Within that cavity aloft Their roofless home they fix'd, Form'd with materials neat and soft, Bents, wool, and feathers mix'd. Four iv'ry eggs soon paved it's floor, The mother-bird is gone to sea, No-soon as from ashore he saw The winged mansion move, He flew to reach it by a law Of never-failing love. Then perching at his consort's side, The seaman with sincere delight Than when he tows a prize. For seamen much delight in signs, And, from a chance so new, Each some approaching good divines,- Hail, honour'd land! a desert where Yet parent of this loving pair And, ye, who, rather than resign Were not afraid to plough the brine For whose lean country much disdain But wantonness and woe; Be it your fortune, year by year, The same resource to prove, This tale is founded on an article of intelligence which the Author found in the Buckinghamshire Herald, for Saturday, June 1, 1793, in the following words: Glasgow, May 23. "In a block, or pulley, near the head of a mast of a gabert, now lying at the Broomielaw, there is a chaffinch's nest and four eggs. The nest was built while the vessel lay at Greenock, and was follow'd hither by both birds. Though the block is occasionally lowered for the inspection of the curious, the birds have not forsaken the nest. The cock however visits the nest but seldom, while the hen never leaves it, but when she descends to the hull for food. FABLE XLVIII. THE MAHOMETANS AND THE HOG, OR THE LOVE OF THE WORLD REPROVED. By William Cowper. THUS says the prophet of the Turk, No friend or follower of mine May taste, whate'er his inclination, Such Mahomet's mysterious charge, By some 'tis confidently said He meant not to forbid the head ; While others at that doctrine rail, Thus, conscience freed from ev'ry clog, You laugh-'tis well-The tale applied May make you laugh on t'other side. 'Renounce the world'-the preacher cries. 'We do'-a multitude replies. While one as innocent regards A snug and friendly game at cards; Some love a concert, or a race; And others shooting, and the chase. Revil'd and lov'd, renounc'd and follow'd, Thus, bit by bit, the world is swallow'd; Each thinks his neighbour makes too free, Yet likes a slice as well as he : With sophistry their sauce they sweeten, 'Till quite from tail to snout 'tis eaten. FABLE XLIX. THE DOVES. By Cowper. REASONING at ev'ry step he treads, One silent eve' I wander'd late, And heard the voice of love, The Turtle thus address'd her mate, 'Our mutual bond of faith and truth • While innocence without disguise, 'Shall fill the circles of those eyes, And mine can read them there; |