"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."

SECTION IV.

SMART.

The lamb and the 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 chanc'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!

I

The treach'rous slopes her fate foretell,
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 his face and scour his hide.
But daily more a swine he grew,

For all these housewives e'er could do.

SECTION V.

COTTON.

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,

Are independent of the great,

Nor know the wants of pride and state.
Why is our food so very sweet?
Because we earn before we eat.

Why are our wants so very few ?
Because we nature's calls pursue.
Whence our complacency of mind ? ·
Because we act our parts assign'd.
Have we incessant tasks to do?

Is not all nature busy too?

Does not the sun with constant pace,

Persist to run his annual race?

Do not the stars which shine so bright,
Renew their courses ev'ry night?
Does not the ox obedient bow

His patient neck, and draw the plough?
Or when did e'er the gen'rous steed
Withhold his labour or his speed ?"

SECTION VI.

The doves.

REAS'NING at ev'ry step he treads,

Man yet mistakes his way,

While meaner things, whom instinct leads,
Are rarely known to stray.

One silent eve I wander'd late,
And heard the voice of love;
The turtle thus address'd her mate,
And sooth'd the list'ning dove:

"Our mutual bond of faith and truth,
No time shall disengage;

Those blessings of our early youth,

Shall cheer our latest age:

COTTON.