* * * * *

A MINISTERIAL WAIL.

["The most trenchant critics of the Government since its
formation have been Mr. PRINGLE and Mr. HOGGE."--_British
Weekly_].

The gipsy camping in a dingle
I reckon as a lucky dog;
He doesn't hear the voice of PRINGLE,
He doesn't hear the snorts of HOGGE.

The moujik crouching in his ingle
Somewhere near Tomsk or Taganrog
I envy; he is far from PRINGLE
And equally remote from HOGGE.

I find them deadly when they're single,
But deadlier in the duologue,
When the insufferable PRINGLE
Backs the intolerable HOGGE.

I'd rather walk for miles on shingle
Or flounder knee-deep in a bog
Than listen to a speech from PRINGLE
Or hearken to the howls of HOGGE.

Their tyrannous exactions mingle