REASONS FOR MIRTH.
THE sun is careering in glory and might, 'Mid the deep blue sky and the clouds so bright; The billow is tossing its foam on high,
And the summer breezes go lightly by ;
The air and the water dance, glitter, and play-
And why should not I be as merry as they?
The linnet is singing the wild wood through,
The fawn's bounding footsteps skim over the dew,
The butterfly flits round the blossoming tree,
And the cowslip and blue-bell are bent by the bee:
All the creatures that dwell in the forest are gay,
And why should not I be as merry as they?
Mary Russell Mitford.
SELF-EXAMINATION.
DID I this morn devoutly pray
For God's assistance through the day?
And did I read his sacred Word,
To make my life therewith accord?
Did I for any purpose try
To hide the truth, and tell a lie?
Did I my time and thoughts engage
As fits my duty, station, age?
Did I with care my temper guide,
Checking ill-humour, anger, pride?
Did I my lips from aught refrain
That might my fellow-creature pain?
Did I with cheerful patience bear
The little ills that all must share?
For all God's mercies through this day
Did I my grateful tribute pay?
And did I, when the day was o'er,
God's watchful aid again implore?
THE LITTLE FISH.
A LITTLE fish lived in a stream,
All clear, and smooth, and bright;
And there he played from morning's beam
Until the shades of night.
And nothing could more happy be
Than was that little thing;
But discontented now was he,
And wished to leave the spring.
He wished to go with other fishes,
And see the great big sea;
And so he told his secret wishes
Unto his mother. She
Was a wise old fish, you know,
And told her pretty son
That many dangers, should he go,
That he would surely run.
She told him of the fearful shark,
That prowls along the shore;
She told him of the dolphins dark,
That swarm the ocean o'er.
Of these she told her scaly child,
And warned him not to go;
But he, alas, was young and wild,
And would not heed her! so
He went away one sunny morn,
And left his happy shore,
And ne'er again did he return,
Or taste of pleasure more.
Through many dangers did he pass,
And reach the rolling sea;
But there he met a hungry bass,
Who ate him as a pea.
THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
I KNOW, when I lie down to sleep,
That God is near my bed;
That angels watch, by His command,
Around my infant head.
I know, when I kneel down to pray, That still my God is there;
He hears my word, He sees my though And will accept my prayer.
I know, when I go forth to play,
That God is by my side;
Through every hour, at every step,
He is my guard and guide.
I know His eye sees everything,
In earth, and sea, and air;
That He, in darkness as in light
Can see me everywhere.
Then let me guard each thought, each word,
Lest He should chance to find Evil within a heart that should
Be gentle, meek, and kind.
GOD PROVIDETH FOR THE MORROW!
Lo, the lilies of the field,
How their leaves instruction yield!
Hark to Nature's lesson, given
By the blessed birds of heaven!
Every bush and tufted tree
Warbles sweet philosophy :-
"Mortal, fly from doubt and sorrow :
God provideth for the morrow!
"Say, with richer crimson glows
The kingly mantle, than the rose?
Say, have kings more wholesome fare
Than we poor citizens of air?
Barns nor hoarded grain have we,
Yet we carol merrily.
Mortal, fly from doubt and sorrow:
God provideth for the morrow!
"One there lives whose guardian eye
Guides our humble destiny;
One there lives, who, Lord of all,
Keeps our feathers, lest they fall.
Pass we blithely, then, the time,
Fearless of the snare and lime,*
Free from doubt and faithless sorrow:
God provideth for the morrow!"
* Lime-birdlime, a substance used by birdcatchers.
NAY, speak no ill: a kindly word
Can never leave a sting behind;
And, oh! to breathe each talk 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 faults efface;
How can it pleasure human pride
To prove humanity but base?
No, let us reach a higher mood—
A noble 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 others' 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.
MY LITTLE SISTER.
I HAVE a little sister here-a very little one,
I nurse her every day, because she cannot go alone;
I think she has the sweetest voice that I have ever heard, So I try to understand her, though she cannot speak a
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