4. But scarcely had she placed The last soft feather on its ample floor, 5. But still her heart she kept, And toiled again; and, last night hearing calls, 6. What trust is here, O man! Hath Hope been smitten in its early dawn? 1 GRAN'A-RY. A storehouse for grain. 4 SMIT'TEN (smit'tn). Struck; 2 ES-SAYED'. Attempted; tried. stroyed. 3 WROUGHT (rawt). Worked; done. de V. THE BIRD-TAMER. BURRITT. 1. AT Falmouth, in Cornwall, I became acquainted with a gentleman of fortune1 and taste, who lives a little. way out of the town. His grounds, in their natural formation, are admirably suited for works of art and taste; and the owner has filled them full of trees, shrubs, and flowering plants, until the door of his mansion looks like the entrance into a natural wood. But the most remarkable thing about him is his faculty 2 of taming birds, and making friends of them; and in this character I would introduce him and his triumphs,3 especially to the younger portion of my readers. 2. It commenced when he was laying out the grounds of his little dell park. While at work upon the walks and flower-beds, and turning up the fresh earth with his spade, several of the little birds would come down from the trees, and hop along after him at a little distance, picking up the worms and insects. By his walking gently, and looking and speaking kindly when they were near, they came first to regard his approach without fear, then with confidence. 3. They soon learned the sound of his voice, and seemed to understand the meaning of his simple and kindly words. Little by little, they ventured nearer, close to his rake and hoe, and fluttered, and wrestled, and twittered in the contest for a worm or a fly, sometimes hopping upon the head of his rake in their excitement. Day by day they became more trustful and tame. They watched him in the morning from the trees near his door, and followed him to his work. 4. New birds joined the company daily, and they all acted as if they thought he had no other intent in raking the earth than to find them a breakfast. As the number increased, he began to carry crusts of bread in the great outside pocket of his coat, and to throw a few crumbs for them on the ground. When his walks were all finished, and he used the spade and rake less frequently, the birds looked for their daily rations of crumbs, and would gather in the tree-tops in the morning, and let him know, with their begging voices, that they were waiting for him. 5. He called them to breakfast with a whistle, and they would come out of the thick, green leaves of the grove, and patter, twitter, and flutter around and above his feet. Sometimes he would put a piece of bread between his lips, when a bright-eyed little thing would pick it out, like a humming-bird taking honey from a deep flower-bell without alighting. 6. They became his constant companions. They learned to know the sound of his step, his walks, and recreations. He leaves his chamber window open at night, and when he awakes early in the morning, he often finds a robin or goldfinch hopping about on the bed-posts, or on the back of a chair close by, trying to say or sing, in such speech as it can, "It is time to get up; come and see the flowers; a dew of pearl is on their leaves, and the sun is above the sea." 7. And what is more beautiful still, these birds follow him to the sanctuary5 on Sunday, a distance of more than a mile from his house, as a kind of aerial escort, singing their Sabbath psalms of gladness and praise by the way. When the service is ended, they meet him on his return, and escort him home with a new set of hymns. 1 FÖRT'UNE. The good or ill that befalls 4 RA'TIONS. Certain allowances of proman; wealth. visions; allowance. [Jean Paul Frederic Richter was born in Wunsiedel, in Germany, March 21, 1763, and died November 14, 1825. He wrote a number of works, mostly in the form of novels, which are remarkable for a peculiar combination of imagination, tenderness, quaint humor, philosophic spirit, and curious learning. He is an extremely popular writer among his own countrymen, but much of the flavor of his writings evaporates in a translation. His personal character was generous and amiable. He is frequently called by his first two names, Jean Paul.] 1. Ir was New Year's night. An aged man was standing at a window. He raised his mournful eyes towards the deep blue sky, where the stars were floating, like white lilies, on the surface of a clear, calm lake. Then he cast them on the earth, where few more hopeless beings than himself now moved towards their certain goal1 — the tomb. 2. Already he had passed sixty of the stages2 which lead to it, and he had brought from his journey nothing but errors and remorse. His health was destroyed, his mind vacant, his heart sorrowful, and his old age devoid of comfort. 3. The days of his youth rose up in a vision 3 before him, and he recalled the solemn moment when his father had placed him at the entrance of two roads one leading into a peaceful, sunny land, covered with a fertile harvest, and resounding with soft, sweet songs; the other leading the wanderer into a deep, dark cave, whence there was no issue, where poison flowed instead of water, and where serpents hissed and crawled. 4. He looked towards the sky, and cried out in his agony, "O youth, return! O my father, place me once more at the entrance to life, that I may choose the better way!" But his father and the days of his youth had both passed away. 5. He saw wandering lights float away over dark marshes, and then disappear. These were the days of his wasted life. He saw a star fall from heaven, and vanish in darkness. This was an emblem of himself; and the sharp arrows of unavailing remorse struck home to his heart. Then he remembered his early companions, who entered on life with him, but who, having trod the paths of virtue and of labor, were now honored and happy on this New Year's night. 6. The clock in the high church tower struck, and the sound, falling on his ear, recalled his parents' early love for him, their erring son; the lessons they had taught him; the prayers they had offered up in his behalf. Overwhelmed with shame and grief, he dared no longer look towards that heaven where his father dwelt; his darkened eyes dropped tears, and with one |