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3 'Tis the lesson nature teaches
All throughout her wide domain,
And the text from which she preaches
Is that labour leads to gain.
Manly worth and honest merit,

Brightest crowns e'en kings can wear;
These you never can inherit,

208

Brother, these you "win to wear."

EBENEZER ELLIOTT.

The True Value of Wealth.

To catch dame Fortune's golden smile,

Assiduous wait upon her;

And gather gear by every wile
That's justified by honour;
Not for to hide it in a hedge,
Nor for a train attendant;
But for the glorious privilege
Of being independent.

209

W

"Work for the Night is Coming."
ORK, for the night is coming,
Work through the morning hours,
Work while the dew is sparkling,
Work 'mid springing flow'rs;
Work when the day grows brighter,
Work in the glowing sun,
Work for the night is coming,
When man's work is done.

2 Work, for the night is coming,
Work through the sunny noon;
Fill brightest hours with labour,
Rest comes sure and soon;
Give every flying minute

Something to keep in store;
Work, for the night is coming,

When man works no more.

BURNS.

3 Work, for the night is coming,
Under the sunset skies,

See rosy tints are glowing,
Work, for daylight flies;
Work till the last beam fadeth,

Fadeth to shine no more;

Work while the night is darkening,

When man's work is o'er.

SIDNEY DYER.

210

"How Cheery are the Mariners"

W cheery are the mariners,

How

Those lovers of the sea!

Their hearts are like its yeasty waves,

As bounding and as free.

They whistle when the storm-bird wheels
In circles round the mast,
And sing when deep in foam the ship
Ploughs onward to the blast.

And sing, &c.

2 What care the mariners for gales?
There's music in their roar,
When wide the berth along the lea,
And leagues of room before.
Let billows toss to mountain-heights,
Or sink to chasms low,

The vessel stout will ride it out,
Nor reel beneath the blow.

3 With streamers down and canvass furled, The gallant hull will float

Securely, as on inland lake

A silken-tasselled boat.
And sound asleep some mariners,
And some with watchful eyes,
Will fearless be of dangers dark
That roll along the skies.

4 God keep those cheery mariners,
And temper all the gales

That sweep along the rocky coast
To their storm-shattered sails.
And men on shore will bless the ship
That could so guided be,

Safe in the hollow of His hand,
To brave the mighty sea.

PARK BENJAMIN.

66

211

"OH

2

"A Thousand a Year."

H! if I had a thousand a year, Gaffer Green,
But I never shall have it, I fear;

What a man should I be, and what things would I

see,

Oh! if I had a thousand a year, Gaffer Green,
Oh! if I had a thousand a year."

"The best wish you can make, take my word,
Robin Ruff,

Will not pay for the poorest man's cheer;

But be honest and true, and say what you would do you had got a thousand a year, Robin Ruff, you had got a thousand a year?"

If

If

I would do then, I cannot tell what, Gaffer Green, I would go to, I hardly know where ;

I would scatter the chink, and leave others to

think,

While I lived on a thousand a year, Gaffer Green, While I lived on a thousand a year.'

"And when you are aged and gray, Robin Ruff, And the day of your death should draw near, What, 'midst all your pains, would you do with your gains,

If

If

you then had a thousand a year, Robin Ruff,
you then had a thousand a year?”

3 "I never can tell what you are at, Gaffer Green,
For your questions are always so queer,

But as other folks die, I suppose so must I." "What, and give up your thousand

Ruff,

What, and give up your

a year, Robin

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There's a world that is better than this, Robin Ruff, And I hope in my heart you'll go there,

Where the poor man's as great, though he'd here no estate,

Aye, as if he'd a thousand a year, Robin Ruff,
Aye, as if he'd a thousand a year."

212

NATIONAL SONGS.

England! dear England!

THERE'S a land, a dear land, where the rights

of the free,

Though firm as the earth, are as wide as the sea : Where the primroses bloom, and the nightingales sing,

And the true honest man is as good as a king!
Show'ry, flow'ry,
Tearful, cheerful!

England! wave-guarded and green to the shore,
West land, best land!

Thy land, my land,

Glory be with her and peace evermore.

2 There's a land, a dear land, where the vigour of soul
Is fed by the tempests that blow from the Pole :
Where a slave cannot breathe or invader presume
To ask for more earth than will cover his tomb.
Sea land, free land!

Fairest, rarest,

Home of brave men and the girls they adore;
Fearless, peerless,

Thy land, my land,

Glory be with her and peace evermore.

CHARLES MACKAY,

213

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"The Homes of England."

HE stately homes of England!
How beautiful they stand,

Amidst their tall ancestral trees
O'er all the pleasant land!

The deer across their greensward bound,
'Thro' shade and sunny gleam:

And the swan glides past them with the sound
Of some rejoicing stream.

2 The merry homes of England!
Around their hearths by night,

What gladsome looks of household love
Meet in the ruddy light!

There woman's voice flows forth in song,

Or childhood's tale is told,
Or lips move tunefully along
Some glorious page of old.

3 The cottage homes of England!
By thousands on her plains,

They are smiling o'er the silvery brooks,
And round the hamlet fanes.
Through glowing orchards forth they peep,
Each from its nook of leaves;
And fearless there the lowly sleep
As the bird beneath their eaves.

4 The free, fair homes of England!
Long, long, in hut and hall,
May hearts of native proof be reared
To guard each hallowed wall!
And green for ever be the groves,
And bright the flowery sod,

Where first the child's glad spirit loves
Its country and its God.

214 "Ring the Bell, Watchman."

HIGH

MRS. HEMANS.

IGH in the belfry the old sexton stands,
Grasping the rope with his thin bony hands;

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