Pensioner of life, be wise, and heed a brother's counsel; I also am a beadsman, with scrip and staff as thou: Wouldest thou be bold against the past, and all its evil memories, Wouldest thou be safe amid the present, its dangers and temptations, Wouldest thou be hopeful of the future, vague though it be and endless? Haste thee, repent, believe, obey! thou standest in the courage of a legion. Commend the Past to God, with all its irrevocable harm, Humbly, but in cheerful trust, and banish vain regrets; Come to Him, continually come, casting all the Present at His feet, Boldly, but in prayerful love, and fling off selfish cares; Commit the Future to His will, the viewless fated future; Zealously go forward with integrity, and God will bless thy faith. For that, feeble as thou art, there is with thee a mighty Conqueror, Thy Friend, the same for ever, yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow; That Friend, changeless as eternity, Himself shall make thee friends Of those thy foes transformed, yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow. OF AUTHORSHIP. [Illustration: "G"] Great is the dignity of Authorship: I magnify mine office; Albeit in much feebleness I hold it thus unworthily. For it is to be one of a noble band, the welfare of the world, Whose haunt is on the lips of men, whose dwelling in their hearts, Who are precious in the retrospect of Memory, and walk among the visions of Hope, Who commune with the good for everlasting, and call the wisest, brother, Whose voice hath burst the Silence, and whose light is flung upon the Darkness, --Flashing jewels on a robe of black, and harmony bounding out of chaos,-- Who gladden empires with their wisdom, and bless to the farthest generation, Doers of illimitable good, gainers of inestimable glory!-- We speak but of the Magnates, we heed none humbler than the highest, We take no count of sorry scribes, nor waste one thought upon the groundlings; Our eyes are lifted from the multitude, groping in the dark with candles, To gaze upon that firmament of praise, the constellated lamps of learning. Ever-during witnesses of Mind, undisputed evidence of Power, Goodly volumes, living stones, build up their author's temple; Though of low estate, his rank is above princes,--though needy, he hath worship of the rich, When Genius unfurleth on the winds his banner as a mighty leader. Just in purpose, and self-possessed in soul, lord of many talents, The mental Crœsus goeth forth, rejoicing in his wealth; Keen and clear perception gloweth on his forehead like a sunbeam, He readeth men at a glance, and mists roll away before him; The wise have set him as their captain, the foolish are rebuked at his presence, The excellent bless him with their prayers, and the wicked praise him by their curses; His voice, mighty in operation, stirreth up the world as a trumpet, And kings account it honour to be numbered of his friends.