HUMAN INFLUENCE.

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BY MARIE ROSEAU.

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Oh! deem not thou canst lightly err,

And none may bear its weight but thee:

There’s none on earth who stands alone,

None so devoid of sympathy,

But that each fault will wing a dart

To pierce some gentle, feeling heart.

Oh! say not that no sin of thine

Will cause another, weaker one,

To fall, or stumble by the way—

By following thee his soul undone—

Drawn to the very depths of shame:

Then on whose head shall rest the blame?

Oh! say not thou art far too weak

To help some brother poor and frail,

Whose footsteps falter by the way—

Whose burthened strength begins to fail—

Thy words of hope may sooth his grief,

Thy hand, though weak, may bring relief.

Perchance some weary spirit mourns,

In bitterness of grief e’en now,

That thus in bonds, by error wrought,

So strong a soul as thine should bow—

That thou, of all the world shouldst stray

From wisdom’s straight and pleasant way.

Perchance e’en now thy many faults

Stand in some wand’ring brother’s road,

That but for thee his feet would tread

The path of wisdom and of God—

Who, but for thee, or for thy sin,

A victor’s glorious crown might win.

Oh! none there are whose deeds and words

May not exert an influence wide,

There is no hand that hath not strength

Some wand’rer from the way to guide:

No voice with tones too weak to bless

Some hapless brother in distress.