* * *

I shall not describe the SPIRIT OF CANT,
Of popular humbug, and vulgar rant,
And tell how he looks in a tangible form,
And give the length of his horns and claws,
The spread of his wings, the width of his jaws,
And detail the other proportions grim,
Which belong to a powerful demon like him.
Go and look at the melodramatic stage,
When a "spectacle" piece is all the rage;
And there, in the midst of some "property" storm,
While the sheet-iron thunder is rattling its best,
And the rosin lightning, and all the rest
Of the elements are, for some tragedy-reason,
Making the "awfullest gale of the season--"
See, at the sound of the prompter's tap,
The fiend come up through the "Vampyre trap;"
Take a mental photograph then, and there,
Of that imp, with his "fixins" all complete--
The elfish grin, the tangled hair,
The dragon wings and the scaly feet--
And you'll have a notion of him I mean,
The demon of this, my opening scene.
I might go to Milton, and steal, bit by bit,
A description to suit my Spirit of Cant,
A second-hand suit, but a "shplendid fit,"
As a Jew would assure me--but then I sha'nt.
His work is to preach the humbug which passes
For gospel among the "down-trodden masses;"
And to prate of the "wrongs and indignities," which
Are heaped on their heads by the "cold-hearted rich."

* * * * *

This Spirit was busy at work one day,
Amongst a crowd of Bowery boys,
When CHARITY happened to come that way;
And she stopped to listen--though, sooth to say,
She seldom is fond of clamor and noise.

* * * * *

"Now, pray, Mr. Author, wait just a minute,
Stop!
Drop

[Illustration: Page 35.]

Your subject, and don't again begin it
Till you tell us: What did Charity wear?
Was her dress of _moire antique_, or satin;
Or was it plain muslin--just like that in
Which love-lorn maidens on the stage
Go raving crazy?--and had she a page?
Did she wear hoops? and what sort of a bonnet?
And tell us, what kind of trimming was on it?
What--" Stop, stop, dear ladies, it isn't fair
To question thus closely a modest young man.
If I _could_ tell the items, I would, I declare;
For I always oblige you whenever I can.
I know that of dresses she has a variety,
Though vanity's not her predominant passion,
She was c