1.

2.

8.

82. A PARENTAL ODE TO MY INFANT SON.

THOU happy, happy elf!!

(But stop-first let me kiss away that teer)—
Thou tiny image of myself!

(My love, he's poking peas into his ear)—

Thou měrry, laughing sprite!' with spirits feather light,
Untouch'd by sorrow, and unsoil'd by sin-

(Good heavens! the child is swallowing a pin !)—

Thou little tricksy Puck,*

With antic toys so funnily bestuck,

Light as the singing bird that wings the air,
(The door! the door! he'll tumble down the stair!)
Thou darling of thy sire!

(Why, Jane, he'll set his pinafore afire!)

Thou imp of mirth and joy!

In love's dear chain so strong and bright a link,
Thou idol of thy parents-(Drat the boy!

There goes my ink!)

Thou cherub-but of earth!

Fit playfellow for fays by moonlight pale,
In harmless sport and mirth,

(The dog will bite him if he pulls its tail!)
Thou human humming-bee, extracting honey
From every blossom in the world that blows,
Singing in youth's Elysium" ever sunny,
(Another tumble-that's his precious nose!)
Thy father's pride and hope!

(He'll break the mirror' with that skipping-rope!)
With pure heart newly stamp'd from nature's mint,"
(Where did he learn that squint?)

Sprite,

'Elf, a fairy; a fancied wandering spirit.-Ti' ny, small. spirit - Půck, Robin Good-Fellow, and Friar Rush, were names applied many years ago to a mischievous little fairy, or wanderer of the night. Shakspeare, in the "Midsummer Night's Dream," has beautifully depicted his character and attributes. Fays, fairies.- Elysium (e liz' e um), a place of delight, as the ancients believed, for happy souls after death; any delightful place.-' Mir' ror, looking-glass.-- Mint, a place where money is coined.

4.

Thou young domestic dove!

(He'll have that jug off with another shove!)
Dear nursling of the hymene'al' nest!
(Are those torn clothes his best?)

Little epitome of man!

(He'll climb upon the table, that's his plan!)
Tonch'd with the beauteous tints of dawning life,
(He's got a knife!)

Thou enviable being!

No storms, no clouds, in thy blue sky foreseeing,
Play on, play on, my elfin John!

5. Toss the light ball-bestride the stick,
(I knew so many cakes would make him sick!)
With fancies buoyant as the thistle down,
Prompting the face grotesque, and antic brisk,
With many a lamb-like frisk,

6.

(He's got the scissors, snipping at your gown.)

Thou pretty opening rose !

(Go to your mother, child, and wipe your nose!)
Balmy, and breathing music like the south,
(He really brings my heart into my mouth!)
Fresh as the morn, and brilliant as its star,
(I wish that window had an iron bar!)
Bold as the hawk, yet gentle as the dove-
(I'll tell you what, my love,

I can not write unless he's sent above!)

THOMAS HOOD

83. THE MISER.

Lovegold. Where have you been? I have wanted you above an hour.

James. Whom do you want, sir,-your coachman or your cook for I am bōth one and t'other.

Love. I want my cook.

'Hy men è' al, relating to marriage.- E pit' o me, an abridgment. ; a small copy.- Buoyant (bwai' ant), light; bearing up.-Grotesque (gro těsk'), wildly formed; laughable; odd.

James. 1 thought, indeed, it was not your coachmar; for you have had no great occasion for him since your last pair of horses were starved; but your cook, sir, shall wait upon you in an instant. (Puts off his coachman's great-coat, and appears as a cook.) Now, sir, I am ready for your commands.

Love. I am engaged this evening to give a supper.

James. A supper, sir! I have not heard the word this half year; a dinner, indeed, now and then; but for a supper I'm almost afraid, for want of practice, my hand is out.

Love. Leave off your saucy jesting, and see that you provide a good supper.

James. That may be done with a good deal of money, sir.

Love. Is the mischief in you? Always money! Can you say nothing else but money, money, money? My children, my servants, my relations, can pronounce nothing but money.

James. Well, sir; but how many will there be at table?

Love. About eight or ten; but I will have a supper dressed but for eight; for if there be enough for eight, there is enough for ten.

James. Suppose, sir, at one end, a handsome soup; at the other, a fine Westphalia' ham and chickens; on one side, a fillet3 of veal; on the other, a turkey, or rather a bustard,3 which may be had for about a guinea1–

Love. Zounds! is the fellow providing an entertainment for lord mayor and the court of aldermen ?

my
James. Then a ragout-

Love. I'll have no ragout. Would you burst the good people, you dog?

James. Then pray, sir, say what will you have?

Love. Why, see and provide something to cloy their stomachs: let there be two good dishes of thin soup; a large suet pudding, some dainty, fat pork-pie, very fat; a fine, small lean

1 Westphalia (West få' le a), a province of Prussia in which horsescattle, sheep, and hogs are numerous, and the last named furnish the celebrated Westphalian hams.-2 Fil' let, the fleshy part of the thigh. —3 Bůs' tard, a large bird.- Guin' ea, a former English gold coin, worth somewhat more than five dollars. Ragout (rå gå') a highly seasoned dish or food Cloy, to overload; to glut; to satisfy; to fill to loathing.

5

breast of mutton, and a large dish with two artichokes. There;

that's plenty and variety.

James. Oh, dear—

Love. Plenty and variety.

James. But, sir, you must have some poultry.'

Love. No; I'll have none.

James. Indeed, sir, you should.

Love. Well, then,-kill the old hen, for she has done laying, James. Mercy! sir, how the folks will talk of it; indeed, people say enough of you already.

Love. Eh! why, what do the people say, pray?

James. Oh, sir, if I could be assured you would not be angry. Love. Not at all; for I'm always glad to hear what the world says of me.

James. Why, sir, since you will have it, then, they make a jest of you everywhere; nay, of your servants, on your account. One says, you pick a quarrel with them quarterly, in order to find an excuse to pay them no wages.

Love. Poh! poh!

James. Another says, you were taken one night stealing your own oats from your own horses.

Love. That must be a lie; for I never allow them any.

James. In a word, you are the by-word everywhere; and you are never mentioned, but by the names of covetous, stingy, scraping, old

Love. Get along, you impudent villain!

James. Nay, sir, you said you wouldn't be angry.

Love. Get out, you dog! you

IN

HENRY FIELDING.

84. MOUNT VERNON IN 1759.

his letter from Mount Vernon, Washington writes: “I am now, I believe, fixed in this seat, with an agreeable partner, for life, and I hope to find more happiness in retirement, than I ever experienced in the wide and bustling world."

'Poul' try, fowls; hens; geese; turkeys, &c.-2 Mount Vår' non, Virginia, the former residence of Washington, on the west side of the Potomac, eight miles below Alexandria. It contains the mansion and

tomb of the "Father of his Country."

2. This was no Utopian' dream, transiently indulged amid the charms of novelty. It was a deliberate purpose with him, the result of innate and enduring inclination. Throughout the whōle course of his career, agricultural life appears to have been his beau ideal of existence, which haunted his thoughts even amid the stern duties of the field, and to which he recurred with unflagging interest, whenever enabled to indulge his natural bias."

3. Mount Vernon was his harbor of repose, where he repeatedly furled his sail, and fancied himself anchored for life. No impulse of ambition tempted him thence; nothing but the call of his country, and his devotion to the public good. The place was endeared to him by the remembrance of his brother Law. rence, and of the happy days he had passed here, with that brother, in boyhood; but it was a delightful place in itself, and well calculated to inspire the rural feeling.

4. The mansion was beautifully situated on a swelling height, crowned with wood, and commanding a magnificent view up and down the Potomac. The grounds immediately about it were laid out somewhat in the English taste. The estate was apportioned into separate farms, devoted to different kinds of culture,' each having its allotted laborers. Much, however, was still covered with wild-woods, seamed with deep dells and runs of water, and indented with inlets-haunts of deer, and lurkingplaces of foxes.

5. The whole woody region along the Potomac, from Mount Vernon to Belvoir, and far beyond, with its range of forests and hills, and picturesque promontories,' afforded sport of various kinds, and was a noble hunting-ground. Washington had hunted through it with old Lord Fairfax in his stripling days:

'U to'pi an, ideal; fanciful; having no real existence. Utopia is a name given by Sir Thomas More to a fancied island, in which every thing was perfection. The term is derived from two Greek words, meaning "no place.' 2 Transiently (trån' shent li), for a short time; soon passing away.- -In nåte', born in a person.- -* Beau ideal (bởi dè al),

ideal beauty; a model of excellence in the mind or fancy.- Bl' as, inclination.- 6 Mag nifi cent, imposing; grand in appearanee.-' Culture (kůlt' yer), cultivation; manner of improving.- Picturesque (piktyer esk'), presenting that peculiar kind of beauty which is agreeable in a picture. Prom' on to ries, high lands extending into the sea; headlands.-20 Strip' ling, boyish.