Chapter I: SAW two clouds at morning,

Tinged by the morning sun,
And in the dawn they floated on
And mingled into one;
I thought that morning cloud was blest,
It moved so sweetly to the west.
Such be your gentle motion,
Till life’s last pulse shall beat,
And you float on in joy to meet
A calmer sea, where storms shall cease—
A purer sky, where all is peace.

* * * * *

WHEN on this page you chance to look,
Just think of me and close the book.

* * * * *

BE a good girl, and you will be a true woman.

* * * * *

MAY thy darkest hours in life be well lighted with the sunshine of contentment.

* * * * *

YOURS sincerely—although merely—

* * * * *

WHEN the golden sun is setting,
And your heart from care is free,
When o’er a thousand things you’re thinking,
Will you sometimes think of me?

* * * * *

HOW long we live, not years, but actions tell;
That man lives twice who lives the first life well.
Make then, while yet ye may, your God your friend.
Whom Christians worship, yet not comprehend.
The trust that’s given, guard; and to yourself be just;
For, live we how we can, yet die we must.

* * * * *

LIVE well; how long or short, permit to Heaven;
They who forgive most, shall be most forgiven.

* * * * *

SOAR not too high to fall, but stoop to rise;
We masters grow of all that we despise.

* * * * *

YOUR fate is but the common fate of all;
Unmingled joys here to no man befall.

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>--*MISCELLANEOUS.*--<

MAY e’en thy failings lean to virtue’s side.

* * * * *

HOURS are golden links—God’s token—
Reaching heaven, but one by one;
Take them, lest the chain be broken
Ere thy pilgrimage be done.

* * * * *

HOUSE beautiful—your book, from end to end,
And every page a room to lodge a friend;
Fain would I enter with a seemly grace,
Attired and mannered as befits the place;
But best endeavor falls below the aim
And rests at last, content to leave a name.

* * * * *

THE brave man is not he who feels no fear,
For that were stupid and irrational;
But, he whose noble soul its fear subdues.
And bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from.

* * * * *

FLING wide the portals of your heart!
Make it a temple set apart
From earthly use, for Heaven’s employ—
Adorned with prayer and love and joy;
So shall your Sovereign enter in
And new and noble life begin.

* * * * *

WE could count time by heart-throbs; he most lives who thinks most, speaks the noblest, acts the best.

* * * * *

WE ourselves shape the joys and fears
Of which the life to come is made,
And fill our future atmosphere
With sunshine or with shade.

* * * * *

WHEN the name that I write here is dim on the page,
And the leaves of your album are yellow with age,
Still think of me kindly, and do not forget
That, wherever I am, I remember you yet.

* * * * *

THE massive gates of circumstance
Are turned upon the slightest hinge,
And thus some seeming pettiest chance,
Oft gives to life its after tinge.

* * * * *

OH, for a home in Zululand, or Arctic regions cold,
A peasant’s cot or hermit’s hut, midst solitude untold,
With Kaffirs or with Hottentots, in Egypt or Leone—
’Twere bliss to live in _any_ spot where albums are unknown.

* * * * *

IN times of prosperity our friends are many,
But the time of adversity tries and proves them.

* * * * *

GEMS of price are deeply hidden,
’Neath the rugged rocks concealed;
What would ne’er come forth unbidden,
To thy search may be revealed.

* * * * *

WHILE the fading flowers of pleasure,
Spring spontaneous from the soil,
Thou wilt find the harvest’s treasure
Yields alone to patient toil.

* * * * *

IF recollections of friends brighten moments or sadness,
What a fund of delight is here treasured for thee!
If advice and kind wishes bring goodness and gladness,
How perfect and happy thy future must be.

* * * * *

THE tissues of the Life to be—
We weave with colors all our own,
And in the field of Destiny,
We reap as we have sown.

* * * * *

THERE is seldom a line of glory written upon earth’s face, but a line of suffering runs parallel with it; and they that read the lustrous syllables of the one, and stoop not to decipher the spotted and worn inscription of the other, get the least half of the lesson that earth has to give.

* * * * *

LEAF green on ground of white,
My name, I fain would write
That you remember still
In June or in December chill,
We two are friends.

* * * * *

OH, wayward mortal who these books invented,
Why was’t thou not by some kind hand prevented?
And thereby kept from many a luckless swain,
The direful knowledge that he lacked a brain—
Lacked it, at least, where poetry was needed,
Like the poor wight who here has not succeeded.

* * * * *

THROUGH days of doubt and darkness,
In fear and trembling breath,
Through mists of sin and sorrow,
In tears and grief and death;

Through days of light and gladness,
Through days of love and life,
Through smiles and joy and sunshine,
Through days with beauty rife;

The Lord of life and glory,
The King of earth and sea,
The Lord who guarded Israel;
Keep watch, sweet friend, o’er thee.

* * * * *

TRUTH—Freedom—Virtue—these have power;
If rightly cherished, to uphold, sustain,
And bless thy spirit, in its darkest hour.

* * * * *

THY own trim, modest form,
Is always neatly clad,
Thou surely will make the tidiest wife
That ever husband had.

* * * * *

AMONG the many friends who claim
A kind remembrance in thy heart,
I too, would add my simple name,
Among the rest.

* * * * *

MAY God’s mercy ever guide thee,
Safe o’er all thy thorny road;
And His grace what’er betide thee,
Lead thee home to His abode.

* * * * *

THE large are not the sweetest flowers;
The long are not the happiest hours;
Much talk doth not much friendship tell;
Few words are best—I wish you well.

* * * * *

LET your life be like a snowflake, which leaves a mark, but not a stain.

* * * * *

BEGIRT with roses of the royal June,
A resurrected day swings highest morn
In every year; and so through life I pray
Nay never failing changes, bring their day,
And flames of love in swinging censers rise
While all thy thoughts leads on toward the skies.

* * * * *

SMALL service is true service while it last;
Of friends, however humble, scorn not one:
The daisy, by the shadow that it cast,
Protects the lingering dew-drop from the sun.

* * * * *

MAKE good use of time, if thou lovest eternity; yesterday cannot be recalled—to-morrow cannot be secured—to-day only is thine, which, if once lost, is lost forever.

* * * * *

IN time we transact business for eternity; whatever, therefore, we do now, should be done well.

* * * * *

MAY each thought be pure, and sincere,
Addressed upon these spotless pages;
Reflections fond, they’ll always prove,
Youthful friend, through many ages.

* * * * *

THEY who have light in themselves, will not revolve as satellites.

* * * * *

THROUGH time we’ll change, and then,
This little book will somewhat bind us;
You’ll take it up, and think of me
And all the joys we’ve left behind us.

* * * * *

AS the shadow of the sun is largest when his beams are lowest, so we are always least when we make ourselves the greatest.

* * * * *

ACROSS the page of spotless white
Friends trail the pen, and in our sight
Grow precious all the lines they write.

As for some white-sailed ship at sea,
So, little book, my watch for thee;
Return with freight of love to me.

* * * * *

EVERY hour comes to us charged with duty, and the moment it is past, returns to Heaven to register itself how spent.

* * * * *

THERE’S a Divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.

* * * * *

OUR eyes see all around in gloom or glow,
Hues of their own, fresh borrowed from the heart.

* * * * *

WRITE your name by kindness, love and mercy upon the hearts of those you come in contact with, and you will never be forgotten.

* * * * *

LET Fate do her worst; there are relics of joy,
Bright dreams of the past, she cannot destroy;
They come in the night-time of sorrow and care,
And bring back the features that joy used to wear.
Like the vase, in which roses have once been distilled,
You may break—you may shatter the vase, if you will;
But the scent of the roses will hang round it still.

* * * * *

IF you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counsel, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.

* * * * *

COUNT that day lost whose low descending sun
Views from thy hand no worthy action done.

* * * * *

’TIS but a trifle that you ask,
But this you will admit,
That trifles, more than greater tasks,
Will sometimes strain our wit.
I wish thee health, and wealth, and joy,
As others have before:
And were I in poetic mood,
I’d surely wish thee more.

* * * * *

OUR greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

* * * * *

HERE’S a sigh for those who love me,
And a smile for those who hate,
And whatever sky’s above me,
Here’s a heart for every fate.

* * * * *

IN all thy humors, whether grave or mellow,
Thou art such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow;
Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen, about thee,
There is no living with thee, nor without thee.

* * * * *

MAY you live in bliss, from sorrow away,
Having plenty laid up for a rainy day;
And when you are ready to settle in life,
May you find a good husband and make a good wife.

* * * * *