do greater works than his, with clean hands that grow stronger and stronger. Thus is the righteous man set in with the great forces of the Almighty. He is in league with the right. He lives in the purpose of God. He shares in the divine triumph; and knows within himself, and gives in his witness to the world, the perseverance of a saint. THE MAN AND THE VOTE To be allowed to express our opinion in regard to public affairs is a costly privilege. It may not have cost us anything, but others have purchased this freedom for us with a great price. To be freeborn is our inheritance. To have an opinion which we desire to express is a sign of manhood. For a vote is the expression of the man's opinion, and of his desire which he wishes to have accomplished in the community, and therefore of his character which stands around his judgment and his wish. A vote is a thought in action. It needs intelligence and virtue, a wise and upright character. It needs honesty, and the public spirit which enables a man to pass beyond his personal interests and to regard the well-being of the state. It needs the unselfishness and generosity which in this form become the nobler excellence which we call patriotism. This is especially true because others with their wishes and their interests are involved with us; because the country is affected by our principles; not alone the country of our day, but the country of our fathers which has been bequeathed to us, and the country which is put in trust with us for those who are to enter into our labors. The freeman's act bequeathed by freemen is a fine bequest to those who in their turn are entitled to liberty. There is great dignity in the words of one of our neighbors, many times repeated : "The freeman casting with unpurchased hand The vote that shakes the turrets of the land." The vote, therefore, is to be esteemed of highest value, and to be kept sacred in all places. They are very impressive words which St. Paul spoke when he was upon his trial before King Agrippa. He was defending his integrity, and in doing this he recalled the evil days when he persecuted those with whom afterwards he rejoiced to be identified, and with whom he was content to suffer. “I shut up many of the saints in prisons," he confessed," and when they were put to death, I gave my vote against them." The words as he spoke them are even more bold and expressive. It was the custom in those times to vote with pebbles; in the ancient courts of justice a white stone was for acquittal and a black stone for conviction. "When these men and women, these saints, were before the courts, I threw down. a black stone," he said. Whether he did this as |