"Peace," said he, "I never relish
What before me is prepared."
Saith the maiden, now triumphant,
"Thus the ways of God are cleared!

"That which seeing maketh common,
From our eyes should be concealed;
Her whom Adam most should honor,
To him, perfect, God revealed!"

THE TALMUD

16

146

GIFTS

Oh, World-God, give me Wealth!" the Egyptian cried.

His prayer was granted. High as Heaven behold Palace and Pyramid; the brimming tide

Of lavish Nile washed all his land with gold. Armies of slaves toiled ant-wise at his feet; World-circling traffic roared through mart and street;

His priests were gods; his spice-balmed kings, enshrined,

Set death at naught in rock-ribbed charnels deep. Seek Pharaoh's race to-day, and ye shall find Rust and the moth, silence and dusty sleep.

"Oh, World-God, give me Beauty!" cried the Greek.

His prayer was granted. All the earth became Plastic and vocal to his sense; each peak,

Each grove, each stream, quick with Promethean flame,

Peopled the world with imaged grace and light.
The lyre was his, and his the breathing might
Of the immortal marble; his the play

Of diamond-pointed thought and golden tongue. Go seek the sunshine-race; ye find to-day

A broken column and a lute unstrung.

"Oh, World-God, give me Power!" the Roman cried.

His prayer was granted. The vast world was chained

A captive to the chariot of his pride;

The blood of myriad provinces was drained

To feed that fierce, insatiable red heart.

Invulnerably bulwarked every part

With serried legions and with close-meshed Code; Within, the burrowing worm had gnawed its home;

A roofless ruin stands where once abode

Th'imperial race of everlasting Rome.

"Oh, Godhead, give me Truth!" the Hebrew cried. His prayer was granted. He became the slave Of the Idea, a pilgrim far and wide,

Cursed, hated, spurned, and scourged with none

to save.

The Pharaohs knew him, and when Greece beheld,
His wisdom wore the hoary crown of Eld.
Beauty he hath forsworn, and Wealth and Power.
Seek him to-day, and find in every land;
No fire consumes him, neither floods devour;
Immortal through the lamp within his hand.

EMMA LAZARUS

147

THE MERCY OF GOD

They have a saying in the East:-
Two angels note the deeds of men,
And one is first, and one is least.
When men do right, one takes his pen
And magnifies the deed to ten.
This angel is at God's right hand,

And holds the other in command.
He says to him when men do wrong,
"The man was weak, temptation strong,-
Write not the record down to-day;
To-morrow he may grieve and pray."
It may be myth; but this is sooth-
No ruth is lasting as God's ruth;
The strongest is the tenderest;
He who best knows us loves us best.

MATTHEW RICHEY KNIGHT

148

A PRAYER

IMITATED FROM THE PERSIAN

Lord! who art merciful as well as just,
Incline Thine ear to me, a child of dust!
Not what I would, O Lord, I offer Thee,
Alas! but what I can.

Father Almighty, who has made me man,
And bade me look to Heaven, for Thou art there,
Accept my sacrifice and humble prayer.

Four things which are not in Thy treasury,
I lay before Thee, Lord, with this petition:
My nothingness, my wants,
My sins, and my contrition.

ROBERT SOUTHEY

149

GOD IS GOOD

God, Thou art good! each perfumed flower,
The waving field, the dark green wood,

The insect fluttering for an hour,-
All things proclaim that God is good.

I hear it in each breath of wind;
The hills that have for ages stood,
And clouds with gold and silver lined,
All still repeat that God is good.

Each little rill that many a year

Has the same verdant path pursued,
And every bird, in accents clear,

Joins in the song that God is good.

The restless sea, with haughty roar,
Calms each wild wave and billow rude,
Retreats submissive from the shore,

And swells the chorus,-" God is good."

The countless hosts of twinkling stars
All sing His praise with light renewed;
The rising sun each day declares
In rays of glory,—" God is good.”

The moon that walks in brightness says
That God is good! and man, endued
With power to speak his Maker's praise,
Should still repeat that God is good.

MRS. FOLLEN

7

150

THE GOODNESS OF GOD

Yes, God is good: in earth and sky,
From ocean-depths and spreading wood,
Ten thousand voices seem to cry,

66

God made us all and God is good."

The sun that keeps his trackless way,
And downward pours his golden flood,
Night's sparkling hosts, all seem to say,
In accents clear, that God is good.