"I guess you have lived long enough, little sinner,
And, now, with your leave, I will eat you for dinner.
You'll make a good morsel, it must be confessed;
And the world, very likely, will pardon the rest."

MORAL.

This lesson for every one, little and great,
Is taught in that vagabond's tragical fate:
Of him who is scheming your friend to ensnare,
Unless you've a passion for bleeding, beware!

The Spider's Triumph.


IV.

GENIUS IN THE BUD.

Genius, in its infancy, sometimes puts on a very funny face. The first efforts of a painter are generally rude enough. So are those of a poet, or any other artist. I have often wished I might see the first picture that such a man as Titian, or Rubens, or Reynolds, or West, ever drew. It would interest me much, and, I suspect, would provoke a smile or two, at the expense of the young artists.