1. LESSON LXIV. THE BRIGHT FLOWERS. ANON. H! they look upward in every place Through this beautiful world of ours; Is the smile of the bright, bright flowers. But the children of showers and sunny beams (All the class) THE BRIGHT, BRIGHT FLOWERS! 2. They tell of a season when men were not, And leaves and flowers at every spot Wandered by wood and glade, And the Lord looked down from the highest heaven, And blessed what He had made, (All the class) THE BRIGHT, BRIGHT FLOWERS! 3. The blessing remaineth upon them still, Made a home in the hearts of men, The blessing of God in each tender leaf Preserved in their beauty then (All the class) THE BRIGHT, BRIGHT FLOWERS! 4. The lily is lovely as when it slept On the waters of Eden's lake; The woodbine breathes sweetly as when it crept They were left as a proof of the loveliness Of Adam and Eve's first home; They are here as a type of the joys that bless (All the class) THE BRIGHT, BRIGHT FLOWERS! 1. LESSON LXV. THE SUMMER RAIN. HELEN MITCHELL. H the rain, the beautiful rain! OH the beautiful Beating its wings 'gainst the window-pane, Over the meadow with pattering feet, Kissing the clover-blossoms sweet, Singing the blue-bells fast asleep, Making the pendent willows weep, Over the hillside brown, Over the dusty town, Merrily, cheerily, cometh it down, The rain, the summer rain! 2. Oh the rain, the welcome rain! On tiny flower and thirsting plain, Laughingly tipping the lily's cup, Joyously greeting the earth that thrills Through her thousand veins of gathering rills,— Over the sleeping dead, 3. Oh the rain, the cheering rain! Drifting slowly, sweetly down, Leaving a gem as it passes on,. In the daisy's breast, On the thistle's crest, And the buttercup richly blest By the rain, the generous rain! A LESSON LXVI. A NOBLE REVENGE. THOMAS DE QUINCEY. YOUNG officer had so far forgotten himself, in a mo ment of irritation, as to strike a private soldier, full of personal dignity, and distinguished for his courage. The inex'orable laws of military discipline forbade to the injured soldier any redress, he could look for no retaliation by acts. Words only were at his command; and, in a tumult of indignation, as he turned away, the soldier said to his officer that he would "make him repent it." This, wearing the shape of a menace, naturally rekindled the officer's anger, and intercepted any disposition which might be rising within him toward a sentiment of remorse; and thus the irritation between the two young men grew hotter than before. 2. Some weeks after this, a partial action took place with the enemy. Suppose yourself a spectator, and looking down into a valley occupied by the two armies. They are facing each other, you see, in martial array. But it is no more than a skirmish which is going on; in the course of which, however, an occasion suddenly arises for a desperate service. A redoubt, which has fallen into the enemy's hands, must be recaptured at any price, and under circumstances of all but hopeless difficulty. 3. A strong party has volunteered for the service; there is a cry for somebody to head them: you see a soldier step out from the ranks to assume this dangerous leadership. The party moves rapidly forward; in a few minutes it is swallowed up from your eyes in clouds of smoke; for one half-hour, from behind these clouds you receive hieroglyphic reports of bloody strife, — fierce-repeating signals, flashes from the guns, rolling musketry, and exulting hurrahs, advancing or receding, slackening or redoubling. 4. At length, all is over; the redoubt has been recovered; that which was lost, is found again; the jewel which had been made captive, is ransomed with blood. Crimsoned with glorious gore, the wreck of the conquering party is relieved, and at liberty to return. From the river you see it ascending. The plume-crested officer in command rushes forward, with his left hand raising his hat in homage to the blackened fragments of what once was a flag, while with his right hand he seizes that of the leader, though no more than a private from the ranks. That per· plexes you not; mystery you see none in that. For distinctions of order perish, ranks are confounded; "high and low" are words without a meaning; and to wreck goes every notion or feeling that divides the noble from the noble, or the brave man from the brave. 5. But wherefore is it that now, when suddenly they wheel into mutual recognition, suddenly they pause ? This soldier, this officer, who are they? O reader! once before they had stood face to face, the soldier that was struck, the officer that struck him. Once again they are meeting, and the gaze of armies is upon them. If, for a moment, a doubt divides them, in a moment that doubt has perished. One glance, exchanged between them, publishes the forgiveness that is sealed forever. 6. As one who recovers a brother whom he has accounted dead, the officer sprang forward, threw his arms around the neck of the soldier, and kissed him, as if he were some martyr glorified by that shadow of death from which he was returning; while, on his part, the soldier, stepping back, and carrying his open hand through the beautiful motions of the military salute to a superior, makes this immortal answer, that answer which shut up forever the memory of the indignity offered to him, even while, for the last time, alluding to it,-"Sir," he said, "I told you before that I would make you repent it!" 7. How admirably does the conduct of this noble soldier exemplify the teachings of the Savior!-"But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil. Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven." you; |