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Poor little bird! how hard you earn

A dwelling for thy infant care;
Poor bird! how often dost thou mourn

Thy home, made desolate and bare:
A thousand times thy wings are spread,
Hunger thou feel'st and loss of rest,
Ere with stern patience thou has made,
With moss or wool, thy humble nest.

And then the spoiler comes! he comes,
With eager haste and cunning eye,
Regardless of thy fluttering plumes,

Thy anxious arts, thy piercing cry-
O Youth! thoughtless in deed and word,
So reckless-careless in thy glee-
The Power who made that little bird

Gave life, and breath, and strength to thee'

Thou 'st home, and friends, and parents good,

The loved-the loving by thy side,— The household hearth, the plenteous food, And all thy many wants supplied; Whilst the poor bird the blast sustainsThe rain-the whirlwind's bitter ireAnd when the icy winter reigns,

It has no dwelling, food, or fire!

Thou lov'st its song, its happy song,

It sings when summer breezes blow;
And wouldst thou seize its helpless young
And fill its tuneful note with wo?
O! wouldst thou rend the little joy,

The parent bliss all creatures feel?
Ah!-no!-'t were cruel, thoughtless, boy,
To wound when we've no power to heal.

The day may come-the joyous day

To give thy blessing to thy child;
Dwore thy firstling stol'n away,
How would thy grief be reco.ciled?
By memory of the rifled nest!

The bird's lament-so like thy tone!
The anguish that contains no rest!
The wild cry-now-now all thy own!

-Youth! forbear all treacherous arts;
Joy,
based upon another's
s wo,

A brief, frail pleasure but imparts—
Man should all cruelty forego.
Praise Him, who gave thee life and light,,
A home of peace, a bower of rest,
And, gazing on the poor bird's flight,
Herm not its young, nor rob its nest!

LAURA SEYMOUR. CHAPTER II.

Mr. Seymour had very fully acquainted his sister with the inequality and violence of Laura's temper;-at least, as fully as he was himself acquainted with it; but his representation fell so far short of the reality -so far short of what Mrs. Clifford now beheld, that for a few moments she stood gazing on the child with astonishment and horror. She then gently and tenderly expostulated with her, but all to no purpose; and finally, left her alone, telling her that when she could feel more calmly, herself and her daughters would rejoice to see her in the parlour. Mrs. Clifford had given Laura her father's parting message, and from her manner of receiving it, as well as from all the rest of her behavior, she was led to suspect the real truth of the case. She returned to her own girls with a heart ill at ease; and but for the sake of her brother, and the hope of doing good to his child, she would have bitterly regretted the task she had undertaken.

Breakfast was offered to Laura, but was angrily refused. Word was sent when the dinner hour arrived, but she would not go down. By tea-time, however, hunger and a dislike of solitude, overcame her determination to remain by herself, and she sullenly entered the parlour and took her seat at the table. No notice was taken of all that had passed. By various little acts of

kindness, Mrs. Clifford and the girls endeavored to win on her regard, but in vain, she remained silent and repulsive. Even when the family were preparing to separate for the night, and Elizabeth and Harriet, according to their usual custom, joined their sweet voices with their mother's in the solemn and beautiful chorus,-"Teach us thy way, O Lord, and we will walk in thy truth: O unite our hearts to fear thy name," Laura's heart continued filled with unsubdued and unholy passions.

The next morning her cousins called to her and invited her to join them in an early walk; she consented, but seemed resolutely determined at every step to find occasion of offence and quarrel. The day passed heavily. Mrs. Clifford assigned some light and pleasing occupations to her niece, but she refused to attend to them; and in reply to her aunt's gentle admonitions, haughtily assured her that she had no need to work. The evening's mail brought letters from Mr. Seymour, the contents of which were indeed most unexpected. On his return home, he had found despatches from India stating the failure of a house, with which he was much connected, and by which his own affairs were deeply involved. His immediate presence was necessary, and rapidly making his arrangements, he had taken passage in a vessel which was to sail the next day. He told Laura he had carefully attended to the comfort and happiness of her old nurse, and had placed her at board in a place very agreeable to her, till he should return. The remainder of the servants were dismissed, and the house was rented.

The letter contained all that a fond father could say to an only and beloved child. He besought her to cultivate her talents,

but above all things to strive to subdue her hitherto ungovernable passions, and obtain the blessing of a meek and quiet spirit. He concluded with fervently commending his child to the care of Him who is nearer than father or mother.

Poor Laura was indeed ill able to bear the sad intelligence of her father's departure, and the next morning found her seriously ill and unable to leave her bed. For many days she lay insensible to all the kindness that was shown her. She would rave of her father, her nurse, and her own home; and would scream, "I will not go away,-uo one shall take me to India." At length, however, when consciousness was restored--when she knew her aunt and cousins, and felt their hands smoothing her pillow, and their kind voices continually inquiring after her wants and comforts, a great change took place in all her feelings. "O, do forgive me,-do try to love me," she softly whispered to her aunt, while her fine eyes filled with tears. "Help me to be like my cousins,-help me to be good." Mrs. Clifford tenderly assured Laura of her love, and of her earnest desire to do all in her power for her improvement. She also reminded her that they must both look constantly to Him, from whom is all goodness, for assistance in their endeavors for her reformation.

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heart seemed to animate the whole family. At the hour of evening worship, Laura's voice could now join with those of her kind friends, in sweet and holy strains to the praise of her Creator.

Letters were occasionally received from Mr. Seymour; he was prospered in his affairs, and at the expiration of two years returned home. The feelings of delight, with which he once more beheld his only child can perhaps be imagined; but the transport, the thankfulness, with which he found her so altered-so improved, cannot be described.

He passed some little time at his sister's, and then proceeded to have his own house put in order for his reception. After some hesitation he succeeded in persuading Mrs. Clifford and her daughters to make one family with himself and Laura, and it was agreed that they should all pass the winter at Mr. Seymour's residence in town, while the summer months should bring them to Mrs. Clifford's beautiful dwelling in the country.

Laura's old nurse was reinstated in the apartment she had formerly occupied, and she appeared not to perceive that she did not now possess all the authority she had formerly done.

Treated at all times with gentleness and affection by Laura, her attachment to her knew no bounds; and she was often heard to declare that though she had felt sadly afraid she should find her dear child altered after her long visit in the country, she did not see but she was as kind and good as

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ever.

The rest of Laura's acquaintance found she had indeed greatly altered; and those who had hitherto dreaded and avoided, now esteemed and loved her.

THE MANNERS OF THE JEWS, No. VIII.

FOOD.

From what we read in the Bible, it is clear that the diet, or food of the Jews was very simple and plain. It was chiefly bread, milk, honey, rice, and vegetables. John the Baptist is said to have fed upon locusts and wild honey. The locusts are insects like grasshoppers in shape, but much larger. They fly in vast numbers together, and devour the green herbs; see Joel i. 4. We read that the bees made their combs in any hollow place, as the clefts of rocks, Deut. xxxii. 13. Psa. lxxxi. 16. in hollow trees, 1 Sam. xiv. 25. and even in the carcass of a lion, Judg. xiv, 8. or rather among the bones, for the flesh must have been consumed.

Our blessed Lord ate some honey when he appeared to his disciples, Luke xxiv. 42. to show them that his body was actually raised from the grave. Honey is mentioned in many other texts. The land of Canaan is described as a land flowing with milk (which includes butter) and honey, Exod. iii. 8. Jer. xi. 5. &c.; these are still considcred dainties by the Arabs. D'Arvieux tells

us that one of the principal delicacies with which the Arabs regaled themselves at breakfast, is cream, or new butter, perhaps something like the clotted cream used in the west of England, mixed with honey.

The Jews seldom had animal food, except at their solemn feasts and sacrifices. As they did not often eat flesh, they considered it a great dainty. Jacob's pottage of lentiles, which tempted Esau to sell his kirthright, shows how simple the usual food of the patriarchs was; and from Isaac's desire for "savoury meat," Gen. xxvii. 4. it appears not to have been his usual food. The feast which Abraham prepared for the angels, and that which Gideon and Manoah got ready on a like occasion, show that flesh meat was considered as something more than common fare. We may also recollect the feast got ready for the repenting prodigal, Luke xv. 23. and may notice the portion which Samuel set by for Saul, when he expected him; it was a piece of flesh meat, the shoulder with what was upon it, 1 Sam. ix. 24. This was put by for Saul as a mark of distinction and respect; it was also at a solemn feast of the people, v. 12, 13. which explains why flesh meat was prepared. In Deut. xii. 20. &c. eating flesh is spoken of as a proof of wealth and prosperity. It was dressed in various ways, Jud. vi. 19. 1. Sam. ii. 15,

If we look at the list of the sorts of food brought to David by Abigail, 1 Sam. xxv. 18. by Ziba, 2 Sam. xvi. 1. and by Barzillai, 2 Sam. xvii. 28, 29. and those taken by David to his brothers and their captain, 1 Sam. xvii. 17, 18. we shall learn what was the usual food of the Israelites. The most common and useful article of food was bread, made in loaves of different sorts and sizes. Loaves like those represented at the

beginning of this article have been found in Herculaneum.

Bread is often mentioned in the Bible, Gen. xviii. 5. xxi. 14. 1 Sam. xxviii. 22 Exod. xvi. 3. Deut. ix, 9. It often means bread only; though sometimes it is used as a general expression for a meal, including other sorts of food, as Matt. xv. 2. Mark iii 20. vii. 2. Luke xiv. 1. John vi. 23. Parched corn was grain before it was quite ripe, roasted or dried in the ear, and eaten without any thing else being done to it.

The grain was usually ground into flour, then fermented, or made light by leaven, then kneaded into bread. This flour was ground by small hand-mills, which were only two flat circular stones, one placed upon the other, the upper one was turned round, while the corn was poured between them through a hole at the top.

Mills like these were in use in the highlands of Scotland till very lately, and were called querns; they were usually worked by two women, see Matt. xxiv. 41. who sat one on each side and turned the upper stone round, pushing the handle from one to the other. One of these millstones the woman of Thebez, Judges ix. 53. cast upon the head of Abimelech ; see also Matthew xviii. 6.

These mills grind the flour but slowly, se it is the employment of every day to grind some flour. The sound of grinding, and the women singing as they worked the mill, is heard in the morning early in the houses of the east, and is considered a sign that the people are well and active; when it is not heard, the neighbors fear that all is not well, Ecc. xii. 4. This explains the description of the desolate state to which Jerusalem should be reduced, Jeremiah xxv. 10.

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