FOOTNOTES: [236:1] First published in the _Annual Anthology_ for 1800: included in _Sibylline Leaves_, 1817, 1828, 1829, and 1834. A MS. is extant dated Sept. 14, 1797. [236:2] [Transcriber's Note: Footnote 2 is missing from original.] LINENOTES: Title] To Mr. William Linley MS. 1797: Sonnet XII, To W. L.----[236:2]! Esq., while he sung &c. An. Anth.: To W. L. Esq. &c. S. L. 1828, 1829: Lines to W. Linley, Esq. 1893. [3] L----[236:2]!] Linley! MS. 1893. [10] at] by An. Anth. [12] Methinks] O God! An. Anth. FIRE, FAMINE, AND SLAUGHTER[237:1] A WAR ECLOGUE _The Scene a desolated Tract in La Vendée. FAMINE is discovered lying on the ground; to her enter FIRE and SLAUGHTER._ _Fam._ Sisters! sisters! who sent you here? _Slau._ [_to Fire_]. I will whisper it in her ear. _Fire._ No! no! no! Spirits hear what spirits tell: 'Twill make a holiday in Hell. 5 No! no! no! Myself, I named him once below, And all the souls, that damnéd be. Leaped up at once in anarchy, Clapped their hands and danced for glee. 10 They no longer heeded me; But laughed to hear Hell's burning rafters Unwillingly re-echo laughters! No! no! no! Spirits hear what spirits tell: 15 'Twill make a holiday in Hell! _Fam._ Whisper it, sister! so and so! In a dark hint, soft and slow. _Slau._ Letters four do form his name-- And who sent you? _Both._ The same! the same! 20 _Slau._ He came by stealth, and unlocked my den, And I have drunk the blood since then Of thrice three hundred thousand men. _Both._ Who bade you do 't? _Slau._ The same! the same! Letters four do form his name. 25 He let me loose, and cried Halloo! To him alone the praise is due. _Fam._ Thanks, sister, thanks! the men have bled, Their wives and their children faint for bread. I stood in a swampy field of battle; 30 With bones and skulls I made a rattle, To frighten the wolf and carrion-crow And the homeless dog--but they would not go. So off I flew: for how could I bear To see them gorge their dainty fare? 35 I heard a groan and a peevish squall, And through the chink of a cottage-wall-- Can you guess what I saw there? _Both._ Whisper it, sister! in our ear. _Fam._ A baby beat its dying mother: 40 I had starved the one and was starving the other! _Both._ Who bade you do 't? _Fam._ The same! the same! Letters four do form his name. He let me loose, and cried, Halloo! To him alone the praise is due. 45