let this singing
No longer in my ears be ringing;
When once your eyes and lips unclose,
I must forego my morning doze."

John blushes, bows, and stammers thanks,

And steals away on bended shanks,
Hiding and hugging his new treasure,

As had it been a stolen seizure.

At home he bolts his chamber door,

Views, counts, and weighs his tinkling store,
Nor trust it to the savings-box,

Till he has screw'd on double locks.
His dog and he play tricks no more,
They're rival watchmen of the door,
Small wish has he to sing a word,

Lest thieves should climb his stair unheard.
At length he finds, the more he saves,
The more he frets, the more he craves;
That his old freedom was a blessing
Ill sold for all his now possessing.

One day, he to his master went
And carried back his hoard unspent.
"Master," says he, "I've heard of old,
Unblest is he who watches gold.

Take back your present, and restore
The cheerfulness I knew before.
I'll take a room not quite so near,
Out of your worship's reach of ear,
Sing at my pleasure, laugh at sorrow,
Enjoy to-day, nor dread to-morrow,
Be still the steady, honest toiler,
The merry John, the old soap-boiler."

ON BUTLER'S MONUMENT.

REV. SAMUEL WESLEY.

HILE Butler, needy wretch, was yet alive,
No generous patron would a dinner give.

See him, when starved to death and turn'd to dust,

Presented with a monumental bust.

The poet's fate is here in emblem shown

He ask'd for bread, and he received a stone.

66

THE VICAR OF BRAY.1

N good King Charles's golden days,
When loyalty no harm meant,
A zealous high-churchman was I,
And so I got preferment.
To teach my flock I never miss'd
Kings were by God appointed,
And lost are those that dare resist
Or touch the Lord's anointed.

And this is law that I'll maintain
Until my dying day, sir,

That whatsoever King shall reign,

Still I'll be the vicar of Bray, sir.

In Berkshire. Nichols says, in his Select Poems, that the song of the Vicar of Bray was written by a soldier in Colonel Fuller's troop of Dragoons, in the reign of George I."