sal school books in Hellas and the storiesof the gods therein contained gave inspiration to the Grecian youth. The conductof the gods was quoted by the State as precedents for its action and policy. Thedarker moral leprosy was protected fromdenunciation by the stories of the rape ofGanymede by Jupiter, and of Pelops byPoseidon.
Was it a wonder that the people of the living God arose in their strength to prevent the pollution of His Altar by the idol of Jupiter? Was it any wonder that the people of the Torah should arise and revolt against Grecian expediency and should vindicate the Law of Holiness against de-
THE old man plodded on his way with the message secure in his pocket. The wind played with the heavy snowflakes and his beard swung to its melody. He pressed his left side with his right hand, but he would not confess, even to himself, that the pain disturbed him. He was persuaded that it was to see whether the package he must deliver was safe in his pocket. He murmured, “I must not lose the money!” And when his hand trembled, he attributed it to his anxiety for its safety.
"And suppose it does pain a trifle! I have strength enough for business of this cort. What would another man of my age do? I am not beholden to any one, work faithfully and am entrusted even with large sums of money!"
"If all I have carried were my own," he meditated. "I would not be running errands in my old age. But the Master of the World so wills it; it must be well."
The snowflakes fell heavily. He paused to remove the moisture from his face. "I have now," he calculated, "to go just about
five miles further. It is not much of a journey. I will soon be there." He glanced back, but he could not see the town clock, the church nor the barracks. But forward, Reb Smaryah.
Smaryah plodded through the wet snow and his feet made deep holes in the road; and in his heart he was grateful that the wind was subsiding. He had seen storms in his day and, if asked, would confess that unless a storm is a hurricane, it is of no account.
After the first nip of cold, it seemed to him that he meditated the purchase of spectacles. He would get large round ones, that would completely cover his eyes. And he murmured, "If God wills it, with one message each day, to be carried some distance,
bauchery, treachery and cruelty, that they should fight for their own souls and the souls of the world? And furthermore, was it any wonder that they should win in the struggle, with God as their Standard?
During the first four centuries of its history the Christian Church celebrated the triumph of Judea on the Feast of the Maccabees. 'Tis indeed a proper occasion for a universal festival, for even as the Spirit of the Night blessed the Patriarch who had conquered him; so, too, had the Greek full occasion to bless his conqueror, for his defeat meant for him the commencement of a higher life, the revelation unto him of the true God and the salvation of the soul.
From the Yiddish of J. L. Peretz. By Louis Lipsky
The last gust of wind smacked hi sface, cutting the skin. He could scarcely catch his breath and the tears in his old eyes were dried up and they stung him like needle pricks. It was strange that only his eyes smarted.