“LITTLE CHILDREN, LOVE ONE ANOTHER."
A LITTLE girl, with a happy look,
Sat slowly reading a ponderous book,
All bound with velvet, and edged with gold,
And its weight was more than the child could hold;
Yet dearly she loved to ponder it o'er,
And every day she prized it more;
For it said—and she looked at her smiling mother—
It said, "Little children, love one another."
She thought it was beautiful in the book,
And the lesson home to her heart she took ;
She walked on her way with a trusting grace,
And a dove-like look in her meek young face,
Which said just as plain as words could say,
The holy Bible I must obey;
So mamma, I'll be kind to my darling brother,
For "Little children must love each other."
I'm sorry he's naughty, and will not play,
But I'll love him still, for I think the way
To make him gentle and kind to me,
Will be better shown if I let him see
I strive to do what I think is right;
And thus, when we kneel in prayer to-night,
I will clasp my arms around my brother,
"Little children, love one another."
The little girl did as her Bible taught,
And pleasant, indeed, was the change it wrought;
For the boy looked up in glad surprise,
To meet the light of her loving eyes ;
His heart was full, he could not speak,
But he pressed a kiss on his sister's cheek;
And God looked down on the happy mother,
Whose "little children loved each other."
THINGS TO REMEMBER.
REMEMBER, child, remember
That God is in the sky,
And that He looks on all we do
With an ever-watchful eye.
Remember, oh! remember
That all the day and night
He knows our thoughts and actions,
For we are ever in His sight.
Remember, child, remember
That God is good and true,
And 'tis His will that we should be
Right and just in all we do!
Remember, too, that He forbids
Deception or a lie;
Remember that all who offend
Will be punished by and by.
Remember, oh! remember
That God is our best friend, And that He wishes us to be Good and happy in the end.
Remember, child, remember
To pray to Him in heaven;
And for every fault in word or deed,
Oh! ask to be forgiven.
Then He will hear thee, and forgive
Like father good and kind;
So remember, child, remember,
That you love with all your mind
The holy God who lives in heaven,
And grants us each delight;
Who safely guides us through the day,
And guards us in the night.
WHERE the pools are bright and deep,
Where the grey trout lies asleep,
Up the river, and over the lea,
That's the way for Billy and me.
Where the blackbird sings the latest,
Where the hawthorn blooms the sweetest,
Where the nestlings chirp and flee,
That's the way for Billy and me.
Where the mowers mow the cleanest,
Where the hay lies thickest and greenest,
There to trace the homeward bee,
That's the way for Billy and me.
Where the hazel bank is steepest,
Where the shadow falls the deepest,
Where the clustering nuts fall free,
That's the way for Billy and me.
Why the boys should drive away
Little sweet maidens from their play,
Or love to banter and fight so well,
That's the thing I never could tell.
But this I know, I love to play
Through the meadow among
the hay;
Up the water, and over the lea,
That's the way for Billy and me.
James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd.
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