uail'd not at the giddy peak
Which foils the fleet chamois.

Here--where the torrents voice would thrill
Each craven breast with fear;
For dumb distress or human ill
There drops no kindred tear.

The rushing Arc, the cold blue Rhone,
That in their channels freeze;
And snow-clad Cenis' heart of stone
Might melt ere one of these.

Why did I loathe my lowly cot
Where late I caroll'd free,
Nor felt, contrasted with my lot,
The pomp of high degree?

Lo! where to mock the houseless head
Huge palaces arise,
Whose board uncharitably spread
The unbidden guest denies.

O for the crumbs that reckless fall
From that superfluous board!
O for the warmth you gorgeous hall
And blazing hearth afford!

All unavailing is the prayer--
The proud ones pass us by;
Their chariots roll, their torches glare
Cold on the famish'd eye.

And yet a little from their need
Some poorer hands have spared:
And some have sighed, with little heed,
"Alas! poor Savoyard!"

And some have bent the churlish brow,
And curl'd the lip of scorn;
For they at home had brats enow,
And beggars British-born.

And some have scoff'd as proud to bear
Brute heart in human shape;
Nor drop nor morsel deign'd to share
With alien or with ape.

Poor Jacko! yet one soul can feel
Sad fellowship with thee;
And we have shared our scanty meal
In bitterness or glee.

Yes! we have shared our last--and here
Have little now to crave;
No bounty, save a passing tear,
No gift, beyond a grave.

Still let these arms to thy bare breast
Their lingering heat impart;
Come shroud thee in my tatter'd vest,
And nestle next my heart.

Partners in grief, in want allied,
E'en as we lived, we die;
So let one grave our relics hold,
Entwined, as thus we lie.

* * * * *

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

* * * * *

EARLY INHABITANTS OF BRITAIN.

(_To the Editor._)

Your interesting columns have afforded me much gratification by the
sketches of the manners of various nations. I am a thorough Englishman
in principle, with a sprinkling, however, of German in my veins, and
as the early history of this country is a point of great interest, if
_The Mirror_ can allow, I will offer a few _reflections_.

Caesar, speaking of our ancestors, calls them, in bl