881. DISCONTENT: incurable. O'ER the rocks we climb, But there it feels too wide and broad, And soon we seek the narrow road, 882. DISCONTENT: unconcealed. 'Tis not my talent to conceal my thoughts, 883. DISCONTENT: universal. WHY discontent for ever harbour'd there? Two lips still breathing love, Not wrath, nor fears :' So pray we afterwards, low on our knees Pardon those erring prayers! Father, hear these!--D. Muloch Craik. 886. DISCRETION. Importance of UNTO fair conclusions argueth generous youth, And quickly he starteth on his course, knight-errant to do good. His sword is edged with arguments, his vizor terrible with censures; He goeth full-mailed in faith, and zeal is flaming at his heart. Yet one thing he lacketh, the Mentor of the mind, The quiet whisper of Discretion,-Thy time is not yet come. For he smiteth an oppressor; and vengeance for that smiting Is dealt in double stripes on the faint body of the victim; He is glad to give and to distribute; and clamorous pauperism feasteth, While honest labour, pining, hideth his shark ribs : He challengeth to a fair field that subtle giant, Infidelity, And, worsted in the unequal fight, strengtheneth the hands of error; He hasteth to teach and preach, as the war-horse rusheth to the battle, And, to pave a way for truth, would break up the Apennines of prejudice: He wearieth by stale proofs, where none looked for a reason, And to the listening ear will urge the false argument of feeling. So hath it often been, that, judging by results, The hottest friends of Truth have done her deadliest wrong. Take a lever by the middle, thou shalt seem to prove it powerless; Argue for truth indiscreetly, thou shalt toil for falsehood. Discretion guide thee on the way, nobly-minded youth, Help thee to humour infirmities, to wink at innocent errors, To take small count of forms, to bear with prejudice and fancy; Discretion guard thine asking, discretion aid thine answer, Teach thee that well-timed silence hath more elo quence than speech, Whisper thee, thou art Weakness, though thy cause be strength. The snows of Hecla lie around its troubled, smoking Geysers; Let the cool streams of prudence temper the hot spring of zeal; So shalt thou gain thine honourable end, nor lose the midway prize, So shall thy life be useful, and thy young heart happy.-Tupper. 887. DISEASES: reminders of death. WISE in his day the heathen emperor, To whom, each morrow, came a slave, and cried, 888. DISEASES: spiritually profitable. OFT have I sat in secret sighs Then mourn'd aloud with weeping eyes, But I forbid my sorrows now, Nor dares the flesh complain; The joy o'ercomes the pain. My cheerful soul now all the day Sits waiting here and sings, Faith almost changes into sight, While from afar she spies Above created skies. Had but the prison walls been strong, In darkness she had dwelt too long, But now the everlasting hills Through ev'ry chink appear, And something of the joy she feels, Oh! may these walls stand tott'ring still, If I must here in darkness dwell, And all this glory lose. Oh! rather let this flesh decay, The ruins wider grow, Till glad to see th' enlarged way, I stretch my pinions through.-Watts. O SAVIOUR! whose mercy, severe in its kindness, Enchanted with all that was dazzling and fair, The blossom blush'd bright, but a worm was below; The moonlight shone fair, there was blight in the beam; Sweet whisper'd the breeze-but it whisper'd of woe; So cured of my folly, yet cured but in part, Weave visions of promise that bloom'd but to fade. I thought that the course of the pilgrim to heaven Would be bright as the summer, and glad as the morn: Thou show'dst me the path; it was dark and uneven, All rugged with rock, and all tangled with thorn. I dream'd of celestial rewards and renown, I grasp'd at the triumph that blesses the brave; I ask'd for the palm-branch, the robe, and the crown, I ask'd-and Thou show'dst me a cross and a grave! Subdued and instructed at length to Thy will, My hopes and my wishes I freely resign; Oh, give me a heart that can wait and be still, Nor know of a wish or a pleasure but Thine. There are mansions exempted from sin and from woe, But they stand in a region by mortals untrod; There are rivers of joy, but they roll not below; There is rest, but 'tis found in the bosom of God. Grant. 890. DISHONESTY. Excuse for A YOUNGSTER at school, more sedate than the rest, His comrades had plotted an orchard to rob, He was shock'd, sir, like you, and answer'd, 'Oh no! What! rob our good neighbour! I pray you don't go; Besides, the man's poor, his orchard's his bread, Then think of his children, for they must be fed.' 'You speak very fine, and you look very grave, They spoke and Tom ponder'd, 'I see they will go : Poor man! I would save him his fruit if I could, 'If the matter depended alone upon me, His apples might hang till they dropp'd from the tree; But since they will take them, I think I'll go too, His scruples thus silenced, Tom felt more at ease, 891. DISHONOUR. Cowper. LOVE's common unto all the mass of creatures, Where shall we bury our shame? Where, in what desolate place, Hide the last wreck of a name Broken and stain'd by disgrace? Death may dissever the chain, Oppression will cease when we're gone; But the dishonour, the stain, Die as we may, will live on.-Moore. One, restless in his palace, walks abroad, And spurs as hard as if it were on fire; 894. DISSATISFACTION: troubles rich and poor alike. A MAN in his carriage was riding along, A gaily-dress'd wife by his side, In satin and laces; she look'd like a queen, A wood-sawyer stood in the street as they pass'd; And said, as he work'd with a saw on a log, 'I wish I was rich and could ride.' The man in the carriage remark'd to his wife: I'd give all my wealth for the strength and the health A pretty young maid with a bundle of work, And said, in a whisper, 'I wish from my heart The lady look'd out on the maid with her work, And said, 'I'd relinquish possession and wealth Thus, in this world, whatever our lot, Our minds and our time we employ We welcome the pleasure for which we have sigh'd, Growing deeper and wider the longer we live, 895. DISSENSION. Cause of ALAS! how light a cause may move Dissension between hearts that love! Hearts that the world in vain had tried, That stood the storm when waves were rough, Like ships that have gone down at sea, A word unkind or wrongly taken— A breath, a touch like this hath shaken. As though its waters ne'er could sever, 896. DISTANCE. Enchantment of Moore. AT summer eve, when Heaven's ethereal bow The sails we see on the ocean But never one in the harbour Campbell. And the clouds that crown the mountain The mountains wear crowns of glory I love it in my heart of hearts; If I had left it where it lay And through the window-pane to spring. Poor little bird! Myself I see From morn till night in watching thee. And strive to break the kind restraints. 899. DIVINE UNION. Satisfaction of To me remains nor place nor time; My country is in every clime; I can be calm and free from care While place we seek, or place we shun, Could I be cast where Thou art not, My country, Lord, art Thou alone; Madame Gayon. 900. DIVINE UNION. Simile of THE brooks rush downward to the sea, But mingle soon rejoicingly, And make great streams from little fountains. And then the streams, without delay, Still to the sea's great bosom tending, Roll proudly on their winding way, At last with ocean's billows blending. And so, O God, our souls to Thee, Onward and onward, ever going, JESUS is God! the solid earth, Jesus is God! the glorious bands Their Maker and their King. He was true God in Bethlehem's crib; On Calvary's cross true God: He who in heaven eternal reign'd, In time on earth abode. Jesus is God! there never was The Word the Sire begot. And both alike are His !-Faber. 902. DOING GOOD. Need of ALONE, amid life's griefs and perils, Then let us learn to help each other, Who sees in every man a brother, 903. DOING GOOD. Payment for The well-springs that supply The streams are seldom spent, To pay them what they lent. On lands that yield our food, The sea is paid by lands, With streams from ev'ry shore; So give with kindly hands, His blessings should be sent, But nowhere stay'd or spent. But yields not on again, Is so a link that breaks In Heaven's love-made chain. -Barnes. 904. DOING GOOD: rewarded. 'UPHOLD my feeble branches |