I was a youth, Father William replied,
I remembered that youth would fly fast;
I abused not my health and my vigor at first,
That I never might need them at last.

You are old, Father William, the young man said,
And pleasures, with youth, pass away;
And yet you repent not the days that are gone
Now tell me the reason, I pray.

When I was a youth, Father William replied,
I remembered that youth could not last:
I thought of the future, whatever I did,
That I never might grieve for the past.

You are old, Father William, the young man still cries,
And life is swift hastening away
You are cheerful, and love to converse upon death!
Come tell me the reason, I pray.

I am cheerful, young man, Father William replied;
Let the cause your attention engage:
In the days of my youth I remembered my God!
And he hath not forgotten my age.

THE LITTLE GIRL AND HER PETS.

_Girl_ Swallow, thou dear one! now thou,
indeed,
From thy wandering dost reappear,
Tell me, who is it to thee that hath said
That again it is spring-time here.
_Swa._ The fatherly God, in that far-off clime,
Who sent me, he told me 'twas sweet
spring-time.

And though she had come so far and wide,
She was not deceived in time or tide.

[Illustration]

The snow it was gone, the sun shone warm,
The merry gnats danced in many a swarm,
The Swallow knew neither want nor care,
She found for her children enough and to
spare.

_Girl_ Come, little Dog, 'tis your master's will
That you learn to sit upright and still.
_Dog_ Learn must I? I'm so small, you see,
Just for a little while let it be!
_Girl_ No, little Dog, it is far best to learn soon,
For later it would be more painfully done.

The little Dog learned, without more ado,
And soon could sit upright and walk
upright too;
In deepest waters unfearing could spring,
And whatever was lost could speedily bring.
The master saw his pleasure, and he too
began
To learn, and thus grew up a wise, good
man.

[Illustration]

THE FLOWERS.

Say, Ma! did God make all the flowers
That richly bloom to-day?
And