For beauty and delight of sound,
That float Thy universe around;
For carol of the happy birds,

For fall of streams, for gush of birds,
For music of the earth and sea,
Lord, we are thankful unto Thee.

For daily toil that we endure,
For labor's recompense secure,
For wholesome zest of appetite,
For food and drink, and slumbers light,
For vigorous health and pulses free,
Lord, we are thankful unto Thee.

For fellowship with human kind,
For pure emotions of the mind,
For Joy, that were not joy sincere
Unless for Sorrow's previous tear,
For Hope, and Love, and Sympathy,
Lord, we are thankful unto Thee.

For Conscience, and its voice of awe-
Thy whisper when we break Thy law,
For knowledge of Thy power divine,
And wisdom mighty as benign;
For all we are, and hope to be,
Lord, we are thankful unto Thee.

CHARLES MACKAY

MISUNDERSTOOD

170

WE THANK THEE

For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,—
Father in Heaven, we thank Thee!

For blue of stream and blue of sky;
For pleasant shade of branches high;
For fragrant air and cooling breeze;
For beauty of the blooming trees,-
Father in Heaven, we thank Thee!
For mother-love and father-care;
For brothers strong and sisters fair;
For love at home and school each day;
For guidance lest we go astray,-
Father in Heaven, we thank Thee!

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ANONYMOUS

171

MISUNDERSTOOD

Could we but draw back the curtains
That surround each other's lives,
See the naked heart and spirit,
Know what spur the action gives,
Often we should find it better,

Purer than we judge we should;
We should love each other better
If we only understood.

Could we judge all deeds by motives,
See the good and bad within,

Often we should love the sinner

All the while we loathe the sin.
Could we know the powers working
To o'erthrow integrity,

We should judge each other's errors
With more patient charity.

If we knew the cares and trials,
Knew the effort all in vain,
And the bitter disappointment—
Understood the loss and gain—
Would the grim external roughness
Seem, I wonder, just the same?
Should we help where now we hinder?
Should we pity where we blame?

Ah! we judge each other harshly,
Knowing not life's hidden force;
Knowing not the fount of action

Is less turbid at the source;
Seeing not amid the evil

All the golden grains of good; Oh, we'ld love each other better,

If we only understood!

ANONYMOUS

APPEARANCES

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172

APPEARANCES

We cannot trust appearances, for they oftentimes mislead;

And clearest eyes will sometimes fail their true intent to read;

So we should be ever cautious, and always think the best

Of everything that we may see, and leave to Heaven the rest."

Thus a father to his children spake, one pleasant autumn night,

When in the sky the clear half-moon shone beautiful and bright;

And then he told this story, as they sat beside his

knee,

And listened, like some little birds, so still and quietly:

"In the city of Marseilles, in France, an old man lived and died,

Who to himself with iron hand, life's comforts had denied ;

And thus, by hardest labor and abstinence severe, Amassed a noble fortune when the end of life drew

near.

"To many of his neighbors a miser he appeared, Who hoarded up his money with feelings cold and seared;

And at times the people hooted him, when in the streets he went,

And wanton boys cast stones at him, not thinking what it meant.

"How little did those thoughtless ones know of the human heart,

And why from human sympathy this strange man kept apart!

How little did they know the cause that made his life so strange,

And why his lot of constant toil he never seemed to change!

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But, when he died, the mystery soon vanished when they heard

This clause, which in his will explained why such life had been preferred:

'From infancy, I have observed the poor are ill supplied

With water in Marseilles,' it said, 'and dear the cost beside.

"And I have labored cheerfully, and all my life have striven

That this great blessing to the poor may now be freely given;

And therefore I direct that all my property shall be Laid out to build an aqueduct to bring the water

free.'