McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader

Lesson Xliii.

SPEAK GENTLY.

1. Speak gently; it is better far To rule by love than fear: Speak gently; let no harsh words mar The good we might do here.

2. Speak gently to the little child; Its love be sure to gain; Teach it in accents soft and mild; It may not long remain.

3. Speak gently to the aged one; Grieve not the careworn heart: The sands of life are nearly run; Let such in peace depart.

4. Speak gently, kindly, to the poor; Let no harsh tone be heard; They have enough they must endure, Without an unkind word.

5. Speak gently to the erring; know They must have toiled in vain; Perhaps unkindness made them so; Oh, win them back again.

THIRD READER. 115

6. Speak gently: 'tis a little thing Dropped in the heart's deep well; The good, the joy, which it may bring, Eternity shall tell. George Washington Langford.