When there was heard a sound at the door
Which, as he read on, grew more and more.
And more and more the knocking grew,
The young man knew not what to do;
But trembling in fear he sat within,

Till the door was broke and the Devil came in.
Two hideous horns on his head he had got

Like iron heated nine times hot;

The breath of his nostrils was brimstone blue,
And his tail like a fiery serpent grew.

What wouldst thou with me? the Wicked One cried,
But not a word the young man replied!
Every hair on his head was standing upright,
And his limbs like a palsy shook with affright.

What wouldst thou with me? cried the Author of ill,
But the wretched young man was silent still;
Not a word had his lips the power to say,
And his marrow seem'd to be melting away.

What wouldst thou with me? the third time he cries,
And a flash of lightning came from his eyes,
And he lifted his griffin claw in the air,

And the young man had not strength for a prayer.
His eyes red fire and fury dart

As out he tore the young man's heart,
He grinn'd a horrible grin at his prey;
And in a clap of thunder vanish'd away.

THE MORAL.

Henceforth let all young men take heed
How in a Conjuror's books they read.

Certain Authors on Conjuration, account it next to death for an illiterate person to raise an Evil Spirit; for by reason of his ignorance he knoweth not how to dismiss it: and they give many cautions against attempts to force a Goblin to appear. If the incantation be imperfect, so much the better for him that useth it, for then he shall only have trouble for his pains; because such creatures obey not, but upon compulsion of a real Enchanter, or through his art stolen by a pretender, who may have pains for his trouble; as Eucrates had with the aforesaid Stick Devil, which he could not have enchanted if he had not privily discovered so much of the enchantment as would make the Goblin appear, but which he could not lay again because he knew not the form.

The learned in the Black Art say, if you raise an Evil Spirit, and do not dismiss him quickly, or fully employ him till you can lay him again, he will be your master instead of your servant, and do you bodily harm or slay you. Yet if my readers require information from my own knowledge, or experience herein, I have none to give them; except that passion hath sometimes become my master, and so have I been under the dominion of an Evil Spirit, and suffered accordingly; as must every one who submitteth to be ruled by that' which he ought to control.

WHEN THE WORLD SHALL BE AT AN END.

How long the World will last, POOR HUMPHREY saith, it is not possible to determine, either by Horoscope of the Planets and Cœlestial Signs, or by Calculation of Mundane Numbers. Yet Pythagoras hath taught, that there is a Divine Harmony in Numbers; and this is believable, according to the sufficiency of my Readers in the expert art of Keeping Accounts; which is a rare device, whereby a man attaineth to understand his Affairs, and is to him a Great Knowledge; for thereby he hath a line certain, whereto if he conformeth, he may command others, and enforce their obedience: and so may he rule, either for good or evil. Nevertheless he cannot, thereby, come to know when the World shall be at an end; and so he may miss of that which others, of small experience in worldly matters, have lighted upon; namely, that as regardeth a man's self, the World is at an end when he dieth. And unto most this is a dark saying; yet unto him that comprehendeth it the concerns of life are only as smoke, that obscureth his walk in a confined and crooked passage; and therefore he wisely keepeth at the edge of the journeying crowd, that the silly throng may not hurry him; and thus escaping the press, and feeling the wall for his more sure going, he heedeth not, nor enquireth, concerning the curvatures of the way, but cometh to the end thereof in due time: and then, as before signified, he knoweth that the World is at an end. And, in the opinion of POOR HUMPHREY, more than this no man can know.

OF THE HIEROGLYPHICAL FRONTISPIECE.

Gentle Reader,

There is nothing so mischievous to mankind as man himself, who hath little reason to fear greater evils in this world than those of his own nature. Yet the Astrological Doctrine of the Configuration or Mutual Aspects of the Heavenly Bodies, (concerning which there have been as many opinions as there have been Doctors in Astrology) suggesteth to me the opportunity of presenting an Astral Adumbration founded on the Cœlestial Phenomena; among which, ancient authors reckon Falling Stars, Gliding Stars, Leaping Stars, and Shooting Stars; and they tell also of Flying Stars, one of which I remember to have seen figured in a rare treatise, first printed in the Black Letter nearly three hundred and fifty years ago, under the title of the SHEPHERD's Kalendar; and that Flying Star is there depicted with wings, flying as a bird doth; and so I have caused it to be pictured, with a tail thereto denoting it to be a Comet, and inserted the same in my HIEROGLYPHIC, to shew the manner in which our ances➡ tors sometimes taught their unlearned readers. The other Stars may be taken by their tails, without difficulty, for ordinary Comets.

Respecting Comets thou hast been informed in the foregoing pages; and I now acquaint thee, through the Hieroglyphic, that,

besides Comets Cœlestial, there be Comets Terrestrial, the influences whereof be diverse and twofold, according to their own, and to man's, diverse and twofold nature. The Poet of Paradise telleth that -whatever was created, needs

To be sustain'd and fed: of elements

The grosser feeds the purer; Earth the Sea;

Earth, and the Sea, feed Air; the Air, those Fires
Ethereal ;-

The Sun, that Light imparts to all, receives

From all his alimental recompense,

In humid Exhalations; and at ev'n
Sups with the Ocean.

So do the Comets Terrestrial, that I speak of, require "to be sustain'd and fed ;" for, notwithstanding their administration be derived from things Spiritual, yet they draw their support from things Tem poral; and, as compared with each other, these twofold drafts, when they be excessive, be contrarious.

TERRESTRIAL COMETS, according to their nature, are good or evil; and those that more directly influence the meridian of Great Britain and Ireland are to be esteemed the Church of Rome and the Church of England; for these be of the above-mentioned order of Comets Terrestrial. Of the difference between these Luminaries I speak not, because it is manifest; but I refer to the HIEROGLYPHIC as showing that they are in 8; and at this time they are over that part of the Dominion where that sign hath long prevailed. Protestants that think I should symbolize the Church of England by marks of greater splendour than a tailed Mitre, will please to observe that I have made it larger than the Papal Tiara; the wearer whereof, in the opinion of some, perhaps, I ought to have made a great Dragon with seven heads and ten horns, or a meretricious woman; or even have put the Female on the Beast's back. But I abstain from such affronts; for I would not offend the injured of another form of faith, while they are suing for justice; although to me, at other times, that form might be a subject of stricture. Protestant though I am, and not a moderate Protestant either, yet am I a Protestant of moderation. Of angry and unrelenting men, who call themselves Protestants, I inquire, who hath bewitched you? Hath the Pope? Look at the HIEROGLYPHIC, and behold him on his Papal staff. Doth he blow to exorcise the Evil Spirit, or to infuse into you the Persecution you charge upon the Catholics? Every Catholic that abjureth persecution from his heart, hath the charity essential to a Christian man; and, inasmuch as persecuting Protestants are deficient of that essential quality of the Christian character, so are they Anti-Christian. This I say to Bigots of all denominations.

OBSERVE THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES-Another Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who went from England Anti-Catholic, returneth Pro-Catholic, after leaving a Letter to the Catholic Primate of Ireland concerning the Catholic Claims, wherein he saith," I recommend that

the measure should not be for a moment lost sight of that anxiety should continue to be manifested-that all constitutional (in contradistinction to merely legal) means should be resorted to, to forward the cause; but that, at the same time, the most patient forbearance, the most submissive obedience to the laws should be inculcated." He also saith he is " perfectly convinced that the final and cordial Settlement of this Great Question can alone give peace, harmony, and prosperity to all classes of his Majesty's subjects in this Kingdom." The Lord Lieutenant remarketh as just cited, in consequence of the Catholic Primate having shewn him a letter from the First Minister of the Crown, wherein that Minister declareth thus-" I am sincerely anxious to witness the Settlement of the Roman Catholic Question, which, by benefiting the State, would confer a benefit on every individual belonging to it." Hereon hath arisen debate as to whether the Noble Duke in his letter to the Catholic Bishop wrote, "the settlement" or "a settlement ;" and a, and the, have been used, and abused, and interpreted beyond all application; and the difference between "the settlement," and "a settlement," hath been sturdily affirmed, and denied. Upon all which POOR HUMPHREY saith nothing beyond what he said before-OBSERVE THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES!

THE D. AND THE B.

Said a dignified D. to a good-natured B.,

I very much wish for a settlement:

And the good-natured B. said, the dignified D.
Had a real wish for the settlement.

But some people, who call'd themselves friends of the D.
Said, he did not mean the settlement;

So the friends of the B. ask'd these friends of the D.,
What does the D. mean by settlement?

Then these friends of the D. told the friends of the B.,
That a settlement was a settlement;

But the diff'rence was shocking between a and the,
And a settlement NOT the settlement.

Still the friends of the B. could not very well see
How a settlement was not settlement;

And worried these odd sort of friends of the D.
To explain the meaning of settlement.

Till, at last, in a passion, these friends of the D.
Said a, meant a sort of a settlement;

And they'd fight to their knee-strings in blood against the,
For a settlement-NOT the settlement.

Now, God save POOR HUMPHREY, should he live to see
Such a settlement as unsettlement;

And God save K. G. and the dignified D.
If unsettlement be a settlement !

ΟΝ

POOR HUMPHREY'S REVERIE.

N the vigil of a Winter's day, being alone, and sitting in my quiet chamber before the fire, I gazed on the forms of the glowing coals as they changed, by intensity of heat; and I thought upon a certain Country that aboundeth in every thing but contentment. Its earth is filled with ores, and minerais; the rivers teem with fish; the vallies and mountains are fertile, and clothed with wood; the scenery is beautiful and romantic; it has fair cities with noble ports and havens, and is surrounded by the sea; and yet its trade is depressed, and its commerce crippled. And the natives are generous and hospitable, and famed for talent and genius; and yet they are unsettled, and poor, and unhappy and strangers of substance fear to abide among them. It is a country disquieted, and made miserable, by evil rule.

And I mused on the affairs of this Island until its people seemed to me as a comely Virgin that had fallen into the power of lawless men, who tied her arms, and disregarded her cries.

Whereupon I imagined, as in a dream, that the Island ceased from its fertility, and contracted to the size of a drifted log; and that the female supplicated, because of the desolation: and her oppressors heeded her not, but bound her hand and foot to the plank; and there. with, by trance-formation, she became a harp.