Part 7 (1/2)
He comes--he comes!--and, quivering all with dread, She spoke kind welcome to that sinful man.
His sole reply,--'Get supper--give me bread!'
Then, with a sneer, he tauntingly began To mock the want that stared him in the face, Her bitter sorrow, and his own disgrace.
”'I have no money to procure you food, No wood, no coal, to raise a cheerful fire; The madd'ning cup may warm your frozen blood-- We die, for lack of that which you desire!'
She ceased,--erect one moment there he stood, The foam upon his lip; with fiendish ire He seized a knife which glitter'd in his way, And rush'd with fury on his helpless prey.
Then from a dusky nook I fiercely sprung, The strength of manhood in that single bound: Around his bloated form I tightly clung, And headlong brought the murderer to the ground.
We fell--his temples struck the cold hearth-stone, The blood gush'd forth--he died without a moan!
”Yes--by my hand he died! one frantic cry Of mortal anguish thrill'd my madden'd brain, Recalling sense and mem'ry. Desperately I strove to raise my fallen sire again, And call'd upon my mother; but her eye Was closed alike to sorrow, want, and pain.
Oh, what a night was that!--when all alone I watch'd my dead beside the cold hearth-stone.
I thought myself a monster--that the deed To save my mother was too promptly done.
I could not see her gentle bosom bleed, And quite forgot the father, in the son; For her I mourn'd--for her, through bitter years, Pour'd forth my soul in unavailing tears.
”The world approved the act; but on my soul There lay a gnawing consciousness of guilt, A biting sense of crime, beyond control: By my rash hand a father's blood was spilt, And I abjured for aye the death-drugg'd bowl.
This is my tale of woe; and if thou wilt Be warn'd by me, the sparkling cup resign; A serpent lurks within the ruby wine, Guileful and strong as him who erst betray'd The world's first parents in their bowers of joy.
Let not the tempting draught your soul pervade; It s.h.i.+nes to kill, and sparkles to destroy.
The drunkard's sentence has been seal'd above,-- Exiled for ever from the heaven of love!”
CHAPTER III
Free Schools--Thoughts on Education
”Truth, Wisdom, Virtue--the eternal three, Great moral agents of the universe-- Shall yet reform and beautify the world, And render it fit residence for Him In whom these glorious attributes combined, To render perfect manhood one with G.o.d!”
S.M.
There is no calculating the immense benefit which the will colony will derive from the present liberal provision made for the education of the rising generation.
A few years ago schools were so far apart, and the tuition of children so expensive, that none but the very better cla.s.s could sc.r.a.pe money enough together to send their children to be instructed. Under the present system, every idle ragged child in the streets, by was.h.i.+ng his face and hands, and presenting himself to the free school of his ward, can receive the same benefit as the rest.
What an inestimable blessing is this, and how greatly will this education of her population tend to increase the wealth and prosperity of the province! It is a certain means of a calling out and making available all the talent in the colony; and as, thanks be to G.o.d, genius never was confined to any cla.s.s, the poor will be more benefited by this wise and munificent arrangement than the rich.
These schools are supported by a district tax, which falls upon the property of persons well able to pay it; but avarice and bigotry are already at work, to endeavour to deprive the young of his new-found blessing. Persons grumble at having to pay this additional tax. They say, ”If poor people want their children taught, let them pay for it: their instruction has no right to be forced from our earnings.”
What a narrow prejudice is this--what miserable, short-sighted policy!
The education of these neglected children, by making them better citizens, will in the long run prove a great protection both to life and property.
Then the priests of different persuasions lift up their voices because no particular creed is allowed to be taught in the seminaries, and exclaim--”The children will be infidels. These schools are G.o.dless and immoral in the extreme.” Yes; children will be taught to love each other without any such paltry distinctions as party and creed. The rich and the poor will meet together to learn the sweet courtesies of a common humanity, and prejudice and avarice and bigotry cannot bear that.
There is a spirit abroad in the world--and an evil spirit it is--which through all ages has instigated the rich to look down with contemptuous feelings of superiority on the humble occupations and inferior circ.u.mstances of the poor. Now, that this spirit is diametrically opposed to the benevolent precepts of Christianity, the fact of our blessed Lord performing his painful mission on earth in no higher capacity than that of a working mechanic, ought sufficiently to show.
What divine benevolence--what G.o.d-like humility was displayed in this heroic act! Of all the wonderful events in his wonderful history, is there one more astonis.h.i.+ng than this--
”That Heaven's high Majesty his court should keep In a clay cottage, by each blast controll'd,-- That Glory's self should serve our hopes and fears, And free Eternity submit to years?”
What a n.o.ble triumph was this, over the cruel and unjust prejudices of mankind! It might truly be termed the divine philosophy of virtue.