The old man used to shudder, and seem

Remembering secret sin;

But the happy young heir is as if in a dream, -
Paradise all within!

Alas! for the old man,

where is he now?

And fear for thyself, young heir; For he was innocent once as thou,

As ruddy, and blithe, and fair:

Reap wisdom from his furrowed face,
Cull counsel from his fear;

O, speed thee, young heir, in gifts and in grace,
And blessings on thee,- New Year!

ALL'S FOR THE BEST.

(To the same music as

Never Give Up.")

ALL'S for the best! be sanguine and cheerful,
Trouble and sorrow are friends in disguise,
Nothing but Folly goes faithless and fearful,
Courage for ever is happy and wise:
All for the best, if a man would but know it,
Providence wishes us all to be blest,

This is no dream of the pundit or poet,
Heaven is gracious, and- - All's for the best!

All for the best! set this on your standard,
Soldier of sadness, or pilgrim of love,

Who to the shores of Despair may have wander'd,
A way-wearied swallow, or heart-stricken dove:
All for the best! - be a man but confiding,
Providence tenderly governs the rest,

And the frail bark of his creature is guiding
Wisely and warily, all for the best.

All for the best! then fling away terrors,

Meet all your fears and your foes in the van, And in the midst of your dangers or errors

Trust like a child, while you strive like a man All's for the best! - unbiass'd, unbounded,

Providence reigns from the East to the West; And, by both wisdom and mercy surrounded, Hope and be happy that All's for the best!

THE RIDDLE READ.

WORLD of sorrow, care, and change,
Even to myself I seem,
As adown thy vale I range,
Wandering in a dream:

All things are so strange.

For, the dead who died this day,

Fair and young, or great and good, Though we mourn them, where are they?

-With those before the flood;

Equally past away.

Living hearts have scantly time

To feel some other heart most dear, Scarce can love the love sublime

Unselfishly sincere,

Death nips it in its prime!

Minds have hardly power to learn

How much there is to know aright,

Can dimly thro' the mist discern

Some little glimpse of light,—

The order is, Return!

Willing hands but just begin
Wisely to work for God and man,
And some poor wages barely win
As one who well began,

The Master calls, Come in!

Well, this is well: for well-begun
Is all the good man here may do;
He cannot hope to see half-done;
A furlong is crept through,
And lo, the goal is won!

This is the life of sight and sense,
And other brighter lives depend
On all we here can just commence
But long before an end

God calls his servant hence.

Take courage, courage: not in vain
The Ruler has appointed thus;
Account it neither grief nor pain
His mercy spareth us -
It is the laborer's gain.

Here we begin to love and know;

And when God's willing grace perceives The plant of heav'n hath roots to grow, He plucks the ranker leaves,

And doth transplant it so!

I sing Roleia's bloody strife,
The first of many frays
When iron Wellesley led us on
Invincible always;

Roleia gay and ever green,

Festooned with vines and flowers, Roleia, scorch'd and blood-bedew'd, — And half that blood was ours!

The seventeenth of August,

It shone out bright and clear,

And still we press'd the Frenchman's flank, And hung upon his reår:

From Brilos and Obidos

Had we driven the bold Laborde, And now among the mountain rocks We sought him with the sword!

All golden is the plain with wheat,
All purple are the hills,

With luscious vineyards ripe and sweet,

And laced with crystal rills ;

Yet must the rills run down with gore,
The corn be trampled red,
Before Roleia's threshing-floor
Is glutted with her dead!

O cheerily the bugles spoke,
And all our hearts beat high
When over Monte Junto broke
The sun upon the sky;
Right early from Obidos

We gladly sallied, then

A goodly host, in columns three,
Of fourteen thousand men.

Brave Ferguson led on the left,
And Trant the flanking right,
With iron Arthur in the midst,