Every creature knoweth its capacities, running in the road of

instinct,

And reason must not lag behind, but serve itself of all pro

prieties:

The swift to the race, and the strong to the burden, and the wise for right direction;

For self-knowledge filleth with acceptance its niche in the temple of utility:

But vainly wilt thou look for that knowledge, till the clue of all truth is in thy hand,

For the labyrinth of man's heart windeth in complicate deceivings:

Thou canst not sound its depths with the shallow plumb-line

of reason,

Till religion, the pilot of the soul, have lent thee her unfathomable coil:

Therefore, for this grand knowledge, and knowledge is the parent of dominion,

Learn God, thou shalt know thyself; yea, and shalt have mastery of all things.

OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

SHAME upon thee, savage monarch-man, proud monopolist of reason;

Shame upon Creation's lord, the fierce ensanguined despot: What, man! are there not enough, hunger, and disease, and fatigue,

And yet must thy goad or thy thong add another sorrow to existence?

What! art thou not content thy sin hath dragged down suffering and death

On the poor dumb servants of thy comfort, and yet must thou rack them with their spite?

The prodigal heir of creation hath gambled away his all,

Shall he add torment to the bondage that is galling his forfeit

serfs ?

The leader in nature's pæan himself hath marred her psaltery, Shall he multiply the din of discord by overstraining all the strings?

The rebel hath fortified his stronghold, shutting in his vassals with him

Shall he aggravate the woes of the besieged by oppression from within?

Thou twice deformed image of thy Maker, thou hateful representative of Love,

For very shame be merciful, be kind unto the creatures thou hast ruined;

Earth and her million tribes are cursed for thy sake;

Earth and her million tribes still writhe beneath thy cruelty: Liveth there but one among the million that shall not bear witness against thee,

A pensioner of land or air or sea, that hath not whereof it will accuse thee?

From the elephant toiling at a launch, the shrew mouse in the harvest-field,

From the whale which the harponeer hath stricken, to the minnow caught upon a pin,

From the albatross wearied in its flight, to the wren in her covered nest,

From the death-moth and lace-winged dragon-fly, to the

lady-bird and the gnat,

The verdict of all things is unanimous, finding their master

cruel :

The dog, thy humble friend, thy trusting honest friend;
The ass, thine uncomplaining slave, drudging from morn to

even;

The lamb, and the timorous hare, and the laboring ox at plough ;

The speckled trout, basking in the shallow, and the partridge, gleaning in the stubble,

And the stag at bay, and the worm in thy path, and the wild bird pining in captivity,

And all things that minister alike to thy life and thy comfort and thy pride,

Testify with one sad voice that man is a cruel master.

VERILY, they are all thine: freely mayst thou serve thee of them all:

They are thine by gift for thy needs, to be used in all grati-
tude and kindness:

Gratitude to their God and thine,-their Father and thy
Father,

Kindness to them who toil for thee, and help thee with their
all:

For meat, but not by wantonness of slaying; for burden, out with limits of humanity;

For luxury, but not through torture; for draught, but according to the strength:

For a dog cannot plead his own right nor render a reason for exemption, V

Nor give a soft answer unto wrath, to turn aside the undeserved lash;

The galled ox cannot complain, nor supplicate a moment's

respite;

The spent horse hideth his distress, till he panteth out his
spirit at the goal;

Also, in the winter of life, when worn by constant toil,
If ingratitude forget his services, he cannot bring them to
remembrance;

Behold he is faint with hunger; the big tear standeth in his

eye;

His skin is sore with stripes, and he tottereth beneath his

burden;

His limbs are stiff with age, his sinews have lost their vigor, And pain is stamped upon his face, while he wrestleth unequally with toil;

Yet once more mutely and meekly endureth he the crushing

blow;

That struggle hath cracked his heart-strings,--the generous brute is dead!

Liveth there no advocate for him? no judge to avenge his wrongs?

No voice that shall be heard in his defence? no sentence to be passed on his oppressor?

Yea, the sad eye of the tortured pleadeth pathetically for

him:

Yea, all the justice in heaven is roused in indignation at his

woes:

Yea, all the pity upon earth shall call down a curse upon the

cruel :

Yea, the burning malice of the wicked is their own exceeding punishment.

The Angel of Mercy stoppeth not to comfort, but passeth by on the other side,

And hath no tear to shed when a cruel man is damned.

OF FRIENDSHIP.

As frost to the bud, and blight to the blossom, even such is self-interest to friendship:

For Confidence cannot dwell where Selfishness is porter at

the gate.

If thou see thy friend to be selfish, thou canst not be sure of his honesty ;

And in seeking thine own weal, thou hast wronged the reliance of thy friend.

Flattery hideth her varnished face when Friendship sitteth at his board;

And the door is shut upon suspicion, but candor is bid glad welcome,

For friendship abhorreth doubt, its life is in mutual trust,

And perisheth, when artful praise proveth it is sought for a

purpose.

A man may be good to thee at times, and render thee mighty

service,

Whom yet thy secret soul could not desire as a friend;

For the sum of life is in trifles, and though, in the weightier

masses,

A man refuse thee not his purse, nay, his all in thine utmost

need,

Yet, if thou canst not feel that his character agreeth with

thine own,

Thou never wilt call him friend, though thou render him a heart full of gratitude.

A coarse man grindeth harshly the finer feelings of his brother; A common mind will soon depart from the dull companionship of wisdom;

A weak soul dareth not to follow in the track of vigor and decision;

And the worldly regardeth with scorn the seeming foolishness of faith.

A mountain is made up of atoms, and friendship of little matters,

And if the atoms hold not together, the mountain is crumbled into dust.

COME, I will show thee a friend; I will paint one worthy of thy trust:

Thine heart shall not weary of him: thou shalt not secretly despise him.

Thou art long in learning him, in unravelling all his worth; And he dazzleth not thine eyes at first, to be darkened in thy sight afterward,

But riseth from small beginnings, and reacheth the height of thy esteem.

He remembereth that thou art only man; he expecteth not great things from thee;