LESSON IV.

FORGIVE AND FORGET.

1. WHEN streams of unkindness, as bitter as gall,
Bubble up from the heart to the tongue,
And meekness is writhing in torment and thrall,
By the hands of ingratitude wrung:
In the heat of injustice, unwept and unfair,
While the anguish is festering yet,

None, none but an angel of God can declare
I now can forgive and forget.

2. But if the bad spirit is chased from the heart,
And the lips are in penitence steeped,

With the wrong so repented, the wrath will depart,
Though scorn on injustice were heaped;
For the best compensation is paid for all ill,
When the cheek with contrition is wet,
And every one feels it is possible still
At once to forgive and forget.

3. To forget? It is hard for a man with a mind,
However his heart may forgive,

To blot out all perils and dangers behind,
And but for the future to live.

Then how shall it be? for, at every turn,
Recollection the spirit will fret,

And the ashes of injury smoulder and burn,
Though we strive to forgive and forget.

4. O, hearken! my tongue shall the riddle unseal,
And mind shall be partner with heart,
While thee to thyself I bid conscience reveal,
And show thee how evil thou art:
Remember thy follies, thy sins, and thy crimes,
How vast is that infinite debt!

Yet mercy hath seven by seventy times

Been swift to forgive and forget.

5. Brood not on insults or injuries old,

For thou art injurious too;

Count not the sum till the total is told,
For thou art unkind and untrue;

And if all thy harms are forgotten, forgiven,

Now mercy with justice is met;

O, who would not gladly take lessons from heaven,
And learn to forgive and forget?

6. Yes, yes, let a man, when his enemy weeps,
Be quick to receive him a friend;

For thus on his head in kindness he heaps

Hot coals, to refine and amend;

And hearts that are Christian more easily yearn,
As a nurse on her innocent pet,

Over lips that, once bitter, to penitence turn,
And whisper, forgive and forget.

TUPPER.

LESSON V.

"CLEON AND I."

1. CLEON hath a million acres-ne'er a one have I;
Cleon dwelleth in a palace-in a cottage, I;
Cleon hath a dozen fortunes-not a penny, I;
But the poorer of the twain is Cleon, and not I.
2. Cleon, true, possesseth acres-but the landscape, I;
Half the charms to me it yieldeth money can not buy;
Cleon harbors sloth and dullness-freshening vigor, I;
He in velvet, I in fustian-richer man am I.

3. Cleon is a slave to grandeur-free as thought am I;
Cleon fees a score of doctors-need of none have I.
Wealth-surrounded, care-environed, Cleon fears to die;
Death may come—he'll find me ready-happier man am I.
4. Cleon sees no charms in Nature-in a daisy, I;
Cleon hears no anthems ringing in the sea and sky.
Nature sings to me forever-earnest listener, I;

State for state, with all attendants, who would change?

Not I.

C. MACKAY.

LESSON VI.

SPECTACLES, OR HELPS TO READ.

1. A CERTAIN artist-I've forgot his name—

Had got, for making spectacles, a fame,

Or "helps to read," as, when they first were sold,
Was writ upon his glaring sign in gold;

And, for all uses to be had from glass,

His were allowed by readers to surpass. 2. There came a man into his shop one day— "Are you the spectacle contriver, pray'?" "Yes, sir," said he; "I can in that affair Contrive to please you, if you want a pair'.” "Can you'? pray do, then'." So, at first, he chose To place a youngish pair upon his nose;

And book produced, to see how they would fit: Asked how he liked 'em'? "Like 'em'? not a bit."

3. "Then, sir, I fancy, if you please to try,

These in my hand will better suit your eye`.”

"No', but they don't'." "Well, come, sir, if you please, Here is another sort', we'll e'en try these';

Still somewhat more they magnify the letter';
Now, sir' ?"

"Why, now-I'm not a bit the better'." "No'? here, take these, that magnify still more; How do they fit' ?" "Like all the rest before." 4. In short, they tried a whole assortment through, But all in vain, for none of 'em would do. The operator, much surprised to find

So odd a case, thought, sure the man is blind!
"What sort of eyes can you have got`?” said he.
"Why, very good ones, friend, as you may see."
"Yes, I perceive the clearness of the ball—
Pray, let me ask you, can you read at all' ?”
"No', you great blockhead; if I could, what need
Of paying you for any helps to read' ?" "
And so he left the maker in a heat,
Resolved to post him for an arrant cheat.

L

BYROM.

1. You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear;
To-morrow 'll be the happiest time of all the glad New-year;

Of all the glad New-year, mother, the maddest, merriest day;
For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

2. There's many a black black eye, they say, but none so bright as mine; There's Margaret and Mary, there's Kate and Caroline :

But none so fair as little Alice in all the land they say,

So I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

3. I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake,
If you do not call me loud when the day begins to break:

But I must gather knots of flowers, and buds and garlands gay,
For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

4. As I came up the valley, whom think ye should I see,
But Robin leaning on the bridge beneath the hazel-tree?
He thought of that sharp look, mother, I gave him yesterday-

But I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

5. They say he's dying all for love, but that can never be:
They say his heart is breaking, mother-what is that to me?
There's many a bolder lad will woo me any summer day,
For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

6. Little Effie shall go with me to-morrow to the green,

And you'll be there too, mother, to see me made the Queen;
For the shepherd-lads on every side will come from far away-
And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

7. If you're waking, call me early, call me early, mother dear, For I would see the sun rise upon the glad New-year:

It is the last New-year that I shall ever see,

Then you may lay me low in the mould, and think no more of me.

8. To-night I saw the sun set: he set and left behind

The good old year, the dear old time, and all my peace of mind;
And the New-year's coming up, mother, but I shall never see
The blossom on the blackthorn, the leaf upon the tree.

9. Last May we made a crown of flowers; we had a merry day:
Beneath the hawthorn on the Green they made me Queen of May;
And we danced about the May-pole and in the hazel copse,1
Till Charles's Wain2 came out above the tall white chimney-tops.

10. There's not a flower on all the hills: the frost is on the pane:
I only wish to live till the snowdrops come again:

I wish the snow would melt, and the sun come out on high:
I long to see a flower so, before the day I die.