Thou lovest most have left thee-then through tears Remember that thy brother's heart and hand

Are ever open!

The love of all may change; but his !-oh! never While Time is flowing, nor beyond the Grave. Dishonour ne'er shall cast its shadow o'er thee While life is in his heart :-Thy head shall rest For ever on his breast, and he will guard thee

As doth thy mother!

ROBERT NICOLL, 1814-1837.

PRAYER FOR KIND AFFECTIONS.

FATHER of mercies! send Thy grace,
All-powerful from above,

To form in our obedient souls

The image of Thy love.

Oh, may our sympathising breasts

The generous pleasure know,
Kindly to share in others' joy,
And weep for others' woe!

Where'er the helpless sons of grief
In low distress are laid,

Soft be our hearts their pains to feel,
And swift our hands to aid.

Oh, be the law of love fulfill'd

In every act and thought!

Each angry passion far removed,

Each selfish view forgot!

PHILIP DODDRIDGE, D.D., 1702-1751.

TO MY DAUGHTER,

ON BEING SEPARATED FROM HER ON HER MARRIAGE.

DEAR to my heart as life's warm stream
Which animates this mortal clay,

For thee I court the waking dream,

And deck with smiles the future day;

And thus beguile the present pain
With hopes that we shall meet again.

Yet, will it be as when the past

Twined every joy, and care, and thought,
And o'er our minds one mantle cast

Of kind affections finely wrought?
Ah no! the groundless hope were vain,
For so we ne'er can meet again!

May he who claims thy tender heart
Deserve its love, as I have done!

For, kind and gentle as thou art,

If so beloved, thou 'rt fairly won.

Bright may the sacred torch remain,
And cheer thee till we meet again!

MRS AMELIA OPIE, 1769-1853

THE DOVES-A LESSON OF LOVE,

REASONING at every step he treads,
Man yet mistakes his way;

While meaner things, whom instinct leads,
Are rarely known to stray.

One silent eve I wander'd late,
And heard the voice of love;
The turtle thus address'd her mate,
And soothed the listening dove:

Our mutual bond of faith and truth
No time shall disengage,
Those blessings of our early youth
Shall cheer our latest age;

While innocence without disguise,

And constancy sincere,

Shall fill the circles of those eyes,

And mine can read them there;

Those ills, that wait on all below,
Shall ne'er be felt by me,
Or gently felt, and only so,

As being shared with thee.

When lightnings flash among the trees,
Or kites are hovering near,

I fear lest thee alone they seize,
And know no other fear.

'Tis then I feel myself a wife,
And press thy wedded side,
Resolved a union form'd for life
Death never shall divide.

But oh! if, fickle and unchaste,
(Forgive a transient thought,)
Thou couldst become unkind at last,
And scorn thy present lot;

No need of lightnings from on high,
Or kites with cruel beak;

Denied the endearments of thine eye,
This widow'd heart would break.

Thus sang the sweet sequester'd bird,
Soft as the passing wind;
And I recorded what I heard,

A lesson for mankind.

WILLIAM COWPER, 1731-1800.

WHAT THE VOICE SAID.

MADDEN'D by earth's wrong and evil, "Lord!" I cried in sudden ire,

"From Thy right hand, clothed with thunder, Shake the bolted fire!

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Love is lost, and Faith is dying: With the brute the man is sold; And the dropping blood of labour Hardens into gold.

"Here the dying wail of Famine,
There the battle's groan of pain;
And in silence, smooth-faced Mammon
Reaping men like grain.

“Where is God, that we should fear Him?'

Thus the earth-born Titans say;

'God! if Thou art living, hear us!' Thus the weak ones pray."

"Thou, the patient Heaven upbraiding,"
Spake a solemn Voice within ;
"Weary of our Lord's forbearance,
Art thou free from sin?