2. Speak gently to the little child; 2 Teach it in accents soft and mild: 3. Speak gently to the aged one; Grieve not the care-worn' heart; 5 4. Speak gently, kindly to the poor; They have enough they must endure, 5. Speak gently to the erring; know 8 Perchance unkindness made them so: O, win them back again. 6. Speak gently; Love doth whisper low 9 10 And gently Friendship's " accents flow; 1 MAR. Hurt, injure. ACCENT. Manner of speaking. 4 CARE-WORN. Worn or vexed with care, troubled. DEPART. Go away, leave. ENDURE. Bear, suffer. TOILED. Labored, worked hard. 8 PERCHANCE. Perhaps, may be. 9 Vows. Solemn promises. 10 FRIENDSHIP. The state or feelings of those who are friends. 11 AFFECTION. Warm regard, attachment, love. 1. WHEN a person commits an offence1 against the law, such as murder, rob'bery, or setting fire to a house, he is tried for it before a court of justice, and punished if found guilty. A magistrate, called a judge, presides' at the trial. The person to be tried is called the prisoner, or the defendant. A jury of twelve men hear the case, and decide whether he is guilty or not. 2. The case is managed on behalf of the government by a lawyer, who is called the attorney-general, or the prosecuting attorney, or sometimes the district attorney. The prisoner is defended by another lawyer, who is called his counsel. In important cases, two or more lawyers are sometimes employed on each side. 3. Witnesses are examined on both sides at a trial. They testify under oath; that is, before they tell what they saw or know, they are obliged to take an oath that they will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If a witness states what is not true, his offence is called perjury, and it is severely punished. It is also a sin against God. 4. Very young children cannot be witnesses, because they cannot understand what an oath means. Sometimes a child is offered as a witness, who is of such an age that the judge and the lawyers must find out, by asking questions, whether he or she understands the meaning of an oath. The judge decides by the answers whether the witness shall be received or not. 5. Once, at a trial in the State of New York, a little girl, nine years of age, was offered as a witness against a prisoner who was on trial for a crime committed in her father's house. 6. "Now, Emily," said the counsel for the prisoner, "I want to know if you understand the nature of an oath." 7. "I don't know what you mean," was the simple answer. 3 8. "There, your honor," said the counsel, addressing the judge," it is obvious that this witness must be rejected, because she does not comprehend the nature of an oath." 9. "Let me see," said the judge. "Come here, my daughter." 10. Assured by the kind manner and tone of the judge, the child stepped forward to him, looking confidingly in his face, with a calm, clear eye, and in a manner so artless and frank that it went straight to the heart. 11. "Did you ever take an oath?" inquired the judge. 5 12. The little child stepped back with a look of horror, and, blushing deeply, answered, "No, sir." She thought he meant to ask if she had ever used profane language. 13. "I do not mean that," said the judge, who saw her mistake; "I mean, were you ever a witness before?" 14. "No, sir; I never was in court before," was the answer. 15. He handed her the Bible open. 16. "Do you know that book, my daughter?" 17. She looked at it, and answered, "Yes, sir; it is the Bible." 18. "Do you ever read it? " he asked. 19. "Yes, sir, every evening." 20. "Can you tell me what the Bible is?" inquired the judge. 21. "It is the word of the great God," she answered. 22. "Well, place your hand upon this Bible, and listen to what I say;" and he repeated slowly the oath usually administered' to witnesses. 23. "Now," said the judge, "you have been sworn as a witness. Will you tell me what will befall you if you do not tell the truth?" 66 24. "I shall be shut up in the state prison," answered the child. 25. "Any thing else?" asked the judge. 26. "I shall never go to heaven," she replied. 27. "How do you know this?" asked the judge again. 28. The child took the Bible, and turning rapidly to the chapter containing the Commandments, pointed to the injunction, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor;" adding, "I learned that before I could read." 29. "Has any one talked to you about your being a witness in court against this man?" inquired the judge. 30. "Yes, sir," she replied; " my mother heard they wanted me to be a witness, and last night she called me to her room, and asked me to tell her the Ten Commandments; and then we knelt down together, and she prayed that I might understand how wicked it was to bear false witness against my neighbor, and that God would help me, a little child, to tell the truth as it was before him. And when I came up here with mother, she kissed me, and told me to remember the Ninth Commandment, and that God would hear every word that I said." 31. "Do you believe this?" asked the judge, while a tear glistened in his eye, and his lip quivered with emotion.10 32. "Yes, sir," said the child, with a voice and manner that showed her conviction" of its truth was perfect. 12 33. "God bless you, my child," said the judge; "you have a good mother. This witness is competent," he continued. "Were I on trial for my life, and innocent of the charges against me, I would pray God for such witnesses as this. Let her be examined.” 34. She told her story in a simple way, but with a directness that made every body who heard her believe that she was telling the truth. The lawyers on both sides asked her many questions, but she never varied from the statement she had first made. Some of the witnesses for the prisoner had sworn falsely, but the truth of the little girl prevailed against their untruth. The jury believed her, and the prisoner was convicted" mainly on the strength of what she testified. PROFANE. Irreverent to sacred per- 12 COMPETENT. Qualified or suitable. sons or things, impious. 13 CONVICTED. Declared guilty. |