GERANIUM, ROSE.

Pelargonium Capitatum.

LANGUAGE-PREFERENCE.

HE

says he loves my daughter;

I think so too; for never gazed the moon
Upon the water, as he'll stand and read,
As 'twere my daughter's eyes: and to be plain,
I think there is not half a kiss to choose,
Who loves another best.

Look how the gray old ocean

From the depth of his heart rejoices, Heaving with a gentle motion,

When he hears our restful voices; List, how he sings in an undertone, Chiming with our melody ;

And there, where the smooth, wet pebbles be,
The waters gurgle longingly,

As if they fain would seek the shore,
To be at rest from the ceaseless roar,
To be at rest for evermore.

There is no sunshine that hath not its shade,
Nor shadow that the sunshine hath not made;
There is no cherished comfort of the heart
That doth not own its tearful counterpart.

Thus, through a perfect balance, constant flow
The sharp extremes of joy and those of woe;
Our sweetest, best repose results from strife,
And death what is it, after all, but life?

LIFE IS SWEET.

Ir was a summer's morning. I was awakened by the rushing of a distant engine, bearing along a tide of men to their busy day in the great city. Cool sea breezes stole through the pine trees embowering my dwelling; the aromatic pines breathed out their ready music; the hummingbird was fluttering over the honeysuckle at my window; the grass glittered with dewdrops. A maiden was coming from the dairy across the lawn, with a silver mug of new milk in her hand; by the other hand she led a child. The young woman was in the full beauty of ripened and perfect womanhood. Her step was elastic and vigorous; moderate labor had developed without impairing her fine person. I thought, "How sweet is life to this girl!" as, respected and respecting, she sustains her place in domestic life, distilling her pure influences into the little creature she holds by the hand! And how sweet, then, was life to that child! Her little form was so erect and strong so firmly knit to outward life- her step so free and joyous!- her fair, bright hair, so bright that it seemed as if a sunbeam came from it: it lay parted on that brow, where an infinite capacity had set its seal. And that spirited eye-so quickly perceiving-so eagerly exploring! and those sweet red lips-love, and laughter, and

'beauty are there. Now she snatches a tuft of flowers from the grass; now she springs to meet her playmate, the young, frisky dog; and now she is shouting playfully: he has knocked her over, and they are rolling on the turf together. Before three months passed away, she had laid down the beautiful garments of her mortality; she had entered the gates of immortal life; and those who followed her to its threshold felt that to the end, and in the end, her ministry had been most sweet. "Life is sweet" to the young, with their unfathomable hopes their unlimited imaginings. It is sweeter still with the varied realization. Heaven has provided the ever-changing loveliness and mysterious process of the outward world in the inspirations of art; in the excitement of magnanimous deeds; in the close knitting of affections; in the joys of the mother, the toils and harvest of the father; in the countless blessings of hallowed domestic life.

"Life is sweet" to the seeker of wisdom, and to the lover of science; and all progress and each discovery is a joy to them.

"Life is sweet" to the true lovers of their race; and the unknown and unpraised good they do by word, or look, or deed, is joy ineffable.

But not alone to the wise, to the learned, to the young, to the healthful, to the gifted, to the happy, to the vigorous doer of good, is life sweet: for the patient sufferer it has a divine sweetness.