"Yet Jesus forgets not that while ye ensnared Him,
And drove Him with curses of burden and goad,
These gentle ones watched where the Magi declared Him,
And often have spared Him the long desert road.
"They crumble to dust; but we, watchers remaining,
Attest their endurance through centuries past,
Oh, fear! lest in future to Judgment attaining,
These woes, uncomplaining, confront you at last!"
Julia C. Verplanck.
SPEAK GENTLY.
Speak gently! it is better far
To rule by love than fear:
Speak gently! let not harsh words mar
The good we might do here.
Speak gently! 'tis a little thing,
Dropped in the heart's deep well,
The good, the joy, which it may bring,
Eternity shall tell.