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The hearth swept clean, his partner smiling,
Upon the shining table smoaks

The frugal meal; while, time beguiling,
The ale the harmless jest provokes :

Ye inmates of the lofty dome,

Admire his lot-his children, playing,

To share his smiles around him flock, And faithful Tray, since morn that straying Trudg'd with him, till the village clock Proclaim'd the labourer's welcome home.

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The cheering faggot burnt to embers,
While Angels round their vigils keep,
That Power, that poor and rich remembers,
Each thanks, and then retires to sleep :

And now, the Lark climbs heav'n's high dome,
Fresh from repose, toil's kind reliever,
And furnish'd with his daily stock,
His dog, his staff, his keg, his beaver,
He travels, till the village clock

Sounds, sweet, the labourer's welcome home.

VII.

YOUNG WILLIAM, THE LABOURER.

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THE pride of the Village young William was

seen,

So mild in his temper, so comely in mien,

At church no one e'er was more constant than he,

Of his age, no one labour'd more hearty and

free.

He had enter'd, exulting, his twenty-fifth year, And a wife and a babe did his cottage endear, No vice nor excess had enfeebled his strength, And his years seem'd to promise to run their full length.

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"Twas his lot, with two others, in Harvest to

mow,

Who, by their rude strength, all his powers could out go,

And, the talk running high on the portion of work

To be done by the man who disdain'd e'er to shirk,

A trial of strength and of skill was agreed, And applause was to crown him who best should succeed;

With the first of the morn was the trial begun, And it ended when down in the west set the sun.

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From morn until eve, with his might and his main,

Young William encounter'd the veteran twain, He toil'd and he labour'd, and when the sun set, Young William these two season'd mowers had

beat;

But dear was his triumph, for, ah! the sunk sun Was an emblem too true of the course he had run, O'er-toil'd, his young frame had sustain'd a rude shock,

Tho' his health, ere that day, seem'd as firm as a rock.

A few weeks he linger'd, Consumption's chill hand

Had seiz'd on a frame unprepar'd to withstand; E'en the care and the kindness the Hospital

gave

Could not stay his quick course to the house of the grave.

Too late he lamented his fool-hardy boast,
And all his fair prospects so fatally crost;
His errors confess'd, hope arose in his mind,
And to God's gracious mercy his soul he
resign'd.

Oh! you,

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you, in the vigour of life's joyous prime, Whose industry, spirits and health keep due time, Be warn'd by Young William, nor, eager for

fame,

Destroy prematurely a strong healthy frame. And, you, who ere this some bad course have begun,

Love the virtues of William, his faults only shun; And if his example vain-glory restrain,

Nor his life, nor his death, is recorded in vain. J. P.

VIII.

PATTY.

BY WILLIAM HALLOWAY.

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WHEN morning first open'd her dew-dripping

eye,

And the tapers of night disappear'd,

been very properly called the sunshine of life."

But, in connection with these, we are to consider those other texts, which censure the very sentiments contained in the songs; as, where St. Paul, (1 Cor. xv. 32.) quotes the Epicurean maxim, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die”; and immediately adds, “Be not deceived: Evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame". (V. 33, 34.) Again, (1 Cor. vii. 29-32.) " I say, brethren, the time is short. It remaineth that" "they that weep, be as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it the fashion of this world passeth away. would have you without carefulness." (in 1 Peter. i. 17.) "Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." "The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober." (Do. iv. 7.) " Casting all your care upon him," (God,) "for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant." (Do. v. 7, 8.) These precepts teach a sobriety of mind, which, though quite consistent with cheerfulness and guarded mirth,

K

for

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So also,

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