An Ass's FOAL had lost its dam No goblin he; no imp of sin; His little hoofs would rattle round The matron learn'd to love the sound That frightened her before. For many a laugh went through the Vale, And some conviction too: Each thought some other goblin tale, Perhaps, was just as true. Bloomfield. THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM. It was a summer evening, Old Kaspar's work was done, And he before his cottage door Was sitting in the sun, And by him, sporting on the green, She saw her brother Peterkin He came to ask what he had found That was so large, and smooth, and round. Old Kaspar took it from the boy, Who stood expectant by ; And then the old man shook his head, And heaved a natural sigh: "Tis some poor fellow's skull," said he, "Who fell in the great victory. I find them in the garden, For there's many here about: And often, when I go to plough, The ploughshare turns them out: For many thousand men," said he, "Were slain in that great victory." "Now tell us what 'twas all about," "Now tell us all about the war, "It was the English," Kaspar cried, 66 My father lived at Blenheim then, They burned his cottage to the ground, So with his wife and child he fled, "With fire and sword the country round Was wasted far and wide, And many a tender mother then, And new-born baby died: But things like that, you know, must be "They say it was a shocking sight After the field was won, For many a thousand bodies there Lay rotting in the sun: But things like that, you know, must be "Great praise the Duke of Marlboro' won, And our good Prince Eugene." “Why, 'twas a very wicked thing!” Said little Wilhelmine. Nay, nay, my little girl," quoth he, "It was a famous victory. "And everybody praised the duke Who this great fight did win." "But what good came of it at last?" Quoth little Peterkin. "Why, that I cannot tell," said he; "But 'twas a famous victory." Southey. THE DROWNED BOY. THE simple story I relate Is very sad but very true; A merry lad whom well I knew, |