My better judgment would have hung
The pumpkin on a tree,

And left the acorn slightly strung,
'Mongst things that on the surface sprung,
And weak and feeble be."

No more the cavalier could say,
Nor further faults descry;
For upwards gazing as he lay,
An acorn, loosen'd from its spray,
Fell down upon his eye.

The wounded part with tears ran o'er,
As punish'd for that sin:

Fool! if that bough a pumpkin bore,

Thy whimsies would have work'd no more,

Nor skull have kept them in.

Cowper.

Safe poverty was ne'er the villain's prey,
At home he lies secure in easy sleep;
No bars his ivy-mantled cottage keep;

No thieves, in dreams, the fancied dagger hold,
And drag him to detect the buried gold;
Nor starts he from his couch, aghast and pale,
When the door murmurs with the hollow gale.
While he, whose iron coffers rust with wealth,
Harbours beneath his roof, deceit and stealth;
Treachery, with lurking pace, frequents his walks,
And close behind him horrid murder stalks.

Who hath not heard, with raptur'd ear,
The lark's shrill matin echoing clear,
While grove and meadow, far and near,
Resound with tuneful melody?

How sweet, how full, the blackbird's note
Seems on the morning gale to float,
While many a warbler strains his throat
To aid the cheerful harmony!

When, at fierce noon, the sun rides high,
How sweet on river's bank to lie,
Safe shelter'd from a cloudless sky,
Some shady tree for canopy!

There listen to the murmuring stream,
Like one entranc'd in moody dream;
There mark, on distant sail, the beam

Of sunshine glist'ning cheerfully.

And, oh! what tuneful notes resound,
What heav'nly music all around,
When reach'd his daily journey's bound,

Bright Phoebus sets resplendently!

Is there, whose sensual, grov'lling mind,
By taste, by virtue unrefin'd,

Can hear this melody combin'd,

And not enjoy such minstrelsy?

Can. Is it true, my friends, as you have often told me, that I am the greatest of monarchs?

Offa. It is true, my liege; you are the most powerful of all kings.

Osw. We are all your slaves; we kiss the dust of your feet.

Offa. Not only we, but even the elements, are your slaves; the land obeys you from shore to shore, and the sea obeys you.

Can. Does the sea, with its loud boisterous waves, obey me? will that terrible element be still at my bidding?

Offa. Yes, the sea is yours; it was made to bear your ships upon its bosom, and to pour the treasures of the world at your royal feet; it is boisterous to your enemies, but it knows you to be its sovereign.

Can. Is not the tide coming up?

Osw. Yes, my liege, you may perceive the swell already.

Can. Bring me a chair, then; set it here upon the sands.

Offa. Where the tide is coming up, my gracious lord? Can. Yes, set it just here.

Osw. (aside) I wonder what he is going to do?

Offa. (aside) Surely he is not so silly as to believe us. Can. O mighty Ocean! thou art my subject; my courtiers tell me so; and it is thy bounden duty to obey me. Thus, then, I stretch my sceptre over thee, and command thee to retire. Roll back thy swelling waves, nor let them presume to wet the feet of me, thy royal

master.

Osw. (aside) I believe the sea will pay very little regard to his royal command.

Offa. (aside) See how fast the tide rises.

Osw. (aside) The next wave will come up to the chair; it is a folly to stay; we shall be covered with salt water.

:

Can. Well, does the sea obey my commands? If it be my subject, it is a very rebellious one; see how it swells, and dashes the angry foam and salt spray over my sacred person! Vile sycophants! did you think I was the dupe of your base lies?-that I believed your abject flattery?

Know, there is but one Being whom the sea will obey. He is sovereign of heaven and earth, King of kings, and Lord of lords. It is only He who can say to the ocean, thus far shalt thou go, but no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed!

A king is but a man, and a man is but a worm. Shall a worm assume the power of the great God, and think the elements will obey him? No! May kings learn to be humble from my example, and courtiers learn truth from your disgrace.-Evenings at Home.

A farmer was once told that his turnip field had been robbed, and that the robbery had been committed by a poor inoffensive man, of the name of Palmer, who, many of the people of the villiage said, had taken away a whole waggon-load of turnips.

Farmer Brown, much exasperated, by the loss of his turnips, determined to prosecute poor Palmer, with all the severity of the law; with this intention, he went to Molly Saunders, the washerwoman, who had been busy in spreading the report, to know the whole truth.

Molly denied ever having said anything about a waggon-load of turnips,-it was only a cart-load that Palmer had taken, and Dame Hodson, the huckster, had told her so, over and over again.

The farmer, hearing this, went to Dame Hodson, who said, that Molly Saunders was always making things worse than they really were; that Palmer had

taken only a wheel-barrowful of turnips, and that she had her account from Jenkins, the tailor.

Away went the farmer to Jenkins, the tailor, who stoutly denied the account altogether; he had only told Dame Hodson, that Palmer had pulled up several turnips, but how many he could not tell, for that he did not see him himself, but he was told it by Tom Slack, the ploughman.

Wondering where this would end, farmer Brown next questioned Tom Slack, who, in his turn, declared that he never said a word about seeing Palmer pull up several turnips; he only said, he had heard say that Pulmer had pulled a turnip, and that Barnes, the barber, was the person who had told him about it.

The farmer, almost out of patience at this account, hurried off to Barnes, the barber, who wondered much that people could find pleasure in spreading idle tales, which had no truth in them; he assured the farmer, that all he had said about the matter, while he took off the beard of Tom Slack, was, that for aught he knew, Palmer was as likely a man to pull up a turnip as his neighbour.

LESSON LXIV.

HENRY VIII.-EDWARD VI.-MARY.

Henry VII. was succeeded by his son, HENRY VIII., in the year 1509. Henry, being known to possess good abilities, was, at first, in great favour with the people, but he soon lost their good opinion by his cruel and tyrannical conduct.

If one part of his character be blacker than another,