FOR CHILDREN. 239

To them confirm these roofs,” he said,

And then he swore an oath so dread,

The stoutest wasp that wears a sword

Had trembled to have heard the word 5
“If law can rivet down entails,

These mansions ne'er shall pass to snails,

I swear”—and then he smote his ermine—~
« These towers were never built for vermin.”

A caterpillar grovelled near—

A subtle, slow, conveyancer,!

Who, summoned, waddles with his quill

To draw the haughty insect’s will ;

None but his heirs must own the spot,

No other creatures share the lot—

Each leaf he binds, each bud he ties

To eggs of eggs of butterflies :—

When lo! how fortune loves to teaze

Those who would dictate her decrees ;

A playful boy was passing by,

The wanton child beheld the fly,

And eager ran to seize the piey ;

But, too impetuous in his play,

Crushed the proud tenant of an hour,

And swept away the mansion-flower.

Horace Walpole.

 

THE SPARROWS AT COLLEGE.
FROM THE LATIN OF VINCENT BOURNE.
Nong ever shared the social feast,

Or as an inmate or a guest,

* Conveyancer=-a lawyer who draws up writings by which
property in land is transferred from one person to another.