A REPLY TO A YOUNG LADY.

"I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done
Than to be one of the twenty to follow my own teaching,"
--_Merchant of Venice_.

"Do as I tell you, and not as I do."
--_Old Saying_.

You say, a "moral sign-post" I
Point out the road towards the sky;
And then with glance so very shy
You archly ask me, lady, why
I hesitate myself to go
In the direction which I show?

To answer is an easy task,
If you allow me but to ask
One little question, sweet, of you:--
'Tis this: should sign-posts travel too
What would bewildered pilgrims do--
Celestial pilgrims, such as you?




A STORY OF THE CARACAS VALLEY.