EVERMORE.

So I'm watchin' aye, an' singing o' my hame, as I wait,
For the soun'in o' his footfa' this side the garden gate;
God gi'e His grace to ilk ane wha listens noo to me,

That we may a' gang in gladness to our ain countrie."

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EVERMORE.

BEHELD a golden portal in the visions of my slumber,
And through it streamed the radiance of a never-setting day;
While angels tall and beautiful, and countless without number,
Were giving gladsome greeting to all who came that way.
And the gates, for ever swinging, made no grating, no harsh ringing,
Melodious as the singing of one that we adore;

And I heard a chorus swelling, grand beyond a mortal's telling,
And the burden of that chorus was Hope's glad word-Evermore!

And as I gazed and listened, came a slave all worn and weary,
His fetter-links blood-crusted, his dark brow clammy damp,
His sunken eyes gleamed widely, telling tales of horror dreary,

Of toilsome strugglings through the night amid the fever swamps.
Ere the eye had time for winking, ere the mind had time for thinking,
A bright angel raised the sinking wretch, and off his fetters tore ;-
Then I heard the chorus swelling, grand beyond a mortal's telling,
'Pass, brother, through our portal, thou'rt a freeman evermore!"

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And as I gazed and listened, came a mother wildly weeping-
"I have lost my hopes for ever-one by one they went away;
My children and their father the cold grave hath in its keeping,
Life is one long lamentation, I know nor night nor day!
Then the angel softly speaking,-"Stay, sister, stay thy shrieking,
Thou shalt find those thou art seeking beyond that golden door!"
Then I heard the chorus swelling, grand beyond a mortal's telling,
"Thy children and their father shall be with thee evermore!"

And as I gazed and listened, came one whom desolation

Had driven, like a helmless bark, from infancy's bright land; Who ne'er had met a kindly look-poor outcast of creationWho never heard a kindly word, nor grasped a kindly hand. "Enter in, no longer fear thee: myriad friends are there to cheer theeFriends always to be near thee; there no sorrow sad and sore!" Then I heard the chorus swelling, grand beyond a mortal's telling, “Enter, brother; thine are friendship, love, and gladness evermore!"

90

EVERMORE.

And as I gazed and listened, came a cold, blue-footed maiden,
With cheeks of ashen whiteness, eyes filled with lurid light;
Her body bent with sickness, her lone heart heavy laden;

Her home had been the roofless street, her day had been the night. First wept the angel sadly, then smiled the angel gladly,

And caught the maiden madly rushing from the golden door; Then I heard the chorus swelling, grand beyond a mortal's telling, Enter, sister, thou art pure, and thou art sinless evermore !"

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I saw the toiler enter to rest for aye from labour;

The weary-hearted exile there found his native land;

The beggar there could greet the King as an equal and a neighbour; The crown had left the kingly brow, the staff the beggar's hand. And the gate for ever swinging, made no grating, no harsh ringing, Melodious as the singing of one that we adore;

And the chorus still was swelling, grand beyond a mortal's telling, While the vision faded from me with the glad word-"Evermore!"

Moral.

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths:
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.

We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most; feels the noblest; acts the best.

ONLY add

Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add Faith,
Add Virtue, Patience, Temperance, add Love,
By name to come call'd Charity, the soul
Of all the rest; then wilt thou not be loath
To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess
A Paradise within thee, happier far.

BAILEY.

MILTON.

MORALITY is only confused and clouded by being associated with theories of the universe. All faiths acknowledge and authenticate the moral code. None dare alter it. All sacred books enunciate the Commandments in very nearly the same terms. No religion dares inculcate intemperance, falsehood, or impurity. Morality must be obeyed on its own authority, and maintained for its own sake. FROTHINGHAM.

HE that does good to another man, does also good to himself; not only in the consequence, but in the very act of doing it; for the conscience of well-doing is an ample reward.—SENECA.

Ir is to live twice, when you can enjoy the recollection of your former life.-MARTIAL.

BE KIND.

Be kind to thy father, for when thou wast young,
Who loved thee as fondly as he?

He caught the first accents that fell from thy tongue,
And joined in thine innocent glee.

Be kind to thy father, for now he is old,
His locks intermingled with gray,

His footsteps are feeble, once fearless and bold;
Thy father is passing away.

Be kind to thy mother, for, lo! on her brow
May traces of sorrow be seen:

Oh, well may'st thou cherish and comfort her now,
For loving and kind hath she been.

Remember thy mother, for thee will she pray,
As long as God giveth her breath;

With accents of kindness, then, cheer her lone way,
E'en to the dark valley of death.

Be kind to thy brother, his heart will have dearth,
If the smile of thy love be withdrawn;

The flowers of feeling will fade at their birth,
If the dew of affection be gone.

Be kind to thy brother, wherever you are,
The love of a brother shall be

An ornament, purer and richer by far,
Than pearls from the depths of the sea.

Be kind to thy sister, not many may know
The depth of true sisterly love;

The wealth of the ocean lies fathoms below
The surface that sparkles above.

Thy kindness shall bring to thee many sweet hours,
And blessings thy pathway to crown,
Affection shall weave thee a garland of flowers,
More precious than wealth or renown.

BE KIND.

Be kind to the old man, while strong in thy youth—
Be kind, not in seeming alone, but in truth;
He once was as young and as hopeful as thou,
With a bosom as light, as unwrinkled a brow!

Be kind to the poor man and give of thy bread,
With shelter and pillow to comfort his head;
His lot and thine own may be one ere he dieth.
Or neighbour to thine the low grave where he lieth!

YOUTH.

Be kind to the crooked, the lame, and the blind;
What's lacked in the body they feel in the mind;
And while virtue through trial and pain cometh forth.
In the mind, not the body, is man's truest worth.

Be kind to the fallen who lives but to mourn;
Be kind to the outcast who seeks to return;
Be kind to the hardened who never hath prayed;
Be kind to the timid who still is afraid!

The injured who down by oppression is borne;
The slighted who withers; the victim of scorn;
The flattered who topples aloft but to fall;
The wronger and wronged-oh, be kindly to all!

For vast is the world of the generous mind,
And narrow the sphere to the selfish assigned;
And clear is the path of the warm and the true-
Of the haughty and vain, how delusive the view!

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Then unto the old show respect while thou mayest-
The poor, while to Him who gives all things thou prayest-
The weak or the lost, 'neath the load of his sorrow-
And thine own cup of joy shall o'erflow ere the morrow!

YOUTH.

BLEST hour of childhood! then, and then alone,
Dance we the revels close round Pleasure's throne,
Quaff the bright nectar from her fountain-springs,
And laugh beneath the rainbow of her wings.
Oh! time of Promise, Hope, and Innocence,
Of Trust, and Love, and happy Ignorance!
Whose every dream is Heaven, in whose fair joy
Experience yet has thrown no black alloy;

Whose Pain, when fiercest, lacks the venomed pang
Which to maturer ill doth oft belong.

When, mute and cold, we weep departed bliss,
And Hope expires on broken Happiness.