Though in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty shall my pains beguile:
The barren wilderness shall smile,
With sudden greens and herbage crown'd,
And streams shall murmur all around.

3. THE POOR MOUSE's PETITION, Found in the Trap where he had been confined all Night. By Mrs. BARBAULD.

OH! hear a pensive prisoner's prayer,

For liberty that sighs;

And never let thine heart be shut

Against the wretch's cries.

For here forlorn and sad I sit
Within the wiry grate;

And tremble at th' approaching morn,
Which brings impending fate.

If e'er thy breast with freedom glow'd,
And spurn'd a tyrant's chain,
Let not thy strong oppressive force
A free-born mouse detain.

Oh! do not stain with guiltless blood,
Thy hospitable hearth,

Nor triumph that thy wiles betray'd
A prize so little worth.

So, when destruction lurks unseen,
Which men, like mice may share;
May some kind angel clear thy path,
And break the hidden snare!

I WOULD not enter on my list of friends
(Though grac'd with polish'd manners and fine sense,
Yet wanting sensibility) the man

Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.
An inadvertent step may crush the snail
That crawls at ev'ning in the public path;
But he that has humanity, forewarn'd,
Will tread aside, and let the reptile live.
For they are all, the meanest things that are,
As free to live and to enjoy that life,
As God was free to form them at the first,
Who in his sov'reign wisdom made them all.

6. OMNIPOTENCE.

By Addison.

THE spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim:
Th' unwearied sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's power display,
And publishes to every land
The work of an Almighty hand.

Scon as the evening shades prevail,
The moon takes up the wond'rous tale,
And, nightly, to the list ning earth,
Repeats the story of her birth:

While all the stars that round her burn,
And all the planets, in their turn,
Confess the tidings as they roll,

And spread the truth from pole to pole.
What though in solemn silence all
Move round this dark terrestrial ball;
What though no real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found;"
In Reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice;
For ever singing, as they shine,
"The Hand that made us is divine.'

ine."/

7. THE UNIVERSAL LAW. From BARROW's Young Christian's Library. BLESSED Redeemer, how divine,

How righteous is this rule of thine:
Never to deal with others worse

Than we would have them deal with us ! .

This golden lesson, short and plain,

Gives not the mind or mem'ry pain;
And ev'ry conscience must approve
This universal law of love.

'Tis written in each mortal breast,
Where all our tend'rest wishes rest;
We draw it from our inmost veins,
Where love to self resides and reigns.
Is reason ever at a loss?-

Call in self-love to judge the cause;
And let our fondest passion show,

How we should treat our neighbours too.

How blest would every nation prove,

Thus rul'd by equity and love!

All would be friends without a foe,

And form a paradise below.