GENTILITY. GENTEEL it is to have soft hands, But not genteel to earn your bread; But not genteel your clothes to mend ; But not genteel poor folks to know; But not genteel at home to stay; But not genteel to shun all guile; Genteel it is sometimes to swear, But not genteel plain clothes to wear; Genteel it is to know a lord, But not genteel to pay your board; Genteel it is to skip and hop, HEBREW LEGENDS. TRANSLATED BY THE EDITOR. XI. THE LORD IS OMNIPRESENT. In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.-Ex. xx: 21. Do I not fill Heaven and Earth.-Jer xxiii: 24. A heathen once said to Rabbi Gamaliel : "You teach that where ten persons are together to consider the word of God, He is among them. According to this, how many Gods have you?" Then the Rabbi called a servant of this doubting heathen, and reproved him for letting the sun shine into his master's house. Then the heathen defended his servant, saying: "The sun shines every where, in all the world." Then, the Rabbi answered, and said: "If now the sun, which is but one of the countless works of God's hands, can illumine the whole world, how much more can God, although but one, beevery where present?" Then was the heathen silent, for he could no more answer the wisdom of the Rabbi. XII. THE EVILS THAT RESULT FROM UNRIGHTEOUS ACTS MUST BE PATIENTLY ENDURED. My son despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction: For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.Prov. iii: 11, 12. There are but few who pass through life, without meeting with many and various tribulations. In these circumstances it is meet and right to bear affliction with firmness, and to submit ourselves to the will of the Highest, for He chasteneth us as a father his own child. His object is not to occasion pain, but correct faults. So teaches the wise and royal Solomon, and Rabbi Nachum, by his own example under the severest sufferings, confirms his words. The surname of this pious man was GAMSEE. He was also sometimes called THIS-ALSO; because he was ever in the habit of saying: "This also will lead to something." It is related of this man that he was blind and lame. He could make no use of his hands; his whole body was enfeebled, and his feet were so full of boils that they had to be placed in a tub of water to protect them from the worms. The house in which he lived was so rickety that his scholars feared it might tumble down over the head of their master. Hence they wished to remove him from it. But he said, "Remove first the things that are in it, and then take me out; for I know assuredly that it will not fall, so long as I am in it.” They did so. Scarcely was he carried out of it, when the house tumbled down, and became a heap of ruins. Then his scholars asked him, saying: "If you are so good a man, and worthy that heaven should take you under such special protection, how is it that you have to suffer so much?" "I will tell you, my children," replied the pious teacher. "Once on a time, I went on a visit to my father-in-law; and, as a present, I took with me three asses; one was laden with many kinds of herbs; the second with wine; and the third with a variety of sweetmeats. When I was not far from the end of my journey, there met me a poor, miserable, nearly starving man." "Master," he cried, "relieve me from my sufferings !" "Wait," said I, "'till I have unloaded my asses." Some time was then taken up, and scarcely had I finished unloading the animals, when the poor man sunk down dead at my feet! Then my conscience began to condemn me. "Poor, miserable man," I began to say to myself, a little more promptness on my part would have saved thy life. My thoughtless delay has killed thee!" Then I cast myself down upon his dead body, and exclaimed: "0, ye eyes, which might have regarded the misery of this poor man, but would not, may ye be robbed of the light of the day! Ye hands, which would not afford timely aid, may you no more perform your office: Ye feet, that did not hasten speedily to his assistance, O, that ye may nevermore go in your accustomed paths! May also the body, which felt no sympathy for the suffering and sorrow of this now lifeless body, itself suffer the misery of which it would not hasten to relieve him!" And, as I said, so also it came to pass. This then is the cause of my own sufferings. By this sad story his scholars were very deeply moved; but still more touched by the fearful pains of their master, they together exclaimed: "Woe on us, that we see thee in so sad a condition!" "It were still more sad for me," answered the heroic teacher, "if you did not thus see me!" By this he would intimate to them, his willingness to bear his sufferings in the way of repentance for his former sins, and with the hope of finding in the world to come that blessedness which is reserved for the pious. XII. THE SEVEN STAGES OF MAN'S LIFE. Seven times* in one verse does the author of Ecclesiastes use the word vanity; for in this he would set forth the seven stages of man's life. Thus spake Rabbi Schimon, the son of Elizer. Eccle. 1: 2. In this passage the word occurs twice in the plural number, and this the Rabbi counts as equal to four. Besides it occurs three times in the singular, which makes out the number seven. The first stage begins with the first year of human life, when the INFANT, like a king, lies on a white pillow and is surrounded by a large number of attendants, who are all ready and anxious to serve it, and who show their loyalty by kisses and embraces. The second begins when the CHILD is two or three years old, when it is allowed to creep about on the earth, and when, like an impure animal, it takes delight in grease and mud. Then comes the tenth year of the thoughtless BOY, who reflects not on the past, nor cares for the future, but like a young roe skips and leaps over the meadows, and contentedly enjoys the present moment. The fourth stage begins with about the twentieth year, when the YOUTH, full of vanity and pride, begins to deck himself with fine clothing; and, like a young unbridled horse, stalks proudly about to seek himself a wife. Now comes the stage of MARRIAGE, when the poor man, like a patient ass, willing or not, must labor and sweat to win a livelihood. Still, behold him, when he has become a FATHER, when helpless children surround him crying for his help and attention, and look to him for bread. See now how active and wakeful, and yet friendly he is, like a faithful dog, who watches over his little flock, biting at everything that comes in his way that he may protect his own. Then finally comes the last stage of life, when the enfeebled OLD MAN, like the awkward but still earnest and wakeful elephant, becomes stiff and suspicious. Then he begins gradually to let his head sink towards the earth, as if he were looking towards that spot where all his great plans must come to an end, and where all ambition, and all vanity must at last be humbled in the dust! "AT THE LAST." "Man goeth forth unto his work, and to his labor until the evening."-Psal. civ: 23. THE stream is calmest when it nears the tide, Morning is lovelier, but a holier charm Oh! when our sun is setting, may we glide, I F WE KNEW. Ir we knew the cares and crosses Sorely grievous, day by day, If we knew the clouds above us, While 'tis only birds of Eden, Just in mercy flying past? If we knew the silent story, Quivering through the heart of pain, Joy hath many a break of woe, And the cheeks, tear-washed, are whitest- Let us reach within our bosoms, And, with love towards erring nature, So that, when our disrobed spirits Soar to realms of light again, We may say, Dear Father, judge us A FABLE. A young man once picked up a sovereign lying in the road. Ever afterwards, as he walked along, he kept his eyes steadfastly fixed on the ground, in the hopes of finding another. And in the course of a long life he did pick up at different times a good amount of gold and silver. But all these days as he was looking for them, he saw not that heaven was bright above him, and nature beautiful around. He never once allowed his eyes to look up from the mud and filth in which he sought the treasure; and when he died a rich old man, he only knew this fair earth of ours as a dirty road to pick up money as you walk along. |