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 LABORARE 
 
 EST 
 
 ORARE 
 
 ( '^o liDork is to 'Vray ) 
 
 EX LIBRIS 
 
 S. ADOLPHUS KNOPF 
 NEW YORK 
 
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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/folliesofdaysatiOOsayl 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY, 
 
 A SATIRE. 
 
 By F. O. SAYLES. 
 
 AUTHOR'S EDITION". 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, MASS. : 
 
 SAMUEL BOWLES & COMPANY. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 LEE & SHEPARD. 
 
 1867. 
 
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 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year I867, by 
 
 F. O. SAYLES, ' 
 
 In the Clerk's OfHce of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, MASS. : 
 
 SAMUEL BOWLES AND COMPANY, 
 
 ELECTROTYPERS AND PRINTERS. 
 
lo 
 
 THIS POEM IS DEDICATED 
 
 TO 
 
 TRUTH, 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 No apology is oiFered for the publication of this little volume. 
 No merit is claimed for its contents, but that of Truth ; and the 
 reader will determine the justice of the claim : 
 
 If it be ^ilse, this book, albeit small^ 
 Adda one great folly to the list of alL 
 
ARGUMENT. 
 
 The subjects embraced in this metrical Essay are, the inordinate 
 desire to acquire Wealth as the true source of happiness in this life, 
 th€ mistaken consequences of its acquisition, and often rviinous 
 effects — the evil influences of Fashion — the foolishness of ex- 
 cessive Pride — the Drunkard — the Dram-Shop — the Temperate 
 Drinker, and the injurious example and practices thereof — False 
 Literature — False Critics — Impatience of Delay — the brutality 
 of Horse-Racing — the wickedness of the Rebellion — the apparent 
 Folly of the Mexican Emperor. 
 
 These subjects are treated briefly, as some of the prominent 
 vices or follies of our time. 
 
 The definitions of "Folly," given by Dr. Worcester, are here 
 adopted, and are as follows : i. Want of understanding ; weakness 
 of intellect; foolishness; fatuit\' ; imbecility. 2. Foolish conduct; 
 an unwise act ; indiscretion. 3. A shameful act ; wicked conduct ; 
 sin. 4- Criminal wickedness ; depravity. 
 
 Satire differs essentially in its character, from other metrical com- 
 positions. It is " a species of poetry peculiar to the Romans, in 
 which the poets attacked the follies and vices of mankind in gen- 
 eral." 
 
 Satire is "a composition, commonly in poetry, in which vice or 
 folly is censured or exposed to hatred or contempt ; an invective 
 poem. It is applied both to persons and things, and the purpose 
 of it is, or should be, not to vex, but to reform." 
 
 This Poem was not designed to be a work of fancy — it was in- 
 tended to be made of "sterner stuff." 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 A SATIRE. 
 
 hoe'er sunTvs the conduct of mankind, 
 With purpose just, and independent mind, 
 Sees motives that inspired and wrought the plan 
 Of deeds to bless the countless race of man. 
 And oft, the annals in the book of Fame, 
 Tinged deep with folly, wickedness or shame. 
 
 To praise, or flatter, is an easy task. 
 
 And welcome often, — but to strip the mask 
 
lO FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 From crime, depravity, blind selfishness, 
 And in true colors, paint them with success — 
 To face the guilty and to make them feel 
 Remorse, or shame, requires the nerve of steel 
 And censure strong, sustained by sense and skill, 
 To reach the object, and its aim fulfill. 
 
 The pen of fiction wins insensate youth — 
 Manhood can prize the golden pen of Truth. 
 
 Now to my task. — What conscience shall indite. 
 
 Satiric Muse, I ask thy aid to write. 
 
 From flowery landscape and the starry skies, 
 
 From mossy cascade, shut my longing eyes, — 
 
 From the soft flutter of the Zephyr's wing 
 
 That fans to sleep the infant or the king — 
 
 From realms of fancy, where the willing sense 
 
 Revels, till judgment loses competence. 
 
 Or Beauty sits enthroned in matchless might. 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. II 
 
 To woo and fasten the admirer's sight, 
 Keep me ; but show me folHes of the day, 
 To lash or ridicule, as best I may. 
 
 With men, a common object of pursuit 
 
 That yields 2. precious or 2. poisoned ixmt. 
 
 Ripe throughout Christendom, and made to be 
 
 The bond of modern Aristocracy, 
 
 Is wealth ; a blessing, were it rightly used, 
 
 A curse most damning, when it is abused. 
 
 Exact economy and constant care, 
 
 Virtues commendable, as well as rare, 
 
 With industry produce possessions vast. 
 
 That make men heirs to fortune — while they last ! 
 
 Though all acquired by truly honest gain, 
 
 Amassed, are suffered briefly to remain ; 
 
 For, a wise Providence whose eye surveys 
 
12 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 Man in his thoughts, intents, and all his ways 
 
 Will break the idol, — a mysterious fate 
 
 All titles change, or sever his estate — 
 
 The vault where hoarded treasure lay untold, 
 
 Will yield to other hands, the heaps of gold ! 
 
 These are not riches, ever to endure — 
 
 Not incorruptible, abiding, pure. 
 
 To prove that wealth affords no happiness, 
 
 Or, that it always makes enjoyment less. 
 
 Is not a problem for solution here ; — 
 
 What truth sustains, is all that shall appear. 
 
 It needs no labored argument to show 
 
 What all intelligent observers know, 
 
 That wealth and wisdom go not hand in hand. 
 
 But may exist apart, in every land. 
 
 If Solomon of old the two possessed, 
 
 Few, since his time, have equally been blessed ; 
 
 Many will seek and gain the large estate, 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 1 3 
 
 And claim a rank among the truly great ; 
 Look now for wisdo:m with unceasing care, 
 And found, give credit for it, any- where. 
 
 Wealth is the fruitful mother of pretence — • 
 
 Excessive vanity and insolence, 
 
 And pride that swells into dimensions vast, 
 
 Forgetful of the present and the past ! 
 
 It is a cloak to cover many sins — 
 
 Its glitter many a weak admirer wins, — 
 
 Its power to bribe — to awe the faint, conceals 
 
 What poverty to public view reveals, — 
 
 It is a tyrant to oppress the slave, 
 
 The just to punish, and the guilty save ; 
 
 And shameful follies swell the lengthy train. 
 
 That cause humanity to writhe in pain. 
 
 Dear modern Crcesus, labor still to gain 
 
 What yet can make your progeny more vain, 
 
 2 
 
14 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 And nurture habits, yoii and all despise, 
 
 To be a panorama for your eyes ; 
 
 Yes, squander industry and gather pelf, 
 
 To make a son, more wretched than yourself, — 
 
 An idler, spendthrift, drunkard. Folly's fool. 
 
 Or leading scholar in her crowded school ! 
 
 Why tempt a daughter, beautiful and young, 
 
 Whose promise moves to praise, each worthy tongue. 
 
 Her mind, unsullied, plastic, ardent, free, 
 
 A fair abode for angel purity. 
 
 To be seduced by vanity's display. 
 
 And ruined by the vices of the day ? 
 
 Or, won by show, to smother sober sense — 
 
 Try modes of life where luxuries commence. 
 
 And in their course a destiny fulfill. 
 
 Whose end is fated to torment, or kill, 
 
 Enfeeble, or distort proportions fair, 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. I5 
 
 Which nature had designed and formed with care. 
 Wliat dansrers lurk around the home of weahh ! 
 What trouble enters on the steps of stealth ! 
 
 Ye who have millions, soberly reflect, 
 That cause will have legitimate effect, 
 And then believe the evidence of truth. 
 That riches will corrupt both age and youth ; 
 That from this source, can spring no lasting joy, 
 The wise, for good, will better means employ ; 
 They shun temptation when the w^ay is plain. 
 Nor let resistance meet the foe in vain. 
 The//^//i" Rich a modest hint deserve, 
 Who, tei7ipted^ from the path of duty swerve, 
 Moved by desire for earthly goods, will make 
 Digressions slight, for "filthy lucre's sake." 
 Transparent is their effort to deceive 
 Those who have sight and reason to believe. 
 
1 6 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 " Vile self creeps in " behind profession's veil, 
 And clothes the inner man with worldly mail, 
 Which will not shield the soul from avarice, 
 Nor blind the mortal eye by artifice. 
 
 Why try to crowd your burdened coffers still ? 
 Why seek your sated treasury to fill ? 
 Why covet more than vvdll your wants supply. 
 To ruin half your heirs hefo7'e you die ? 
 If it be true, that two and two make four, 
 The more you get, increases want for more. 
 You thirst, yet have a fountain for supply. 
 And, drink the ocean, you will still be dry ; 
 In bondage — likely never to be free, 
 For MAMMON holds your moral destiny ! 
 The fear of poverty and love of gain. 
 Compose the links in his satanic chain. 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. ly 
 
 To-day, in this " Sweet Land of Liberty," 
 
 Where all may worship God with conscience free — 
 
 Where Gospel light illumes the wide extent, 
 
 And calls mankind to sorrow, and repent — 
 
 Their sins forsake, and in salvation joy — 
 
 To hope for peace unmingled with alloy ; — 
 
 Where congregations to the Temples flock, 
 
 To build their faith on the Eternal Rock, 
 
 Pride shows her power, e'en in that sacred place. 
 
 Amid the humble suppliants for Grace ; 
 
 And, at the Master's table fills a seat, 
 
 Where meek, devout, adopted Christians meet I 
 
 There is an Eye whose universal ken 
 
 Beholds the dark hypocrisy of men i 
 
 The grosser forms, unscreened by shades of night, 
 
 Are seen with human eyes in solar light. 
 
 That stolen garb of Sanctity ill fits 
 
l8 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 The shriveled, hideous form of hypocrites. 
 What deep excitement marks the fleeting hom", 
 And stirs the Empire city by its power ; 
 Frauds, perjuries, and forgeries are rife, 
 Reported of the ranks in upper life ! 
 The swollen, shining bubble now has burst ! 
 The public sees iniquity accursed. 
 The golden speculations of our time, 
 Unveil their hidden elements of crime ; 
 Still, in that trade the speculator shares, 
 A combat fierce engages "Bulls and Bears." 
 The morals, peeping from behind the screen, 
 Show BUSINESS ladies, acting in the scene, 
 Who keep important secrets dark as night, 
 Till time and truth expose them to the light \ 
 So goes the world, — some art to trick the just,- 
 To circumvent them, and obtain their trust ! 
 The Saviour had not where to lay his head ; 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. I9 
 
 And yet, of poverty He had no dread ! 
 
 And wise, old Agur, whose unbiassed sense 
 
 Taught him right views of man and Providence, 
 
 Devoid of selfishness and pride, could see 
 
 That riches fostered wicked vanity, 
 
 And held dominion o'er the mental whole, 
 
 To shut the humane fountains of the soul. 
 
 Thank God, he made his blessings to depend 
 
 On laws man cannot alter or amend. 
 
 Both mind and body gain what will suffice 
 
 For health and strength, from food and exercise, — 
 
 From heat and cold, from sunshine, rain and air, — 
 
 From clothing, shelter, sleep, and prudent care, — « 
 
 From proper use of all the aids of life, — 
 
 From shunning evil and excessive strife, — 
 
 From knowledge, whence the mind true wisdom draws, — 
 
 From Revelation, and from Nature's laws. 
 
20 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 The plainest logic proves to common sense, 
 That Plenty is a needful competence. 
 
 Another weakness, fraught with civil strife. 
 Afflicts the teeming ranks of mortal life. 
 In spheres where flourish lords of high estate. 
 And they who plod, less brilliant and elate. 
 The despot, Fashion, with imperial sway, 
 Rules her extended realm by mere display 
 Of various modes and colors for the eye. 
 Prepared with charms, and all her subjects buy. 
 This potent, artful, ever reigning Queen, 
 To be admired, needs only to be seen. 
 The wealthy cast their treasures at her feet. 
 And pride persuades the poor and indiscreet 
 To vie in homage — rather means exhaust. 
 Than let respectability be lost ! 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 21 
 
 Can Mississippi roll a greater tide, 
 
 Than the bright rill that leaps from mountain side ? 
 
 Or vapors from the ocean yield more rain, 
 
 Than busy brooklets will return again ? 
 
 Can you of little means keep equal pace 
 
 With millionaires at Fashion's watering-place ? 
 
 Or bear indulgence in that equipage 
 
 Which places style above the reach of rage — 
 
 The sacrifice for cost of rich attire, 
 
 To gratify or tantalize desire. 
 
 And brilliants, glittering in the borrowed light 
 
 Of princely revels that consume the night? — 
 
 Can your short purse support the drastic line 
 
 Of feasts luxurious, crowned with choicest wine, 
 
 And great expenditures of every kind. 
 
 Which wealth devises for the jDampered mind ? 
 
 Let Reason speak to you : Refrain, to-day — 
 
 Let Folly and her patrons go their way. — 
 
22 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 But if you will, then worship at her shrine, 
 And in extravagance attempt to shine ; 
 Pursue her paths, and let your feet make haste 
 To reach her altar, and your substance waste ; 
 Then, borrow money while your credit can, 
 Pledged on the sacred honor of a man ! 
 Till roused from lethargy, too late, you see 
 The cursed phantom of your foolery. 
 
 You, modest maiden, let me plainly ask, 
 If you will waste the profits of a task, 
 Performed, each day, to give you sustenance, 
 In buying trinkets ladies wore in France ? 
 Can you behold the cascade, murmuring sweet, 
 In shady bower where lovers love to meet. 
 Then buy, to hide your silken locks at all, 
 A home-made, hirsute, modern water-fall, 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 Or pseudo-diamonds, hawked the world about, 
 Made up in Paris, with the water out i 
 
 The splendid dress that flaunts about the town. 
 Admired, nay, praised by women of renown. 
 May wrap a form, no more the dwelling-place 
 Of honor, but the home of deep disgrace. 
 
 Now, maiden, I exhort you, murmur not ; 
 Endure privations, falling to your lot. 
 Let reason guide 3^ou, confidence sustain^ 
 Firm in good morals fixed, through life remain.- 
 And you shall know, when come to riper years. 
 When long experience banishes your fears, 
 That true humility is but a gem 
 Of priceless value, which the rich contemn ; 
 That vain conceit is weakness of rhe mind ; 
 That Reason's eye to folly is not blind ; 
 
24 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 That grievous cares the wealthy often vex j 
 That virtues only, will adorn your sex. 
 
 The drunkard, what a wreck for man to see ! 
 What profanation of the Deity ! — 
 He once had appetites controlled by sense, 
 (He may have been a man of eminence !) 
 His youth gave hopeful promise, while he trod 
 The path of soberness, ordained of God, 
 Till wrong indulgence overcame, at last, 
 His judgment, .and the evil held him fast. 
 Then Ruin sternly stared him in the face. 
 And wrote upon his countenance, Disgrace. 
 The dram-shop, and the brothel claimed him soon 
 As patron, and his sun went down at noon. 
 
 Now drunkards meet the eye, on either hand, 
 In every town and city in the land. 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 2$ 
 
 The deadly poison fires the victims' blood, 
 
 And sweeps them to destruction like a flood ; 
 
 While in their mad career with conscience blind, 
 
 Brain seethed, and passion wholly unconfined. 
 
 Reason dethroned, or wandering in doubt, 
 
 The image of their God, all blotted out ! 
 
 Infernal in appearance and disgust, 
 
 Objects of terror, pit}', or distrust. 
 
 With alcoholic eloquence they rail 
 
 At all who would their liberty assail ; 
 
 Wlien drunk, to break the peace at any time ; 
 
 To mangle, murder, perpetrate all crime, — 
 
 The right to use the pistol, bowie-knife, 
 
 As lawful weapons in the creed of life. 
 
 And ply the lighted torch at midnight hour, 
 
 As a convenient and effectual power 
 
 To give redress, for some imagined wrong. 
 
 And prove that hoJior feels resentment strong ! — 
 3 
 
26 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 When diiiiikards in philosophy excel, 
 Mind will be te7iant of the oyster-shell! 
 
 There is a sight, no pen can well portray, 
 No artist give it form, nor speech convey 
 A just conception, but a semblance slight, — 
 The view alone, discovers it aright — 
 The female tippler, who defames the name 
 Of woman, and becomes a loathsome shame. 
 From her exalted sphere of usefulness, 
 Assigned by gracious Heaven her race to bless, 
 She is transformed to fiend ! Another worse 
 Ne'er left the lowest hell, a world to curse. 
 
 In every place where appetites abound. 
 Dens for infernal commerce may be found ; 
 There, daily, nightly, sots will congregate 
 To settle questions that concern the State I 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 2/ 
 
 To purchase wretchedness, and put in use 
 
 The latest modes of personal abuse, — 
 
 To give the countenance a lovely air, 
 
 By using a cosmetic that will wear I — 
 
 To get the marks of valor in a fight 
 
 For master}', as well as private right, — 
 
 To prove, as clearly as example can, 
 
 That elegance of dress ne'er made a man, — 
 
 To demonstrate how tender he must be, 
 
 \Mio treats his household with barbarit}M — 
 
 To furnish paupers for the Town or State, 
 
 And for the prisons, subjects fit create, — 
 
 To show, this pleasant world is not a cheat, 
 
 But makes the destiny of man complete. 
 
 Shall crime mcrease and folly mark the age. 
 The laws be passive when disorders rage ? 
 Will Rulers of the State and men in power, 
 
28 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 Submit to bear the evils of the hour, 
 And wink at morals, growing in our time, 
 Which lead directly to acknowledged crime ? 
 
 Where are the men of character and might, 
 Who value order and the public right? — 
 A few reformers, eloquent and brave, 
 Still labor with a zeal and will to save 
 The youth from drunkenness, and stay the tide 
 Of misery, now rolling far and wide. 
 Where is that army, once so valiant, strong, 
 That battled with success the mighty v/rong, 
 And held in check its progress in that day ? 
 Demoralized, retired, o'ercome by false dismay 
 
 They who are cowards in a moral cause. 
 
 And fear to .execute remedial laws, 
 
 From righteous censure cannot be exempt ; 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 29 
 
 The guilty, even, hold them in contempt. 
 
 They are accountable before that bar, 
 
 Where conscience reigns and tells them, what they are./ 
 
 You, who eschew intoxicating drink, 
 Have eyes to see, and brains enough to think ; 
 Wlio make jDrofessions with a heart sincere, 
 And sign a creed to which you will adhere, 
 For human welfare earnestly contend, 
 To save a neighbor, family, or friend ; 
 Go forth to duty, — let your motto be, 
 'War on the curse to all humanity.'", 
 
 Can men, who once have loathed the very sight 
 Of the foul demon, stalking day and night. 
 Through all their borders, dealing woe or death. 
 To hopeless victims, breathe his fetid breath, 
 
 3* 
 
30 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 Mixed with the sweet, and wholesome, vital air, 
 And not detect his presence any-where .? 
 
 Physicians hold, that they who would be cured. 
 
 To faith in remedies must be allured. 
 
 Faith works by love, the Sacred truth declares, 
 
 Why may it not, in temporal affairs ? 
 
 Love changes taste, as every-body knows — 
 
 Why should it not make friends of former foes ? 
 
 And is it not, at least, a prudent thought, 
 
 (Since the true Panacea may be bought,) 
 
 To keep at hand, a curative of pain. 
 
 Prepared for use, delectable and plain ? 
 
 One, which will make us young when we are old ; 
 
 When cold, will warm us, and will make us cold 2 
 
 This is fair logic, — cultured minds can see 
 
 What is embraced in Physiology ! 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 The crafty fiend has a peculiar charm, 
 
 Whereby he can his enemy disarm, 
 
 And make him Viege, if he be weak, by art 
 
 Which bribes the stomach, spoils the brain and heart. 
 
 Subdues the minor organs, more remote, 
 
 Unseats the reason, sets the man afloat. 
 
 In his strange bark upon the seething tide. 
 
 From a due course, he often wanders wide ; 
 
 Near shore, the ground-swells to his vision rise ; 
 
 Then, in the vessel on " beam-ends," he lies. 
 
 In life's short voyage, wherever he may float. 
 
 For pains, Ae takes the spirit-a7itidotc. 
 
 You who profess the virtue, abstinence. 
 Who drink the secret cup with false pretence 
 Of some dire ailment, or expectant ill, 
 A cough, a swoon, a fever, or a chill ! 
 
32 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 When under pledge, may pass awhile, as true, 
 But honest men will soon discover you ; 
 When all exposed, you find no one deceived, — 
 What you professed, the world had disbelieved. 
 Then comes the sentence to remain through time. 
 Due perpetrators of fool-hardy crime : 
 That such impostors take cognomen fit, 
 Which is no synony7ne of hypocrite. 
 Let drunkards blush to feel the deep disgrace 
 Of such deception in the human race ! 
 
 Of all the beings living on the earth, 
 
 Since Eve was formed, and man had proper birth, 
 
 The arch dissembler with his double face. 
 
 Is qualified to fill an honored place, 
 
 Where shame, deceit, contempt and folly dwell, 
 
 In that dark region, proximate to hell. 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 33 
 
 The Press with various novels daily teems, 
 In part, the fabrics of bright, female dreams. 
 Spread out in folios, dressed in blue and gold — 
 (The chief attraction of the story told,) 
 ■Entitled by a sweet, or sounding name, 
 To introduce them to the ear of Fame. 
 They picture passion in its every phase ! 
 They w^arn the youthful of life's dangerous ways ! 
 They teach them virtue, and persuade to shun 
 Alluring paths where wickedness is done ! 
 
 They who are jealous of improvement, say 
 These Books are made to sell for 7'eady pay. 
 There are exceptions, but there is no fear. 
 That truthful strictures will be too severe. 
 Of novels that mankind have cursed or blest. 
 The world must say, what authors wrote the best. 
 
34 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 Of Poets too, innumerable host 
 
 Good, bad, indifferent, well our day may boast. 
 
 They flourish in the North, South, East and West ; 
 
 Few hold high rank, oblivion claims the rest j 
 
 Each sex contributes to the full supply 
 
 Of new-born poems for the public eye — 
 
 With meters various the ear is blest. 
 
 In blank and rhyme — but bla7ik succeeds the best ; 
 
 Yet, there are authors of immortal song 
 
 And finished prose which to our time belong. 
 
 What penance will the public wrath appease, 
 
 Provoked by authors who will never please ? 
 
 Who write and publish, always writing ill, 
 
 Though sharply criticised, are writing still ! 
 
 This penalty, a punishment severe. 
 
 To work reform, or penitence sincere, 
 
 Is just for wilful, literary crimes : 
 
 The guilty shall be made to read their Tales and Rhymes. 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 35 
 
 The world is full of critics, who enjoy 
 Unbridled freedom in their high employ. 
 All works of art, and products of the mind, 
 That move the mental senses of mankind, 
 Must pass their dread ordeal j and subside, 
 Or sanctioned, float upon the varying tide 
 Of 'Literary fortune, on to fame, 
 Or perish, void of praise, or e'en a name ! 
 
 There are true critics who will judge aright — 
 Both faults and merits jDlace in proper light — 
 Lead the unpractised to repose a trust 
 In their conclusions, and believe them just ; 
 But there are many who will sell a puff. 
 Or censure harshly, be the pay enough 
 For bombast, or for low, provoking sneers ; 
 In either, want of proper skill appears, 
 Or power to comprehend, and well express 
 
36 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 Their critiques, and they pass for worthlessness. 
 Then let such blow, who deem their calhng fit, 
 And press their brains incessantly for wit ; — 
 The effort is as wise as that would be, 
 To make a winning race-horse of a flea ; 
 Or look in hope, to see ripe fruit appear 
 On trees devoid of blossoms, eveiy year. ~ 
 
 What awful fate attends the critic's nod, 
 Who sits enthroned, a literary god, 
 When he, unjustly, on some author frowns 
 With sapie?it looks, befitting Circus-clowns, 
 And pours a dreadful edict on the ear, 
 That drowns the senses in a flood of fear ! 
 Now, all is lost ! Hope leaves the tortured soul, 
 And Reason, for the moment, yields control ! 
 
 * 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 Soon, recollection gives to thoughts a form, 
 
 And judgment dissipates the empty storm. 
 
 The self-st\'led Judge, whose critique plainly shows 
 
 Himself a dunce in jDoetry and prose, 
 
 Conceited, ignorant, revengeful too — 
 
 All knowledge claims — with /lim is 7iothmg new ! 
 
 His bite is harmless as the lover's kiss, 
 
 Thrown from the velvet finger of a Miss ; 
 
 And oft, the faults his eagle-eye detects, 
 
 Are t}'pes of his own blunders and defects. 
 
 The Liliputian censors anxious wait, 
 
 To see new authors meet their destined fate. 
 
 The victims feel contempt — no others care, — 
 
 For harmless missiles are not hard to bear. 
 
 These critics' minds contract, however small, 
 
 Have less of knowledge, or have none at all. 
 
 Who write, they claim, are wrapped in mental night, 
 4 
 
38 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 Compared with them — true childre^i of the light. 
 They seek the pubhc good, or private fame, 
 Too meaUy or modesty to disclose their name. 
 
 To write in modest prose is not a crime^ 
 
 Nor is it such to perpetrate a rhyme ; 
 
 Nor for the reader, blest v/ith taste and sense, 
 
 To criticise v.dth true intelligence : 
 
 But when the world is flooded with a lore 
 
 Vl^ich sen^es no purpose, other than a bore 
 
 To all w^ho read and con it o'er with pain, 
 
 To find one useful thought, and all in vain, 
 
 The leam'd and fooled, with emphasis can say, 
 
 This lore is folly, prevalent to-day. 
 
 Man has no wings, he therefore cannot fly. 
 Although his genius carries him on high ; 
 Above the storm-cloud will the daring rise, 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 39 
 
 And to our vision, seem to pass the skies ; 
 Upon the waters swift his steamers glide, 
 In spite of adverse winds and heading tide ; — 
 His car advances with the fiery steed, 
 Upon the iron road with winged speed ; — 
 But still impatient, — still he moves too slow ! 
 For, with the lightning's pace he longs to go. 
 Some have imbibed so great a love of haste. 
 They deem the movement of the hours a v»aste ; 
 And, as a compensation for delay, 
 They strive to live a week, in one short day. 
 This is the time, with wild ambition rife — 
 Distiiigiiished for the 7'ecklessjiess of life ! 
 
 That noble animal, the horse, tliat gives 
 His sen-ice to a master, while he lives. 
 Is trained upon the course, to take a gait 
 That wins, where but a step decides the fate. 
 
40 
 
 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 Here, thoughtless crowds and practised gamblers meet, 
 
 To wager, and behold the vicious feat, 
 
 Disgraceful as the bull-fights in old Spain ! — 
 
 A custom which the law should now restrain. 
 
 When strength is sacrificed, to gratify 
 
 The owner's baseness and the sportsman's eye. 
 
 The horse-race has become a drunken feast. 
 
 Degrading to the character of beast. 
 
 That bloody field, spread out in great extent. 
 Embracing half of one vast Continent, 
 Affords a theme for the pathetic muse, 
 And matter which the Satirist may use. 
 
 See ! rightful order into ruin hurled, — 
 
 The sight — the thought has shocked the very world ! 
 
 A nation drenched in blood by civil war ; 
 
 Not by a foreign power, but angry jar. 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 4I 
 
 Dividing subjects into factions strong, — 
 One, branding human bondage as a wrong, — 
 One, claiming human flesh ! — At length, the strife 
 Warmed into treason and conspired the life 
 Of that Republic, destined at its birth, 
 To be the model government of earth. 
 
 The union of the States, which blood had bought, 
 
 To sunder, mad Rebellion vainly sought. — 
 
 Its hellish enginery caused blood to flow, 
 
 And fill the land with mourning and with woe ; — 
 
 It wasted treasure, and it slew the brave ! 
 
 Yet, loyal patriots had power to save 
 
 The sacred bond, the adamantine chain, 
 
 Unbroken, — and the triumph will remain, 
 
 The proudest monument of ages past, 
 
 And, to the end of time, shall all its glory last. 
 
 Graved on this monument by Time's own hand, 
 
 4* 
 
42 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 In characters that all may understand, 
 Is this important lesson for mankind 
 To read, believe, and treasure in the mind : 
 That Goverfime7it its ejid will best fulfill^ 
 Whose basis is the free and sovereign will 
 Of loyal subjects ; and their power alone^ 
 Makes a Republic stronger tha7i a throne. 
 
 Here, Justice, bodied from a true design, 
 -Is plainly wrought, and perfect in its line — 
 The figure of a man, whose countenance 
 Betrays the sculptor's purpose at a glance. 
 The right hand holds a dark and lengthy scroll, 
 Entitled, "Treason's Famous Muster-Roil;" — 
 The left displays a Record, brief and plain, 
 Which shows a Nation's loss and Freedom's gain ! 
 In all the past, no parallel appears ; 
 It may lie hidden in the coming years. 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 43 
 
 Now they who thither turn their eyes, may see 
 Rebellion's rise, and fall, and infamy ! 
 That martyred Chief, — the climax of its crime, — 
 A sin and folly that will live through time ! — 
 The fate of Rebels ! once successful, free, — 
 The dusky Millions' entree into Liberty! 
 
 Another wonder stirs affrighted earth. 
 Rebellion's offspring — an untimely birth — 
 An Emperor is born for ]\Iexico, 
 Despite the cherished doctrine of IMonroe ! 
 From o'er the sea he comes, prepared to reign, 
 And rears his throne on that extended plain, 
 Where factions breed and gender bloody strife, 
 An empire, jealous of imperial Ufe. 
 
 The reigning Sovereigns of this Continent, 
 Have thoroughly imbibed the sentiment, 
 
44 FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 
 
 That monarchy can never flourish here ; 
 
 It thrives in quite a different hemisphere ; 
 
 There, startled monarchs from their dreams awake 
 
 The love of freedom makes old empires quake ! 
 
 Would Maximilian be by prudence led, 
 
 A journey East might save a sj)arkling head. 
 
 This may be folly in the last degree ; — 
 
 Time will develop the reality. 
 
 Extravagance in riiodes of life and dress — 
 Pursuit of wealth to gain true happiness — 
 False taste in literature and love of show — 
 A style of morals, ranging far too low ! — 
 Intemperance, hypocrisy, and fraud 
 Astounding in its nature, deep and broad — 
 The people, careless of the public w^eal, 
 To private interest, alive with zeal. 
 The dupes of demagogues v/ho thrive by tricks. 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 45 
 
 Concealed with skill in party politics — 
 A vanit}', irpposing its displays 
 Of silly weakness in unnumbered ways, — 
 These glaring follies bear important sway, 
 And stain the public character to-day. 
 
 Why censure Folly, now as old as Time, 
 And lash her wickedness in sounding rhyme ? 
 Her progeny is countless as the race 
 Of man, and quite as difficult to trace. 
 Since Adam's sin, the broods of lighter stain 
 Have multiplied — increasing, they remain. 
 The grade of each is only known to fate — 
 Man separates the httle and the great ; 
 So subtle the gradations run between, 
 By mortal ken they cannot all be seen : 
 Would that the greater might be growing less. 
 The less, decreasing into nothingness. 
 
46 FOLLIESOF THE DAY. 
 
 All crimes are follies, not all follies crimes, 
 
 Else, how could Heaven's dread vengeance spa];e our times? 
 
 The Artist sets the picture in a light, 
 
 Where its position will afford a sight 
 
 Of all the beauties which his art has made, 
 
 And leave defects concealed beneath the shade. 
 
 The honest satirist will use his skill, 
 
 To reach the fountains of the heart and v/ill, — 
 
 To place the human conduct in the light 
 
 Of Truth's pure sunshine, and in colors bright, 
 
 That when unmantled, every eye may see 
 
 In crime or folly, bare deformity ; — 
 
 How evil passion urges on to sin. 
 
 Grows strong, and claims the mastery within, — 
 
 How Folly flutters in the public gaze. 
 
 And shows her weakness in a thousand ways, 
 
FOLLIES OF THE DAY. 47 
 
 That drowsy conscience, stirred to life by pain, 
 May choke these ills and reign supreme again. 
 
 It has not dawned, that day of sacred feast. 
 When crimes or follies of mankind have ceased ; 
 Till then, so long as moral ills are born. 
 Let Satire paint them for the public scorn. 
 April 8, 1867.