His now forgotten friend, a Snail,
Beneath his house, with slimy trail,
Crawls o'er the grass; whom when he spies,
In wrath he to the gardner cries :
"What means you peasant's daily toil,
From choking weeds to rid the soil?
Why wake you to the morning care?
Why with new arts correct the year?
Why grows the peach with crimson hue?
And why the plum's inviting blue ?
Were they to feast his taste design'd,
That vermin of voracious kind?
Crush then the slow, the pilf'ring race;
So purge thy garden from disgrace."
"What arrogance!" the Snail replied;
"How insolent is upstart pride!
Hadst thou not thus with insult vain
Provok❜d my patience to complain,
I had conceal'd thy meaner birth,
Nor trac'd thee to the scum of earth.
For scarce nine suns have wak'd the hours,
To swell the fruit, and paint the flowers,
Since I thy humbler life survey'd,
In base and sordid guise array'd :
A hideous insect, vile, unclean,
You dragg'd a slow and noisome train;
And from your spider bowels drew
Foul film, and spun the dirty clew.
I own my humble life, good friend;
Snail was I born, and Snail shall end.
And what's a Butterfly? At best,
He's but a caterpillar drest:
And all thy race, (a num'rous seed)
Shall prove a caterpillar breed.
THE BROTHER AND SISTER; OR, MENTAL EXCELLENCE SUPERIOR TO PERSONAL BEAUTY.
WARN'D by our counsel oft beware,
And look into yourselves with care.
There was a certain father had
A homely girl and comely lad.
These being at their childish play
Within their mother's room one day,
A looking-glass was in the chair,
And they beheld their faces there.
The boy grows prouder as he looks;
The girl is in a rage, nor brooks
Her boasting brother's jests and sneers,
Affronted at each word she hears.
Then to her father down she flies,
And urges all she can devise
Against the boy, who could presume
To meddle in a lady's room.
At which, embracing each in turn
With most affectionate concern,
"My dears," said he, "you must not pass
A day without this useful glass:
You, lest you spoil a pretty face,
By doing things to your disgrace-
You, by good conduct to correct
Your form, and beautify defect."
THE LAMB AND PIG; OR, NATURE AND EDUCATION.
CONSULT the moralist, you'll find
That Education forms the mind.
But education ne'er supplied
What ruling nature has denied..
If you'll the following page pursue,
My tale shall prove this doctrine true.
Since to the muse all brutes belong,
The Lamb shall usher in my song;
Whose snowy fleece adorn'd her skin,
Emblem of native white within.
Meekness and love possess'd her soul,
And innocence had crown'd the whole.
It chane'd upon a luckless day,
The little wanton, full of play,
Rejoic'd a thymy bank to gain;
But short the triumphs of her reign!
The treacherous slopes her fate foretel,
And soon the pretty trifler fell.
Beneath, a dirty ditch impress'd
Its mire upon her spotless vest.
What greater ill could lamb betide,
The butcher's barb'rous knife beside?
The shepherd, wounded with her cries,
Straight to the bleating suff'rer flies.
The lambkin in his arms he took,
And bore her to a neighb'ring brook.
The silver streams her wool refin'd;
Her fleece in virgin whiteness shin'd.
Cleans'd from pollution's ev'ry stain,
She join'd her fellows on the plain;
And saw afar the stinking shore,
But ne'er approach'd those dangers more.
The shepherd bless'd the kind event,
And view'd his flock with sweet content :
To market next he shap'd his way,
And bought provisions for the day:
But made, for winter's rich supply,
A purchase from a farmer's sty.
The children round their parent crowd,
And testify their mirth aloud.
They saw the stranger with surprise,
And all admir'd his little eyes.
Familiar grown he shar'd their joys;
Shar'd too the porridge with the boys.
The females o'er his dress preside;
They wash'd his face and scour his hide.
But daily more a swine he grew,
For all these housewives e'er could do.
THE BEE AND THE ANT; OR, THE ADVANTAGES OF APPLICATION AND DILIGENCE IN EARLY YEARS.
On a bright dewy summer's morn,
A Bee rang'd o'er the verdant lawn;
Studious to husband ev'ry hour,
And make the most of ev'ry flow'r.
Nimble from stalk to stalk she flies,
And loads with yellow wax her thighs :
With which the artist builds her comb,
And keeps all tight and warm at home;
Or from the cowslip's golden bells
Sucks honey to enrich her cells;
Or ev'ry tempting rose pursues, ́
Or sips the lily's fragrant dews,
Yet never robs the shining bloom,
Or of its beauty or perfume.
Thus she discharg'd in ev'ry way
The various duties of the day.
It chanc'd a frugal Ant was near, Whose brow was furrow'd o'er by care; A great economist was she,
Nor less laborious than the Bee;
By pensive parents often taught
What ills arise from want of thought;
That poverty on sloth depends,
On poverty the loss of friends.
Hence ev'ry day the Ant is found
With anxious steps to tread the ground;
With curious search to trace the grain,
And drag the heavy load with pain.
The active Bee with pleasure saw
The Ant fulfil her parents' law.
Ah! sister-labourer, says she,
How very fortunate are we!
Who, taught in infancy to know
The comforts which from labour flow,
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