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"Well, then,-stop a bit,-it must not be for

gotten,

Some of these may be broken, and some may be

rotten;

But if twenty for accident should be detached,
It will leave me just sixty sound eggs to be

hatched.

"Well, sixty sound eggs,-no, sound chickens, I

mean:

Of these some may die,-we'll suppose seventeen, Seventeen! not so many,-say ten at the most, Which will leave fifty chickens to boil or to roast.

"But then there's their barley: how much will they need?

Why, they take but one grain at a time when they feed,

So that's a mere trifle; now then, let us see,

At a fair market price how much money there'll be.

"Six shillings a pair-five-four-three-and-six, To prevent all mistakes, that low price I will fix; Now what will that make? fifty chickens I said,Fifty times three-and-sixpence—I'll ask Brother Ned.

"O, but stop,-three-and-sixpence a pair I must sell 'em;

Well, a pair is a couple,-now then let us tell 'em; A couple in fifty will go (my poor brain!)

Why, just a score of times, and five pair will re

main.

"Twenty-five pair of fowls-now how tiresome it is

That I can't reckon up so much money as this!

Well, there's no use in trying, so let's give a

guess,

I'll say twenty pounds, and it can't be no less.

"Twenty pounds, I am certain, will buy me a cow, Thirty geese, and two turkeys,-eight pigs and a

SOW;

Now if these turn out well, at the end of the year, I shall fill both my pockets with guineas, 'tis clear."

Forgetting her burden, when this she had said, The maid superciliously tossed up her head; When, alas for her prospects! her milk-pail descended,

And so all her schemes for the future were ended. This moral, I think, may be safely attached,"Reckon not on your chickens before they are hatched."

28

"THERE'S A BOWER OF BEAN

VINES."

PHOEBE CAREY.

There's a bower of bean-vines in Benjamin's yard,

And the cabbages grow round it, planted for greens;

In the time of my childhood 'twas terribly hard To bend down the bean-poles, and pick off the beans.

That bower and its products I never forget,

But oft, when my landlady presses me hard,
I think, are the cabbages growing there yet,
Are the bean-vines still bearing in Benjamin's
yard?

No, the bean-vines soon withered that once used
to wave,

But some beans had been gathered, the last that
hung on,

And a soup was distilled in a kettle, that gave
All the fragrance of summer when summer was

gone.

Thus memory draws from delight, ere it dies,

An essence that breathes of it awfully hard:

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And thus good to my taste as 'twas then to my

eyes,

Is that bower of bean-vines in Benjamin's yard.

FLOWERS.

THOMAS HOOD.

I will not have the mad Clytie,
Whose head is turned by the sun;
The tulip is a courtly quean,
Whom, therefore, I will shun;
The cowslip is a country wench,
The violet is a nun;-
But I will woo the dainty rose,
The queen of every one.

The pea is but a wanton witch,
In too much haste to wed,
And clasps her rings on every hand;
The wolfsbane I should dread;
Nor will I dreary rosemarye,

That always mourns the dead:-
But I will woo the dainty rose,
With her cheeks of tender red.

The lily is all in white, like a saint,
And so is no mate for me;

And the daisy's cheek is tipped with a blush,
She is of such low degree;

Jasmine is sweet, and has many loves,

And the broom's betrothed to the bee;-
But I will plight with the dainty rose,
For fairest of all is she.

FATHER LAND AND MOTHER
TONGUE.

SAMUEL LOVER.

Our Father Land! and wouldst thou know
Why we should call it Father Land?
It is that Adam here below

Was made of earth by Nature's hand.
And he, our father made of earth,
Hath peopled earth on every hand;
And we, in memory of his birth,
Do call our country Father Land.

At first in Eden's bowers, they say,
No sound of speech had Adam caught,
But whistled like a bird all day,-

And maybe 'twas for want of thought.

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