Why, 'twas a very wicked thing,
Said little Wilhemine;

Nay, nay, my little girl, quoth he,
It was a famous victory.

10. And every body praised the Duke*
Who such a fight did win;

But what good came of it at last?
Said little Peterkin;

Why-that-I cannot tell, said he,
But 'twas a famous victory.

LESSON LVII.

The Dog and the Fox.-GAY.

1. A SHEPHERD's dog, unskilled in sports,
Picked up acquaintance of all sorts.
Among the rest, a fox he knew;
By frequent chat their friendship grew.
2. Says Renard, “”Tis a cruel case,
That man should stigmatize our race.
No doubt, among us, rogues you find,
As among dogs and human kind;
And yet, (unknown to me and you,)
There may be honest men and true.
3. “ Thus slander tries, what'er it can,
To put us on the foot with man.
Let my own actions recommend ;
No prejudice can blind a friend;
You know me free from all disguise;
My honor as my life I prize."

4. By talk like this, from all mistrust,
The dog was cured, and thought him just.
As on a time the fox held forth
On conscience, honesty, and worth,
Sudden he stopped; he cocked his ear,
Low dropped his brushy tail with fear.
"Bless us! the hunters are abroad:
What's all that clatter on the road ?"

66

5. Hold," says the dog; "we're safe from harm; 'Twas nothing but a false alarm.

* Duke of Marlborough, an Englishman.

At yonder town, 'tis maket day;
Some farmer's wife is on the way:
'Tis so, (I know her pie-bald mare,)
Dame Dobbins, with her poultry-ware."

6. Renard grew huff. Says he, “ This sneer, From you, I little thought to hear.

Your meaning in your looks I see;

Pray, what's dame Dobbins, friend, to me?
Did I e'er make her poultry thinner?

Prove that I owe the dame a dinner.'

7. "Friend," quoth the cur, “I meant no harm, Then why so captious? why so warm? My words, in common acceptation, Could never give this provocation; No lamb (for ought I ever knew) May be more innocent than you."

8. At this galled Renard winced, and swore Such language ne'er was given before. "What's lamb to me?-the saucy hint ; Show me, base knave, which way you squint. If, t'other night, your master lost

Three lambs-am I to pay the cost?

Your vile reflections would imply

That I'm the thief. You dog, you lie."

9. "Thou knave, thou fool," the dog replied,

"The name is just, take either side;

Thy guilt these applications speak;

Sirrah, 'tis conscience makes you squeak.”
So saying, on the fox he flies :—

The self-convicted felon dies.

LESSON LVIII.

The Hare and the Tortoise.-LLOYD.

1. In days of yore,* when time was young, When birds conversed as well as sung, When use of speech was not confined Merely to brutes of human kind, A forward hare of swiftness vain, The genius of the neighboring plain, Would oft deride the drudging crowd,

• Yore, long ago, of old time.

For geniuses are ever proud :

He'd boast, his flight 'twere vain to follow;
For dog, and horse, he'd beat them hollow;
Nay, if he put forth all his strength,
Outstrip his brethren half a length.

2. A tortoise heard his vain oration,
And vented thus his indignation:—
66 Ο puss! it bodes thee dire disgrace,
When I defy thee to the race.

Coine, 'tis a match; nay, no denial :

I lay my shell upon the trial."

'Twas "Done !" and "Done !" "All fair!" "A bet!"
Judges prepared and distance set.

3. The scampering hare outstripped the wind;
The creeping tortoise lagged behind,

And scarce had passed a single pole,
When puss had almost reached the goal.
"Friend tortoise," quoth the jeering hare,
"Your burden's more than you can bear;
To help you speed it were as well
That I should ease you of your shell:
Jog on a little faster, pr'ythee;
I'll take a nap, and then be with thee."
4. So said, so done, and safely, sure;
For say, what conquest more secure?
When'er he waked, (that's all that's in it,)
He could o'ertake him in a minute.
The tortoise heard his taunting jeer,
But still resolved to persevere;
Still drawled along, as who should say,
"I'll win, like Fabius,* by delay;"
On to the goal securely crept,
While puss, unknowing, soundly slept.

5. The bets were won, the hare awoke,
When thus the victor-tortoise spoke :-
"Puss, though I own thy quicker parts,
Things are not always done by starts ;
You may deride my awkward pace,
But slow and steady wins the race."

An illustrious Roman General who opposed Hannibal in Haly. He died 203 years B. C.

5. I stood looking at the bird; and to every person who came through the passage, it ran fluttering to the side towards which they approached it, with the same lamentations of its captivity "I can't get out," said the Starling.

6. God help thee! said I, but I will let thee out, cost what it will; so I turned about the cage to get at the door; it was twisted and double twisted so fast with wire, there was no getting it open without pulling the cage to pieces--I took both hands to it.

7. The bird flew to the place where I was attempting his deliverance, and thrusting his head through the trellis, pressed his breast against it as if impatient. I fear, poor creature! said I, I cannot set thee at liberty-"No," said the Starling."I can't get out, I can't get out," said the Starling.

8. I never had my affections more tenderly awakened; nor do I remember an incident in my life, where the dissipated spirits, to which my reason had been a bubble, were so suddenly called home.

9. Mechanical as the notes were, yet so true in tune to nature were they chanted, that in one moment they overthrew all my systematic reasonings upon the Bastile; and I heavily walked up stairs, unsaying every word I had said in going down them.

10. Disguise thyself as thou wilt, still, slavery !—still thou art a bitter draught! and though thousands in all ages have made to drink of thee, thou art no less bitter on that

vttu

account.

11. "Tis thou, Liberty-thrice sweet and gracious goddess,whom all in public or in private worship, whose taste is grateful, and ever will be so, till nature herself shall change-no tint of words can spot thy snowy mantle, or chymic power turn thy sceptre into iron-with thee to smile upon him as he eats his crust, the swain is happier than his monarch, from whose court thou art exiled.

12. Gracious Heaven! Grant me but health, thou great Bestower of it, and give me but this fair goddess as my companion and shower down thy mitres,* if it seems good unto thy divine Providence, upon those heads which are aching for them.

13. The bird in his cage pursued me into my room; I sat down close by my table, and leaning my head upon my hand,

Mitre, a kind of crown, or ornament, worn on the head by Bishops on solemn occasions,

I began to figure to myself the miseries of confinement; I was in a right frame for it, and so I gave full scope to my imagination.

14. I was going to begin with the millions of my fellow creatures born to no inheritance but slavery; but finding, however affecting the picture was, that I could not bring it near me, and that the multitude of sad groupes in it did but distract me I took a single captive, and having first shut him up in his dungeon, I then looked through the twilight of his grated door to take his picture.

15. I beheld his body half wasted away with long expectation and confinement, and felt what kind of sickness of the heart it is which arises from hope deferred. Upon looking nearer, I saw him pale and feverish in thirty years the western breeze had not once fanned his blood-he had seen no sun, no moon, in all that time-nor had the voice of friend or kinsman breathed through his lattice-his children—but here my heart began to bleed-and I was forced to go on with another part of the portrait.

16. He was sitting upon the ground upon a little straw, in the furthest corner of his dungeon, which was alternately his chair and bed; a little calender of small sticks were laid at the head, notched all over with the dismal days and nights he had passed there he had one of these little sticks in his hand, and with a rusty nail he was etching another day of misery to add to the heap.

17. As I darkened the little light he had, he lifted up a hopeless eye towards the door, then cast it down-shook his head, and went on with his work of affliction. I heard his chains upon his legs, as he turned his body to lay his little stick upon the bundle-He gave a deep sigh-I saw the iron enter into his soul-I burst into tears-I could not sustain the picture of confinement which my fancy had drawn.

LESSON LIV.

Alcander and Septimius.-GOLDSMITH.

1. ALCANDER and Septimius were two Athenian students, whose taste for the arts and sciences became the foundation of their future friendship, and they were scarcely ever seen apart. Although Alcander's breast was animated by that tender sentiment, a still more lively one found entrance, and the fair