Page:Halleck.djvu/397

Rh The rate of interests and of tolls, The numbering of tax-worthy souls,
 * Roads—and a mail three times a week,

From where the gentle Erie rolls
 * To Conewango Creek.

These are a few affairs of state
 * On which I ask your reasoning powers,

High themes for study and debate,
 * For closet and for caucus hours.

This is my longest speech, but those
 * Who feel, that, like a cable’s strength
 * Its power increases with its length,

Will weep to hear its close. Weep not, my next shall be as long, And that, like this, enbalmed in song, Will be, when two brief years are told,
 * Mine own no longer, but the Nation’s,

With all my speeches, new and old, And what is more, the place I hold,
 * Together with its pay and rations.

H.