"THE NIGHTINGALE MAY CLAIM THE TOPMOST BOUGH, WHILE THE POOR GRASSHOPPER MUST CHIRP BELOW."-COWPER.

* Alexander Selkirk, whose curious history may possibly have suggested to Daniel Defoe his romance of "Robinson Crusoe," was left on the desolate island of Juan Fernandez, in the Pacific Ocean, by his captain, in 1704. It was his misfortune to spend upwards of four years in solitude.

LESS ON EXTERIOR THINGS THAN MOST SUPPOSE."-COWPER.

"OUR HAPPINESS DEPENDS, AS NATURE SHOWS,

THE SOLITUDE OF ALEXANDER SELKIRK.

107

"WORDS LEARNED BY ROTE A PARROT MAY REHEARSE, BUT TALKING IS NOT ALWAYS TO CONVERSE."-COWPER.

"THE BAND OF COMMERCE WAS DESIGNED, TO ASSOCIATE ALL THE BRANCHES OF MANKIND."-COWPER.

ALL TRUTH IS PRECIOUS, IF NOT ALL DIVINE ;

AND WHAT DILATES THE POWERS, MUST NEEDS REFINE."-COWPER.

"EACH CLIMATE needs WHAT OTHER CLIMES PRODUCE, AND OFFERS SOMETHING TO THE GENERAL USE."-COWPER.

"FOLLY ENDS WHERE GENUINE HOPE BEGINS; AND HE THAT FINDS HIS HEAVEN MUST LOSE HIS SINS."-COWPER.

"HOPE, AS AN ANCHOR, FIRM AND SURE, HOLDS FAST THE CHRISTIAN VESSEL, AND DEFIES THE BLAST."-COWPER.

A land-breeze shook the shrouds,
And she was overset;
Down went the Royal George,

With all her crew complete.

*The Royal George was a British man-of-war of 100 guns, which heeled over while lying at Spithead, near Portsmouth, to have some injuries repaired. Of twelve hundred men, women, and children then on board of her, nearly six hundred perished (August 29, 1782).

BUT ALL ARE CAPABLE OF LIVING WELL."-COWPER.

"MEN DEAL WITH LIFE AS CHILDREN WITH THEIR PLAY, WHO FIRST MISUSE, THEN CAST THEIR TOYS AWAY."-COWPER.

ΠΙΟ

66

WHAT IS BASE, NO POLISH CAN MAKE STERLING."-COWPER.

LOSS OF THE ROYAL GEORGE.

"HE IS THE HAPPY MAN WHOSE LIFE EVEN NOW SHOWS SOMEWHAT OF THE HAPPIER LIFE TO COME."-COWPER.

His sword was in its sheath,
His fingers held the pen,
When Kempenfeldt went down
With twice four hundred men.

* Vice-Admiral Kempenfeldt, a gallant and distinguished seaman, in com

mand of the Royal George, was writing in his cabin when the catastrophe
occurred.

"THE LAURELS THAT A CESAR REAPS ARE WEEDS."-COWPER.

TIME, THAT SHOULD ENRICH THE NOBLER MIND,

A WINTER EVENING.

Weigh the vessel up

Once dreaded by our foes!
And mingle with the cup

The tear that England owes.

Her timbers yet are sound,

And she may float again

Full charged with England's thunder,
And plough the watery main :

But Kempenfeldt is gone,

His victories are o'er;

And he and his eight hundred
Shall plough the wave no more.

[WILLIAM COWPER.]

"GOOD SENSE, GOOD HEALTH, GOOD CONSCIENCE, AND GOOD FAME; ALL THESE BELONG TO VIRTUE."-Cowper.

III

"WHO LIVES, AND IS NOT WEARY OF A LIFE EXPOSED TO MANACLES, DESERVES THEM ALL."-COWPER.

A WINTER EVENING.

JOW stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,

Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,
And while the bubbling and loud hissing urn
Throws up a steamy column, and the cups
That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each,
So let us welcome peaceful evening in.
Not such his evening, who with shining face
Sweats in the crowded theatre, and squeezed
And bored with elbow points through both his sides,
Outscolds the ranting actor on the stage;

Nor his, who patient stands till his feet throb,
And his head bumps, to feed upon the breath

Of patriots, bursting with heroic rage,

Or placemen, all tranquillity and smiles.

NEGLECTED, LEAVES A DREARY WASTE BEHIND."-cowper.