THE YOUTH'S CORONAL.

BY HANNAH FLAGG GOULD

ADDRESS

TO THE YOUTH OF MY COUNTRY.

In preparing the following pages, my aim has been, to produce a book alike entertaining and instructive;—one which, in the reading, should afford an amusement to the mind, pleasant as the spring-blossoms on the tree; and, in its influences on the heart in after life, be like the good fruits that succeed and ripen, to refresh and nourish us, when the vernal season is over and gone, and the voices of the singing-birds are lost in the distance.

Choosing an appropriate title for such a presentation, I have borrowed my idea from the words of the wise king of Israel:—"Hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother; for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head," &c., and other Scripture passages of similar figurative meaning; for, though often given in a sportive way, it is my design that no moral shall be conveyed in the volume, but such as a good and judicious parent would wish a child to imbibe.

Accept, then, my young Friends, this new CORONAL of the little flowers of poesy which I have woven for you. When you shall have examined and scented it, and found no thorn to pierce—no juice or odor to poison you in its whole circle, wear it for the giver's sake; and enjoy it and profit by its healthful influences, for your own.

Gladly would I feel assured that, in some future years,—when I shall have done with earthly flowers, and you will be engaged in the busy scenes and arduous duties of mature life,—the import of these leaves may from time to time arise to your memory, in all its dewy freshness, like the fragrance which the summer-breeze wafts after us, from the lilies and violets we have passed and left far behind us, in our morning rambles. Then, if not to-day, you will be convinced that I was—as now I am,

Your true Friend,

H. F. GOULD.

Newburyport, Mass., August, 1850.

CONTENTS

ADDRESS
The Sale of the Water-Lily
The Humming-Bird's Anger
The Butterfly's Dream
The Boy and the Cricket
Sudden Elevation; or The Empaled Butterfly
The Stricken Bird
The Young Sportsman
The Pebble and the Acorn
The Grasshopper and the Ant
The Rose-Bud of Autumn
Frost, the Winter-Sprite
Vivy Vain
The Lost Kite
A Summer-Morning Rumble
The Shoemaker
The Snow-Storm
The Whirlwind
The Disobedient Skater Boys
Winter and Spring
Tom Tar
The Envious Lobster
The Crocus' Soliloquy
The Bee, Clover, and Thistle
Poor Old Paul
The Sea-Eagle's Fall
The Two Thieves
Jemmy String
The Caterpillar
The Mocking Bird
The Silk-Worm's Will
Dame Biddy
Kit With the Rose