ONCE on a time, a Paper Kite Was mounted to a wondrous height; Where, giddy with its elevation, It thus express'd self-admiration: "See how yon crowds of gazing people Admire my flight above the steeple; How would they wonder, if they knew All that a Kite, like me, could do? Were I but free, I'd take a flight, And pierce the clouds beyond their sight; But, ah! like a poor prisoner bound, My string confines me near the ground;

I'd brave the eagle's towering wing,
Might I but fly without a string."
It tugg'd and pull'd, while thus it spoke,
To break the string;-at last it broke!
Deprived at once of all its stay,
In vain it tried to soar away:
Unable its own weight to bear,
It flutter'd downward through the air;
Unable its own course to guide,

The winds soon plunged it in the tide.
Oh! foolish Kite, thou had'st no wing,
How could'st thou fly without a string?
My heart replied, "O Lord, I see
How much the Kite resembles me!
Forgetful that by thee I stand,

Impatient of thy ruling hand;

How oft I've wish'd to break the lines
Thy wisdom for my lot assigns!

How oft indulged a vain desire

For something more, or something higher! And but for grace and love divine,

A fall thus dreadful had been mine."

THE BUTTERFLY'S BIRTH DAY.

THE shades of night were scarcely fled,
The air was mild, the winds were still,
And slow the slanting sun-beams spread
O'er wood and lawn, o'er heath and hill.

From fleecy clouds of pearly hue
Had dropt a short, but balmy shower,
That hung, like gems of morning dew,
On ev'ry tree, on ev'ry flower:

And from the blackbird's mellow throat
Was poured so loud and long a swell,
As echoed with responsive note
From mountain-side, and shadowy dell.

When bursting forth to life and light,
The offspring of enraptured May,
The Butterfly, on pinions light,
Launched in full splendour on the day.

Unconscious of a mother's care,
No infant helplessness she knew,
But as she felt the vernal air,
At once to full perfection grew.

Her slender form, ethereal light,
Her velvet-textured wings enfold,
With all the rainbow's colours bright,
And dropt with spots of burnished gold.

Trembling with joy, awhile she stood,
And felt the sun's enlivening ray ;
Drank from the skies the vital flood,
And wondered at her plumage gay.

And balanced oft her broidered wings,
Through fields of air prepared to sail,
Then on her venturous journey springs,
And floats along the rising gale.

Go, child of pleasure! range the fields,
Taste all the joys that Spring can give;
Partake what bounteous Summer yields,
And live, while yet 'tis thine to live.

Go, sip the rose's fragrant dew,-
The lily's honey'd cup explore;
From flower to flower the search renew,

And rifle all the woodbine's store:

And let me trace thy vagrant flight,—
Thy moments too of short repose,
And mark thee then with fresh delight,
Thy golden pinions ope and close.

But hark! whilst yet I musing stand,
Pours on the gale an airy note,
And breathing from a viewless band,
Soft silvery tones around me float!

-They cease-but still a voice I hear,
A whispered voice of hope and joy,—
"Thy hour of rest approaches near;
Prepare thee, mortal! thou must die!

"Yet start not! on thy closing eyes
Another day shall still unfold,
A sun of milder radiance rise;
A happier age of joys untold.

"Shall the poor worm that shocks thy sight,
The humblest form in nature's train,
Thus rise in new-born lustre bright,

And yet the emblem teach in vain ?

"Ah! where were once her golden eyes,
Her glittering wings of purple pride?
Concealed beneath a rude disguise,
A shapeless mass, to earth allied.

"Like thee the hopeless reptile lived,
Like thee he toiled, like thee he spun;
Like thine his closing hour arrived,
His labour ceased, his web was done.

"And shalt thou, numbered with the dead,

No happier state of being know?

And shall no future morrow shed

On thee a beam of brighter glow?

"Is this the bound of power divine,
To animate an insect frame?

Or shall not He, who moulded thine,
Wake at his will the vital flame?

"Go, mortal! in thy reptile state
Enough to know to thee is given;
Go! and the joyful truth relate,

Frail child of earth! high heir of heaven!"

EMULATION.

ENDEAVOUR to be first in thy calling, whatever it be; neither let any one go before thee in welldoing: nevertheless, do not envy the merits of another, but improve thine own talents.

PRUDENCE.

HEAR the words of Prudence, give heed unto her counsels, and store them in thine heart: her maxims are universal, and all the virtues lean upon her: she is the guide and mistress of human life.

Put a bridle on thy tongue: set a guard before thy lips, lest the words of thine own mouth destroy thy peace.

Let him that scoffeth at the lame, take care that he halt not himself: whosoever speaketh of another's failings with pleasure, shall hear of his own with bitterness of heart.

Of much speaking cometh repentance, but in silence is safety.