on the downward slope,
And as their aching bones they rest,
Their anxious captain scans the west.

So paused Alaric on the Alps
And ciphered up the Roman scalps.

[Illustration]

_The Foolhardy Geographer._

The howling desert miles around,
The tinkling brook the only sound--
Wearied with all his toils and feats,
The traveller dines on potted meats;
On potted meats and princely wines,
Not wisely but too well he dines.

The brindled Tiger loud may roar,
High may the hovering Vulture soar,
Alas! regardless of them all,
Soon shall the empurpled glutton sprawl--
Soon, in the desert's hushed repose,
Shall trumpet tidings through his nose!
Alack, unwise! that nasal song
Shall be the Ounce's dinner-gong!

* * * * *

A blemish in the cut appears;
Alas! it cost both blood and tears.
The glancing graver swerved aside,
Fast flowed the artist's vital tide!
And now the apologetic bard
Demands indulgence for his pard!

[Illustration]

_The Angler & the Clown._

The echoing bridge you here may see,
The pouring lynn, the waving tree,
The eager angler fresh from town--
Above, the contumelious clown.
'The angler plies his line and rod,
The clodpole stands with many a nod,--
With many a nod and many a grin,
He sees him cast his engine in.

"What have you caught?" the peasant cries.

"Nothing as yet," the Fool replies.

MORAL TALES

[Illustration]

Rob and Ben

or
The PIRATE and the APOTHECARY.
Scene the First.

[Illustration]

Rob and Ben

or
The PIRATE and the APOTHECARY.
Scene the Second.

[Illustration]

Rob and Ben

or
The PIRATE and the APOTHECARY.
Scene the Third.

ROBIN AND BEN: OR, THE PIRATE AND THE APOTHECARY

Come lend me an attentive ear
A startling moral tale to hear,
Of Pirate Rob and Chemist Ben,
And different destinies of men.

Deep in the greenest of the vales
That nestle near the coast of Wales,
The heaving main but just in view,
Robin and Ben together grew,
Together worked and played the fool,
Together shunned the Sunday school,
And pulled each other's youthful noses
Around the cots, among the roses.

Together but unlike they grew;
Robin was rough, and through and through
Bold, in