F.-"Now hush thee my darling, thy terrors appease; "Thou hear'st, mid the branches, where murmurs the breeze."

E. K.-" Oh! baby, sweet baby, with me go away!

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'My daughter shall nurse you, so fair and so gay; "My daughter, in purple and gold who is dress'd, "Shall tend you, and kiss you, and sing you to rest!"

C.-"Oh! father! my father! and dost thou not see "The Erl-King and his daughter are waiting for me?" F.-"Oh! shame thee, my darling, 'tis fear makes thee blind:

"Thou see'st the dark willows which wave in the wind."

E. K.-"I love thee! I doat on thy face so divine! "I must and will have thee, and force makes thee mine !"

C.-"

"My father! my father! oh! hold me now fast! "He pulls me! he hurts, and will have me at last!"'

The father he trembled, he doubled his speed; O'er hills and through forests he spurr'd his black steed;

But when he arrived at his own castle door,

Life throbb'd in the sweet baby's bosom no more.

M. G. L.

To Miss Mac A.

Sweet maid of Erin! from the tuneless string,
Which long upon the willow bough has hung;
How can a feeble hand attempt to bring

Such music, as in earlier days was flung

From the wild harp, in youth's bewitching prime, When Love and Hope wav'd their resplendent wings, Nor had the sad realities of time

With sorrow's rust marr'd their melodious strings.

Yet there are lovelier notes than these, to charm
The withering power of nature—and to give
A power, even death, of terror to disarm-
Which, when all earthly music dies-shall live,
And in its full, its blest accordance, rise

To swell the eternal anthems of the skies.

MRS. R. MILLER.

HUMOROUS PIECES.

The Three Black Crows.

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Two honest tradesmen, meeting in the Strand,
One took the other, briskly, by the hand;
Hark-ye, said he, 'tis a strange story this
About the crows !—I don't know what it is,
Replied his friend-No! I'm surpris'd at that;
Where I come from it is the common chat;
But you shall hear; an odd affair indeed!
And that it happen'd, they are all agreed.
A gentleman that lives not far from 'Change,
This week, in short, as all the alley knows,
Taking a puke, has thrown up three black crows.
Impossible!-Nay, but it's really true;

I have it from good hands, and so may you—
From whose, I pray ?—So having nam'd the man,
Straight to inquire his curious comrade ran.
Sir, did you tell-relating the affair-

Yes, Sir, I did; and if it's worth your care,

Ask Mr. Such-a-one, he told it me,

But, by the bye, 'twas two black crows, not three. Resolv'd to trace so wondrous an event,

Quick to the third the virtuoso went.

Sir-and so forth-Why yes; the thing is fact,
Tho', in regard to number, not exact ;
It was not two black crows, 'twas only one,
The truth of that you may depend upon;
The gentleman himself told me the case—
Where may I find him?—Why in such a place.
Away he goes and having found him out,
Sir, be so good as to resolve a doubt—
Then to his last informant he referr'd,

And begg'd to know if true, what he had heard ;
Did you, Sir, throw up a black crow ?—Not I-
Bless me! how people propagate a lie!

Black crows have been thrown up, three, two, and one
And here I find all comes at last to none;
Did you say nothing of a crow at all?
Crow-Crow-perhaps I might; now I recall
The matter over-And, pray, Sir, what was't?-
Why I was horrid sick, and, at the last,
I did throw up, and told my neighbour so,
Something, that was—as black, Sir, as a crow.

BYR

The Razor Seller.

A FELLOW in a market town,

Most musical cried razors up and down, And offered twelve for eighteen-pence; Which certainly seemed wondrous cheap, And for the money quite a heap,

As every man would buy with cash and sense.

A country bumpkin the great offer heard:

Poor Hodge who suffered by a broad black beard, That seemed a shoe-brush stuck beneath his nose : With cheerfulness the eighteen-pence he paid, And proudly to himself, in whispers, said, "This rascal stole the razors, I suppose.

"No matter if the fellow be a knave, "Provided that the razors shave;

"It certainly will be a monstrous prize."

So home the clown, with his good fortune went, Smiling in heart and soul, content,

And quickly soap'd himself to ears and eyes.

Being well lathered from a dish or tub,
Hodge now began with grinning pain to grub