They found her too "Pluck out strong. Some men assembled to curse her. beautiful, too gay, too nimble, and too her wings," said they; "chain her, bruise her with blows, that she may suffer, that she may perish, the Goddess of Poverty!" They have chained the good goddess, they have beaten and persecuted her; but they cannot disgrace her. She has taken refuge in the soul of poets, in the soul of peasants, in the soul of martyrs, in the souls of saints, the good goddess, the Goddess of Poverty! She has walked more than the Wandering Jew; she has travelled more than the swallow; she is older than the Cathedral of Prague; she is younger than the egg of the wren; she has multiplied more upon the earth than strawberries in Bohemian forests, the goddess, the good goddess of Poverty! - She has many children, and she teaches them the secret of God. She talked to the heart of Jesus, upon the mountain; to the eyes of Queen Libussa, when she became enamoured of a laborer; to the spirit of John and of Jerome, upon the funeral pile of Constance. She knows more than all the doctors and all the bishops, the good Goddess of Poverty! She always makes the grandest and most beautiful things that we see upon the earth; it is she who has cultivated the fields and pruned the trees; it is she who tends the flocks, singing the most beautiful airs; it is she who sees the first peep of dawn, and receives the last smile of evening, - the good Goddess of Poverty! It is she who builds the cabin of the wood-cutter with green boughs, and gives to the poacher the glance of the eagle; it is she who rears the most beautiful urchins, and makes the spade and the plough light in the hands of the old man,the good Goddess of Poverty ! It is she who inspires the poet, and makes the violin, the gui tar, and the flute eloquent under the fingers of the wandering artist; it is she who carries him on her light wing, from the source of the Moldau to that of the Danube; it is she who crowns his hair with pearls of dew and makes the stars shine for him more large and more clear, the goddess, the good Goddess of Poverty! It is she who instructs the ingenious artisan, who teaches him to hew stone, to carve marble, to fashion gold, silver, brass, and iron; it is she who renders the flax supple and fine as a hair, from the fingers of the old mother, or the young girl,the good Goddess of Poverty ! It is she who sustains the cottage shaken by the storm; it is she who saves rosin for the torch, and oil for the lamp; it is she who kneads bread for the family, and weaves garments for summer and winter; it is she who feeds and maintains the world, the good Goddess of Poverty! . It is she who has built the grand churches and the old cathedrals; it is she who carries the sabre and the gun, who makes war and conquests. It is she who collects the dead, tends the wounded, and hides the conquered, the good Goddess of Poverty ! Thou art all gentleness, all patience, all strength, and all compassion, O good goddess! It is thou who unitest all thy children in a holy love, and who givest to them faith, hope, and charity, O Goddess of Poverty! Thy children will cease one day to carry the world upon their shoulders; they will be recompensed for their trouble and toil. The time approaches when there will be neither rich nor poor; when all men shall consume the fruits of the earth, and equally enjoy the gifts of God; but thou wilt not be forgotten in their hymns, O good Goddess of Poverty! They will remember that thou wert their fruitful mother, their robust nurse, and their church militant. They will pour balm upon thy wounds, and they will make the rejuvenated and embalmed earth a bed where thou canst at last repose, O good Goddess of Poverty! Until the day of the Lord, torrents and forests, mountains and valleys, heaths swarming with little flowers and little birds, paths which have no masters, and sanded with gold, let pass the good goddess, O Goddess of Poverty ! ANECDOTE OF PRESIDENT MAXCY. "SEVERAL of the students of South Carolina College resolved to drag the carriage of Doctor Maxcy into the woods, and fixed upon a night for the performance of the exploit. One of their number, however, was troubled with some compunctious visitings, and managed to convey to the worthy President a hint, that it would be well for him to secure the door of his carriage-house. Instead of paying any heed to this suggestion, the Doctor proceeded, on the appointed night, to the carriagehouse, and ensconced his portly person inside the vehicle. In less than an hour some half a dozen young gentlemen came to his retreat, and cautiously withdrew the carriage into the road. When they were fairly out of the college precincts, they forgot their reserve, and began to joke freely with each other by name. "One of them complained of the weight of the carriage, and another replied by swearing that it was heavy enough to have the old fellow himself in it. For nearly a mile they proceeded along the highway, and then struck into the woods, to a cover which they concluded would effectually conceal the vehicle. Making themselves infinitely merry at the Doctor's expense, and conjecturing how and when he would find his carriage, they at length reached the spot where they had resolved to leave it. Just as they were about to depart, having once more agreed that the carriage was heavy enough to have the old Doctor and all his tribe in it, they were startled by the sudden dropping of one of the glass door-panels, and the well-known voice of the Doctor himself thus addressed them: "So, so, young gentlemen! you are going to leave me in the woods, are you? Surely, as you have brought me hither for your own gratification, you will not refuse to take me back for mine. Come, Messrs. ง and and to, and let us return; it 's getting late!' buckle "There was no appeal; for the window was raised, and the Doctor resumed his seat. Almost without a word, the discomfited young gentlemen took their places at the pole and at the back of the vehicle, and quite as expeditiously, if with less voice, did they retrace their course. In silence they dragged the carriage into its wonted place, and then retreated precipitately to their rooms, to dream of the account they must render on the morrow. When they had gone, the Doctor quietly vacated the carriage, and went to his house, where he related the story to his family with much glee. He never called the heroes of that nocturnal expedition to an account, nor was his carriage ever afterwards dragged at night into the woods." Spirit of the Age. |