THE GOOD SHEPHERD. THE Lord my pasture shall prepare, When in the sultry glebe I faint, Though in the paths of death I tread, Though in a bare and rugged way, Thy bounty shall my pains beguile; ADDISON. THE USE OF FLOWERS. GOD might have made the earth bring forth The oak tree and the cedar tree, We might have had enough, enough And yet have had no flowers. The ore within the mountain mine, Nor doth it need the lotus flower, To make the river flow. The clouds might give abundant rain; And the herb that keepeth life in man, Then wherefore, wherefore were they made, Springing in valleys green and low, Our outward life requires them not, To comfort man-to whisper hope, For whoso careth for the flowers, THE OLD MAN'S COMFORTS, AND HOW HE GAINED THEM. "You are old, father William," the young man cried, "The few locks that are left you are grey : You are hale, father William, a hearty old man: Now tell me the reason, I pray ?" "In the days of my youth," father William replied, "I remember'd that youth would fly fast, And abus'd not my health and my vigour at first, That I never might need them at last.” "You are old, father William," the young man cried, "And pleasures with youth pass away, And yet you lament not the days that are gone : Now tell me the reason I pray?" "In the days of my youth," father William replied, "I remembered that youth could not last; I thought of the future whatever I did, That I never might grieve for the past." "You are old, father William," the young man cried; “And life must be hastening away ; You are cheerful, and love to converse upon death: Now tell me the reason I pray ?" "I am cheerful, young man," father William replied, "Let the cause thy attention engage: In the days of my youth I remembered my God, And He hath not forgotten my age." THE BLIND CHILD. I heard my mother's lullaby, The while she breathed a prayer That God's best blessing might be shed Her soothing kiss-her fond embrace, |