It is a cold, wet, win-ter's night.
Ring the bell. John, stir up the fire;
Draw down the blinds; and shut the doors.
Come, my dears; come in, and take your seats.
Now, Mam-ma, what are we all to do?

Why, play your tunes, draw, or take your maps,
Or dress your doll, or what you will, till tea.
Then, James, I shall have a new book for you;
And we will get you to read in it to us,
While I and Jane and Em-ma work.

-What a sweet tale! Is it all true, Mam-ma?
I hope it is, as it does hon-our to our na-ture.
-Now, Charles, what piece can you re-peat?-
Ve-ry well; that will do:-good boy!
Now all put by your work, and play.
Jane, can you play at for-feits?
Can you play at blind-man's buff?
Can you hunt the slip-per ?-Yes.-
Oh, fie! not quite so noisy at your play.
What a fine long game you have had!
Go to bed.-Good night, Mam-ma.

D

THE CAT.

See, Ann, what a fine large cat !

Poor Puss! she purrs, and looks pleas-ed
Stroke her how sleek she is!
She is a very nice clean crea-ture.
What a soft fur skin she has!
Hen-ry, do not drive her a-way.
Take care; she has sharp claws.
If you are kind, she will not hurt you.
Tell Bet-ty to bring her some milk.
She is fond of those that feed her.
Cats catch mice by night.

'Tis said they see well in the dark.
Do not take her up in your lap.
Cats that are nurs-ed catch no mice.
She mews to go out: o-pen the door.

THE DOG.

George, here comes Mr. Bow-wow!
He barks; but he will not hurt you.
He does not much like the cat.
Puss puts up her back at him.
No; you must not growl, nor snap.
Now see how fond he is! pat him.
He wags his tail, and licks

my hand.
His name is Fi-do. Poor Fi-do!
Of all the beasts, wild or tame,
A dog is most the friend of man.
Though he fawns, he is not false.
He goes out with his mas-ter by day,
He takes care of the house by night.
But Fi-do must not come in-to the par-lour.
John, give him some bones in his ken-nel.

NIGHT.

Now the shades of e-ven-ing come on.
Not a co-lour, not a thing, can be seen.
Not a ray of light shines a-round,
But the ta-per in the dis-tant hut,
That gleams through the grove.
Not a voice is now to be heard,
Not a sound floats on the still air;
Save the coo-ing of the stock-dove,
The hum of the dron-ing bee-tle,
And the clack of the dis-tant mill.
E-ven the sheep-bell is now si-lent;
The lambs are still by their dams,
And the kine now cease to low.
The village sports are all hush-ed ;
The pea-sant is gone home to his cot.

MOONLIGHT.

See, my dears, what a fine night!
The Moon shines with her mild rays:
She is clear and white like sil-ver.
Her im-age seems to play on the wa-ter,
And her sha-dow a-mong the trees.
How bright the stars! how nu-mer-ous !
They rich-ly a-dorn the deep blue sky.
But the Moon seems larg-er and bright-er,
Like a large pearl a-mong di-a-monds.
The flee-cy clouds cap the high hills.
Now the owl flies a-broad, and hoots.
Hark! the night-in-gale be-gins her song:
This love-ly song-ster sits up-on a thorn,
And sweet-ly sings the live-long night.
I like to lis-ten to her va-ri-ed notes.