THE

THE BRIGHT SIDE.

HE rare faculty of looking at the bright side of things, produces to some extent, those effects which the alchemist ascribed to the fabled philosopher's stone; for it often transmutes seeming evil into real good. That life has its shadows as well as its sunshine -that its joys are tempered and often brightened by the contrast of its sorrow, is not only the result of a necessary law, but one eminently conducive to our social well-being. Longfellow observes, "the rays of happiness, like those of light, are colorless when unbroken.” The great panacea for the seeming accidents, ills and vicissitudes of life is a spirit of cheerful acquiescence. If we would, as the optimist, view life philosophically, and accept it as a boon and benison from heaven, we ought to regard its ever-varying phases, and especially its better, as well as bright experiences as alike beneficent in their design for the maturing and developing of our moral nature.

Said Jeremy Taylor: "No man is more miserable than he that hath no adversity; that man is not tried whether he be good or bad; and God never crowns

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those virtues which are only faculties and dispositions ; but every act of virtue is an ingredient into rewardGod so presses us for heaven."

"God made both tears and laughter, and both for kind purposes, for as laughter enables mirth and surprise to breathe freely, so tears enable sorrow to vent itself patiently. Tears hinder sorrow from becoming despair and madness, and laughter is one of the very privileges of reason, being confined to the human species."

"Whatever causes laughter determines whether laughter is good or bad. If it is the expression of levity or vanity, it is frivolous. If it be the expression of moral feeling and it often is-it is as reverent as tears are. In a natural state, tears and laughter go hand in hand; for they are twin-born. Like two children sleeping in one cradle, when one wakes and stirs, the other wakes also."

In the words of an old author, we may add that,"Man is as permanently a creature of laughter as he is of tears; but as the source of his tears is more deeply seated in his nature than the sensibilities of laughter, the agencies that reach the fountains of weeping are at once more simple and more intense, therefore more uniform and more enduring, than those which move the spirit, or rather, perhaps, the nerves of mirthfulness."

In the joyous hours of childhood, our little griefs are soon forgotten in our joys, but in maturer life we ungratefully reverse the rule, although their proportions usually remain unchanged. The first cries of the infant, ap

* Leigh Hunt.

† H. W. Beecher.

pear to be those of pain; at the age of forty days children begin to weep; before this period no tears are shed. At the same age, also, they begin to laugh; the appearance of smiling prior to this period, being only an unconscious and involuntary action of the muscles, caused, as some suppose, by the contact of the air. Laughter is not always a certain index to the state of the heart within. Many kind, and many enraged hearts are driven to the resource of laughing to conceal their tears. Lord Byron said of himself—

"That if he laughed at any living thing,
'Twas that he might not weep."

Byron, when in company, appeared light-hearted and cheerful, but when rallied upon his melancholy style of poesy, confessed that he was at heart the most miserable of men. Neither does weeping always indicate sadness of heart. "Old men," says Des Cartes, "often weep for joy, children rarely from delight." The measure of joy and grief can never be estimated, because the depth of the human heart can never be sounded. The duration of these emotions differ in different persons, and vary according to their intensity. Formed as we are, our pains and griefs subserve a useful purpose. In our present imperfect state, they are to our pleasures what light is to darkness. "There is a sacredness in tears. They are not a mark of weakness but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love. If there were wanting any arguments

to prove that man is not mortal, I would look for it in the strange convulsive emotions of the breast, when the soul has been deeply agitated, when the fountains of feeling are welling-up, when the tears are gushing forth in crystal streams. Oh, speak not harshly to the stricken one, weeping in silence. Break not the deep solemnity by rude laughter or intrusive footsteps. Despise not woman's tears-they are more eloquent than words. Scoff not if the stern heart of manhood is sometimes melted to tears-they are what help to elevate him above the brute. I love to see tears of affection. They are painted tokens but still most holy. There is a pleasure in tears--a solemn pleasure.” *

"There are times when some great sorrow has torn the mind away from its familiar supports and laid level those defences which in prosperity seemed so stable— when the most rooted convictions of the reason seem rottenness and the blossom of our heavenward imagination goes up before the blast as dust--when our works, and joys, and hopes, with all their multitude and pomp, and glory, seem to go down together into the pit, and the soul is left as a garden that hath no water, and as a wandering bird cast out of the nestin that day of trouble, and of treading down and perplexity, the noise of voices, the mirth of the tabret, and the joy of the harp, are silent as the grave. Blessed is the man who, when cast into this utter wretchedness, far away from all creatures and from all comfort, can yet be willing, amid all his tears and his anguish, there to remain as long as God shall please." ↑

* Dr. Johnson.

+ British Quarterly Rev.

A tear-drop! "It is a little thing, glistening but a moment-a pearly drop in the window of the soul—but who may know the language it speaks? Who can tell what bitter thought has prompted it to flow? It is eloquent in its silence, for it has power that many words have not, to start afresh in other hearts the fountains of feeling that have long been dry.

"Tears of childhood! how innocent and pure! Some bitter drop has fallen in the clear fountain of its guileless heart, and started the gushing stream. But they are quickly chased away by the sweet smiles of returning joy. The dewdrops of morning linger not longthe sunbeams kiss them all away.

"There are hours when beloved friends die, or when misfortune's rough hand has swept away our brightest joys, when in dark hours 'tears will rise.' Then let them flow, for the heart's deep fountains are embittered by grief, and they must have an outlet.

"There is the tear of sympathy that falls for the sorrow of another heart. Such were shed near the grave of Lazarus, when Jesus wept. Ah! strong is the tie when friendship binds heart to its kindred heart and seals it with a tear.

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Precious in the sight of God are the tears of repentance for sin.”

"Be not thy tears too harshly chid
Repine not at the rising sigh;
Who, if he might, would always bid

The breast be still, the cheek be dry?

"How little of ourselves we know

Before a grief the heart has felt!