A waggon, overarched, with evergreen,

Upon whose boughs were wicker cages hung,
All full of singing birds, came down the street,
Filling the air with music wild and sweet.

From all the country round these birds were brought,
By order of the town, with anxious quest,
And, loosened from their wicker prisons, sought
In woods and fields the places they loved best,
Singing loud canticles, which many thought
Were satires to the authorities addressed;
While others, listening in green lanes, averred
Such lovely music never had been heard!

But blither still and louder carolled they
Upon the morrow, for they seemed to know
It was the fair Almira's wedding-day;

And everywhere, around, above, below,
When the Preceptor bore his bride away,
Their songs burst forth in joyous overflow,
And a new heaven bent over a new earth
Amid the sunny farms of Killingworth.

A

THE MOUSE AND THE CAKE.

[ELIZA COOK.]

MOUSE found a beautiful piece of plum-cake,

The richest and sweetest that mortal could make;

'Twas heavy with citron and fragrant with spice,

And covered with sugar all sparkling as ice.

'My stars,' cried the mouse, while his eyes beamed with glee, 'Here's a treasure I 've found-what a feast it will be!

But hark! there's a noise: 'tis my brothers at play,
So I'll hide with the cake, lest they wander this way.

'Not a bit shall they have, for I know I can eat
Every morsel myself, and I 'll have such a treat!'
So off went the mouse as he held the cake fast,
While his hungry brothers went scampering past.

He nibbled, and nibbled, and panted, but still
He kept gulping it down till he made himself ill;
Yet he swallowed it all, and 'tis easy to guess
He was soon so unwell that he groaned with distress.

His family heard him; and as he grew worse,
They sent for the doctor, who made him rehearse
How he'd eaten the cake to the very last crumb,
Without giving his playmates and relatives some.
'Ah me!' cried the doctor, advice is too late;
You must die before long, so prepare for your fate:
If you had but divided the cake with your brothers,

'Twould have done you no harm, and been good for the others.

'Had you shared it, the treat had been wholesome enough; But eaten by one, it was dangerous stuff:

So prepare for the worst.'

And the word had scarce fled

When the doctor turned round, and the patient was dead.

Now all little people the lesson may take,

And some large ones may learn from the mouse and the cake,

Not to be over-selfish with what we may gain,

Or the best of our pleasures may turn into pain.

G

MY

UNCLE TOBY'S BATTERY.

Y Uncle Toby came down with plans along with him of almost every fortified town in Italy and Flanders; so let the Duke of Marlboro', or the Allies, have set down before what town they pleased, my Uncle Toby was prepared for them. His way, which was the simplest one in the world, was this: As soon as ever a town was invested (but sooner when the design was known) to take the plan of it (let it be what town it would), and enlarge it upon a scale to the exact size of his bowling-green; upon the surface of which, by means of a large roll of pack-thread, and a number of small piquets driven into the ground, at the several angles and redans, he transferred the lines from his paper; then, taking the profile of the place, with its works, to determine the depths and slopes of the ditches, the talus of the glacis, and the precise height of the several banquettes, parapets, etc., he set Corporal Trim to work; and sweetly went it on. The nature of the soil, the nature of the work itself and, above all, the good-nature of my Uncle Toby, sitting by from morning to night, and chatting kindly with the Corporal upon past done deeds-left labour little else but the ceremony of