LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

29

Then oh! though the hopes that we nourished decay, Let us love one another as long as we stay.

There are hearts like the ivy, though all be decayed,

That seemed to twine fondly in sunlight and shade,
No leaves droop in sadness, still gayly they spread,
Undimm'd midst the blighted, the lonely, and dead;
But the mistletoe clings to the oak, not in part,
But with leaves closely round it, the root in its
heart;

Exists but to twine it,-imbibe the same dew,
Or to fall with its loved oak, and perish there too.

Thus, let's love one another, 'midst sorrows the worst,

Unaltered and fond, as we loved at the first.

Tho' the false wing of pleasure may change and forsake,

And the bright urn of wealth into particles break, There are some sweet affections that wealth cannot

buy,

That cling but still closer when sorrow draws nigh, And remain with us yet, though all else pass away; Let us love one another as long as we stay.

All's for the Best.

ALL'S for the best; be sanguine and cheerful,-
Trouble and sorrow are friends in disguise;
Nothing but Folly goes faithless and fearful;
Courage for ever is happy and wise.
All's for the best,-if a man would but know it;
Providence wishes us all to be blest :

This is no dream of the pundit or poet;
Heaven is gracious, and all's for the best!

All's for the best! set this on your standard,
Soldier of sadness, or pilgrim of love,
Who to the shores of despair may have wandered,
A way-wearied swallow, or heart-stricken dove:
All's for the best!-Be a man but confiding,
Providence tenderly governs the rest;
And the frail bark of His creature is guiding,
Wisely and warily-all's for the best.

All's for the best! then fling away terrors,

Meet all your fears and your foes in the van,

SPEAK NO ILL.

or

errors,

And in the midst of your dangers
Trust like a child, while you strive like a man.
All's for the best!-Unbiassed, unbounded,
Providence reigns from the East to the West;
And by both wisdom and mercy surrounded,
Hope and be happy that all's for the best.

31

¥[[

-Speak no 11.

NAY, speak no ill! a kindly word
Can never leave a sting behind;
And, oh! to breathe each tale we've heard,
Is far beneath a noble mind.

Full oft a better seed is sown

By choosing thus the kinder plan;

For if but little good be known,

Still let us speak the best we can

Give me the heart that fain would hide-
Would fain another's fault efface;

How can it pleasure human pride
prove humanity but base?

Το

No; let us reach a higher mood,
A nobler estimate of man;

Be earnest in the search for good,
And speak of all the best we can.

Then speak no ill-but lenient be;
To other's failings, as your own;
If you're the first a fault to see,

Be not the first to make it known;
For life is but a passing day,

No lip may tell how brief its span:
Then, oh! the little time we stay,
Let's speak of all the best we can.

Stanzas.

THE pen hath often traced

upon the pure, unblotted

leaf,

That earth is full of misery-a place of pain and

grief

That little here is ever found to light the pilgrim's

way,

And rarely from the sun of hope we catch a cheering

ray.

'Tis very true, and none deny 'twas wisely ordered

So,

That pleasure's should be supplied, but never

overflow;

cup

That if too many sunny spots to man on earth were given,

'Twould chain his better nature down, and wile his thoughts from Heaven.

Then why repine, if on our path there's many a scattered flower?

We'll cull them wisely as we pass, to cheer an after

hour;

Their fragrance, cherished in the heart, will lead the

spirit on,

When every leaf has left the stem, and all their

bloom is gone.

And when the pulse beats faint and slow, when tottering to the tomb,

The mind will wander back through life, and dissipate the gloom;