THE LAW OF KINDNESS.

TIME to me this truth hath taught,
‘Tis a truth that’s worth revealing: -
More offend from want of thought,
Than from any want of feeling.
If advice we would convey,
There’s a time we should convey it;
If we’ve but a word to say,
There’s a tone in which to say it.

Oft, unknowingly, the tongue
Touches on a chord so aching,
That a word, or accent, wrong,
Pains the heart almost to breaking.
Many a tear of wounded pride,
Many a fault of human blindness,
Has been soothed, or turned aside,
By a quiet voice of KINDNESS.

Time to me this truth hath taught,
‘Tis a truth that’s worth revealing: -
More offend from want of thought,
Than from any want of feeling. –

C. SWAIN