Said John, "It is my wedding day,
And all the world would stare
If wife should dine at Edmonton
And I should dine at Ware."

So turning to his horse, he said,
"I am in haste to dine;

'Twas for your pleasure you came here,
You shall go back for mine."

Ah! luckless speech, and bootless boast,
For which he paid full dear;
For, while he spake, a braying ass
Did sing most loud and clear,—

Whereat his horse did snort, as he
Had heard a lion roar,

He gallop'd off with all his might,
As he had done before.

Away went Gilpin, and away
Went Gilpin's hat and wig;
He lost them sooner than at first,
For why?—they were too big.

Now Mistress Gilpin, when she saw
Her husband posting down

Into the country far away,

She pull'd out half-a-crown :

And thus unto the youth she said
That drove them to the Bell,

"This shall be yours when you bring back My husband safe and well."

The youth did ride, and soon did meet
John coming back amain,

Whom in a trice he tried to stop,

By catching at his rein;

G

But not performing what he meant
And gladly would have done,
The frighted steed he frighted more,
And made him faster run.

Away went Gilpin, and away
Went post-boy at his heels,

The post-boy's horse right glad to miss
The lumbering of the wheels.

Six gentlemen upon the road,
Thus seeing Gilpin fly,

With post-boy scampering in the rear,
They raised the hue and cry :-

"Stop thief! stop thief!—a highwayman!"
Not one of them was mute;
And all and each that pass'd that way
Did join in the pursuit.

And now the turnpike gates again
Flew open in short space;
The toll-men thinking as before,

That Gilpin rode a race.

And so he did, and won it too,

For he got first to town,

Nor stopp'd till where he had got up

He did again get down.

Now let us sing, long live the Queen!

And Gilpin long live he;

And, when he next doth ride abroad,
May we be there to see.

Cowper.

THE USE OF FLOWERS.

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
Requireth none to grow;

Nor doth it need the lotus-flower
To make the river flow.

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 who so careth for the flowers,

Will much more care for Him!

Mary Howitt.

THE YOUNG CHRISTIAN. HAPPY the child whose youngest years Receive instruction well;

Who hates the sinner's path, and fears The road that leads to hell.

When we devote our youth to God,
'Tis pleasing in His eyes;

A flower, when offer'd in the bud,
Is no vain sacrifice.

'Tis easier work, if we begin

To fear the Lord betimes; While sinners that grow old in sin Are hardened in their crimes.

"Twill save us from a thousand snares, To learn religion young;

Grace will preserve our future years.
And make our virtue strong.

Let the sweet work of prayer and praise
Employ my youngest breath;

Thus I'm prepared for longer days,
Or fit for early death.