"My dears," fays fhe, " we are betray'd;
Liften, and be upon the watch,
Mind what the farmers fay

From day to day,

And bring it me. A little eaves-dropping
Is, now and then, a very useful thing."
The little birds rouz'd from their stupid fleeping;
And being very perfect for their

In the bleft fyftem of espionage;
Leaning half o'er the nest

age

Their fpeckled toad-like breast,

By day, by night, were now alert and peeping. Next morning, fure enough, the farmer came, Himself and fon. Quoth he" We're much to blame; This corn our husbandry difgraces, So bearded, ripe, and brittling in our faces; Next morn to cut it we'll begin,

And therefore call our neighbours in: "Tis a rare crop !" he said, and walk'd away. The little Larks, in wild difmay,

Before they went to bed,

In terror told what he had faid.

"This time you need not fear," Mamma replies;
"Truft what I fay, by long experience wife."
And fo it proved. The neighbours, huffed and chaffed,
A civil answer scarce vouchfafed:

They leave their dinners and their ale,
Sweating beneath the fun of July,
To help two clumfy boors! A likely tale!
Hodge had forgot his diftance, truly.
Hodge fcratched his head." Well, let it be!
We now our real friends shall fee:"
For many a friend the farmer had,
Who all to ferve him would be glad ;
And eating kin, and Christmas coufins,
The farmer reckoned them by dozens-
"Go, tell our friends it must be done,
(This job) before next Friday's fun."

The

The friends and kinsmen promised meeting,` And fent him many a cordial greeting. The little Larks ware now quite fure They in a hurry muft decamp. "Peace!" faid the parent; "be fecure That yet you need not tramp: This buftle only ferves to make me laugh; Old birds, like me, are never caught with chaff." Next morn a number of excuses came : Friend Ralph was feized a little lame; Friend Simon gone to fell his mare; Hob to buy cheese at Stourbridge fair: Some were detain'd within their houses, For fear of fever, by their spouses; And coufin John declar'd 'twas plain The glass foretold a deal of rain : "Twas not, he thought, with sky so fickle, A proper time to use the fickle.

"My fon," faid Hodge, now undeceiv'd, "A ufeful leffon we've receiv'd:

Do thou, before to-morrow's dawn,
For thee and me two fickles bring;

We'll help ourselves, whate'er betide."
"Now, now, 'tis time," the old one cried,

"That we were on the wing:

This was the only ftroke I fear'd,"

She faid; and all, before the day appear'd,

Moft wifely were withdrawn.

My tale, I know, is fomewhat old :
We'll try the moral to unfold.

You, who have feather'd well your neft,
Scrips, Placemen, Penfioners, and Co.,
Living in eafe and clover bleft;

I grieve to fee you fretting fo,
Running diftractedly about and frightened,
At every falfe alarm by fancy heightened;
"Tis, without question,

Exceeding bad for your digestion:

Wherefore,

Wherefore, I beg you, hear a little reason,
And keep your terrors for the proper season.
When in petitions formed to foothe and flatter,
Beginning with Moft Gracious!

Its loving fubjects hope that government
Will, in its wifdom, give them full content,
Redreffing all that is vexatious;

"Let not your noble courage be caft down,"
Sons of the filk or the prunella gown!
Its wisdom scarce will ftir about the matter.
I hope you do not think 'twas meant,
(A thing fo facred and fo high)
To drudge and labour for the good
Of the poor Swinish Multitude,
Juft like an eagle ftooping to a fly.
Their coarse petitions they'll be fcarcely able
To bear upon the table;

No, no, depend upon't, your doom
Will never from this quarter come.
Nor yet, when opposition-patriots warm,
Raifing of eloquence a storm,

In fpeech and writings bold,

Tell us we're bought and fold,

And thunder out Reforms

Need you with fretting, or with fear, grow thinner? You will not lofe one corporation dinner :

Their tropes are good, it is divine to hear them;
I only fay-you need not fear them.

But fhould the people once begin,
Themselves to put the fickle in;

(The fickle-mind, I fay no more,
For fear of mifrepresentation ;)
O fhould John Bull himself prepare,
Of his own crop to take the care,
He, and his sturdy fons together,

Coarse-grain'd, who fear nor wind nor weather,
Your golden days indeed are o'er :

To borough-jobbing then adieu
Loans, contracts too,

;

Sn:

Snug finecures, and penfions, all, good bye!
"No fong, no fupper," then will be the cry:
And foon you'll be no more, I guess,
Than ci-devants, or French Nobleffe.

O

FRENCH IMPIETY.

F all the impieties that have been imputed to the French, the following, which appeared in one of the Paris papers, is perhaps the most abominableConverfation between a young Prieft and an old.

The

young Prieft.-What are you doing, Brothers? I am indignant

The old Prieft-Against whom?

Y. Againft every body, and against you.

O. What have I done to offend you ?

Y. You have married, and ask me this question! O. Love of morals and of my country induced me to marry. It is faid, and not without reason, that he who has not a wife of his own, reckons little on the wives of his neighbours; and this fcandal I wifhed to avoid. Befides, freemen cannot be too much multiplied; and I am defirous of contributing my mite, according to God's command.

Y. You are a Schifmatic.

O. That I am not; for I fide with the great family of fociety.

Y. You are unworthy of being a Priest.

O. Admitted: I do not expect to be one long. Y. And if each of us were to do as you do, who would pray for the faithful?

O. Nobody; which would induce the faithful to pray for themfelves.

Ý. And who would fing the praises of the Lord?
Q. Those who wish to praise the Lord.

Y. Who would confefs?

O. People would do as in the primitive times of Christianity; they would confefs to one another.

Y. Who

Y. Who would say Mafs?

O. Jefus Chrift never inftituted Mafs.
Y. Who would marry?

O. The Magiftrate.

Y. Who would baptize?

O. The firft Chriftian that came in the way, as the Church empowers every Chriftian to do.

Y. Who would bury?

O. That the Civil Magiftrate is to look to.

Y. To hear you, the people might do without Priefts.

O. If the people think fo, I have no objection.
Y. And to what would you reduce religion?
O. To morality.

Y. But if our laws and institutions should teach morality, religion would then be useless.

O. Abfolutely, in your fenfe of the word. To love and to ferve our country, to be juft to our fellow-citizens, is to do all that is moft agreeable to man and to God.

Y. You are an innovator.

O. By no means; for my opinion was the fame when we had Grand Almoners and Cardinals.

Y. God will punish you.

O. He has the power; but I honour him too much, to be afraid that he will.

Y. What! no more Priefts!

O. I do not fay that we will have no more Priests; 1 fay only that we can do without them.

Y. Why! this is precisely what ought not to be faid; for if the people once believe that they can do without Priefts, they will do without them.

O. So much the worfe for the Priefts.

Y. You are an impious wretch! an Atheist! and you will repent the hand you have had in contributing to make the French unhappy in the world to come. O. I will confole myself with feeing them free and happy in this world.

MILITARY