NEVER HOLD MALICE

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 14, 1859

NEVER HOLD MALICE.

Oh never hold malice; it cannot be good, For 'tis nobler to strike in the rush of hot blood Than to bitterly cherish the name of a foe, Wait to sharpen a weapon, and measure a blow. The wild dog in hunger—the wolf in its spring— The shark of the waters—the asp with its sting— Are less to be feared than the vengeance of man, When it lieth in secret to wound when it can.

Oh never hold malice; dislike if you will, Yet remember, humanity linketh us still; We are all of us human, and all of us erring, And mercy within us should ever be stirring. Shall we dare to look up to the Father above With petitions for pardon, or pleadings for love? Shall we dare while we pant for revenge on another, To ask from a God, yet deny to a brother?—Sel.