3293. TEMPERANCE. Chieftain of

THE coming man will bravely stand,
Without the wine-glass in his hand,
A sun-crown'd chieftain of the land;
A landmark, like the lofty pine
Which lifts on high its plumes of fir,
Whose root no fickle winds can stir;
He, like an upright worshipper,
Will never stoop to taste of wine.

Strong of body, strong of soul,
Firm of purpose to control,
He will spurn the tempting bowl

In the shadow of the vine.

No taint of wine in his full brains,
No trembling hand will hold the reins
When he who rules shall drink no wine.
Bungay.

3294. TEMPERANCE. Rewards of

THOUGH I look old, yet I am strong and lusty;
For in my youth I never did apply
Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood;
Nor did I with unbashful forehead woo
The means of weakness and debility:
Therefore my age is as a lusty winter,
Frosty, but kindly.—Shakespeare.

If thou well observe

The rule of-not too much,-by temperance taught In what thou eat'st and drink'st, seeking from thence Due nourishment, not gluttonous delight,

'Till many years over thy head return :

So may'st thou live, till like ripe fruit thou drop,
Into thy mother's lap, or be with ease
Gather'd, not harshly pluck'd; in death mature.

Milton.

Philosophy, religious solitude,

And labour wait on temperance; in these Desire is bounded; they instruct the mind's And body's action.-Nabb.

Health and liberty

Attend on these bare meals; if all were blest
With such a temperance, what man would fawn,
Or to his belly sell his liberty?

There would be then no slaves, no sycophants
At great men's tables. -May.

Fatal effects of luxury and ease!
We drink our poison, and we eat disease,
Indulge our senses at our reason's cost,
Till sense is pain, and reason hurt or lost.

Not so, O Temperance bland! when ruled by thee,
The brute's obedient, and the man is free.
Soft are his slumbers, balmy is his rest,
His veins not boiling from the midnight feast.

It's a work of prevention and cure;
A work for the rich and the poor;
A work that is slow and yet sure;
A work whose effects will endure.
Then shout for it, hearer and preacher;
Shout for it, master and man;
Shout for it, scholar and teacher;
Praise it wherever you can.
Temperance lessens the stealers,
Robbing by day and by night;
Temperance adds to the kneelers
Who in religion delight.
Temperance aids the repealers

Of the infamous liquor laws;
Temperance helps the revealers

Of light on our nation's cause.
It's a work for the old and young,
It's a work for the pen and tongue,
It's a work for pulpit and pew,
It's a work for me and for you.

3296. TEMPLE. Building of the

SILENTLY as a dream the fabric rose,
No sound of hammer or of saw was there.
Cowper.

No hammers fell, no ponderous axes rung;
Like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung;
Majestic silence !-Heber.

3297. TEMPTATION: Comfort for the Tempted.

A WORTHY man of Paris town
Came to the bishop there:
His face, o'erclouded with dismay,
Betray'd a fix'd despair.

'Father,' said he, 'a sinner vile,
Am I against my will;

Each hour I humbly pray for faith, But am a doubter still.

'Sure, were I not despised of God,
He would not leave me so,
To struggle thus in constant strife
Against the deadly foe.'

The bishop to his sorrowing son

Thus spake a kind relief :

'The King of France has castles twain;
To each he sends a chief.
'There's Montelhery, far inland,

That stands in place secure ;

While La Rochelle, upon the coast,
Doth sieges oft endure.

'Now for these castles,—both preserved,—
First in his prince's love
Shall Montelhery's chief be placed,
Or La Rochelle's above?'

3301. TEMPTATION : may be resisted. SECURE of outward force, within himself The danger lies, yet lies within his power: Against his will he can receive no harm. Milton.

3302. TEMPTATION. Prayer for help in
LORD, bear me company;

Alone I dare not climb the mountain height;
Alone I dare not face the bitter night,
The fearsome watch, the Adversary's might.
Oh! bear me company.

Let me cling close to Thee.

I climb the steep with faint and faltering tread;
I tremble with a strange, unknowing dread;
My heart within feels numb and cold and dead,
Oh! keep me close to Thee.

Abide with me, O Lord;

For I a vigil long and sad must keep;
Mine eyes their bitter, unshed tears must weep;
Ay, I must watch and pray while others sleep.
Oh! leave me not, dear Lord.

Lord, intercede for me.

O Hands that pierced hung on Calvary's tree,
O Head, sore-bruised and thorn-crown'd for me,
O Heart that broke with world-weigh'd agony,
Now intercede for me.

Support and comfort me;

For in the wilderness, alone, apart,

I and my weary and sin-burden'd heart
Must face the Tempter, meet his cruel dart.
O Jesus, comfort me!

There is no helper else.

Unless thou hear'st my anguish'd, pleading cry,
Unless thou climb'st with me the mountain high,
In vain the vigil—I shall faint and die.
Thou only, Lord, canst help.

O Lamb who once wast slain,
Who all the sad world's sin dost take away,
Hear thou my cry. Oh! close beside me stay;
Take thou my burden, light my doleful way,
Thou who art risen again.

Conquer for me, O Lord. Uphold me through the long and bitter fastAy, till the Tempter's power be overpast. Give me the victory, by Thy grace, at last. Conquer for me, O Lord.

Mary E. C. Wyeth.

3303. TEMPTATION. Prayers for help in

THE billows swell, the winds are high,
Clouds overcast my wintry sky;

Out of the depths to Thee I call,-
My fears are great, my strength is small.

O Lord, the pilot's part perform,
And guard and guide me through the storm:
Defend me from each threatening ill;
Control the waves; say, 'Peace! be still.'

Amidst the roaring of the sea,

My soul still hangs her hope on Thee;
Thy constant love, Thy faithful care,
Is all that saves me from despair.-Cowper.

Plead, when the tempter's art
To each fond hope of mine
Denies this faithless heart
Can e'er be Thine.
If slander whisper, too,
The sin I never knew,

Thou who wouldst urge the true,
Plead Thou my cause.-Waring.

3304. TEMPTATION:: should be promptly resisted.

TH' encroaching ill you early should oppose: Flatter'd, 'tis worse, and by indulgence grows. Dryden.

3305. TEMPTATION: should be shunned.

LIE in the lap of sin, and not mean harm?
It is hypocrisy against the devil :

They that mean virtuously, and yet do so,
The devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt
Heaven.-Shakespeare.

So fatal 'twas to seek temptation out!
Most confidence has still most cause to doubt.

Dryden.

'Tis wisdom to beware,

And better shun the bait than struggle in the snare.

Dryden.

To shun th' allurement is not hard

To minds resolved, forewarn'd, and well prepared; But wondrous difficult, when once beset,

To struggle through the straits, and break th' involving net.-Dryden.

3306. TEMPTATION: the secret of its power. MEN said to-day, of one who sinn'd, 'What may This mean? What sudden madness overtook His brain, that in a moment he forsook The rectitude which until yesterday Had made his life a beacon by the way To common men?' I answer'd:

'We but look

On surfaces. Temptation never shook
One soul whose secret hidden forces lay
Firm centred in the right. The glacier bides
For ages white and still, and seems a part
Of the eternal Alps. But at its heart,
Each hour, some atom noiseless jars, and slides,
Until the avalanche falls with thundering weight.
God only knoweth the beginning's date.'

Helen Hunt.

3307. TEMPTATIONS. The most dangerous MOST dangerous

Is that temptation that doth goad us on
To sin in loving virtue.-Shakespeare.

The instruments of darkness tell us truths;
Win us with honest trifles to betray us
In deepest consequence.—Shakespeare.
When devils will their blackest sins put on,
They do suggest at first with heavenly shows.
Shakespeare.

3308. TEST. A general

FOR forms of government let fools contest;
Whate'er is best administer'd is best:
For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight;
His can't be wrong whose life is in the right.
In faith and hope the world will disagree,
But all mankind's concern is charity:

All must be false that thwart this one great end,
And all of God that bless mankind or mend.-Pope.

A MAN there came, whence none could tell,

Bearing a touchstone in his hand;
And tested all things in the land
By its unerring spell.

Quick birth of transmutation smote
The fair to foul, the foul to fair;
Purple nor ermine did he spare,
Nor scorn the dusty coat.

Of heir-loom jewels, prized so much,

Were many changed to chips and clods,
And even statues of the gods
Crumbled beneath its touch.

Then angrily the people cried,
'The loss outweighs the profit far;
Our goods suffice us as they are;
We will not have them tried.'
And since they could not so avail

To check his unrelenting quest,

FOR all that God in mercy sends ;

For health and children, home and friends,
For comfort in the time of need,
For every kindly word and deed,
For happy thoughts and holy talk,
For guidance in our daily walk,

For everything give thanks!
For beauty in this world of ours,
For verdant grass and lovely flowers,
For song of birds, for hum of bees,
For the refreshing summer breeze,
For hill and plain, for streams and wood,
For the great ocean's mighty flood,

In everything give thanks!

For the sweet sleep which comes with night,
For the returning morning's light,
For the bright sun that shines on high,
For the stars glittering in the sky,
For these and everything we see,

O Lord! our hearts we lift to Thee,
For everything give thanks!

Miss E. I. Tupper.

3311. THANKFULNESS. Causes for
WE give Thee thanks, O Lord, our God,
For all things beautiful that be,—
Morn's lovely skies, eve's sunset clouds,
The grass-green earth, the dark blue sea;
The roses sweet that come with June;

The rainbow born of summer rains;
The pure white flakes of winter snows;
The leaves that burn as autumn wanes.

For every great and glorious gift

Our thanks to Thee, O Lord, belong; Thy power guides the artist's hand,

Thy music fills the poet's song. Thy smile is seen in friendship's smile;

The tones of love are all Thine own; And in the laugh of little ones

Is heard an echo from Thy throne.

We give Thee thanks, O Lord, our God,
For blessings sent us in disguise ;
For sorrows meant to chasten us,
And lift to Thee our tearful eyes;
For those whom death hath call'd—their gain,
So great 'twere sin to mourn our loss,
And most of all for Thy dear Son,

Who died for us upon the cross.—M. E.

3312. THANKFULNESS. Causes for

My God, I thank Thee, who hast made
The earth so bright;

So full of splendour and of joy,
Beauty and light;

So many glorious things are here
Noble and right.

I thank Thee, too, that Thou hast made
Joy to abound;

So many gentle thoughts and deeds
Circling us round,

That in the darkest spot of earth
Some love is found.

I thank Thee more that all our joy
Is touch'd with pain;

That shadows fall on brightest hours;
That thorns remain ;

So that earth's bliss may be our guide, And not our chain.

For Thou who knowest, Lord, how soon Our weak heart clings,

Hast given us joys, tender and true,

Yet all with wings,

So that we see gleaming on high
Diviner things!

I thank Thee, Lord, that Thou hast kept
The best in store:

We have enough, yet not too much
To long for more;

A yearning for a deeper peace,
Not known before.

I thank Thee, Lord, that here our souls,
Though amply blest,

Can never find, although they seek,

A perfect rest,—

Nor ever shall, until they lean

On Jesus' breast.

Adelaide Anne Procter.

3313. THEATRE. Corruption of the

Lo, where the Stage, the poor, degraded Stage, Holds its warp'd mirror to a gaping age;.

There, where to raise the drama's moral tone,
Fool Harlequin usurps Apollo's throne;

There, where grown children gather round, to praise
The new-vamp'd legends of their nursery days,

Where one loose scene shall turn more souls to

shame,

Than ten of Channing's lectures can reclaim;
There, where in idiot rapture we adore
The herded vagabonds of every shore ;
Women unsex'd, who, lost to woman's pride,
The drunkard's stagger ape, the bully's stride;
Pert lisping girls, who, still in childhood's fetters,
Babble of love, yet barely know their letters;
Neat-jointed mummers, mocking nature's shape,
To prove how nearly man can match an ape;
Vaulters, who, rightly served at home, perchance
Had dangled from the rope on which they dance;
Dwarfs, mimics, jugglers, all that yield content,
Where sin holds carnival and wit keeps lent;
Where, shoals on shoals, the modest million rush,
One sex to laugh, and one to try to blush,
When mincing Ravenot sports tight pantalettes,
And turns fops' heads while turning pirouettes;
There, at each ribald sally, where we hear
The knowing giggle and the scurrile jeer,
While from the intellectual gallery first
Rolls the base plaudit, loudest at the worst.

Sprague.

3314. THEATRE. Evil of the
THE Theatre was from the very first
The favourite haunt of sin; though honest men,
Some very honest, wise, and worthy men,
Maintain'd it might be turn'd to good account:
And so perhaps it might, but never was.
From first to last it was an evil place;
And now such things were acted there, as made
The demons blush; and from the neighbourhood
Angels and holy men trembling retired.-Pollok.

3315. THIRST. The soul's

I HAD drunk with lips unsated
Where the founts of pleasure burst;
I had hewn out broken cisterns,
And they mock'd my spirit's thirst.
And I said, 'Life is a desert,

Hot, and measureless, and dry;
And God will not give me water,
Though I pray, and faint, and die!'
Spoke there then a friend and brother:
'Rise, and roll the stone away;
There are founts of life upspringing
In thy pathway every day.'