He saw the wind tempest resistlessly hurl
The gathering snow-flakes with many a whirl,
Upon her bare head, where each soft-shining curl
Was swept by the breath of the storm;
But what did he care for the little girl,—
His raiment was ample and warm!

He went to a charity meeting that night,
And spoke, to the listeners' great delight,
Of how 'twas the duty of all to unite
The suffering poor to relieve;

And held up a check for a thousand at sight,
So all of the crowd could perceive.

He handed the check to the treasurer, when
The audience applauded again and again,
But the angel who holds the recording pen

This sentence, methinks, did record: "He doeth his alms to be seen of men; Their praise is his only reward."

The paper next morning had much to say
Of how the "good gentleman" did display
His generous spirit in giving away

So much for the poor man's cause.
He smiled as he read his own praise that day,
And thought of the night's applause.

Near by the same paper' went on to repeat
A story they'd heard, of how, out on the street,
A watchman, at dawning of morn, on his beat,
A poor little child had found,-

With only the snow for a winding-sheet,-
Frozen to death on the ground!

Ah! who can declare that when God shall unfold Eternity's records, he will not hold

Him guilty of murder, who seeks with his gold,

In charity's name, to buy

The praises of men, while out in the cold

He leaves a poor child to die!

ANONYMOUS

Ι4Ι

THE MORNING PSALM

"Read us a Psalm, my little one."
An untried day had just begun,
And, ere the city's rush and roar
Came passing through the closed home door,
The family was hushed to hear

The youngest child, in accents clear,
Read from the Book. A moment's space-
The morning look died from each face,-

The sharp, keen look, that goes to meet
Opposing force, nor brooks defeat.

"I will lift up mine eyes," she read,
"Unto the hills." Who was afraid?
What had the Psalm of pilgrim life
To do with all our modern strife?
"Behold, He that doth Israel keep
Shall neither slumber, nor shall sleep;
The Lord thy keeper is, and He

Thy shade on thy right hand shall be;
The sun by day shall not thee smite,
The moon shall hurt thee not by night."

And the child finished the old Psalm,

And those who heard grew strong and calm;
The music of the Hebrew words

Thrilled them like sweet remembered chords,
And brought the heights of yesterday
Down to the lowlands of to-day,
And seemed to lend to common things
A mystery as of light and wings;
And each one felt in gladsome mood,
And life was beautiful and good.

Then forth, where duty's clarion call
Was heard, the household hastened all,
In crowded haunts of busy men
To toil with book, or speech, or pen;
To meet the day's demand with skill,
And bear, and do, and dare, and will,
As they must who are in the strife
And strain and stress of modern life,
And would succeed, but who yet hold
Honor of higher worth than gold.

These are the days of peace we say,
Yet fiercest fights are fought to-day;

And those who formed that household band
Had need of strength, that they might stand
In firmness and unruffled calm;—

But sweetly did their morning Psalm
Amid the clamor, loud and long,

Like echo of a once-loved song,

Rise in their hearts and make them strong.

At close of day they met again,

And each had known some touch of pain,
Some disappointment, loss, or care,
Some place of stumbling, or some snare.
"And yet the Psalm is true," said they,
"The Lord preserveth us alway.
His own were safe in days of yore,
And from this time, and evermore,
If skies be bright or skies be dim,
He keepeth all who trust in Him."

MARIANNE FARNINGHAM

142

SPEECH OF JACOB HENRY

[Delivered about 1812, in the Legislature of North Carolina, on a motion to vacate his seat, he being a Jew.]

Mr. Speaker:-Though I will not conceal the surprise I felt that the gentleman should have thought proper yesterday to have moved my expulsion from this House, on the alleged grounds that I "disbelieve in the Divine authority of the New Testament," without considering himself bound by those rules of politeness, which, according to my sense of propriety, should have led him to give me some previous intimation of his design, yet since I am brought to the discussion, I feel prepared to meet the object of his resolution.

I certainly, Mr. Speaker, know not the design of the Declaration of Rights made by the people of this

State in the year '76, if it was not to consecrate certain great and fundamental Rights and Principles, which even the Constitution cannot impair; for the 44th Section of the latter instrument declares that the Declaration of Rights ought never to be violated on any pretence whatever;—if there is any apparent difference between the two instruments, they ought, if possible, to be reconciled. But if there is a final repugnance between them, the Declaration of Rights must be considered paramount. For I believe it is to the Constitution as the Constitution is to a law,— it controls and directs it, absolutely and conclusively. If, then, a belief in the Protestant religion is required by the Constitution to qualify a man for a seat in this House, and such qualification is dispensed with by the Declaration of Rights, the provision of the Constitution must be altogether inoperative, as the language of the Bill of Rights is “ that all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience." It is undoubtedly a natural right, and when it is declared to be an unalienable one, by the people in their sovereign and original capacity, any attempt to alienate it, either by the Constitution or by law, must be vain and fruitless. It is difficult to conceive how such a provision crept into the Constitution, unless it was from the difficulty the human mind feels in suddenly emancipating itself from the fetters by which it has long been enchained. If a man should hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the State, I do not