LESSON 65 Let us speak the best we canNay, speak no ill! a kindly word.Can never leave a sting behind; and oh! to breathe each tale we've heard is far beneath a noble mind.Full off a better seed is sown by choosing thus the better planFor if but little good be known, Still let us speak the best we can.Give me the heart that fain would hide―would fain another's guilt efface:How can it pleasure human pride to prove humanity but base?No; let us reach a higher mood, a nobler estimate of man;Be earnest in the search of good, and let us speak the best we can.Then speak no ill, but lenient be to others' failings as your own;If you're the first a fault to see, be you the last to make it known.For life is but a passing day, no tongue may tell how brief its span; Then, all the little time we stay,Still let us speak the best we can.―Anon
