"I would not make the path I have trod

More pleasant or even, more straight or wide;
Nor change my course the breadth of a hair,
This way or that way, to either side.

"My past is mine, and I take it all;

Its weakness-its folly, if you please;
Nay, even my sins, if you come to that,
May have been my helps, not hindrances!

"If I saved my body from the flames

Because that once I had burned my hand;
Or kept myself from a greater sin

By doing a less- you will understand;

"It was better I suffered a little pain,
Better I sinned for a little time,

If the smarting warned me back from death,
And the sting of sin withheld from crime.

"Who knows its strength by trial, will know
What strength must be set against a sin;
And how temptation is overcome

He has learned, who has felt its power within!

"And who knows how a life at the last may show?
Why, look at the moon from where we stand!

Opaque, uneven, you say; yet it shines,

A luminous sphere, complete and grand!

If I have written aright this hasty sketch, there are hope and comfort therein for those who are just entering upon responsible life with no more than average opportunities and advantages. If I have not shown this, read the works of Alice and Phebe Cary, and find it there!