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"Give her a fairy cake!" said one;

"Grant her a wish!" said three ; "The latest wish that she has wished," Said all, "whate'er it be !"

Kind Mabel heard the words they spoke,
And from the lonesome glen
Unto the good old grandmother
Went gladly back again.

Thus happened it to Mabel
On that Midsummer-day,
And these three fairy blessings
She took with her away.

'Tis good to make all duty sweet,
To be alert and kind;

'Tis good, like little Mabel,

To have a willing mind.

Mary Howitt.

THE SPIDER AND HIS WIFE.

In a little dark crack, half a yard from the ground,
An honest old Spider resided:

So pleasant, and snug, and convenient 'twas found,
That his friends came to see it from many miles round;
It seemed for his pleasure provided.

Of the cares, and fatigues, and distresses of life
This spider was thoroughly tired;

So, leaving those scenes of contention and strife,
His children all settled, he came with his wife
To live in this cranny retired.

He thought that the little his wife would consume
'Twould be easy for him to provide her,
Forgetting he lived in a gentleman's house
Where came every morning a maid and a broom,
Those pitiless foes to a spider.

For when (as sometimes it would chance to befall)
Just when his neat web was completed,

Brush came the great broom down the side of the wall,
And perhaps carried with it web, spider, and all,
He thought himself cruelly treated.

One day, when their cupboard was empty and dry,
His wife (Mrs. Hairy-leg Spinner)

Said to him, "Dear, go to the cobweb and try
If you can't find the leg or the wing of a fly,
As a bit of a relish for dinner."

Directly he went, his long search to resume,
For nothing he ever denied her,
Alas! little guessing his terrible doom;
Just then came the gentleman into his room,
And saw the unfortunate spider.

So, while the poor fellow, in search of his pelf,
In the cobwebs continued to linger,

The gentleman reached a long cane from the shelf,
For certain good reasons best known to himself
Preferring his stick to his finger.

Then presently poking him down to the floor,

Not stopping at all to consider,

With one horrid crush the whole business was o'er;

The poor little spider was heard of no more,

To the lasting distress of his widow.

Taylor.

THE LARK AND THE ROOK. "GOOD night, Sir Rook," said a little Lark, "The daylight fades, it will soon be dark; I've bathed my wings in the sun's last ray, I've sung my hymn to the dying day; So now I haste to my quiet nook

In yon dewy meadow; good night, Sir Rook."

"Good night, poor Lark," said his titled friend, With a haughty toss, and a distant bend;

"I also go to my rest profound,

But not to sleep on the cold damp ground;
The fittest place for a bird like me
Is the topmost bough of yon tall pine-tree.

"I opened my eyes at peep of day,

And saw you taking your upward way,
Dreaming your fond romantic dreams,
An ugly speck in the sun's bright beams,
Soaring too high to be seen or heard,
And said to my self, What a foolish bird!

"I trod the park with a princely air,

I filled my crop with the richest fare;

I caw'd all day 'mid a lordly crew,

And I made more noise in the world than you.

The sun shone forth on my ebon wing;

I looked and wondered: good night, poor thing!"

"Good night, once more," said the Lark's sweet voice; "I see no cause to repent my choice:

You build your nest in the lofty pine,

But is your slumber more soft than mine?
You make more noise in the world than I,
But whose is the sweetest minstrelsy?"

LITTLE CHRISTIAN.

COME hither, little Christian,
And hearken unto me!

I'll teach thee what the daily life
Of a Christian child should be.

When a Christian child awaketh,

He should think of God in heaven,

And softly say, "I thank Thee, Lord, For the sleep which Thou hast given."

He must say when he ariseth,
"From evil and from harm
Defend Thy little child, O Lord,
With Thine everlasting arm."

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With closed eyes and humble voice

His holy prayers are said:

And as he thus approacheth
The God of heaven above,
He looketh down, and smileth on
This little child in love.

He goeth from his chamber

To his work or to his play;

But the prayers that he hath prayed
He must keep in mind all day.

He hath asked to be obedient,
And so he must fulfil
His parents' bidding cheerfully,

With a glad mind and will.

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