Then the Old Year gives but a sad account

Of the race that has been run,

Of hearts that fainted in the fight
Ere it was half begun,

Of wrong triumphant over right,

And duty left undone.

But the New Year's record is white and clean,

Unstained by sorrow or sin :

He bears a prize for all to seek,

And laurels for all to win,

A time for the weakest to strive once more,
And a time for the worst to begin.

Then we'll lay the Old Year gently down,
As a comrade true and tried ;

And the wrongs and errors of the past

We'll bury at his side;

But the good that he has left behind
Deep in our hearts we'll hide.

And we'll grasp the New Year by the hand,
When the Old is gone to rest :
We'll greet him as a longed-for friend,
And as a welcome guest;

And we'll make his stay a happy one,
And use it for the best.

"A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY

NEW YEAR."

HERE'S an old and time-worn custom,

THE

Old yet ever new,

That our fathers loved to honour,

And we will honour too;

Which bids us every winter,

When the old year's end is near,

Wish to all "A Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year."

When the days are dark and dreary,
When the nights are chill,
And the keen and rushing tempest

Whistles down the hill,

What happy faces gather

Round the cheerful fireside,

And greet each other's well-known looks,

At the welcome Christmas-tide!

How many hearts must gladden,
When the bright days come
That call them from their weary toil
To catch a glimpse of home!

And how many poor and suff'ring ones
Must hold the season dear,

And wish it could be Christmas-time

Throughout the live-long year!

The year is flying from us-
Soon it will be past—

And, with his many memories,
Our old friend's dying fast.
Then let no thoughts of anger
Survive his coming death;
But words of love and kindness
Sweeten his latest breath :

While from our hearts we'll banish All that will not tend

To guide his failing footsteps

To a calm and peaceful end; And, as we grasp each other's hand, Each other's heart we'll cheer, Wishing all "A Merry Christmas And a Happy New Year."

H

THE NEW YEAR'S BELLS.

ARK! 'tis the sudden shout of busy bells,

On the still slumber of the midnight breaking,

As, borne upon the winter wind, it tells

A new year's waking.

High o'er the house-tops of the sleeping town,
Hurry their voices with uproarious pealing;
Or through some solitary valley down

Come softly stealing.

Now wide around their merry notes they fling,
In all the ecstasy of new-born gladness;
And now with melancholy numbers sing,

In soothing sadness.

Ye welcome bells that welcome in the year,

What though your sound be not an unmixed pleasure ?

Far distant be the day that will not hear

Your tuneful measure!

G

THE ATLANTIC CABLE.*

B

ENEATH the heaving breast
Of troubled ocean,

Where the deep waters rest

Free from commotion;

Amid its unknown caves,
With many a wonder stored,

Far, far below the waves,

There lies a slender cord.

Under the broad, blue sea,

While ebbs and flows the tide,

And o'er its billows free

The fleets of nations ride;
Through the dark wat'ry mine,

Swift as the lightnings run,

Words flash along the line

That links two worlds in one.

All honour to the men

Who thus have spanned the main,

And strove with courage when

Their efforts seemed in vain ;

By whose unwearied zeal,

The sea no longer parts

The sympathies that dwell

In two great peoples' hearts!

* These lines were written to commemorate the successful expedition of 1866, and were composed before the cable of 1865 had been recovered fro its ocean bed and completed.