TO A CHILD, ON HIS BIRTH-DAY.

BY MRS. HEMANS.

I.

WHERE sucks the bee now? summer is flying,
Leaves on the grass-plot, faded are lying;
Violets are gone from the grassy dell,

With the cowslip-cups, where the fairies dwell;
The rose from the garden hath passed away-
Yet this, happy fair boy! is thy natal-day.

II.

For love bids it welcome; the love which hath smiled Ever around thee, my gentle child!

Watching thy footsteps and guarding thy bed,

And pouring out joy on thy sunny head.

Roses may vanish, but this will stay

THE NEW CHILDREN IN THE WOOD.

An Hungarian Story.

BY THE AUTHOR OF THE LETTRE DE CACHET.'

ALTHOUGH in our own richly-cultivated and populous island, the various races of ferocious beasts have been totally exterminated, yet in many countries of Europe, where vast forests and inaccessible mountains afford them a secure refuge, wolves, and bears, and wild boars, still abound-threaten the unwary traveller, and render their haunts formidable to the peasants of the neighbourhood. During the winter months, when deep and prolonged snows tend to deprive the animals of their ordinary food, they are frequently known to descend into the villages in quest of prey; just as in England, foxes will steal by night into a farm-yard, and carry off the pride of the hen-roost in their treacherous paws.

But the wild beasts of the forests of which I am speaking, those, for instance, of Poland, Russia,

Hungary, or even Germany, are too powerful and too ferocious, to content themselves with such ignoble prizes and although they derive their usual sustenance from their weaker fellows of the woods; from the roebuck and the wild deer, the hare or the squirrel; wolves and bears will readily attack a man, or springing upon some poor child at its solitary play, will carry off its mangled body to the recesses of the forest.

Now the princes of those countries are generally at great pains to destroy such ravenous beasts; and in order to secure their subjects from the injuries arising from their predatory instincts, they attack the woods known to be infested by them, with packs of strong and fierce dogs; having previously stationed bands of armed men round the outskirts, to destroy them as they seek safety in flight. Besides these destructive hunts, they take a further measure of security, by erecting lodges at certain distances in the woods, which are inhabited by forstmeisters, or forest-masters, whose business is partly to inspect the growth and felling of the timber, and partly to keep their respective grounds free from all beasts of prey, and all reptiles injurious to the game.

These forest-masters are usually selected for