But the careful Ant was in her nest,
With her little ones by her side;
She taught them all like herself to toil,
Nor mind the sneer of pride;

And I thought, as I sat at the close of the day,
Eating my bread and milk,

It was wiser to work and improve my time,
Than be idle and dress in silk.

GRATITUDE.

WE come, great God, with gladness,
Our humble thanks to bring;
With hearts yet free from sadness,
Our hymns of praise we sing;
Fruits, flowers, for us are glowing
In plenty round the land;
Like streams of bounty flowing,
Come mercies from thy hand.

Health, peace, and joy attend us,
Kind friends are ever near,
And thou, O God, dost send us

These gifts, these friends, so dear ·
And still we, in our blindness,

Enjoy, but disobey;

And yet thou, in thy kindness,

Turn'st not these gifts away.

And now, in childhood's morning,
Our hymns to thee we raise;
Thy love, our lives adorning,
Shall fill our hearts with praise.
Thy will henceforth, forever,
Shall be our constant guide;
From that straight path may never
Our footsteps turn aside.

THE WAY TO BE HAPPY.

How pleasant it is, at the end of the day,
No follies to have to repent;

To reflect on the past, and be able to say
That my time has been properly spent.

When I've done all my work with patience and

care,

And been good, and obliging, and kind,
I lie on my pillow, and sleep away there,
With a happy and peaceable mind.

But, instead of all this, if it must be confessed
That I careless and idle have been,

I lie down as usual to go to my rest,

But feel discontented within.

Then as I don't like all the trouble I've had,

In future I'll try to prevent it;

For I never am naughty without being sad,
Or good without being contented.

THE CLOSE OF THE DAY.

THE day is departed, and night has come on,
The beasts and the birds to their shelter are gone;
And children with weariness scarcely can keep
Their senses from slumber, their eyelids from sleep.

Ere darkness came over the earth like a cloud,
I heard the sweet birds singing joyful and loud;
They seemed to my mind to be thanking the Lord,
Who preserved and who fed them all day from his board.

Shall praises be sung by the bird and the brute?
Shall the robin be tuneful, and children be mute,

Who can see, feel, and speak; while the blossoms and

trees

Bear life, health, and blessings on every breeze?

No! let not a head on its pillow be prest,

No eyelid be closed, and no temple take rest,

Till praises and prayers have been offered to Heaven,

For the blessings of light and of life which are given.

THE CHILD'S WISH.

MOTHER, mother, the winds are at play,

Prithee, let me be idle to-day.

Look, dear mother, the flowers all lie

Languidly under the bright blue sky.

See how slowly the streamlet glides;
Look, how the violet roguishly hides;
Even the butterfly rests on the rose,
And scarcely sips the sweets as he goes.

Poor Tray is asleep in the noonday sun,
And the flies go about him one by one;
And pussy sits near, with a sleepy grace,
Without ever thinking of washing her face.

There flies a bird to a neighboring tree,
But very lazily flieth he,

And he sits and twitters a gentle note,
And scarcely ruffles his little throat.

You bid me be busy; but, mother, hear
How the humdrum grasshopper soundeth near,
And the soft west wind is so light in its play
It scarcely moves a leaf on the spray.

I wish, O, I wish I was yonder cloud,
That sails about with its misty shroud!
Books and work I no more should see,

And I'd come and float, dear mother, o er thec.

THE GREEDY FOX.

On a winter's night,

As the moon shone bright Two foxes went out for prey; As they trotted along, With frolic and song

They cheered their weary way.

Through the wood they went,
But they could not scent
A rabbit or goose astray;
But at length they came
To some better game,
In a farmer's barn by the way.

On a roost there sat

Some chickens, as fat

As foxes could wish for their dinners;

So the prowlers found

A hole by the ground,

And they both went in, the sinners!

They both went in,

With a squeeze and a grin,

And the chickens were quickly killed;

And one of them lunched,

And feasted, and munched,

Till his stomach was fairly filled.