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A TRIBUTE ON RESPECT TO THE MEMORY OF MRS. REBECCA C. HART, DELIVERED BY REV. S. MORAIS AT HER FUNERAL DECEMBER 22d, 1880-5641. It is my eager wish that the memory of Rebecca Hart be associated hereafter, in the community of Philadelphia, with the joyous past in her existence, and not with the melancholy present. The dear being, now departed, will then stand in the minds of the youngest among her survivors in the character she so beautifully manifested; in the character which I saw her act nobly for a quarter of a century, and in which others had seen her a full score of years before; I mean in the character of a woman, unwearied in her useful activity, bestowing, without stint, her time and her means on undertakings of social advantage; of a woman who keenly enjoyed the pleasures of life, because she felt that her kindness brought cupfulls of pleasure to many, that thirsted for earthly blessings; of a woman who governed a house which might have borne comparison with that which rendered the father of the Hebrew people famous in all generations, for the display of generous hospitality;-the stranger finding in her parlor a hearty welcome, at her table a repast seasoned with the sweetest condiment—a friendly smile; of a woman who took delight in encouraging piety, by occupying a seat seldom left vacant in the dwelling of prayer, and performing her devotions with evident earnestness. It is in the aroma of womanly goodness, which the demeanor of Rebecca Hart diffused, that I desire to have her memory embalmed.

For, in all truth, the years that my sister in faith, experienced happiness in the exercise of benevolence, exceeded by far the days in which she suffered, because unable to obey her philanthropie instinets. Aye! lengthy was the period which Providence allotted for her felicity, placing within her reach whatever leads to that end. I will not assert that, till within four or five years of her decease, her sky remained perfectly serene: that during almost a half century of connubial relation with the fond lover of her youth, not a single trial had dampened her gladsome spirit. Such a state would have been superhuman. I know that domestic bereavements occasioned poignant sorrows, but internal anguish was always assuaged by delightful surroundings. Let us not then think of Rebecca Hart, confined for a period in a sick chamber, shut out of light and of social intercourse, but of Rebecca Hart, walking abroad with glowing countenance, and with animation which seemed to defy growing age; of her, who rallied female co-religionists round her stand, and presided over their benevolent deliberations; of her, who, for a time, filled the chair at the meetings of the patrons of the Jewish Foster Home, and who often made the inmates of that institution the recipients of her liberality; of her, who plied the needle for the sake of the poor, and who greeted in her drawing-room all who joined in the goodly task; of her, who did not pass the door of poverty without entering and lifting up therefrom the weight of human misery. Let us think of her, whose kindness extended over a wide field unhedged by denominational fences, and whose tokens of good-will were as delicate as the hand that offered them. There must be within the reach of my voice some who have felt that God had opened his treasures, and showered down his bounties on Rebecca Hart, for a noble purpose. They should, like myself, relate to one another the deeds which won for my lamented sister the affection, the esteem and gratitude of her fellow mortals. Thus she, who, for a long series of years, had proved a powerful instrument in the work of charity, the means of joy at home and abroad, will be remembered in the city she dearly loved, and the community she sought to benefit. Her influence will then survive the recollection of the painful change she underwent in later days; it will outlive even the dissolution of her body.

Not because I am anxious to associate agreeable reminiscences and useful thoughts with the name of Rebecca Hart, do I feel less sympathy for the husband and children, the relatives and friends, who have been afflicted in her affliction, and to whom the contrast between the present and the past has opened a bleeding wound. My sympathies are alive and strong for all that grieve and mourn; but my mission is to draw from every possible source lessons which may redound to the glory of my Master. The life of my sister in faith has abundantly supplied me with that teaching. Oh! may the memory of her virtues sustain you, bereaved family of Rebecca Hart; the assurance that she has borne sore vicissitudes with pious resignation, lead you all to the footstool of that God whom she approached with the ferveney of prayer; with a deep conviction of the justice of His decree. I do not venture to give out utterances, which may sound like social conventionalities; I prefer silence to the ordinary expressions of condolence; but I sincerely beseech the Almighty that the companion of the dear departed, now in the winter of his existence, may receive such demonstrations of devotion from his son and daughters; such evidence of their resolve to allay the pangs of this separaton, as will cause his remaining years to flow into the stream of eternity smoothly and peacefully; as will make his passage from the mortal to the immortal painless and tranquil. And thou, spirit of Rebecca Hart, go to thy reward, enjoy the fruits of thy excellent planting upon earth. May angels hail thy coming into their midst, and with outstretched wings hide the faults which thou mayest have done through the promptings of human frailty. Rest calmly where thy ethereal vision will brighten in the contemplation of the Sun of Righteousness that never sets, even the all-illumining God, the adorable Being worshipped by the seed of Jacob now and evermore. AMEN.

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