OXFORD REFLECTIONS
ON THE B.ESIGNAITON OF THE EARL OF DERBY.
Written after reading his speech, December 20.
When late, her hero to succeed, A ruler Oxford chose, Beneath whose shade, Commission-freed, Her elders might repose, In Shaftesbury's sectarian zeal No comfort could she find, And scorn'd the Duke who learnt with Peel
To toil for all his kind ;
And Ellesmere's literary name
In vain its charms displayed ;
Nor durst the keen Tractanan claim His Redesdale's sporting aid: To Derby flock'd both High and Low, That mild and thoughtful Peer, Type of the course, serene and slow,
That Oxford loves to steer—
A man of calm, well-temper'd force, Unswayed by heat or whim : They reck'd not of his place, of course; They only loned for him.
He comes, (attune your classic strings !) His draggled robes without ; But, else unchanged, to Oxford brings Pride, prejudice, and pout !