since sufficient evidence was not to seek, that his verses, as wanting as they certainly were in classic polish and point, had somehow taken hold of the public ear in a surprising manner. So, only setting him right as to the quantity of the proper name Pegasus, I left him to follow the bent of his natural genius.

Yet could I not surrender him wholly to the tutelage of the pagan (which, literally interpreted, signifies village) muse without yet a farther effort for his conversion, and to this end I resolved that whatever of poetic fire yet burned in myself, aided by the assiduous bellows of correct models, should be put in requisition. Accordingly, when my ingenious young parishioner brought to my study a copy of verses which he had written touching the acquisition of territory resulting from the Mexican war, and the folly of leaving the question of slavery or freedom to the adjudication of chance, I did myself indite a short fable or apologue after the manner of Gay and Prior, to the end that he might see how easily even such subjects as he treated of were capable of a more refined style and more elegant expression. Mr. Biglow's production was as follows:

THE TWO GUNNERS,

A FABLE.

Two fellers, Isrel named and Joe,
One Sundy mornin' 'greed to go
Agunnin' soon's the bells wuz done
And meetin' finally begun,

So'st no one wouldn't be about
Ther Sabbath-breakin' to spy out.

Joe didn't want to go a mite;

He felt ez though 'twarnt skeercely right,
But, when his doubts he went to speak on,
Isrel he up and called him Deacon,
An' kep' apokin' fun like sin

An' then arubbin' on it in,

Till Joe, less skeered o' doin' wrong

Than bein' laughed at, went along.

Past noontime they went trampin' round An' nary thing to pop at found,

Till, fairly tired o' their spree,

They leaned their guns agin a tree,
An' jest ez they wuz settin' down

To take their noonin', Joe looked roun'
And see (across lots in a pond

That warn't more'n twenty rod beyond,)
A goose that on the water sot

Ez ef awaitin' to be shot.

Isrel he ups and grabs his gun;

Sez he, "By ginger, here's some fun!"

"Don't fire," sez Joe, it aint no use, Thet's Deacon Peleg's tame wild-goose;" Sez Isrel, "I don't care a cent,

I've sighted an' I'll let her went;

Bang! went queen's-arm, ole gander flopped His wings a spell, an' quorked, an' dropped.

Sez Joe, "I wouldn't ha' been hired
At that poor critter to ha' fired,
But, sence it's clean gin up the ghost,
We'll hev the tallest kind o' roast;
guess our waistbands 'll be tight
'Fore it comes ten o'clock ternight."

"I won't agree to no such bender,"
Sez Isrel, "keep it tell it's tender;
'Taint wuth a snap afore it's ripe."
Sez Joe, "I'd jest ez lives eat tripe;
You air a buster ter suppose

I'd eat what makes me hole my nose!"

So they disputed to an' fro

Till cunnin' Isrel sez to Joe

"Don't less stay here an' play the fool, Less wait till both on us git cool,

Jest for a day or two less hide it

An' then toss up an' so decide it."

Now 'twuz the hottest kind o' weather,
An' when at last they come together,
It didn't signify which won,

Fer all the mischief hed ben done:

The goose wuz there, but, fer his soul,

Joe wouldn't ha' tetched it with a pole;
But Isrel kind o' liked the smell on't

An' made his dinner very well on't.

My own humble attempt was in manner and form following, and I print it here, I sincerely trust, out of no vain-glory, but solely with the hope of doing good.

LEAVING THE MATTER OPEN.

A TALE.

BY HOMER WILBUR, A. M.

Two brothers once, an ill-matched pair,
Together dwelt (no matter where,)
To whom an Uncle Sam, or some one,
Had left a house and farm in common:
The two in principles and habits
Were different as rats from rabbits;
Stout farmer North, with frugal care,
Laid up provision for his heir,

Not scorning with hard sun-browned hands
To scrape acquaintance with his lands;

Whatever thing he had to do

He did, and made it pay him, too;

He sold his waste stone by the pound,
His drains made water-wheels spin round,
His ice in summer-time he sold,

His wood brought profit when 'twas cold,
He dug and delved from morn till night,

Strove to make profit square with right,
Lived on his means, cut no great dash,
And paid his debts in honest cash.

On tother hand, his brother South
Lived very much from hand to mouth,
Played gentleman, nursed dainty hands,
Borrowed North's money on his lands,
And culled his morals and his graces
From cock-pits, bar-rooms, fights, and races;
His sole work in the farming line

Was keeping droves of long-legged swine,
Which brought great bothers and expenses
To North in looking after fences,

And, when they happened to break through,
Cost him both time and temper too,
For South insisted it was plain

He ought to drive them home again,
And North consented to the work
Because he loved to buy cheap pork.

Meanwhile, South's swine increasing fast,
His farm became too small at last,
So, having thought the matter over,
And feeling bound to live in clover
And never pay the clover's worth,
He said one day to brother North :-

"Our families are both increasing,
And, though we labor without ceasing,
Our produce soon will be too scant
To keep our children out of want;
They who wish fortune to be lasting
Must be both prudent and forecasting;
We soon shall need more land; a lot