In times of peril give the tone To public feeling, called backbone, Or to discuss that question solemn, The muscles of the spinal column. And now I close my artless ditty As per agreement with committee, And making place for those more able I leave the subject on the table. The toast "Our Guest," was prefaced by the following quotation from Emerson: "One would say here is a man with such an abundance of thought! He is never dull, never insincere, and has the genius to make the reader care for all that he cares for." As Doctor Holmes rose, the room fairly shook with applause. Without any prefatory remarks, he then read the following poem: Have I deserved your kindness? Nay, my friends; While the fair banquet its illusion lends, Let me believe it, though the blood may rush And to my cheek recall the maiden blush That o'er it flamed with momentary blaze When first I heard the honeyed words of praise; Let me believe it while the roses wear Their bloom unwithering in the heated air; Too soon, too soon their glowing leaves must fall, The laughing echoes leave the silent hall, Joy drop his garland, turn his empty cup, And weary labor take his burden up,-- How weigh that burden they can tell alone Whose dial marks no moment as their own. Am I your creditor? Too well I know How Friendship pays the debt it does not owe, Shapes a poor semblance fondly to its mind, Adds all the virtues that it fails to find, Adorns with graces to its heart's content, Borrows from love what nature never lent, Till what with halo, jewels, gilding, paint, The veriest sinner deems himself a saint. Thus while you pay these honors as my due, I owe my value's larger part to you; And in the tribute of the hour I see Not what I am, but what I ought to be.