SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD

God Supreme! to Thee I pray.
Let my lips be taught to say,
Whether good or ill may flow,
Hallelujah, be it so!

What Thy wisdom may dictate

Let Thy servant vindicate;

Though it may my hopes o'erthrow,

Hallelujah, be it so!

Friends may falsify my trust,

Kindred also prove unjust,

Wound my heart and chill its glow,

Hallelujah, be it so!

Health and comfort may decline,
Why at this should I repine?
Both to Thee, my God, I owe,
Hallelujah, be it so!

When by disappointment stung,
Hard it is for human tongue
Still to say, though tears may flow,
Hallelujah, be it so!

Yet, from Mercy's aid shall spring
Strength of spirit still to sing
'Mid bereavement, pain, and woe,
Hallelujah, be it so!

PRAYER

Pray when the morn unveileth
Her glories to thine eyes;
Pray when the sunlight faileth,
And stars usurp the sky;
Far from thy bosom flinging
Each worldly thought impure,
The praise of God be singing,
Mortal for evermore.

Pray for the friend whose kindness
Ne'er fail'd in word or deed;
Pray for the foe whose blindness.
Hath caused thy heart to bleed;
A blessing for thy neighbor
Ask thou of God above;
And on thy hallowed labor
Shall fall His smile of Love.

Beside the stranger's altar,

Or at thy proper shrine,

Let not thy accents falter
In uttering truths divine,
But e'en when life is waning,
Thy faith with zeal declare;

One God alone is reigning

Whose worship none may share.

LOVE AND LAW

From the Courier, March 6, 1832.

A random shaft from Cupid's quiver,
Once struck a famous barrister;
The lady was a cold deceiver,
Therefore his suit ne'er harassed her.
But during a long evening session,
When he to Hymen's bonds alluded;
She only laughed at his confession
And said the thought must be precluded.
The Muses with the Graces joined,
A lovely jury soon composed;

To try the fellow who purloined

Hearts that no flaw had e'er disclosed. Deeper in crime her soul to steep, (As urged by the Solicitor;)

This modern Macbeth murdered sleep,

When to his eyes a visitor.

To court subpoena'd, the coquette
Was rashly guilty of misprison;

Her judges at defiance set,

And boldly plead without permission.
"Try me for larcenies in Love?
The law of Nature learn to read;
Woman's prerogative 'twill prove,
And not a felon's flagrant deed.
If actionable such offence,

Ye Nine consulting justice strict,

Who steal with Fiction's keys each sense.
I can of pilfering convict.

Not for myself but sex I plead,

Prescriptive right of breaking chains;
Once from this privilege recede,

And not a wreck of power remains.
What penalty must I endure
In this case of attachment?
Yon plaintiff-lawyer may procure
Of writs a whole detachment;
This form he feigns to love so well,
May even now incarcerate;
I'll find new suitors in my cell,
Fearless your verdict I await.”
"Not guilty!" from the Graces burst
When the appeal was ended;

But soon the sentence was reversed,
Nor mercy recommended.

At once the Muses seized their lyres,
Untwisted all the silver strings;

And bound the culprit with their wires,
Who still in bondage smiles and sings.

LINES

Written in my Eighty-third year, and gratefully addressed to all my dear Relatives and Friends in acknowledgment of their unremitting kindness.

Long past the allotted term of mortal years,
My soul a captive in the vale of tears,
Flutters its wings, to shake the dust away,
Contracted in its narrow cage of clay;
Conscious the hour of freedom is at hand,
When it will soar to Faith's own fatherland,

By mercy there with manna to be fed,
Gathered by angels for their daily bread,

And with "the just made perfect” ever shared,
Whose deeds on earth, their souls for heaven prepared,
Such is at least the promise Hope has made,
In dreams where Paradise is oft portrayed
As a more glorious Eden than the first,
Where life's most tragic drama was rehearsed.
But why should I not wish to linger here?
Do I not dwell in Friendship's atmosphere?
Where generous souls such balmy tribute bring,
As makes my wintry age so like to spring
That scarce the blind recluse, amid its snows,
Detects the absence of the vernal rose.

Scant in the hour-glass of Time are now
The sands symbolic of life's measured flow,
But ere the few that still remain shall fall,
On thee, long, long-slumbering muse, for aid I call,
Through inspiration's golden medium yet
In part to cancel gratitude's past debt.

Vain hope! that such poor coinage could repay
The sterling gifts received from day to day,
To Heaven for requital I commend,

My kindred dear, and many a faithful friend,
Praying through future years they may enjoy,
Health, peace and happiness without alloy.

Praise to my young associates who delight
To be as 'twere to me a second sight,
Through which alone I may again behold,
Flowers and gems of intellectual mould—
Whose gentle ministry, with soothing power,
Brightens my spirit in its cloudiest hour,
Till e'en through darkened vision it perceives
The silver interlining Mercy weaves.

JAMES MONROE

[1758-1831]

W. H. HECK

JAMES MONROE was born of cultured parents in Westmoreland

County, Virginia, April 28, 1758. In this rich section were many families of note, and Monroe was reared in an environment expressive of the best American life of his time. At sixteen years of age he entered William and Mary College, but left it two years later to join the forces organizing to resist British authority. Enlisting in the Continental Army as lieutenant in the Third Virginia Regiment, he fought gallantly in several engagements, receiving at Trenton a wound in his shoulder. In the battles of 1777-'78 he served as major on the staff of Lord Stirling; but, on account of the scarcity of funds, he failed to get further promotion and spent most of the next two years in retirement at his home, although called upon at different times by Governor Jefferson to defend the State against invasion, and on one occasion to make a report on the condition of the Southern Army. In 1780 he became a law student under Jefferson, and thus began an intimacy which greatly influenced his life. Writing to his teacher in September of that year, Monroe says: "Believe me, I feel that whatever I am at present in the opinion of others or whatever I may be in future has greatly arisen from your friendship."

In 1782 Monroe became a delegate to the Virginia Assembly and a member of the Executive Council. From 1783 to 1786 he served in the Continental Congress, achieving prominence through his activity in favor of putting "the regulation of trade in the hands of the United States as necessary to preserve the Union." He was one of the four Virginians that delivered to Congress the deed ceding the Northwest Territory to the United States. He was again elected to the Virginia Assembly in 1787, and in the next year became a member of the State Convention to ratify the National Constitution. Although his experiences in the Continental Congress had taught him the defects of the Articles of Confederation, Monroe opposed some of the centralizing tendencies of the new Constitution. He addressed to his constituents a pamphlet entitled "Some Observations on the Constitution"; but as the pamphlet was late in coming from the printer, and as it did not seem in all respects satisfactory, Monroe withheld it from circulation. The following extract summarizes his views: