on, Who is "the Way, the
Truth, and the Life."

[Illustration: _Henry le Jeune._]

* * * * *

Sinai (s[=i]' n[=a]), a mountain in Arabia.

* * * * *

_56_

HAPPY OLD AGE.

"You are old, Father William," the young man cried;
"The few locks that are left you are gray;
You are hale, Father William, a hearty old man;
Now, tell me the reason, I pray."

"In the days of my youth," Father William replied,
"I remembered that youth would fly fast,
And 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 cried,
"And life must be hastening away;
You are cheerful, and love to converse upon death!
Now, tell me the reason, I pray."

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

_Robert Southey._

* * * * *

Tell the story of the poem in your own words. What are some of the
important lessons it teaches?

* * * * *

_57_

smit' ing
el' o quence
mes' mer ize
ges' ture
vin' e gar
un dy' ing ly

KIND WORDS.

Kind words are the music of the world. They have a power which seems to
be beyond natural causes, as if they were some angel's song, which had
lost its way and come on earth, and sang on undyingly, smiting the
hearts of men with sweetest wounds, and putting for the while an angel's
nature into us.

Let us then think first of all of the power of kind words. In truth,
there is hardly a power on earth equal to them. It seems as they could
almost do what in reality God alone can do, namely, soften the hard and
angry hearts of men. Many a friendship, long, loyal, and
self-sacrificing, rested at first on no thicker a foundation than a kind
word.

Kind words produce happiness. How often have we ourselves been made
happy by kind words, in a manner and to an extent which we are unable to
explain! And happiness is a great power of holiness. Thus, kind words,
by their power of producing happiness, have also a power of producing
holiness, and so of winning men to God.

If I may use such a word when I am speaking of religious sub