LINES FOR LITTLE FOLK.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 32, 8 December 1893, Page 31

LINES FOR LITTLE FOLK.

Thb other day, whfn a s'ern and dignifidd judge ordered a prisoner to stand up and offdr objections to be sentenced to prison fora long term of years, tbe prisoner arose and aaid :

' I never had a mother to shed tears over me 1"

His words entered every beirt in the great court-room. He was a rough, bed man, in the middle age of life, and he had been convicted of burglary, but every heart softened towards him as be uttered the words. He felt what he said, and tears rolied down his cheeks as he continued :

" If I had a mother's love and a mother's tears— some one to plead for me and to pray for me— l should not be what lam I"

Ah, that's so 1 There is a power in mother's love, and her tears and pleadings and prayers, whose influence ia hardly to be realised. God pity the lad who has no home to go to— no mother to whom he oin tell bis troubles and griefs— no one to put her arms around his neck and whisper to heaven to keep him in the right p3th. There is no heart like a mother's he»rt. Her child m%y wound it again and again, and pierce it with a eword, and yet it has only love and affection tor him. It is the first to excuse hit faul s— the last to condemn. T^iere is no love like a mother's love— bo endearing, so tender, so far reaching. It it lavished upon the child in the cradle, and it follows the boy over the ocean. It calls upon tbe wanderer the first thing in morning, and it strays with mm until sleep closes the eyes. When a mother'i love for her offspring dies our, he m«y be called too wicked and wretched to live among men.

There are no tears likt a mother's tears, nothing to so restrain a mind wandering into the evil paths. The man who looks back over his childhood and youth, regrets nothing so much as that he brought tears of sorrow and sadness to a fond mother's eyes. Every tear a mother sheds over a wayward child ia recorded in the great book, and he shall answer for it.

Be in time for every call ; If yon can't be first of allBe in time. If your teachers only find You are never oooe behind— But are like the dial, trne, They will alwayi trust to you— Be in time. Never linger crt you itart ; Set ont with a willing heartBe in time. In the morning, up and on, First to work and soonest done. That is how the goal's attained, That is how the prize is gained— Be in time. — Helping Words.

First Little Girl—We went to the picnic, and you wasn't even invited.

Second Little Oirl-No, but mamma gave me a whole lot of money to buy c ndy, and cake, and ice cream and lemonade for myself, and I'll bet I was sicker'n you were.- Street and Smith, Good Nervs,