For nothing lovelier can be found
In woman than to study household good.—Milton.
CHRISTIAN CHARITY.
O stay not thine hand when the winter's wind rude
Blows cold through the dwellings of want and despair,
To ask if misfortune has come to the good,
Or if folly has wrought the sad wreck that is there.
When the Savior of men raised His finger to heal,
Did He ask if the sufferer was Gentile or Jew?
When thousands were fed with a bountiful meal,
Was it given alone to the faithful and true?
If the heart-stricken wanderer asks thee for bread,
In suffering he bows to necessity's laws;
When the wife moans in sickness, the children unfed,
The cup must be bitter, O ask not the cause.
Then scan not too closely the frailties of those
Whose bosoms may bless on a cold winter's day:
And give to the wretched who tells thee his woes,
And from him that would borrow, O turn not away!