50 MATERNAL AFFECTION. 



Doth she not sooth us, sick ; enrich us, poor, 

 And banish death and misery from our door ; 

 Doth she not cherish every moment's bliss 

 And make an Eden of a world like this ? 

 When care would strive with us his watch to keep, 

 Doth she not sing the snarling fiend to sleep ? 



CRABBE. 



I HAVE always much pleasure in watching the 

 unwearying and indefatigable exertions of swal- 

 lows, wag-tails, and other insectivorous birds, in 

 providing food for their young. Were it not for 

 the affection parents feel for their offspring, the 

 present sources of happiness, as regards the 

 human as well as the animal species, would be 

 annihilated. In order to keep alive this feeling, 

 two most powerful motives have been implanted 

 in females. I mean those of love and pity. No 

 sooner is the feeble and plaintive cry of distress 

 of their young heard by the parent, than these 

 two incentives are immediately called into action. 

 Pity prompts the female to afford the necessary 

 relief, and love renders the task, however arduous, 

 a pleasurable one. I never think of this inte- 

 resting fact, without admiring that law of nature, 

 or rather of a beneficent Creator, who has thus 

 provided for the wants of the young in their 



