The Bright Side.

Fernandez , be , no doubt , felt himself banished from his race . No voice saluted him , and the prospect was that he would die there alone . Still there was a bright side to his situation , the sun of heaven was over him ,

and the island , though uninhabited by man , was full of beautiful songsters and wild goats , and crystal waters burst from the rocks to quench his thirst , while he could look over the boundaries of his kingdom and proclaim : —

' I am monarch of all I survey , My right there is none to dispute , From the centre all round to the sea , I am lord of the fowl and brute . " That voice was sweet to the sorrowing heart of many which said to her" Th y

, brother shall rise again . " Even the shades of death are tinged with light , ancl even the gloom of the sepulchre is lit up by the stars of immortality . If men are not happy it is the fault of themselves , or of their relationship .

Many seem to prefer misery to happiness , they are ever looking at the dark side of everything around them . They love darkness . Light is not congenial to them , and they are ever dissatisfied . They are the arbiters of their own destiny , and have no one to blame but themselves , if they are miserable .

" For the world is all dark , or the world is all light , Just as we choose to make it Our burden is heavy , our burden is light , Just as we happen to take it ; And people who grumble and people who

groan , At the world and its every proposal , AA ' ould grumble and groan if the world were their own , With the sun , moon , and stars , at disposal . "

To be comfortably miserable by one ' s acts and deeds is apt to be the choice of the fool . He might be happy , but he demurs to the condition , as being derogatory to his dignity , and he blunders along through lifethe voluntary victim of his own

, wretchedness . Some one hasbeautifully said that" every cloud has its silver lining . " So it is with everything else . There is a bright side to every circumstance , to every condition , of

The Bright Side.

every fate of life . " Trust in God , " is the talismanic power by which even the blind can tell which is the bright side . It comes to the heart , not to the eye , and when it does come it is apparent that the hand of the Divinity is in it .

Men of thought can live above the world of circumstances , and consequently above the tide of relative misery . But such a state of intellectual ancl philosophic culture is obtained only by the few , the masses are chained down by ignoranceheld in bondage

, by the fortunes of circumstances and they Ml to see the bright side . Indeed this is the chief cause of their life of darkness of which they so loudly complain , when they mig ht blame themselves for all the hours of unhappiness they ever endure .

. Trials of disappointments and sorrows of bereavement are the common lot of our race , they meet us at every turn , of life . Yet they should not be our masters , they should never be allowed to crowd us down into the dustfor the world has been made

, bright for us all , and we should live in it as the Father above intended we should , with thoughtful minds and brave hearts , knowing that light ancl life , happiness and hope may go with us to the grave and even beyond it .

Hope.

HOPE .

( Sent to the " Masonie Magazine " by Bro . Emra Holmes . ) HOPE on , hope ever ! When the stormy sighings Of autumn winds , tear summer wreaths of flowers :

Ancl the pale yellow leaves unheeded lying Tell us the tale of mortal changing hours , Hope on , hope ever ! On a fairer shore , No storms shall waste , the blossoms die no more .

Hope on , hope ever ! AVhen life's weary sameness , AVith cold oppression bends the spirit down ; Yet each small sacrifice , each weariness Offered to God , may win a lasting crown . Hope on , hope ever ! In the evening light , The sunset of our lives , Heaven shall seem bri g ht !