THE TEMPERANCE ECHO.--EDWARD CARSWELL. 'Twas a lovely night at Grimsby Camp; As there, not very far from shore But hold! no poet need to try "Who mixed those tints,-the soft deep grays? Who scumbled in the distant haze; The red sun and its golden ray The deep clear shadows in the bay, The purple woods, the gold-edged cloud- A spirit seemed to answer: "Hush! 'Twas God's own hand that held the brush,", Then, from the shore I heard a shout, "Fall in," she cried, " and you will see It seems that somewhere up the shore, A common echo; but this maid One asked: "Is drinking whisky wrong?" 66 'When you are dry-dry," the quick reply. "And when not dry, you need no drink!" "No drink," cried echo; and I think The answer this time from the shore Came quicker than the one before. "Shall temperance sometime win the day?" 66 'Pray-pray," was all we heard her say. "Work to do-do," so clear, that you And pray-believing firm and sure HEART VENTURES. I stood and watched my ships go out,- The first that sailed, her name was Joy; Another sailed, her name was Hope; Of merchandise a store. The next that sailed, her name was Love; And she sped south right fast. The last that sailed, her name was Faith; My gallant ships they sailed away Over the shimmering summer sea, For Joy was caught by Pirate Pain, And Love took fire, and foundered fast Faith came at last, stormbeat and torn, For as a cargo, safe she bore A crown linked with a cross. NOLA KOZMO.-BAINE. There stood a young form in the mild Was lingering in the eastern sky, Looking its last ere it should set, Like some love-fraught but earth-dim eye: The trees waved stilly in the wind, And wild birds sang in their green homes enshrined. Calmly that youthful form stood there, A mantle o'er his shoulders flung, Wrapped in his thoughts of grief or crime; Waved round his face their lustrous prime. In front, with muskets glancing keen, Wild men stood waiting in the twilight sheen. "Prisoner, commend thy soul to heaven!" A stern voice cried from out the band; And, at the word, like lightning riven, The muskets glanced in each broad hand. An upward trembling of his gaze, A motion of those small round lips, A flutter of those dark eyes' rays, Like stars beneath a cloud's eclipse, That pale sad brow one moment bared, The prisoner bowed his head and stood prepared. There was a pause,-a deathly pause; The still soft wind crept murmuring past, Each heart a fuller breathing draws, The mantle's folds aside are cast, And, as the bosom gleams to view, They raised him, life's streams gushing warm, 'I thank thee, Heaven," her faint lips spake, The life blood o'er them bubbling clear, "He, he is safe!-for him will wake No father's sigh, no mother's tear." Dabbled in gore, around her swim. Away!" a wild voice cried behind, And, backward dashed, the crowd retired, A form reeled on with hurry blind, His eyes like fagots newly fired. "Nola," he cried, "how, how is this? Ah, me! earth drinks her heart's dear rain!" Down dropped he that cold clay to kiss, And question those white lips in vain. "Dumb!-cold!-no fire in those orbs be, Pale-pale, my love! and thus-O wretch, for me!" Then yelled he to the wild train round, "What! stand ye idly loitering still? Behold your true prey, free, unbound, Stands mocking at your murderous will, You know me not? On battle day This arm you knew, and feared it wellCowards"-a bullet winged its way He reeled and by the maiden' fell: They laid them both in one red grave, And summer flowers o'er their slumbers wave. ELOQUENCE THAT PERSUADES-GOETHE. Persuasion, friend, comes not by wit or art, 'Tis the live fountain in the speaker's heart Sends forth the streams that melt the ravished hearer. Then work away for life, heap book on book, Line upon line, and precept on example— The stupid multitude may gape and look, And fools may think your stock of wisdom ample, But would you touch the heart, the only method known, My worthy friend, is first to have one of your own. |