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THE 
 
 CHARITY ''BOOM/' 
 
 BV THE AUTHOR OF ''ME." 
 
 0^ 
 
 ''FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY: 
 THE GREATEST OF THESE IS CHARITY." 
 
 FAIR EDITION. 
 
 "Ukr^k) %.., 
 
 published by the 
 
 Hahnemann Hospital Free Bed Fund Association. 
 
 1880. 
 
 r 
 

 Copyright by 
 Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Company. 
 
TO 
 
 THE LADIES OF THE HAHNEMANN HOSPITAL 
 
 FREE BED FUND 
 
 Fair Association. 
 
 EARNEST IN PURPOSE, UNTIRING IN EFFORT, 
 
 AND ABOUNDING IN KINDLY 
 
 MINISTRATIONS. 
 
 GOD AND THE SUFFERING BLESS THEM! 
 
THE 
 
 CHARITY "BOOM." 
 
 On the door-step — in the white Hght of 
 the waning Christmas moon, 
 
 When the wind shrieked round the cor- 
 ners and the fires burned low too soon, 
 
 When the pavement creaked the echo of 
 the passer's rapid tread, 
 
8 THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 
 
 Footfalls hastening to the welcome by 
 
 the cheerful fireside spread, 
 And great frosty tear-drops clustered 
 
 round the almost human eye 
 Of the o'erwrought beast of burden, 
 
 while in misty circles high 
 Rose the warm breath from each nostril, 
 
 wasting on the chill night air 
 E'en as life and heart are wasted by 
 
 the bleak breath of despair ; — 
 Crouched a frail form with a basket, 
 
 scarce a woman, more than child. 
 And with crusts from out my basement 
 
 strove to sate her hunger wild ; 
 
THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 
 
 While above the harsh wind's rattle I 
 
 could catch her bitter moan, 
 As she pressed her freezing members 
 
 'gainst the cold unfeeling stone. 
 And I watched her death-numbed features 
 
 ghastly in the pale moon ray — 
 Ah ! the cold creeps in so surely where 
 
 gaunt Hunger leads the way ! 
 
 But listen ! the lips move : '' Oh God ! 
 
 tell me why 
 Thy great loving heart is unmoved by 
 
 my cry ; 
 
lO THE CHARITY '' BOOM. 
 
 And why was I fashioned thine image 
 
 to bear, 
 And tossed on this rough world bereft 
 
 of thy care ? 
 Great Father ! my Father ! for I am 
 
 thy child, 
 How canst thou be deaf to my anguish 
 
 so wild ? 
 I'm starving, Tm friendless, despised and 
 
 forlorn. 
 All hope from this poor wretched bosom 
 
 is torn ! 
 Can nothing arouse Thee ? the last, the 
 
 last cry ! 
 
THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 1 3 
 
 Great Father ! Jehovah ! good Christ, 
 let me die ! " 
 
 Bright the coals gleamed on my hearthstone, 
 
 gaily waked the Christmas-cheer ; 
 Soft eyes glistened in the gaslight, red 
 
 lips breathed in accents dear, 
 And I clasped my hands and muttered : 
 
 "■ Surely, hope, and faith are vain ; 
 Heaven and very Hell are parted only 
 
 by a window-pane ! 
 
14 THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 
 
 Is the God-heart less than human, Is 
 Omnipotence a jest ? 
 
 Do the faithful feed on falsehood and 
 is trust a myth at best ? " 
 
 Then my fettered spirit shuddered at the 
 thoughts within me bred, 
 
 As I dared the impious question, stand- 
 ing with averted head. 
 
 That night in a vision an angel came, 
 And stood by my bedside and breathed 
 my name. 
 
THE CHARITY ''BOOM." I5 
 
 Her folded wings on her shoulders were 
 crossed, 
 
 And the floating locks from her forehead 
 tossed ; 
 
 Her features were lit by a heavenly 
 grace, 
 
 But my blood grew chill — 'twas the out- 
 cast's face ! 
 
 And I shrank with a mortal's dread 
 amaze 
 
 From the piercing search of a spirit's 
 gaze. 
 
 O marvel of living, O mystery of Death, 
 
 Immortality born of Life's wasted breath ! 
 
1 6 THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 
 
 '* I am come with a message," she 
 
 sweetly said, 
 ''From Him whom ye impiously dared to 
 
 upbraid ; 
 From the Father in Heaven, that Holiest One 
 Before whom your prayers and reproaches 
 
 have come. 
 
 '' ' Remember the poor,' — 'twas your bur- 
 den each day 
 
 As round the home altar ye gathered to 
 pray ; 
 
 ' Remember the poor,' and like incense 
 most sweet 
 
THE CHARITY ''BOOM." l7 
 
 Your petition went up to the dear 
 
 mercy-seat ; 
 'Remember the poor/ and the Great 
 
 Giver smiled 
 To answer the thought of His suppHant 
 
 child, 
 And made you his steward commissioned 
 
 to bear 
 The proofs of his love to the children 
 
 of Care. 
 
 ^Remember the poor, and He gave you 
 gold; 
 
l8 THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 
 
 'Remember the poor,' 'twas increased ten- 
 fold; 
 
 'Remember the poor^ and He blessed 
 your store, 
 
 With his choicest gifts it was teeming 
 o'er ; 
 
 'Remember the poor' and the Heavens 
 bent low 
 
 To the heart that was touched by an- 
 other's woe. 
 
 '' Now in silver, merchandise, gold and 
 stocks, 
 
THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 1 9 
 
 In bonds, notes and liens under ponder- 
 ous locks, 
 
 You're hoarding the treasures and still 
 you pray, 
 
 ' Gracious Father, remember the poor 
 this day ! ' 
 
 Oh, easy of conscience, prospered Chris- 
 tian, take care 
 
 Lest you hide in your pocket God's an- 
 swer to prayer ! 
 
 In a basement hard by, a mother to- 
 night 
 
(( ^^^,, " 
 
 20 THE CHARITY ''BOOM. 
 
 Is watching and praying and stretching 
 
 her sight, 
 As the shadowy figures flit to and fro 
 On the sidewalk that edges her window low. 
 But she listens in vain for the well-known 
 
 tread, 
 Of the delicate girl who went out for 
 
 bread. 
 On the hearth-stone the ashes lie cold 
 
 and gray, 
 The light in its socket has flickered 
 
 away. 
 And the cold creeps under the coverlet 
 
 thin : 
 
THE CHARITY '' BOOM.'' 23 
 
 Nature struggles with death— but, whose 
 is the sin ? 
 
 And greedy reporters jot down for the 
 
 press : 
 
 '' Unclaimed at the Morgue — Verdict- - 
 
 Case of distress." 
 
 Past the rifted cloud and far into the 
 
 blue 
 
 I earnestly gazed as the angel passed 
 
 through. 
 2 
 
24 THE CHARITY ''BOOM.'' 
 
 She shaded my eyes with her kindly 
 
 spread wing 
 From the imrevealed glory of Heaven's 
 
 Great King, 
 And showed me the treasures laid up 
 
 for me where 
 The Saviour my mansion had gone to 
 
 prepare ; 
 Some spiritless ghosts of benevolent 
 
 deeds, 
 Upon which a chronic self-righteousness 
 
 feeds, 
 Some petty subscriptions, some clothes 
 
 out of date, 
 
THE CHARITY '' BOOM. 25 
 
 Some coins dropped in church on the 
 
 good deacon's plate, 
 Some soul-uttered vows, an occasional 
 
 prayer 
 Wrung out by temptation, by sorrow or 
 
 care, 
 A few loves unselfish, some aims stripped 
 
 of pride. 
 Accepted because of the Jesus who 
 
 died, 
 And above them all to my horrified 
 
 sight, 
 The crust that was left on my door-step 
 
 that night ! 
 
26 THE CHARITY '* BOOM." 
 
 Now I care not what quibbling parsons 
 
 may say 
 Of a genuine Hell in the good old way, 
 A most exquisite hell for me it would be, 
 That crust e'en in Heaven to eternally 
 
 see. 
 
 Ah ! the finance of Heaven is not brok- 
 erage bold, 
 
 Where men deal upon margins and buy 
 without gold, 
 
 And upon see-saws live, down or up as 
 it may, 
 
THE CHARITY '* BOOM. 27 
 
 And the gains of a lifetime are lost in 
 a day. 
 
 There the dollar is dollar, a dime is a 
 dime, 
 
 Payments given at sight and in no case 
 on time ; 
 
 With the oddest results it cannot be de- 
 nied, 
 
 For whether you multiply, add or di- 
 vide. 
 
 You will only find — figure it up as you 
 may — 
 
 That passed to your credit you've given 
 away. 
 
28 THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 
 
 '' The yearly reports then that publish 
 
 my name 
 With laudable numbers attached to the 
 
 same^ 
 My genrous subscriptions, m.y offerings y 
 
 and then ? " 
 
 They had their reward — they were seen 
 
 here of men, 
 And the angels on duty vouchsafe to 
 
 record 
 Only charities done in the name of the 
 
 Lord. 
 
THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 29 
 
 We have prated of Charity loudly and 
 
 long, 
 Have harangued the public with lecture 
 
 and song, 
 We have opened our hearts to Its clam- 
 orous call, 
 And done our whole duty at banquet 
 
 and ball ; 
 We have garnered our thousands with 
 
 Tableaux and Fair, 
 And bullded our hospitals high In the 
 
 air, 
 We have frescoed their walls and have 
 
 polished their floors, 
 
30 THE CHARITY '* BOOM. 
 
 Have widened their halls and embellished 
 
 their doors ; 
 Great beautiful structures commanding and 
 
 bold, 
 But strongly secured with a fastening of 
 
 gold, 
 Which mocks at the penniless mendi- 
 cant's cry, 
 And stifles his plea with an '' if" or a 
 
 *' why ; " 
 While free circulation, ten times in a 
 
 score. 
 Is checked by red tape if one gets 
 
 through the door. 
 
)> 
 
 THE CHARITY "BOOM. 3 1 
 
 A minute too old or a fortnight too 
 
 young ; 
 The wound of the Hp should be one 
 
 of the tongue ; 
 The hump is of muscle, it should be 
 
 of bone ; 
 The cough has a nasal, not bronchial 
 
 tone ; 
 Acute inflammation affected the larynx. 
 This hospital treats only ills of the 
 
 pharynx ; 
 'Tis a carpal instead of a tarsal strain ; 
 
 'Tis a ruptured nerve not a varicose 
 
 vein ; 
 2* 
 
32 THE CHARITY *' BOOM." 
 
 That the adipose touches the heart may 
 be seen, 
 
 Unfortunate creature, we doctor the 
 spleen. 
 
 The left limb is fractured instead of the 
 right ; 
 
 You suffer at evening, we treat in day- 
 light. 
 
 The lid of your eye, 'twere better the 
 
 ball ; 
 The liver at fault, we attend to the 
 
 gall. 
 
THE CHARITY '' BOOM." TfZ 
 
 'Tis the upper instead of the lower 
 
 face ; 
 An ulna instead of a radius case. 
 We cancerous affections a specialty 
 
 make, 
 This inclines a polypous nature to 
 
 take, — 
 Till symptoms are made a distinction so 
 
 fine 
 That a vertebra fails to suggest the spine. 
 And hence the close sieve of a medical 
 
 view 
 Not one in a hundred poor creatures 
 
 get through ; 
 
34 THE CHARITY '* BOOM." 
 
 And like good resolutions, a pitiful 
 horde, 
 
 These are laid by at last on a Hospi- 
 tal Board. 
 
 And so the great mass of the suffering 
 poor 
 
 Only find under ground an infallible 
 cure. 
 
 Or if to cold sect regulations take 
 heed, 
 
 There is nothing so harsh as an unfeel- 
 ing creed, 
 
THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 35 
 
 And this rigidly strict diagnostical sight 
 
 Is edipsed by an orthodox stringency quite. 
 
 The hoUest intentions, unfolding, are 
 chilled 
 
 By "doctrinal points" into just souls 
 instilled ; 
 
 And the poles of the magnet most faith- 
 fully tell 
 
 How sectarian tenets good Christians 
 repel ; 
 
 Baptist, Methodist, Quaker, High Church, 
 and a score. 
 
 Each honestly shouting ''This way is 'the 
 door! 
 
2,6 THE CHARITY " BOOM." 
 
 Till the faith is become an indefinite 
 
 word, 
 Dependent alone on the place where 'tis 
 
 heard. 
 And though not in letter, in spirit 'tis 
 
 true. 
 The food of the Gentile won't nourish 
 
 the Jew, 
 Pray, into the Protestant Mission or 
 
 - Home " 
 How shall the unsanctified Catholic 
 
 come, 
 While the Sisters of Mercy slight mercy 
 
 can feel 
 
THE CHARITY *' BOOM. Ty"] 
 
 For the heretic sufferer's woe or his 
 weal. 
 
 So we writhe and we suffer, and perish 
 and die, 
 
 By the Hne and the plummet of Bigot- 
 ry's eye. 
 
 More — churches are mortgaged and mis- 
 sions in debt, 
 
 Their current expenses reluctantly met, 
 
 While boards of trustees armed with by- 
 law and rule, 
 
 The zeal of the ardent effectually cool. 
 
38 THE CHARITY '* BOOM." 
 
 In the temple of Faith with its far- 
 reaching spire, 
 
 Its silver-toned organ and matchless- 
 voiced choir, 
 
 Its carpeted aisles and cushion-lined 
 pews. 
 
 Its gorgeous stained windows with soft 
 blending hues, 
 
 Its velvet-laid altars with trappings of 
 
 gold; 
 
 Where rich-surpliced teachers God's les- 
 sons unfold. 
 
 Ye mourn in your broadcloth, your vel- 
 vet, your lace, 
 
39 
 
 The /^V;/-ness which shadows the hoHest 
 
 place, 
 Since the Great God looks down and 
 
 discerns in the gloom 
 An incumbrance too great for just 
 
 Heaven to assume, 
 And while at the chancel your vows 
 
 you record, 
 The beggar outside may be nearest the 
 
 Lord. 
 
 But some men are wiser than most men 
 believe, 
 
40 THE CHARITY " BOOM.'* 
 
 And for their short-comings find glorious 
 
 retrieve 
 In the full consecration to Jesus they 
 
 make, 
 Of what through the grave they are pow- 
 erless to take ; 
 So magnanimous selfishness ceases to 
 
 breathe, 
 Consoled by a generous — ''I give and 
 
 bequeathe — '* 
 Thus fervently hoping God's plans to 
 
 o'ermatch 
 And forward their treasures by Special 
 
 Dispatch ; 
 
( T5^r^A/r " 
 
 THE CHARITY ''BOOM. 4I 
 
 Or chooses a proud in memoriam to 
 build 
 
 Of granite or marble to charity willed, 
 
 Which Administrator or Judge perchance 
 may 
 
 Decide is no charity since it wont 
 pay, 
 
 And the good Book has made it exceed- 
 ingly plain, 
 
 Bread cast on the waters is gathered 
 again. 
 
 And in that grand spasm philanthropy 
 feels 
 
42 THE CHARITY '' BOOM. 
 
 Producing convulsions of lancers and 
 
 reels, 
 When the great hearts of beauty and 
 
 opulence break 
 And pour themselves out for sweet 
 
 Charity's sake, 
 When tailor and modiste and coiffeur 
 
 combine 
 
 Their arts till the human is almost di- 
 vine. 
 
 And arrayed comme il fatit, of one beau- 
 tiful belle 
 
 The value in figures is wondrous to 
 tell. 
 
THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 45 
 
 And into the scale of just estimates thrown 
 Her fair market status will quickly be 
 
 shown ; 
 Not the lady herself — 'twould be greatly 
 
 unfair 
 With plain creature comforts her charms 
 
 to compare — 
 But the outfit complete of one genuine belle, 
 When rated at par, let the honest weights 
 
 tell. 
 
 The round tout ensemble an Avenue 
 store — 
 
46 THE CHARITY *' BOOM." 
 
 Real Estate at an ebb — would provide, if 
 
 not more. 
 The jewel confining her rich golden 
 
 braid 
 Would purchase a butcher's entire stock 
 
 in trade. 
 The quivering pendant just over her 
 
 heart 
 Would set up the very best stand in the 
 
 mart, 
 Green grocer or baker, or name what you 
 
 will, 
 The weak to refresh or the hungry to 
 
 fill. 
 
THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 47 
 
 While just one short yard of her elegant 
 lace 
 
 Would get up a dinner deserving a 
 grace. 
 
 The dainty trimmed slippers encasing her 
 feet, 
 
 At Baldwin's would furnish a pauper com- 
 plete. 
 
 The glittering solitaire adorning her 
 ear, 
 
 Would pay for a modern-built flat a full 
 year ; 
 
 While necklace and mouchoir, and lastly 
 
 the loves 
 3 
 
48 THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 
 
 Of bangles and bracelets and ten-button 
 
 gloves, 
 Would light up a home lost in darkness 
 
 before, 
 And keep the grim wolf from full many 
 
 a door. 
 
 And now to this outlay, most generous 
 be sure, 
 
 A ten dollar ticket we add for the 
 
 poor ; 
 But with ushers, bill-posters, et caeteras 
 
 and gas. 
 
THE CHARITY '' BOOM. 49 
 
 This amount is reduced to a pittance, 
 
 alas ! 
 And though the small hours with the 
 
 revel be filled, 
 The thousands go empty away from the 
 
 Guild; 
 And by this grand farce 'tis most cleverly 
 
 shown 
 How both ends of charity center at 
 
 home. 
 
 Now into the scales toss your purses and 
 needs. 
 
50 THE CHARITY " BOOM.' 
 
 Then toss in your duties and toss in your 
 deeds, 
 
 Next toss in your faith and against it 
 your cares, 
 
 And toss in your good works and lastly 
 your prayers ; 
 
 How curious to notice the odds at the 
 ends. 
 
 So much on the turn of a pivot de- 
 pends. 
 
 O ladies ! sweet ladies ! kind ladies and 
 true ! 
 
THE CHARITY '* BOOM." 51 
 
 Think just for a moment how much you 
 
 can do. 
 Would ye light up another face sweet as 
 
 your own. 
 And kindle a heart to the joy ye have 
 
 known ; 
 Would ye shield from the rude gaze a 
 
 fair faultless form, 
 And shelter a soul from the world's cruel 
 
 scorn ? 
 Unglove your soft hands, there are tears 
 
 to be dried, 
 And pillows to smooth whereon loved 
 
 ones have died ; 
 
52 THE CHARITY "BOOM. 
 
 And sweet little mouths turning up to be 
 
 fed, 
 And child hearts that flutter and watch 
 
 for your tread. 
 
 Oh be of one sad home the angel, the 
 
 light ! 
 Your name its sweet watchword at morn 
 
 and at night. 
 The spirit on earth of ©UV |atto itt 
 
 Let p^ MWU ht toUmr^rt for joy you 
 
 have given ; 
 
THE CHARITY "BOOM. 
 
 53 
 
 And by your kind deeds make p^ feinijtlmw 
 So best ON this mvtft shall §;i^ sweet 
 
 Win ft^ &mt. 
 
 O be of its table the fresh iMlt) html, 
 And over the erring your sweet pnlOU 
 
 shed, 
 And guard from t^miJt^ti0tt where want 
 
 is the snare, 
 And rescue jfrOtU ml some frail child of 
 
 care ; 
 And so BE p,^ ^mtX mux §i$i great ^Ux\j 
 
 shown. 
 i^VtVtV and tV(X by one of His own. 
 
54 THE CHARITY '' BOOM. 
 
 gltU^tt, and then dance in your heartiest 
 
 way, 
 For a time is to dance as a time is to 
 
 pray ; 
 And 'twill not be surprising, if heeding 
 
 your call, 
 The angels come down to the Charity 
 
 Ball. 
 
 But the great Metropolitan spirit is 
 
 kind, 
 Though like pictured Justice the oftenest 
 
 blind. 
 

THE CHARITY ''BOOM. 57 
 
 And her holiest thoughts and worthiest 
 
 aims 
 Are hampered, and clogged by invisible 
 
 claims 
 Of pathies and schisms, of parties and 
 
 power, 
 Which the rude wheel of Fortune reverses 
 
 each hour. 
 So she gathers them up, the sick and 
 
 the poor, 
 The lame and the weary, the mad and 
 
 the sore. 
 The vile and the hungry, the pauper, the 
 
 thief, 
 
58 THE CHARITY ** BOOM." 
 
 The children of vice, and the victims of 
 
 grief ; 
 So vileness and purity every day ride, 
 In ''corrections and charities" thrown side 
 
 by side ; 
 And kindly removed from the great city's 
 
 din. 
 The cess-pool of misery she huddles them 
 
 in. 
 
 O missions of kind words, of fruits and 
 of flowers, 
 
THE CHARITY ''BOOM. 59 
 
 Ye were born of a breath from elysian 
 
 bowers. 
 O sweet loving faces, O delicate tones, 
 Rich echoes are ye from the heavenly 
 
 zones. 
 O children of mercy, your beautiful hands 
 Are filling life's hour-glass with glittering 
 
 sands, 
 
 Whose luminous atoms are catching the 
 
 rays 
 
 Of beautiful sunlight to measure the 
 days. 
 
 The Heart's-ease that fades on yon suf- 
 ferer's breast 
 
6o THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 
 
 Is blooming for you in the Land of the 
 
 Blest ; 
 And the whisper of Jesus you breathed 
 
 in his ear, 
 Is the song he shall sing in that holier 
 
 sphere. 
 
 We travel life's roadway and little we 
 
 heed 
 The God-given power of each thought, 
 
 word and deed. 
 The weight of a smile or the charm of a 
 
 tear, 
 
THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 6l 
 
 The thrill of a whisper, the chill of a 
 
 fear, 
 The tease of a glance, the check of a 
 
 sigh, 
 The stab of a jest, and the hurt of an 
 
 eye. 
 
 By the roadway, just there, is a daughter 
 
 of shame, 
 A scar on her conscience, a blot on her 
 
 name ; 
 We loathing, with horror instinctively 
 
 shrink 
 
62 THE CHARITY " BOOM." 
 
 From lifting her fainting for only a 
 
 drink ; 
 But the great heart of Jesus is moved 
 
 by her plea : 
 ''/ do not condemn" — Are we purer 
 
 than He ? 
 
 A father, a thief, hotly pressed by the 
 
 law, 
 All eager her meshes about him to 
 
 draw ; 
 No plea for his crime save the echoes 
 
 which come 
 
THE CHARITY *' BOOM." 6^ 
 
 From the famishing group in his deso- 
 late home. 
 
 But his free thoughts reach out to the 
 glad hopes that cling 
 
 Round the great Judgment day of an 
 omniscient King, 
 
 TAa^ rarest, that richest, that happiest 
 of days 
 
 To the honest with God in his heart 
 and his ways. 
 
 A neighbor, a friend in the days that 
 have been, 
 
64 THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 
 
 With heart just as loyal, as earnest as 
 
 then, 
 A bankrupt — what more? Ah, the story 
 
 is old : 
 Love, friendship and faith even, perish 
 
 with gold. 
 
 A child heart is skipping along in the 
 
 way. 
 Unconsciously sporting with shadows that 
 
 play 
 Now lengthening, now parting, now 
 
 melting in one 
 
THE CHARITY ''BOOM. 65 
 
 As summery cloudlets coquette with the 
 sun ; 
 
 A waif on the wide world dropped 
 down at your feet — 
 
 Oh, the prayer for the fatherless kneel 
 and repeat, 
 
 And linger a moment, perchance ye may see 
 
 Whom the Father will send its protec- 
 tor to be. 
 
 A foot snare — take heed ! — in the treach- 
 erous sand, 
 
 '' I am blind, is there any will give me 
 a hand ! " 
 
66 THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 
 
 I am blind — pity, Lord ! only dead eyes 
 can know 
 
 How dark is the road the poor sight- 
 less must go. 
 
 Oh, the struggle with poverty, sorrow, 
 
 and sin, 
 Is a struggle in which but the bravest 
 
 may win. 
 Though the faint heart must strive and 
 
 the faltering go 
 Where the battle is hottest and fiercest 
 
 the foe. 
 
THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 6"] 
 
 O ye stalwart of arm and unflinching 
 
 of nerve, 
 Truest heroes are made of the stout 
 
 hearts that serve. 
 Pale and dim is the banner protected by 
 
 might, 
 To the rent and the crimson brought in 
 
 from the fight. 
 
 The web of God's dealing is wond- 
 
 rously spun 
 With chequers and tracery, shadow and 
 
 sun, 
 
68 THE CHARITY "BOOM." 
 
 And flecked with the atoms of man's 
 
 changeful life, 
 Which speckle the fabric with turmoil 
 
 and strife ; 
 While spinning and weaving the hum 
 
 of the mill 
 And buzz of the spindle may never be 
 
 still, 
 For the warp is set taut and the woof 
 
 of each day- 
 Is filling the shuttle, whose unceasing 
 
 play 
 Waits neither for tangle, for joy, nor 
 
 for fret, 
 
THE CHARITY *' BOOM." 69 
 
 For prodigal thought nor for useless re- 
 gret. 
 
 But the texture is perfect, come sun- 
 shine, come gloom, 
 
 With man at the spindle and Christ at 
 the loom. 
 
 Oh, pour out your love as God pours 
 
 out the showers. 
 And scatter your smiles as He scatters 
 
 the flowers ; 
 Be the warm breath of truth like their 
 
 fragrance distilled, 
 
70 
 
 THE CHARITY '' BOOM. 
 
 Till the darkest heart-corners with joy 
 
 shall be filled ; 
 And sprinkle with good deeds life's 
 
 wearisome way, 
 And pray while you live, and then live 
 
 as you pray 
 
 ^1C8 
 

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