76 BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES. 



by a rhyming of the things that are near and dear to us. Happy the 

 child whose first sleep is softened by a mother's song ; happy the 

 mother ■who sings her child to sleep ! Happy the home where music 

 supplants the attractions of the tavern and the gambHng-table ; happy 

 the bride who loves the wedding beUs for their own sake, and mingles 

 with the first cares of the wife a song to win her husband's kisses — for 

 "domestic happiness is of that quiet nature which the heart enjoys but 

 the tongue boasts not, — it is like that still music which the ancients 

 supposed is going on above — not the less sweet for its making no noise 

 in the ears of this world." 



