deserts, who has survived several generations, remains singly perched on an oak which has grown old with her; there, while all her sisters maintain a profound silence, motionless, and, as it were full of thought, she delivers prophetic monosyllables, from time to time, to the winds. It is very remarkable that the teal, the duck, the goose, the woodcock, the plover, the lapwing, which serve us for food, all arrive when the earth is bare; while, on the contrary, the foreign birds by which we are visited in the season of fruits, administer only to our pleasures; they are musicians sent to heighten the delights of our banquets. We must, however, except a few, such as the quail and the wood-pigeon, the season for taking which does not commence till after the harvest, and which fatten on our corn, that they may afterwards supply our tables, Thus, the birds of winter are the manna of the rude northern blasts, as the nightingales are the gift of the zephyrs; let the wind blow from whatever point of the horizon it will, it is sure to bring us a present from Providence.-Chateaubriand.

BIRDS.

BIRDS, the free tenants of land, air, and ocean,
Their forms all symmetry, their motions grace;
In plumage, delicate and beautiful,

Thick without burden, close as fishes' scales,
Or loose as full-grown poppies to the breeze;
With wings that might have had a soul within them,
They bore their owners by such sweet enchantment;
Birds, small and great, of endless shape and colours,
Here flew and perched, there swam and dived at pleasure
Watchful and agile, uttering voices wild

And harsh, yet in accordance with the waves
Upon the beach, the winds in caverns moaning,
Or winds and waves abroad upon the water.
Some sought their food among the finny shoals,
Swift darting from the clouds, emerging soon
With slender captives glittering in their beaks;
These in recesses of steep crags, constructed
Their eyries inaccessible, and trained

Their hardy broods to forage in all weathers;

Others, more gorgeously apparelled, dwelt
Among the woods, on Nature's dainties feeding,
Herbs, seeds, and roots: or, ever on the wing,
Pursuing insects through the boundless air:
In hollow trees or thickets these concealed
Their exquisitely woven nests; where lay
Their callow offspring, quiet as the down
On their own breasts, till from her search the dam
With laden bill returned, and shared the meal
Among her clamorous suppliants, all agape;
Then, cowering o'er them with expanded wings,
She felt how sweet it is to be a mother.
Of these, a few, with melody untaught,
Turned all the air to music within hearing,
Themselves unseen; while bolder quiristers
On loftiest branches strained their clarion-pipes,
And made the forest echo to their screams
Discordant-yet there was no discord there,
But tempered harmony; all tones combining,
In the rich confluence of ten thousand tongues,
To tell of joy, and to inspire it. Who
Could hear such concert, and not join in chorus?
Not I. Sometimes entranced, I seemed to float
Upon a buoyant sea of sounds: again
With curious ear I tried to disentangle
The maze of voices, and with eye as nice,
To single out each minstrel, and pursue
His little song through all its labyrinth,
Till my soul entered into him, and felt
Every vibration of his thrilling throat,
Pulse of his heart, and flutter of his pinions.
Often, as one among the multitude,
I sang from very fulness of delight;
Now like a winged fisher of the sea,
Now a recluse among the woods, enjoying
The bliss of all at once, or each in turn.

Montgomery's Pelican Island.

COCOA-NUT AND TREE.

ONE of the most bountiful provisions made by the Creator for the inhabitants of the torrid zone, is cer

K

tainly the cocoa-nut tree: and no where is it found in greater abundance and perfection than in India. It grows in a stately column, from thirty to fifty feet in height, crowned by waving branches, covered by long spiral leaves; under this foliage, bunches of blossoms, clusters of green fruit, and others arrived at maturity, appear in mingled beauty. The trunk furnishes beams and rafters for our habitations; and the leaves, when plaited together, make excellent thatch, common umbrellas, coarse mats for the floor, and brooms. The covering of the young fruit is extremely curious, resembling a piece of thick cloth; it expands after the fruit has burst through its enclosure; and then appears of a coarser texture. The nuts contain a delicious milk, and kernels sweet as the almond; these, when dried, afford abundance of oil; and, when that is expressed, the remains feed cattle and poultry, and make good manure. The shell of the nut furnishes cups and other domestic utensils, while the husk which encloses it, is of the greatest use; it is manufactured into ropes and cordage of every kind, from the smallest twine to the largest cable, which are far more durable than those of hemp. In the Nicobar Islands, the natives build their vessels, make their sails and cordage, supply them with provisions and necessaries, and provide a cargo of arrack, vinegar, oil, coarse sugar, cocoa-nuts, cordage, black paint, and several inferior articles, for foreign markets, entirely from this tree. Recent Travels.

OUR COUNTRY AND OUR HOME.
THERE is a land, of every land the pride;
Beloved by Heaven, o'er all the world beside;
Where brighter suns dispense serener light,
And milder moons emparadise the night;
A land of beauty, virtue, valour, truth,
Time-tutored age, and love-exalted youth:
The wandering mariner, whose eye explores
The wealthiest isles, the most enchanting shores,
Views not a realm so beautiful and fair,
Nor breathes the spirit of a purer air;
In every clime, the magnet of his soul,

Touched by remembrance, trembles to that pole;

For in this land of Heaven's peculiar grace,
The heritage of Nature's noblest race,
There is a spot of earth supremely blest,
A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest,
Where man, creation's tyrant, casts aside
His sword and sceptre, pageantry and pride,
While in his softened looks benignly blend
The sire, the son, the husband, father, friend;
Here woman reigns; the mother, daughter, wife,
Strew with fresh flowers the narrow way of life;
In the clear heaven of her delightful eye,
An angel-guard of loves and graces lie;
Around her knees domestic duties meet,
And fire-side pleasures gambol at her feet,
Where shall that land-that spot of earth be found?
Art thou a man?- a patriot?-look around;
Oh! thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps roam,
That land thy country, and that spot thy Home.
James Montgomery.

DOMESTIC ARTS.

In the earlier ages of antiquity, it was not inconsistent with the highest dignity to act in what would now be accounted the meanest of menial employments. Among the ancient Egyptians, the women were occupied abroad in trade, merchandize, and agriculture; and descending to periods less remote, we find that in Lesser Asia, where it would seem women were far from being so much neglected as in many other parts of the world, even those of the first quality were not ashamed to perform the office of a washerwoman; and a similar practice afterwards prevailed in Greece.

In the heroic ages, the Grecian wives and daughters, of whatever quality, were not brought up to idleness. Penelope, queen of the famous Ulysses, is so frequently introduced by Homer at her loom, that almost every one has heard the story of Penelope's web. The famous Helen, while confined by the besiegers of Troy, employed herself in an extraordinary piece of embroidery, which represented most of the battles fought between the Greeks and the Trojans; and Andromache, when she heard of the death of Hector, embroidered a representa

tion of that tragical scene, and adorned it with flowers. But such soft employments, and such works of taste, were not the sole occupations of the women in these times. The same Andromache, who with her needle painted the fall of the hero of her country, was not ashamed to feed and take care of the horses of that hero, when living.

Besides the arts of weaving and embroidery, which were not unknown to the women in the patriarchal ages, the Grecian fair employed themselves in spinning, which they performed standing, and in every other branch of the manufacture of cloth; a custom which continued during the most polished periods of Grecian history. Alexander the Great, and many other heroes and statesmen, wore garments spun and woven by their wives and sisters.

During the chivalrous ages in Europe, various kinds of needlework formed a material part of female employment; and many women of the first rank were themselves taught, and instructed their daughters in the arts of flowering and embroidery, which they practised to such an extent, that much of the furniture of their houses was decorated in this manner with their own hands.-Anon.

FILIAL REGRETS.

SOME friend is gone, perhaps his son's best friend,
A father, whose authority, in show

When most severe, and mustering all its force,

Was but the graver countenance of love;

Whose favour, like the clouds of Spring, might lour,
And utter now and then an awful voice,

But had a blessing in its darkest frown,
Threatening at once and nourishing the plant.
We loved, but not enough, the gentle hand
That reared us. At a thoughtless age, allured
By every gilded folly, we renounced
His sheltering side, and wilfully forewent
That converse, which we now in vain regret.
How gladly would the man recall to life
The boy's neglected sire! A mother, too,
That softer friend, perhaps, more gladly still,
Might we demand them at the gates of death.
Sorrow has, since they went, subdued and tamed