FRIENDSHIP. 1. 129. FRIENDSHIP. WE have been friends together, In sunshine and in shade, Since first beneath the chestnut-trees But coldness dwells within thy heart, 2. We have been gay together; We have laugh'd at little jests; Shall a light word part us now? 3. We have been sad together; We have wept with bitter tears O'er the grass-grown graves, where slumber'd The voices which were silent there 307 We have been sad together; Shall a light word part us now? MRS. NORTON. 130. 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, In the heat of injustice, unwept and unfair, None, none but an angel of God can declare, 2. But, if the bad spirit is chased from the heart, With the wrong so repented the wrath will depart, 3. To forget? It is hard for a man with a mind, To blot out all insults and evils behind, Then how shall it be? for at every turn And the ashes of injury smolder and burn, 4. Oh, hearken! my tongue shall the riddle unseal, Yet Mercy hath seven by seventy times 5. Brood not on insults or injuries old, Count not their sum till the total is told, And if all thy harms are forgotten, forgiven, Now mercy with justice is met; Oh, who would not gladly take lessons of heaven, 6. Yes, yes; let a man when his enemy weeps, 1 Pån' i tence, sorrow of heart for sins or offenses.—3 Contrition (kon trish' un), deep sorrow for sin. For thus on his head in kindness he heaps Hot coals-to refine and amend; And hearts that are Christian more eagerly yearn, As a nurse on her innocent pet, Over lips that, once bitter, to penitence turn, And whisper, Forgive and forget. M. F. TUPPER. 131. THE HEADSTONE. THE coffin was let down to the bottom of tae grave, the planks were removed from the heaped-up brink, the first rattling clods had struck their knell, the quick shoveling was over, and the long, broad, skillfully cut pieces of turf were aptly joined. together, and trimly laid by the beating spade, so that the newest mound in the church-yard was scarcely distinguishable from those that were grown over by the undisturbed grass and daisies of a luxuriant spring. The burial was soon over; and the party, with one consenting motion, having uncovered their heads in decent reverence of the place and occasion, were beginning to separate, and about to leave the church-yard. 2. Here, some acquaintances from distant parts of the parish, who had not had opportunity of addressing each other in the house that had belonged to the deceased, nor in the course of the few hundred yards that the little procession had to move over from his bed to his grave, were shaking hands quietly but cheerfully, and inquiring after the welfare of each other's families. There, a small knot of neighbors were speaking, without exaggeration,' of the respectable character which the deceased had borne, and mentioning to one another little incidents of his life, some of them so remote as to be known only to the grayheaded persons of the group; while a few yards further removed from the spot were standing together parties who discussed ordinary concerns, altogether unconnected with the funeral, such as the state of the markets, the promise of the season, or change of tenants; but still with a sobriety of manner and voice that was insensibly produced by the influence of the simple ceremony Exaggeration (egz åj er å′ shun), enlargement beyond truth. now closed, by the quiet graves around, and the shadow of the spire and gray walls of the house of God. grave, with They were 3. Two men yet stood together at the head of the countenances of sincere but unimpassioned' grief. brothers, the only sons of him who had been buried. And there was something in their situation that naturally kept the eyes many directed upon them for a long time, and more intently' than would have been the case had there been nothing more observable about them than the common symptoms of a common sorrow. But these two brothers, who were now standing at the head of their father's grave, had for some years been totally estranged from each other; and the only words that had passed between them, during all that time, had been uttered within a few days past, during the necessary preparations for the old man's funeral. 3 4. No deep and deadly quarrel was between these brothers, and neither of them could distinctly tell the cause of this unnatural estrangement. Perhaps dim jealousies of their father's favor-selfish thoughts that will sometimes force themselves into poor men's hearts, respecting temporal expectations"-unaccommodating manners on both sides-taunting words that mean little when uttered, but which rankle and fester in remembrance -imagined opposition of interests, that, duly considered, would have been found one and the same-these, and many other causes, slight when single, but strong when rising up together in one baneful' band, had gradually but fatally infected their hearts, till at last they, who in youth had been seldom separate and truly attached, now met at market, and, miserable to say, at church, with dark and averted faces, like different clansmen' during a feud.10 5. Surely, if any thing could have softened their hearts toward each other, it must have been to stand silently, side by 1 Unimpassioned (un im påsh' und), without showing signs of passion or feeling. In tent' ly, attentively; fixedly.-3 Es trånge' ment, sepa ration; reserve..-- Temporal expectations, expectations of this world, as goods and possessions.-- Rankle (rång' kl), corrode; turn sour or bitter.- Fès' ter, foment; corrupt.- Båne' ful, injurious; poisonous; working ill. In fect' ed, tainted with disease; poisoned. - Clåns' men, persons belonging to a clan or tribe.-10 Feud, violent quarrel. side, while the earth, stones, and clods were falling down upon their father's coffin. And doubtless their hearts were so softened. But pride, though it can not prevent the holy affections of nature from being felt, may prevent them from being shown; and these two brothers stood there together, determined not to let each other know the mutual tenderness that, in spite of them, was gushing up in their hearts, and teaching them the uncon fessed folly and wickedness of their causeless quarrel. 6. A headstone had been prepared, and a person came for ward to plant it. The elder brother directed him how to place it a plain stone with a sand-glass, skull, and cross-bones, chiseled not rudely, and a few words inscribed. The younger brother regarded the operation with a troubled eye, and said, loudly enough to be heard by several of the bystanders, "William, this was not kind in you; you should have told me of this. I loved my father as well as you could love him. You were the elder, and, it may be, the favorite son; but I had a right in nature to have joined you in ordering this headstone, had I not?" 7. During these words the stone was sinking into the earth, and many persons who were on their way from the grave returned. For awhile the elder brother said nothing, for he had a consciousness in his heart that he ought to have consulted his father's son in designing this last becoming mark of affection and respect to his memory; so that the stone was planted in silence, and now stood erect, decently and simply, among the other unostentatious' memorials of the humble dead. 8. The inscription merely gave the name and age of the deceased, and told that the stone had been erected "by his affec tionate sons." The sight of these words seemed to soften the displeasure of the angry man, and he said, somewhat more mildly, "Yes, we were his affectionate sons; and since my name is on the stone I am satisfied, brother. We have not drawn together kindly of late years, and perhaps never may; but I acknowledge and respect your worth; and here, before our own friends, and before the friends of our father, with my foot above his head, I express my willingness to be on other and better Unostentatious (ůn ỏs ten tå' shůs), modest; not showy. |
