The record-union., 1895-08-24
For the RECoRD-UNIoN.l
MARY MAGDALEN.

| There was Pharisee, Sadducee, rabble,
There was Roman, Assyrian, Greek;
| For the Master taught in the temple,
And they crowded to hear him speak;
But he taught on, unconscious Of numbers;
All the same whether many or few
Came 10 gather the pearls that lie scattered
AS free as the glitterlng dew.
And the seed fell not all by The wayside,
But some IN the richest of soil
a hundred t. oIe for its Increase,
\ hundred 10 one for His toll
Thank GOD for the spirit within US
That responds to the voice from W Wlthout!
For the springs OF our primitive manhood
That yield not 10 NOR al1ty'S drought;
That our nature still renders its homage
To the wise and the loving and good,
And that Jesus though Scorned by the rulers
Held tie hearts OF the plain multitude.
Our wisdom SO oft is the shamble
In which we are held TO the bad,
That the man tnat knows only his duty
May well rejoice and be glad.
/ Though the world be left out OF his knowl-
edge,
And his vision be only a span.
Yet the man who knows only his Master
Is the wisest and happiest man.
Some seed fell IN stonier places.
Where the riches aud cares OF the earth
ChOked the kernel. yet in its germing,
That it yielded no second birth.
And some with self-r ghteous endeavor,
Sought to lure him into a snare.
As lie stopped and wrote with his finger
All seemingly unaware,
| They brought him a Shame-stricken maiden
Deeply clad in the cri aSon of sin
The story OF passion without her,
The glory of conflict within;
For the glow of her innocent childhood
Was not entirely dead
She was one OF alas too many
Whose heart was TOO swift for her head
But the "leaders of blind in their blindness
Gather round the despised Nazarene
] I'D - f.Af tf.NeD.
and what dost thou say?'' Q! the scene
As the Master rose to confront themI
What majesty clothed in that form
| The kindling wrath of the GOdhead-
the clouds OF the gathering storm.
"He that is without sin among you
Let him first cast stone -
There was hardly an interval instant
Before her accusers had flown.
| There was that in his every feature
That was lifted far out of the clod:
His eye was the flash of the lightning
His voice was the voice OF God.
He had sounded the depths of each nature
He had fatnOmed eacn ulcerOus heart:
he had pierced through their gossamer net
work
And torn the weak fabric apart
For moment they saw as He saw them.
With all Of their evils made known
At the bar of their conscience he tried them
And not one OF them dared cast a stone
Then as gently as If not ripple
Had troubled the infinite deep:
AS bright as the sunshine in winter
AS calm as an infant at sleep,
He stopped again 10 his writing
All the world never knew what he wrote
Not print remains OF the fingers
MOI an echo is LETT OF tae note
1t is well, but too OfJ in life battle
The braYeSI are passed without thought
And we lose iii the glare aud the rattle
The holdest and noblest tuat fought;
And we lend our lungs TO the trumpet
That gives to another the name
And what has been stolen from heroes
Is the thing that Is often called fame
Even SO our oeSI thoughts are unWritten,
or al tartheSt but written on sand
And the elements wash out the letters
And leave not 4 trace of the hand
But The little our Savior had written
1t is well that the world never saw
All too many are perfect on parchmenti
Too few give their lives To the law.
Then he rose and bent on the maiden
That eye SO melting and mild
That it whirled her back to lte's threshold
And she was again d child;
And he asked for her ranting aceusers-
An. he knew very well where they were.
But 10 break through the silence OF guilt and
Would be a great mercy to her.
"Hath no man condemned thee?" She an.
Swered him None
Neither co condemn thee; go, and sin nc
His voice seemed to her like voice from the
throne
And She felt new life as she passed from
the door.
And Jesus kept breaking the bread of His
word
TIL he cried, at is finished ~ and died:
And as jewel preserved from the fire and the
sword.
AS gold in the furnace is tried,
SO the Magdalen was in the hours that passed
Keeping close III the track where He led;
At the cross when he died she was one of the
last
She came first when he rose from the dead
Thus a heart may be melted by kindness
That is nigh unto death in its sins:
And where human restrictions fall useless.
There the law Of the Master begins.
All in vain are our bolts and our dungeons
All in vain are the scourse and the rod,
If we hide from the souls OF His children
The heart OF the great loving God
HIRAM HoYT RICHMOND