peasants, and usually live with their families upo the estates of the rich.

6. The peasantry of Europe have little independent property-that which belongs to themselves alone; and their cottages, the poorest sort called cabins, frequently neither plaistered, nor floored, are destitute of many of the comforts which we, in this country, enjoy. These humble habitations, however, are often the abodes of honest and happy people, of pious christiana, tender parents, and affectionate children. The following are Mrs. Hemans's verses:

Lady.

Why wouldst thou leave me, Oh! gentle child?
Thy home on the mountain is bleak and wild,
A straw-roofed cabin with lowly wall—
Mine is a fair and a pillared hall,

Where many an image of marble gleams,
And the sunshine of picture forever streams.

Boy.

Oh! green is the turf where my brothers play,
Through the long bright hours of the summer day,
They find the red cup-moss where they climb,
And they chase the bee o'er the scented thyme;
And the rocks where the heath flower blooms they

know;

Lady, kind lady! Oh! let me go.

Lady.

Content thee, boy! in my bower to dwell,

Here are sweet sounds, which thou lovest well;

Lutes on the air in the stilly noon,

Harps which the wandering breezes tune,

And the silvery wood-note of many a bird
Whose voice was ne'er in thy mountains heard.
Boy.

My mother sings at the twilight's fall,
A song of the hills more sweet than all;
She sings it under our own green tree,
To the babe half slumbering on her knee;
I dreamt last night of that music low.
Lady, kind lady! Oh! let me go.

Lady.

Thy mother is gone from her cares to rest,
She hath taken the babe on her quiet breast;
Thou wouldst meet her footstep, my boy, no more,
Nor hear her song at the cabin door.

-Come thou with me to the vineyards nigh,
And we'll pluck the grapes of the richest dye.

gone

Boy. Is from her home away? mother my -But I know that my brothers are there at play, I know they are gathering the fox-glove's bell, Or the long fern leaves by the sparkling well, Or they launch their boats where the bright streams flow.

Lady, kind lady! oh! let me go.

Lady.

Fair child! thy brothers are wanderers now
They sport no more on the mountain's brow,
They have left the fern by the spring's green side,
And the streams where the fairy barks were tried,
Be thou at peace in thy brighter lot,
For thy cabin-home is a lonely spot.

Boy.

Are they gone-all gone from the sunny hill?
But the bird, and the blue-fly rove o'er it still,

And the red-deer bound in their gladness free ;
And the turf is bent by the singing hee,
And the waters leap, and the fresh winds blow
Lady, kind lady! Oh! let me go.

Illustrations.

Harps which the wandering breezes tune-This line alludes to the Eolian harp. The Eolian harp is a musical instrument, composed of a frame and some brass wires, three or four feet in length, strung from end to end of the frame. When the harp is placed in a certain position, so that the wind passes gently over it, very sweet musical tones are produced. The name signifies, Harp of Eolus. Æolus was the fabulous god of wind, or of gentle breezes.

The fairy barks were tried. It is well known that one of the favorite amusements of boys, is the construction of little vessels with sails and masts ; and they take great pleasure in making these ships sail in any water which will float them. Such little barks might be suitable to the fairies. The fairies are imaginary beings, often mentioned in poetry. The people of England, Scotland, and Ireland, used to believe in the existence of fairies; they represented them as being in the human form and so small that they could enter a locked door through the key hole. The fairies were supposed to be sometimes very amiable, and sometimes very mischievous.

FINIS