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KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 

That here are not restor’d? All splendors pure, 
All loveliness, all graces that allure— 
Shapes that amaze—a paradise that is, 
Yet was not, will not in few moments be. 
Glory from nakedness, that playfully 
Mimics, with passing life, each summer boon : 
Clothing the ground, replenishing the tree; 
Weaving arch, bower, and radiant festoon, 
Still as a dream, and like a dream to flee. 
Then there are our little pensioners, the 
birds, to be kind to in our walks; and other 
little charitable acts to be performed before 
we return,—these, and we know not how 
many other pleasing occupations, make the 
days pass away so delightfully that Spring 
has arrived almost ere Winter has departed. 
We repeat it,—January is a cheerful and 
delightful month for all who have hearts to 
enjoy it, and the disposition to do good. 
We shall set a fair example in this matter. 
Let us hope it will be generally followed,— 
For, as the light 
Not only serves to show, but renders us 
Mutually profitable; so our lives, 
In acts exemplary, not only win 
Ourselves good names, but do to others give 
Matter for virtuous deeds, by which we live. 
FORGET THEE !—NEVER!! 

“Forget thee!””—If to dream by night, and muse 
on thee by day ; 
If all the worship deep and wild a poet’s heart 
can pay, 
If prayers in absence, breathed for thee to 
Heaven’s protecting power, 
If winged thoughts that flit to thee, a thousand 
in an hour, 
If busy Fancy blending thee with all my future 
lot, 
If this thou call’st “ forgetting,” thou indeed shalt 
be forgot ! 
“Forget thee ! ’—Bid the forest birds forget their 
sweetest tune, 
“Forget thee!”—Bid the sea forget to swell 
beneath the moon; 
Bid the thirsty flowers forget to drink the eve’s 
refreshing dew ; 
Thyself forget thine ‘own dear land” and its 
“mountains wild and blue ;” 
Forget each old familiar face, each long-remem- 
bered spot: 
When these things are forgot by thee, then thou 
shalt be forgot ! 
Keep, if thou wilt, thy maiden peace still calm 
and fancy free ; 
For God forbid thy gladsome heart should grow 
less glad for me; 
Yet, while that heart is still unwon, Oh! bid not 
mine to rove, 
But ie} it muse its humble faith and uncomplaining 
ove: 
If these preserved for patient years at last avail 
me not, 
Forget me, then;—but ne’er believe that tTHou 
canst be forgot ! J. M 


NATURE'S GIFT TO MAN AND BEAST. 

THE FOLLOWING, translated from the 
German, will bear reading more than once, 
twice, or thrice :— 
When the world was created—and all 
creatures assembled to have their lifetime 
appointed, the ass first advanced, and asked 
how long he would have to live. “ Thirty 
years,” replied Nature; “ will that be agree- 
able to thee?’ ‘ Alas!” answered the ass, 
“it is a long while! Remember what a 
wearisome existence will be mine; from 
morning until night I shall have to bear 
heavy burdens, dragging corn sacks to the 
mill, that others may eat bread; while I shall 
have no encouragement, nor be refreshed by 
anything but blows and kicks. Give me but 
a portion of that time, I pray!’ Nature was 
moved with compassion, and presented but 
eighteen years. 
The ass went away comforted, and the dog 
came forward. ‘“ How long dost thou require 
to live?” asked Nature. “ Thirty years were 
too many for the ass, but wilt thou be con- 
tented with them?” “Ts it thy will that 
it should?” replied the dog. “Thimk how 
much I shall have to run about ; my feet will 
not last for so long a time; and when I shall 
have lost my voice for barking, and my 
teeth for biting, what else shall I be fit for 
but to lie ina corner and growl?” Nature 
thought he was right, and gave him twelve 
years. 
The ape appeared. “ Thou wilt, doubtless, 
willingly live the thirty years,” said Nature ; 
“thou wilt not have to labor as the ass and 
the dog. Life will be pleasant to thee.” 
‘““Ah, no!’ cried he, “so it may seem to 
others, but it will not be! Should puddings 
ever rain down, I shall have no spoon! I 
shall play merry tricks, and excite laughter 
by my grimaces, and then be rewarded with 
a sour apple.” (How often sorrow lies con- 
cealed behind ajest!) “I shall not be able to 
endure for thirty years.” Nature was 
gracious, and he received but ten. 
At last came Man, healthy and strong, and 
asked the measure of hisdays. ‘‘ Will thirty 
years content thee?’ ‘‘ How short atime!” 
exclaimed Man. ‘* When I shall have built 
my house, and kindled a fire on my own 
hearth; when the trees I shall have planted 
are about to bloom and bear fruit ; when life 
will seem to me most desirable, I shall die! 
O Nature, grant me a longer period !” ‘* Thou 
shalt have the eighteen years of the ass be- 
side.” “That is not yet enough,” replied 
Man. ‘‘ Take likewise the twelve years of the 
dog.” “Itis not yet sufficient,” reiterated Man, 
“give me more!” “TI give thee, then, the 
ten years of the ape; in vain wilt thou crave 
more!” Man departed unsatisfied. ‘Thus 
Man lives seventy years. The first thirty 

