s and blossoms, all but vital, seem
Entranc'd, like hermit in divinest dream!

Young land of beauty! art thou but a ray
Of intellect, emerg'd from one? and shrin'd,
That thine immortal light may dim the day,
Faint struggling thro' some lowlier, cloudier, mind:
Dream of the painter-poet! oh! we'll say,
Lur'd to ethereal musings by thy thrall,
Tho' dream in part, no dream art thou in all!

M.L.B

* * * * *

MARCH OF "IMPROVEMENT."

_(For the Mirror.)_

An old Subscriber has sent us the following _questions_ on the improvement
of the metropolis, which we insert as a castle-building _jeu d'esprit_
rather than as a serious matter. They will, however, serve for the
_committee of taste_ to crack after dinner, and give a zest for their
_magna bona_.

Ought not the new palace to have been built in the richest Gothic
style, so as to have deviated in appearance from every other edifice
in the metropolis; and to have been erected on the north bank of the
Serpentine?--And, if the _dome_ of the present erection is not to be
removed, cannot it be ornamented?--Or could not the pediment, fronting
the park, be raised another story, so as to hide it (the dome) from
that side?--Indeed, would not the palace be much improved by such an
alteration? I think if it be left as it is, when the wings are raised
to the height of the body of the palace, (though they are a wonderful
improvement upon those first erected) the whole will have a very flat
appearance.--Are not the statues of Neptune, &c., much too small, and
the other ornaments, consisting of representations of warlike implements,
&c., much too heavy to look well?

Is not the Borough a very improper place for the king's, or any other,
college?--Is it not the very mart of trade, and consequently ever noisy
and in confusion?--And what a magnificent improvement would its erection
near Westminster Abbey be to that ancient and very sumptuous pile. Could
it not be erected from Tothill Street, and extend towards Storey's
Gate?--And should it not be built in the Gothic style to correspond with
the abbey? The seat of learning and wisdom is in that neighbourhood
(Westminster School, Houses of Parliament, Courts of Justice, &c.);
therefore it is the place best adapted for the erection of a college.
Ought not also those disgraceful erections close to the abbey's western
front, to be instantly removed?--And ought not the house of the d