Oh pair! what were ye both _at first_? The one a feeble pup; A babe the other, fondly nursed-- How _have_ ye been brought up? Oh, Boy! and wert thou once a child, A cherub small and soft, On whom two human beings smiled, And pray'd for, oft and oft? A creature, rosy, plump and fair, Half meekness and half joy; A wingless angel with light hair!-- Oh! wert thou, Butcher-boy? A thing more gentle, laughing, light, More blythe, more full of play, Than e'er _he_ was--that luckless wight!-- The lamb you stuck to-day? And thou, O Dog, with deep-set eyes, Wert thou, like Love, once blind; With helpless limbs, of pigmy size, And voice that scarcely whined? How grew your legs so like to _his_, Your growl so like his tone? And when did he first see your phiz Reflected in his own? Bravely have both your likeness worn; Alike, without, within; Brethren ye are, and each was born, Like Happiness, "a twin!" Yet can it be, oh! Butcher-boy, Thou com'st of Adam's race? Then Adam's gold has much alloy!-- Was this _his_ form and face? Art thou descended from the pair From whom the Cæsars came? Wore Alexander such an air? Look'd Cheops much the same? And thou, oh! Butcher's cur, is't true That _thy_ first parents e'er From Eden's garden lapp'd the dew, And breathed in rapture there? Yes! those from whom you spring, no doubt, Who lived like dogs, and died, Must once have follow'd Eve about, And walk'd by Adam's side. L. B. OMNIBUS CHAT. The noble art of boxing made a hit in its day; but it is now numbered amongst the dead or dying, and the art of striking reigns in its stead. Little has been heard of throughout the month but the "strikes" that have taken place at the various public works, among the masons. "Masonic brethren" they have proved themselves, by the secrecy of their communications, and the sympathetic character of their movements. They struck first at the Houses of Parliament, then at Nelson's Monument, then at Woolwich. Not being in want of bread, they refused us a stone. Punctual to a moment, as the Horse Guards' clock struck, they did. Our Omnibus stopped, like the workmen, at Charing-cross. "So the masons at Nelson's Monument are going to strike," said we. "Glad to hear it," rejoined a punning acquaintance, "there ought to be something striking about a monument to _him_!" The name of Nelson set all our companions talking; but an "old sailor" (not _the_) was the first to give his discourse a reportable shape, by relating a little historical fact that has escaped history--unimportant, perhaps, but not uninteresting. THE TWO NAVAL HEROES.