LXXXII.-SHORT SELECTIONS.

TEACHINGS OF NATURE.

THERE's not a plant that springeth,
But bears some good to earth;
There's not a life but bringeth
Its store of harmless mirth;
The dusty, wayside clover,
Has honey in its cells,
The wild bee, humming over,
Her tale of pleasure tells;
The osiers o'er the fountain
Keep cool the water's breast,
And on the roughest mountain
The softest moss is press'd.
Thus holy Nature teaches

The worth of blessings small,
That love pervades and reaches,

And forms the bliss of all.

-Mrs. Hale.

OPINION.

OPINION is that high and mighty dame

Which rules the world; and in the mind doth frame Distaste or liking; for in human race

She makes the fancy various as the face.

A MOTHER'S LOVE.

A MOTHER'S love, how sweet the name!
What is a mother's love?

A noble, pure, and tender flame,

Enkindled from above,

To bless a heart of earthly mold;

The warmest love that can grow cold:
This is a mother's love.

-Howel.

-James Montgomery.

RESIGNATION.

O Thou who dry'st the mourner's tear,
How dark this world would be,
If, when deceived and wounded here,
We could not fly to Thee!

The friends who in our sunshine live,
When winter comes, are flown;
And he who has but tears to give,

Must weep those tears alone;
But thou wilt heal that broken heart,
Which, like the plants that throw
Their fragrance from the wounded part,
Breathes sweetness out of woe.

LXXXIII.-TRUTH AND INTEGRITY.

-Moore.

TRUTH and integrity have all the advantages of appearance, and many more. If the show of any thing be good for any thing, I am sure the reality is better; for why does any man dissemble or seem to be that which he is not, but because he thinks it is good to have the qualities he pretends to? For to counterfeit and dissemble is to put on the appearance of some real excellency. Now, the best way for a man to seem to be any thing is really to be what he would seem to be. Besides, it is often as troublesome to support the pretense of a good quality as to have it; and if a man have it not, it is most likely he will be discovered to want it, and then all his labor to seem to have it, is lost. There is something unnatural in painting, which a skillful eye will easily discern from native beauty and complexion.

It is hard to personate and act a part long; for where truth is not at the bottom, nature will always be endeavoring to return, and will betray herself at one time or other. Therefore, if any man think it convenient to seem good, let him be so indeed, and then his goodness will appear to every one's satisfaction; for truth is convincing, and carries its own light and evidence along with it, and will not only

commend us to every man's conscience, but, which is much more, to God, who searcheth our hearts. So that, upon all accounts, sincerity is true wisdom. Particularly as to the affairs of this world, integrity hath many advantages over all the artificial modes of dissimulation and deceit.

It is much the plainer and easier, much the safer and more secure way of dealing in the world: it hath less of trouble and difficulty, of entanglement and perplexity, of danger and hazard in it; it is the shortest and nearest way to our end, carrying us thither in a straight line, and will hold out and last longest. The arts of deceit and cunning continually grow weaker and less effectual and serviceable to those that practice them; whereas, integrity gains strength by use, and the more and longer any man practiceth it, the greater service it does him, by confirming his reputation, and encouraging those with whom he hath to do, to repose the greatest confidence in him, which is an unspeakable advantage in business and the affairs of life.

A dissembler must always be upon his guard, and watch himself carefully that he do not contradict his own pretensions; for he acts an unnatural part, and therefore must put a continual force and restraint upon himself; whereas, he that acts sincerely hath the easiest task in the world, because he follows nature, and so is put to no trouble and care about his words and actions: he needs not invent any pretenses beforehand, nor make any excuses afterward for any thing he hath said or done.

LXXXIV. TRUTH AND INTEGRITY.

(Concluded.)

A hypo

BUT insincerity is very troublesome to manage. crite hath so many things to attend to as makes his life a very perplexed and intricate thing. A liar hath need of good memory lest he contradict at one time what he said at another. But truth is always consistent with itself, and needs nothing to help it out: it is always near at hand, and

sits upon our lips, and is ready to drop out before we are aware; whereas, a lie is troublesome, and one trick needs a great many more to make it good.

Add to all this that sincerity is the most compendious wisdom, and an excellent instrument for the speedy dispatch of business. It creates confidence in those we have to deal with, saves the labor of many inquiries, and brings things to an issue in a few words. It is like traveling a plain beaten road, which commonly brings a man sooner to his journey's end than by by-ways, in which men often lose themselves. In a word, whatever convenience may be thought to be in falsehood and dissimulation, it is soon over; but the inconvenience of it is perpetual, because it brings a man under an everlasting jealousy and suspicion, so that he is not believed when he speaks truth, nor trusted when perhaps he means honesty. When a man has forfeited the reputation of his integrity, nothing will then serve his turn, neither truth nor falsehood.

Indeed, if a man were only to deal in the world for a day, and should never have occasion to converse more with mankind—never more need their good opinion or good word, it were then no great matter (as far as respects the affairs of this world), if he spent his reputation all at once, and ventured it at one throw. But if he be to continue in the world, and would have the advantage of reputation whilst he is in it, let him make use of sincerity in all his words and actions, for nothing but this will hold out to the end. All other arts will fail, but truth and integrity will carry a man through and bear him out to the last.

-Archbishop Tillotson.

LXXXV. THE CITY OF THE LIVING.

IN a long vanished age, whose varied story
No record has to-day-

So long ago expired its grief and glory,-
There flourished, far away,

In a broad realm, whose beauty passed all measure, A city fair and wide,

Wherein the dwellers lived in peace and pleasure, And never any died.

Disease and pain and death, those stern marauders
Which mar our world's fair face,

Never encroached upon the pleasant borders
Of that bright dwelling-place.

No fear of parting and no dread of dying
Could ever enter there;

No mourning for the lost, no anguished crying
Made any face less fair.

Without the city's walls Death reigned as ever,
And graves rose side by side;

Within, the dwellers laughed at his endeavor,
And never any died.

Oh, happiest of all earth's favored places!
Oh, bliss to dwell therein!

To live in the sweet light of loving faces,
And fear no grave between!

To feel no death-damp, gathering cold and colder, Disputing life's warm truth;

To live on, never lowlier or older,

Radiant in deathless youth!

And hurrying from the world's remotest quarters,
A tide of pilgrims flowed

Across broad plains and over mighty waters,
To find that blest abode

Where never death should come between and sever Them from their loved apart;

Where they might work and win and live forever, Still holding heart to heart.