He preached but little, argued less; That corner house was allus known One summer's day the thing was done; He seemed to be just out o' bed, Right for the crawlin' fuse he went, Till less 'n three feet off he got From where the murderin' thing lay still, They hollered-all they durst to do; He turned and laughed, and then bent low And went right on a crowin' sweet. Just then some chance or purpose brought The child was sheltered; Father John THE FOOL'S PRAYER. The royal feast was done; the king And to his jester cried: "Sir Fool, Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!" The jester doffed his cap and bells, He bowed his head, and bent his knee "No pity, Lord, could change the heart "Tis not by guilt the onward sweep We hold the earth from heaven away. "The ill-timed truth we might have kept,- Who knows how grandly it had rung? "Our faults no tenderness should ask, The chastening stripe must cleanse them all "Earth bears no balsam for mistakes; Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool Be merciful to me, a fool!" The room was hushed; in silence rose -Atlantic Monthly. THE CYNIC.-H. W. BEECHER. The Cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man. and never fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness and blind to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. The Cynic puts all human actions into only two classesopenly bad, and secretly bad. All virtue, and generosity, and disinterestedness, are merely the appearance of good, but selfish at the bottom. He holds that no man does a good thing except for profit. The effect of his conversation upon your feelings is to chill and sear them; to send you away sour and morose. His criticisms and innuendoes fall indiscriminately upon every lovely thing, like frost upon the flowers. If Mr. A. is pronounced a religious man, he will reply: yes, on Sundays. Mr. B. has just joined the church: certainly; the elections are coming on. The minister of the gospel is called an example of diligence: it is his trade. Such a man is generous: of other men's money. This man is obliging: to lull suspicion and cheat you. That man is upright: because he is green. Thus his eye strains out every good quality, and takes in only the bad. To him religion is hypocrisy, honesty a preparation for fraud, virtue only a want of opportunity, and undeniable purity, asceticism. The livelong day he will coolly sit with sneering lip, transfixing every character that is presented. It is impossible to indulge in such habitual severity of opinion upon our fellow-men, without injuring the tenderness and delicacy of our own feelings. A man will be what his most cherished feelings are. If he encourage a noble generosity, every feeling will be enriched by it; if he nurse bitter and envenomed thoughts, his own spirit will absorb the poison, and he will crawl among men as a burnished adder, whose life is mischief, and whose errand is death. He who hunts for flowers will find flowers; and he who loves weeds may find weeds. Let it be remembered that no man, who is not himself morally diseased, will have a relish for disease in others. Reject, then, the morbid ambition of the Cynic, or cease to call yourself a man. THE STRAIGHT ROAD. Beauty may be the path to nighest good, Thou, who wouldst follow, be well warned to see The straightest way, perhaps, which may be sought, CAPTAIN REECE OF THE MANTLEPIECE. Of all the ships upon the blue, If ever they were dull or sad, A feather bed had every man, Did they with thirst in summer burn, Then currant wine and ginger-pops New volumes came across the sea One summer eve, at half-past ten, 66 Come, tell me, please, what I can do To please and gratify my crew. * Royal Navy. |