ide,
That seem, with towering stern and rampart stride,
Like antique castles girt with shining moat:
Should War the signal give with brazen throat,
No more recumbent here in idle pride,
Your rapid prows would cleave the foaming tide,
And to the nations speak in thundering note.
Thus in the firmament serene and deep,
When summer clouds the earth are hanging o'er,
And all their mighty masses seem asleep,
To execute Heaven's wrath, and judgment sore,
From their dark wombs the sudden lightnings leap,
And vengeful thunders peal along the shore.

_Forget Me Not_--for 1828.

The recent appointment of the above illustrious individual to the
head of our naval administration is a gratulatory topic for every
Englishman; and we doubt not the measure will contribute as largely
to individual honour, as it will to the national welfare. In the
abstract, nations resemble large families, of which kings are fathers
or guardians; and the subdivision of this guardianship or paternal
government, among the sons or younger brothers of the sovereign is
calculated to promote unanimity among the governors, and to engraft
with affectionate loyalty the hearts of the governed. Indeed, the
tutelar presence of princes seldom fails to inspire courage, and to
support the patriotic sons of arms even in the extremes of danger;
and, although the princes of our times have seldom been distinguished
in the camp of war,--we should recollect that

Nihil sunt foris arma nisi est consilium domi.

The DUKE of CLARENCE, who is next brother to his present Majesty, was
born at St. James's Palace, August 21, 1765, at a quarter before four
in the morning, and in the following month was baptized by the name of
WILLIAM HENRY. It is said that in his childhood and youth, it was the
frankness of his countenance and behaviour induced the king to devote
him to the naval service: added to this, he surpassed his brothers
in corporeal strength and constitutional hardihood; although he was
exceeded by them in the more refined acquirements of study, to which
he manifested comparative indifference. With a mind naturally framed
for peril and enterprise, and aware of the subordinate rank and
laborious stations through which he must pass to distinction, he
appears to have been enthusiastic and impatient for the service
long before he entered the lists, notwithstanding he commenced his
career at the age of fourteen, by joining the Prince Ge