Page 71 - The model orator, or, Young folks' speaker : containing the choicest recitations and readings from the best authors for schools, public entertainments, social gatherings, Sunday schools, etc. : including recitals in prose and verse ...

H ow one o f God's blessings might cheer us when some day I p Y ap s
should be rich— -
But all of m y dreams have been shattered while I lay there asleep at
the switch.

1 fancied I stood on iny tria l; the ju ry and judge I could see,
A nd every eye in the court-room was steadfastly fixed, upon m e ;
A n d fingers were pointed in scorn, till I felt m y face blushing blood-
rcd,
A n d the next thing I heard were the words, “ H ung by the ncck until
dead.”
Then I felt m yself pulled once again, and m y hand caught tight hold
of a dress,
A n d I heard, 41 W hat's the matter, dear Jim? Y o u 'v e had a bad
night-mare, T guess."
A n d there stood Maggie, m y wife, with never a sc-ir from the ditch—
I'd been taking a nap in m y bed, and had not been asleep at the switch.

G e o r g ii H o z y .

BRIER-ROSE.

i.
S A I D Brier-Rose’s mother to the naughty Brier-Rose :
■‘ W h at will become of you, m y child, the Lord A lm igh ty k n o w s;
Y o u will not scrub the kettles, and you will not touch the broom,
You never .sit a minute still at spinning-wheel or loom .”

Thus grumbled in the morning, and grumbled late at eve,
The good-wife as she bustled with pot and tray and sieve;
But Brier-Rose she laughed, and she cocked her dainty head,
" W hy, I shall m an y, mother, dear,” full merrily she said.

“ Y o u marry, saucy Brier-Rose! The man he is not found.
To marry such a worthless wench, these seven leagues around."