The fellow that did take in hand

These children for to kill
Was for a robbery judged to die,

As was God's blessed will;
Who did confess the very truth,

The which is here expressed;
Their uncle died while he for debt

In prison long did rest.

All you that be executors made,

And overseers eke,
Of children that be fatherless,

And infants mild and meek,
Take your example by this thing,

And yield to each his right;
Lest God, with such like misery,

Your wicked minds requite.

THE USE OP FLOWERS. — Mary HoioitL

God might have bade the earth bring forth

Enough for great and small, The oak-tree and the cedar-tree,

Without a flower at all.

We might have had enough, enough

For every want of ours,
For luxury, medicine, and toil,

And yet have had no flowers.

The ore within the mountain mine

Kequireth none to grow;
Nor doth it need the lotus-flower

To make the river flow.

46 TO MY LITTLE COUSIN WITH HER FIRST BONNET.

The clouds might give abundant rain,

The nightly dews might fall,
And the herb that keepeth life in man

Might yet have drunk them all.

Then wherefore, wherefore were they made,

All dyed with rainbow light,
All fashioned with supremest grace,

Upspringing day and night, — Springing in valleys green and low,

And on the mountains high,
And in the silent wilderness,

Where no man passes by?

Our outward life requires them not, —
Then wherefore had they birth?

To minister delight to man,
To beautify the earth;

To comfort man, to whisper hope Whene'er his faith is dim;
For whoso careth for the flowers Will much more care for him.

TO MY LITTLE COUSIN WITH HER FIRST
BONNET.— Mrs. Southetj.

Fairies! guard the baby's bonnet, —

Set a special watch upon it;

Elfin people ! to your care

I commit it, fresh and fair;

Neat as neatness, white as snow, —

See ye make it ever so.

TO MY LITTLE COUSIN WITH HER FIRST BONNET. 41

Watch and ward set all about,

Some within and some without;

Over it, with dainty hand,

One her kirtle green expand;

One take post at every ring;

One at each unwrinkled string;

Two or three about the bow

Vigilant concern bestow;

A score, at least, on either side,

'Gainst evil accident provide,

(Jolt or jar or overlay ;)

And so the precious charge convey

Through all the dangers of the way.

But when those are battled through,

Fairies ! more remains to do;

Ye must gift, before ye go,

The bonnet, and the babe also,—

Gift it to protect her well,

Fays! from all malignant spell.

Charms and seasons to defy,

Blighting winds and evil eye;

And the bonny babe! on her

All your choicest gifts confer; —

Just as much of wit and sense

As may be hers without pretence, —

Just as much of grace and beauty

As shall not interfere with duty, —

Just as much of sprightliness

As may companion gentleness, —

Just as much of firmness, too,

As with self-will hath naught to do, —

Just as much light-hearted cheer

As may be melted to a tear,

By a word, a tone, a look,

Pity's touch, or Love's rebuke, —

As much of frankness, sweetly free,

48 THE YOUNG LETTER-WRITER.

As may consort with modesty, —
As much of feeling as will bear
Of after life the wear and tear, —
As much of life — But, fairies, there
Ye vanish into thinnest air;
And with ye parts the playful vein
That loved a light and trivial strain.
Befits me better, babe, for thee
T' invoke Almighty agency,
Almighty love, Almighty power,
To nurture up the human flower;
To cherish it with heavenly dew,
Sustain with earthly blessings too;
And when the ripe, full time shall be,
Engraft it on eternity!

THE YOUNG LETTER-WRITER. — Miss Ltmb.

Dear Sir, Dear Madam, or Dear Friend,
With ease are written at the top;When those two happy words are penned,
A youthful writer oft will stop,

And bite his pen, and lift his eyes,

As if he thinks to find in air
The wished-for following words, or tries

To fix his thoughts by fixed stare.

But haply all in vain, — the next
Two words may be so long before

They '11 come, the writer, sore perplext,
Gives in despair the matter o'er;

And when maturer age he sees With ready pen so swift inditing,
With envy he beholds the ease Of long-accustomed letter-writing.

Courage, young friend; the time may be, When you attain maturer age,
Some, young as you are now, may see You with like ease glide down a page.

Even then, when you, to years a debtor, In varied phrase your meaning wrap, The welcom'st words in all your letter May be those two kind ones at the top.

ON ANOTHER'S SORROW. —Blake.

Can I see another's woe,
And not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another's grief,
And not seek for kind relief?

Can I see a falling tear,
And not feel my sorrow's share?
Can a father see his child
Weep, nor be with sorrow filled?

Can a mother sit and hear
An infant groan, an infant fear?
No! no! never can it be!
Never, never can it be!

And can He who smiles on all
Hear the wren with sorrows small,