Of ruin which intemperance
        Hath o’er the wide world cast.” 
    He spoke no more,—­the gushing tears
        His furrowed cheeks did leap;
    The little child came quick to know
        What made the old man weep. 
    He, trembling, grasped my hand and said
        (The little child grasped his),
    “May you ne’er know, as I have known,
        What sad intemperance is!”
    And since that hour, whene’er I look
        Around me o’er the earth,
    And see the wine-cup passing free
        ’Mid scenes of festive mirth,
    I think how oft it kindleth up
        Within its raging fire,
    And fain would tell to all the truths
        I heard from “Child and Sire.”

A BROTHER’S WELCOME.

    Welcome, brother, welcome home! 
        Here’s a father’s hand to press thee;
        Here’s a mother’s heart to bless thee;
        Here’s a brother’s will to twine
        Joys fraternal close with thine;
        Here’s a sister’s earnest love,
        Equalled but by that above;
        Here are friends who once did meet thee,
        Gathered once again to greet thee. 
    Welcome, brother, welcome home! 
        Thou hast wandered far away;
        Many a night and many a day
        We have thought where thou might’st be,
        On the land or on the sea;
        Whether health was on thy cheek,
        Or that word we dare not speak
        Hung its shadowy wing above thee,
        Far away from those who love thee. 
    Welcome, brother, welcome home! 
        Here, where youthful days were spent
        Ere life had its labor lent,
        Where the hours went dancing by,
        ’Neath a clear, unclouded sky. 
        And our thanks for blessings rendered
        Unto God were daily tendered,
        Here as ever pleasures reign,
        Welcome to these scenes again!

THE IMMENSITY OF CREATION.

It is well for man to consider the heavens, the work of God’s hands; the moon and the stars, which he has created.  To look forth upon the universe, of which we form a part, fills us with high and ennobling thoughts, and inspires us with an earnest desire to press onward in the endless path, at every step of which new wonders and new joys spring up to greet our vision, and to gladden our souls.

Whichever way we look, above or below us, to the right or the left, we find a boundless expanse teeming with life and its enjoyments.  This earth, large as it may appear to us, is less than a grain of sand in size, when compared with the vastness around it.