Trees in the forest grow stately and grand, Some are beautiful and others are tall, Each is the product of one mighty hand, But the teacher’s art can improve them all. The grass of the fields is useful for food, And provides dumb beasts a bountiful store, And the teacher who saw that grass was good, Made two blades grow where but one grew before. The wheat and the corn, and all kinds of grain, Grow wild and scattered without any plan, And the harvest is poor and reaped with pain, Until improved by the teaching of man. The fruits of the trees grow stinted and small, And meager the crop when the pickers come, But the skilled hand of the teacher can call, A mighty response from the things that are dumb. Then the cultured tree is laden with fruit, The sweet and the tart according to plan, The epicure finds a taste to his suit, And learns that teachers are blessings to man. Beautiful flowers, God’s tokens of love, Grow sickly and pale for want of man’s care, When the training hand like balm from above, Restores them to health and beauty most rare. When warmed by the sun and cooled by the breeze, How pretty they grow, how sweet their perfume, Whatever man’s taste they’re certain to please, For God made them and the teacher is groom, The mighty rivers that run thru the land, Gathering power as onward they roll, Are each and all at the teacher’s command, For his skill can bring them under control. Beasts in the forest roam savage and wild, And woe to the man who crosses their path; But the teacher makes them gentle and mild, And by strength of mind can bridle their wrath. The great elephant, ponderous and strong, Tho dangerous in his natural state, When trained by teachers to do nothing wrong, Serves his master with fidelity great. The beautiful horse in freedom how grand, As proudly he trots o’er the prairie track, Is trained to obey his teacher’s command, And canters gayly with man on his back. There lives not a man with love in his heart, Who lacks the good sense to freely endorse The teacher’s grand work, his wisdom and art, Or fails to admire and love a good horse. The much abused dog when savage and wild, Is useless to man and game for his gun, But when trained becomes docile as a child, The faithfullest creature under the sun. Innocent children are never quite pure, And need good teaching to keep them from crime, To fasten in their hearts their morals sure, And assist them to lead a life sublime. Human teachers are useful in their line, And wisely, and nobly perform their part; But the great teacher is the Teacher Divine, From whose grand example man learned the art. A GEM.